They closed the Soho store this year btw. The first one to unionize.

The Co-op Illusion: REI, Union-Busting, and the Fight for Workers' Rights

Art of Citizenry · Episode

open.spotify.com

When people hear “Patagonia,” do they think of the place or the brand? I sat down with @lexlanham.bsky.social to discuss how a corporations trademark geographic names and the cultural impact. New episode of Art of Citizenry out now! 🎧 tune in ~ open.substack.com/pub/artofcit...

Pyrex, Instant Pot- they're kitchen staples that cooks have a deep emotional attachment to. Now they're owned by a private equity firm & getting turned into MAGA propaganda tools Listen to my convo w/@manpreetkalra.bsky.social @artofcitizenry.bsky.social artofcitizenry.substack.com/p/private-eq...

Nearly the entire American kitchenware market is now owned by ONE private equity firm — from Instant Pot to Pyrex to Lenox. @annacanning.bsky.social and I dig deep and uncover a story that spans the entire private equity playbook! Tune in: open.substack.com/pub/artofcit...

Shein, Everlane…private equity. Ethical fashion needs a new role model 👀 The expectation that exponential profitability and social and environmental sustainability can all deliver without tradeoffs has always been a fatal assumption -> more on my Substack!

Everlane and the Illusion of Ethical Capitalism

Shein buying Everlane is not a failure of ethical fashion, instead it is a failure of the belief that ethics and exponential returns can coexist indefinitely.

open.substack.com

In December 2025, the University of Utah became the first major college athletic program to take private equity investment. @annacanning.bsky.social and I trace how we got here on Art of Citizenry Podcast! 🎙️

The Private Equity Playbook: College Sports and the University of Utah

Private Equity’s New Playing Field

open.substack.com

For what actually happens when employee stock options meet private equity, @manpreetkalra.bsky.social & I did a deep dive. The NPR article doesn't name it, but sounds like it's talking about common stock, which is how the Philz workers got screwed www.artofcitizenry.com/podcast/priv...

The Private Equity Playbook: Philz Coffee | Art of Citizenry

Dive into the Philz Coffee private equity deal with Manpreet Kaur Kalra and Anna Canning as they unpack the cancellation of worker common stock and dig into the financial and political origins of Philz's new private equity owners.

artofcitizenry.com

My latest: The federal judiciary has withdrawn a measure that would have boosted disclosure of who finances friend-of-the-court briefs filed by advocacy groups ​to influence litigation months before it potentially would have gone into effect. www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

US judiciary withdraws new requirements for amicus brief disclosures

The U.S. federal judiciary has withdrawn a measure that would have boosted disclosure of who finances friend-of-the-court briefs filed by advocacy groups ​to influence litigation months before it pote...

reuters.com

REI workers @reiunion.bsky.social just authorized a boycott. Now it’s your turn. ✊🏽 Vote to boycott → BoycottREI.com 🎧 Tune in: open.substack.com/pub/artofcit... Let’s push REI to honor a fair union contract and its “co-op” values.

The $30/hour number Starbucks quotes? It's not a wage. It's a total compensation figure that requires benefits most baristas are deliberately scheduled too few hours to qualify for. New episode with @sbworkersunited.org is out now✊🏽 artofcitizenry.substack.com/p/no-contrac...

No Contract, No Coffee: Starbucks, Union Busting, and the Fight for Labor Rights

How Starbucks became the most prolific violator of labor law in Modern U.S. History

artofcitizenry.substack.com

“Any regimes that need changing, including the US, Israel and ours, need to be changed by the people, not by some bloated, lying, cheating, greedy, resource-grabbing, bomb-dropping imperial power and its allies who are trying to bully the whole world into submission.“ Arundhati Roy

'I Am Ashamed of How Gutless, Spineless Our Government Has Been': Arundhati Roy on US-Israel War on Iran

thewire.in

AI has the capacity to shape what we collectively come to understand as truth. I sat down with @vauhinivara.bsky.social to unpack who's really in control and what we're giving up.🎙️ New episode of @artofcitizenry.bsky.social out now!

AI and the Cost of Our Data

In conversation with Vauhini Vara, author and journalist

artofcitizenry.substack.com

SCOTUS struck down Trump's sweeping tariffs, leaving open questions on how the fed gov't should refund importers who paid the tariffs (~$200B in 2025)...much of which was passed onto consumers. This was a challenge of executive power led by small businesses!

Supreme Court strikes down tariffs

Updated on Feb. 20 at 2:13 p.m. In a major ruling on presidential power, the Supreme Court on Friday struck down the sweeping tariffs that President Donald Trump imposed in […]

scotusblog.com

Voter ID laws aren’t neutral. Under the SAVE Act, 69 million women who took their partner’s last name could struggle to register b/c their birth certificate doesn’t match their legal name. Just some casual sexist (+ racist) voter suppression 🤷🏽‍♀️

The GOP’s “show us your papers” bill Is the latest effort to help Trump take over elections

“If the SAVE Act were to pass, it would be the worst voter suppression law that Congress has ever enacted"

motherjones.com

A new paper shows that less than 2 months of exposure to Twitter’s algorithmic feed significantly shifts people’s political views to the right. Moving from chronological feed to the algorithmic feed also increases engagement. This is one of the most concerning papers I’ve read in awhile.

Coffee, Silicon Valley & George W. Bush’s former roommate? Philz Coffee made headlines when it was bought by a private equity firm & cancelled all employee stock — @manpreetkalra.bsky.social & @annacanning.bsky.social unpack what really went down! 🎙️Tune in: www.artofcitizenry.com/podcast/priv...

The Private Equity Playbook: Philz Coffee | Art of Citizenry

Dive into the Philz Coffee private equity deal with Manpreet Kaur Kalra and Anna Canning as they unpack the cancellation of worker common stock and dig into the financial and political origins of Phil...

artofcitizenry.com

Remember a few months ago when a private equity firm bought Philz Coffee & wiped out workers' stock? In a new project with @manpreetkalra.bsky.social, we delve into that & how it's a symptom of a larger system built to siphon $ at every step. www.artofcitizenry.com/podcast/priv...

The Private Equity Playbook: Philz Coffee | Art of Citizenry

Dive into the Philz Coffee private equity deal with Manpreet Kaur Kalra and Anna Canning as they unpack the cancellation of worker common stock and dig into the financial and political origins of Phil...

artofcitizenry.com

PESP's Azani Creeks joined @manpreetkalra.bsky.social to unpack how private equity–backed companies like GardaWorld stand to profit immensely from immigrant detention in the wake of the Big Beautiful Bill, despite a long record of whistleblowers exposing abuses inside their facilities. Listen here ➡️

Big Beautiful Bill: How Private Equity is Profiting from Immigrant Detention | Art of Citizenry

In this episode of the Art of Citizenry Podcast, we speak with Private Equity Stakeholder Project about how HR 1 funnels $170B into detention, fueling private equity profits. Tune in now!

artofcitizenry.com

H.R. 1, the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, expands the Deportation Industrial Complex — among the biggest winners are #privateequity firms and the billionaire class they represent. 🎧 Tune into my conversation with @pestakeholder.bsky.social! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

Big Beautiful Bill: How Private Equity is Profiting from Immigrant Detention

Podcast Episode · Art of Citizenry · 09/11/2025 · 40m

podcasts.apple.com

Paramount’s $16M payout to Trump. Press freedom under corporate control. A fashion ad cashing in on racist tropes. 🎙️Tune into Fragments of a Fragile Order — listen anywhere you get podcasts! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

🎙️“It's on full display how companies are designing the destruction of a people.” In a new episode of Art of Citizenry, SOMO's @lydiadeleeuw.bsky.social joins @manpreetkalra.bsky.social to unpack the new report on Gaza by @franceskalbs.bsky.social. Listen now ⤵️ artofcitizenry.com/podcast/geno...

The Tel Aviv stock exchange has surged 179% since the start of Israel’s military assault on Gaza. I spoke with Lydia de Leeuw @somoamsterdam.bsky.social on the corporate architecture that sustains and profits from occupation. 🎧Tune in: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/g...

New #podcast episode! Divide-and-rule wasn’t just a strategy—it was a blueprint. Colonial powers engineered divisions that still shape global systems today. 🎧 Listen to @artofcitizenry.bsky.social wherever you get your podcasts! www.artofcitizenry.com/podcast/divi...

Episode 28: Divide and Rule | Art of Citizenry

Explore how colonial divide-and-rule tactics continue to shape global power structures. In this episode, Manpreet Kalra traces their legacy from empire to modern institutions like the United Nations a...

artofcitizenry.com

What do unpaid garment workers in Guatemala & 100s of US workers left jobless in Forever 21's bankruptcy have in common? I talk with @manpreetkalra.bsky.social about how private equity-backed Authentic Brand Group is making fast fashion even more exploitative. www.artofcitizenry.com/podcast/priv...

Episode 27: The Growing Role of Private Equity in Fashion | Art of Citizenry

From bankruptcies and brand buyouts to complex licensing deals, this episode unpacks how private equity is redefining who owns what—and why that matters for the future of corporate accountability in f...

artofcitizenry.com

🎙️New podcast episode! Lucky Brand owes Guatemalan garment workers unpaid severance. This is a case of unauthorized subcontracting. Brands dodge accountability—offloading risk and labor violations onto workers they claim not to know exist. @annacanning.bsky.social breaks it down — tune in!

Not So Lucky Jeans: Unauthorized Subcontracting & Wage Theft in Fashion Supply Chains

Podcast Episode · Art of Citizenry · 04/24/2025 · 42m

podcasts.apple.com

🎙️New podcast episode! The fate of America’s public lands is at a crossroads. DOGE is gutting . #nationalparks & #nationaltrails to serve extractive interests — while ignoring an outdoor economy that actually benefits Americans. www.artofcitizenry.com/podcast/the-...

Episode 23: The Fight for National Trails | Art of Citizenry

In this episode of Art of Citizenry, Manpreet Kaur Kalra speaks with Courtney Lyons-Garcia of the Partnership for the National Trails System about the future of America’s public lands amid federal bud...

artofcitizenry.com

🎙️ New podcast episode released today! I’m joined by immigrant community organizer @marumorav.bsky.social, Founder of @laresistencianw.bsky.social, and international #humanrights lawyer Alejandra Gonza of Global Rights Advocacy. 🎧 Tune into Art of Citizenry wherever you listen to podcasts!

90% of detained immigrants are held in privatized detention centers. I am joined by Anthony Enriquez, VP of U.S. Advocacy and Litigation at @rfkhumanrights.bsky.social as we unpack the financial motivations behind privatized detention centers. 🎧 Tune in: open.spotify.com/episode/4SoJ...

The Criminalization of Immigration: Profiting From Detention with Anthony Enriquez

open.spotify.com

Reintroducing: Art of Citizenry Podcast 🎙 The show will be as bold as before, and the new show art makes sure you know it! Subscribe now to Art of Citizenry wherever you listen to podcasts 🎧 Read more on my Substack! open.substack.com/pub/artofcit...

Ah, a new corner of the digital world. I suppose many are using their first post to introduce themselves. So, here it is. I’m a Seattle-based activist who talks about human rights, corporate accountability, and culture. I have a 15y/o dog — you can find us at the local bookstore 👋🏽