Fracking Yoga

In this episode we catch up with dedicated Ashtangi, mother of two, and  highly acclaimed jouranlist, Bethany McLean. She is also an author and  contributing editor to Vanity Fair, who lives in Chicago. 

Bethany’s gift is understanding where the bullshit is, and uncovering it. As Russell said “To put Bethany McLean in context, imagine if in Die Hard Jon McClane takes down Hans Gruber in a cowboy no due process kind of way, then its Bethany who uncovers the rampant embezzlement at Nakatomi Plaza!”

Many of you might remember her from the 2012 Vanity Fair article entitled: Who’s Yoga Is It Anyway? where she explored how the global Ashtanga yoga community grapples with the death of Guru, Pattabhi Jois, and the complicated response to Sonia Jones launching a chain of yoga studios under the “Jois” name. A name copyrighted and paid for, but a purchase that rankled the prickly egos of senior students who preferred their status just where it was: On Top.

She co-author with Peter Elkind, the bestselling book:  The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron .
Her second book, which she co-authored with Joe Nocera, is called: All the Devils are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis. And her third book also co-authored with Joe Nocera, is Shaky Ground: The Strange Saga of the U.S. Mortgage Giants.

Bethany has a particular talent for following the numbers, exposing illusions, and popping bubbles to reveal where the truth lays hidden.  This notion is of particular interest to Harmony and Russell as the Alberta economy is on the brink of collapse as Covid-19 exposes the pitfalls of cheap money in a dead service: Fracking. Alberta prides itself as the Saudi Arabia of North America, but as Bethany says, its not just a dollar spent and a dollar earned: “It’s much worse than that.”

In her most recent book titled, Saudi America: The Truth About Fracking and How It’s Changing the World, journalist Bethany McLean digs deep into the cycles of boom and bust that have plagued the American oil industry for the past decade, and turns an eye to the mysterious death of fracking pioneer Aubrey McClendon.

Find out more about Bethany McLean and listen to her podcast Making A Killing on iTunes.

As always, keep exploring my website and all my online offerings.

Opening and closing music compliments of my dear friend teaching   Ashtanga yoga in Eindhoven, Nick Evans with his band “dawnSong” from the   album “for Morgan.”  Listen to the entire album on Spotify - Simply  Click Here.
To purchase your own copy - Click Here.

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