This is In Conversation from Apple News.

I'm Shmitsabasu.

Today, why private equity is everywhere.

Back in 2019, Megan Greenwell had her dream job.

She was the editor of Deadspin, an online sports, politics, and culture news outlet, and the site was thriving.

We were doing well traffic-wise. We had this deeply loyal audience. We were profitable. It was going great.

Deadspin was owned by Univision, but when the site got acquired by a small Boston private equity firm,

the change was swift.

It was just clear pretty immediately that they didn't really care what was making us successful.

They had no curiosity about what actually worked and what didn't.

Ultimately, Megan's differences with the new management led her to leave within three months

of the acquisition. It was that experience of seeing firsthand how quickly private equity can

completely change a company that made her wonder how private equity works in other sectors,

places like hospitals, retail stores, and housing, businesses that serve real basic needs,

and often operate on or close to the margins.

Private equity guys sell themselves as these sort of swashbuckling heroes who are willing to take the risks

nobody else will take to save these companies. It's almost like a heroic thing, even though they

are also making gazillions of dollars off of it. And the truth of the matter is the more you read,

the more you realize there's no risk for them at all.

In a new book, Bad Company, Private Equity, and the Death of the American Dream,

Megan breaks down how private equity firms are reshaping our lives,

and tells us the story of some of the people pushing back against these entities

...