Devils at the Crossroads: Robert Rowling and B. Wayne Hughes

Zero Sum Empire

Billionaires in the News: Trump has COVID. We have been imprisoned for 6 months by a reactionary minority political faction in the United States. I’m losing my grip on reality. The pharma billionaire Sackler family may get off and get to keep their money. More Americans died of opiate overdoses since 1999 than died in all of WWII. Billionaire #1: Robert Rowling, 7/10 on the DKMALI (10:00) Joe introduces us to Robert Rowling, owner of TRT Holding Co., who owns (among other things), Gold’s Gym. Heir to an oil and gas fortune. Rowling is a big-time donor to Karl Rove’s ghoulish super PAC American Crossroads (coincidentally, so is this week’s Billionaire #2). American Crossroads was very well funded, but ultimately not that good at promoting winning candidates. Billionaire #2: B. Wayne Hughes, 8/10 on the DKMALI (31:45) B. Wayne Hughes got rich in self-storage. He also owns American Homes 4 Rent. We talk a little about self-storage, late capitalism, and desire. We get an intimate glimpse of Joe’s childhood in the middle of a bit on Herbert Marcuse. I think we come up with a solid theory about how self storage fits into the moral universe of American hyperconsumerism. Hughes also has a decades-long friendship with O.J. Simpson and was closely involved in the trial and its aftermath. Links! Rowling: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/rove-rides-again-193291/ Hughes: Great bio of Hughes: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-09-05/usc-secret-donor-billionaire-wayne-hughes American Homes 4 Rent exposé: https://www.cbs46.com/investigations/complaints-soar-against-american-homes-4-rent/article_23cf78a8-eefd-11e9-abea-5ff0decbb1c5.html Jon Ronson interview: https://www.gq.com/story/amber-waves-of-green-jon-ronson-gq-july-2012