I've spent a lot of time driving around the Permian Basin over the last year.

There were times I put over a thousand miles on my truck in a single week.

Signs of the boom were everywhere.

But over the last six months, things have taken a slight turn.

Most of the patch remains busy, but there are some indications that the boom is cooling.

The rig count has declined about 20% over the past year.

And Facebook pages dedicated to all-fill job postings have recently shifted in tone.

Instead of companies reaching out to anyone with a pulse, you see folks posting things like

diesel mechanics, six years experience, looking for anything.

An employment in Midland and Odessa is still lower than almost anywhere else in the country.

But some companies have recently announced layoffs.

For one journalist, this slowdown wasn't surprising.

It was just a matter of time.

I'm Christian Wallace and this is BoomTown, a podcast about the historic old boom unfolding

right now in the Permian Basin.

This week we're mixing things up.

We've actually decided to bring you an extra episode.

We'll release the final two chapters over the next couple of weeks.

But today, we're devoting the entire episode to a fascinating conversation about the wild,

shaky finances of fracking, with one of the most acclaimed business reporters of our time.

So I'm Bethany McLean.

I'm a longtime journalist.

...