Skeletons in McKinsey's Closet w/ Walt Bogdanich & Michael Forsythe | MR LIVE 11/14/22

Fun Half Link

Sam and Emma host Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe, investigative reporters with the New York Times, to discuss their recent book When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on the Democrats retaining the Senate (and potentially expanding on it with Georgia), the GOP winning what could be the slimmest House majority ever, and the University of California graduate workers strike, before diving into why Sen. Bill Cassidy’s “We’re not a Cult” shirt raises a lot of questions already answered by the shirt. Then, Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe join as they dive right into their investigative reporting on the massive global management and consulting firm McKinsey & Company, advisors to Fortune 500s, Governments, Dictators, and those all the way down the global power structure with little to no public knowledge of their work. Then, they unpack the “values” of McKinsey, ranging from their primary concern of putting their client’s interests above those of the firm, to the more obscure values of “act with integrity” and “an obligation to dissent,” and how their reporting seemingly undermined these elements. Next, Walt and Michael walk through the greater history of consulting work, with McKinsey’s work with GM beginning in the 1950s and instigating the shift of capitalism towards ephemeral and hyper-financialized practices, bolstering the income of the C-Suite while workers became forced to rely on safety nets, all while the firm acted as a cover for any bad decisions or accountability coming back to hurt the upper echelon of the company. Wrapping up, they unpack the myriad conflicts of interest in McKinsey’s work, including advising Big Pharma, every element of the insurance and medical industry, tobacco companies, and then also the FDA that supposedly regulates them, and explores how anti-trust and other regulation can begin to reign in these monopolists of power.

And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma cover the mass layoffs coming from two of the richest men on earth (Musk and Bezos), and the greater failures of the existence of Billionaires, Mike from Santa Barbara dives into the future of DACA and immigration, and Joe Rogan says that “everybody knows” that being trans is just a weird fetish – all while the conservative push for abusive transphobic policies likely led to their collapse last Tuesday. Matthew from Philly dives into contract law and the rights of ride-share drivers, and John from San Antonio reflects on the 2022 midterms, and how the remaining votes might get counted, plus, your calls and IMs!

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