Who's Buying and Flipping Your Local Hospitals, Schools, and Apartments?

Who's Buying and Flipping Your Local Hospitals, Schools, and Apartments?

Your local hospital. Your kid's school. Your apartment complex. You might think these are owned by your community but increasingly, they're owned by Wall Street. Private equity firms are quietly buying up essential services across Michigan and across the country. But it's not just your standard flip. They're loading them with debt, cutting costs, and selling them for profit. And by the time they're done, the community is left holding the bag. In this episode, Heather and Jessica sit down with Jim Baker, Founder and Executive Director of the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, to break down exactly how this works.  We cover: ➡️What private equity actually is and how the money loop works ➡️Which Michigan industries are already affected — and how to find out if your hospital or apartment is PE-owned ➡️The pension fund paradox: how your retirement savings might be funding the very system squeezing your community ➡️What transparency reforms could actually fix this ➡️And what YOU can do about it today If you live in Michigan — or anywhere in the Midwest — this one hits close to home. 🔗 Read the full PESP report: pestakeholder.org/reports/wall-street-in-the-wolverine-state Private Equity Stakeholder Project: pestakeholder.org Stirred Up Pod is an independent media company committed to systemic accountability and community impact.

Summer Porch Sessions, TikTok Shop, AI Slop and Mothers Day

It's the Summer on the Porch series, and we're doing what we do best: starting somewhere random and ending up somewhere real. This week Jessica's continued hot take that's been sitting with her — that the only people genuinely impressed by AI are men, because women have been running these systems in their heads their whole lives.  Heather's a little salty about Mother's day and we know she's not alone.  Jessica, a bit hungover from an Adult Day at the golf course (one breakfast, several fireball-adjacent beverages) followed by a bon fire is THANKFUL for freshsethair.com saving the day. Shameless plug.  Since the front porch summer series is running off of 2 moms running on fumes, we lightly cover the story of the day -- TikTok Shop — what it actually is, why it's growing at a pace that should embarrass everyone sleeping on it, and whether it's just a platform for junk or a real opportunity for small makers and artisans. Heather's sitting on a business decision about her handmade goods. We think through it out loud. Honestly, she should go for it. This is where we delve into brand strategy, frankly a reoccurring topic in our conversations, and it gets interesting. Heather's take: consumers are done with purpose-driven brand theater — they just want the product to work and the price not to break them. Jessica pushes back with a nuance: the gap is widening. Commodity products will win on pure price. But identity brands? They're going to matter more, not less. Bush Light paraphernalia in her son's room is load-bearing evidence. We also get into beauty care ingredients (Heather works adjacent to the science and has thoughts on hyaluronic acid, retinol, and when the drugstore version is genuinely fine), menopause being a full-body experience nobody warned us about, the perfume dupe question, and the case for Olay when the budget is tight. Plus: Heather's open house prep is in full swing — five yards of mulch, a new deck Mike has been building at night for a month, holes in the walls from the nieces, a $250 print from Australia that may or may not arrive in time. A graduation party origin story involving a sneaky cooler of Bud Light. And a hard earned gardening PSA: do not plant sunflowers in the shade. Learn from us. Fresh Set makes its bonfire season debut. Because if you know, you know. Stirred Up is a Midwest podcast for people who want more than the headline. New episodes weekly — find us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.

One Woman's Trash is Another's Treasure & the Last Cigarette

We recorded this one while literally hauling the last bits of garage sale pieces to the thrift.  This week, Jessica and Heather unpack garage sale culture, the surprisingly fascinating people who show up at dawn for your old blender, the people who were fighting over a 25 year old tin canister of crackers and definitely got sideways on topics such as the real return of smoking as a vibe. Heather reveals what her last meal — and last four cartons of cigarettes — would be.  No studio. No plan. No anxiety.

The Billion Dollar Hobby Lobby Empire with a Cult Following

Joann Fabrics is closing its doors but Hobby Lobby just keeps growing. New stores, bigger profits, a billionaire family quietly getting richer.  Hobby Lobby is a story about private ownership, religious exemptions, a workforce that keeps showing up, and a customer base that treats Sunday closures like a sign from God. This week on Stirred Up, we're pulling back the curtain on one of America's most quietly powerful retail empires.

🥇 We're All Going Bananas over Savannah Bananas

This week, Jessica and Heather are going full banana on the most chaotic, joyful, and surprisingly genius sports business model in America.  We're breaking down how a broke couple from North Carolina bought a failing baseball team for $1.8 million, eliminated every single thing that makes sports annoying, and accidentally built a $500 million entertainment empire — with a waitlist longer than the population of Connecticut. No bunting. No fees. No boring. Just pure, unhinged Fans First energy. You're going to want a ticket. You're probably not going to get one. Listen anyway.