Story of the Week (DR):

Cracker Barrel CEO is out after MAGA backlash to "Uncle Herschel" logo change MM

Before Julie Masino was brought in, Cracker Barrel was facing a slow-moving existential crisis:

Their primary core customer base (older generations and rural highway travelers) was naturally shrinking, and younger diners were simply not replacing them.

Kitchen tech, supply chains, and digital ordering lag behind competitors like Texas Roadhouse or Olive Garden.

Some great fake populism from Fox: Cracker Barrel to pay for outgoing CEO’s security, $4.6M severance after failed rebrand

Cracker Barrel names David Deno CEO

Burger King

Yum! Brands and Pizza Hut for 15 years, including serving as CFO and COO.

Quiznos CEO.

Best Buy: Served as President of Asia and CFO for Best Buy's International Division

Bloomin' Brands for 12 years: CEO, CFO and Chief Administrative Officer

Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grill, and Bonefish Grill

Board Memberships

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (2016-)

Panera Brands (2024-): Audit Committee Chair

Krispy Kreme (2016-)

Bloomin' Brands (2019–2024)

Peet's Coffee (2006-2012)

Macalester College: Former Chair of the Board of Trustees (1998-2022).

From Cracker Barrel to Boeing, Companies Are Turning to Retired CEOs

These retired CEOs are being hired to be "fixers." They are brought in to cut costs, repair supply chains, restore investor confidence, and act as a stabilizing force rather than reinventing the brand.

Exxon and Chevron profits surge on rising oil prices due to Iran war

Chevron posted its highest profit in six years as the Iran war boosted oil prices

Big Oil Is Getting Sued for Heat Deaths. It’s Fighting Back With an Army of Immunity Laws

More than a decade after investigations found that Exxon Mobil had known about the dangers of global warming since the 1970s but publicly downplayed the threat, lawsuits against oil companies have proliferated. There are nearly 40 of these cases pending across the country

In the meantime, the industry has been mobilizing a counterattack against the lawsuits with the help of the Trump administration and Republican politicians.

Republicans are trying to pass laws to grant oil majors immunity to these kinds of lawsuits, with success in several states so far.

Utah, Iowa, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Louisiana have recently signed laws shielding fossil fuel companies from lawsuits related to greenhouse gas emissions

Oil executives have also gotten help from the federal government, following an executive order from President Donald Trump last year directing the attorney general to prioritize blocking climate lawsuits by states.

This May, the Justice Department responded to Minnesota’s climate lawsuit against Big Oil with a lawsuit of its own, just as the state’s case was moving into the discovery phase. It said Minnesota was undermining “American energy dominance” and attempting to regulate greenhouse gases, which should fall under the purview of federal law—echoing the oil industry’s well-known argument.

Elon Musk Is Quietly Turning to This Fossil Fuel to Power His AI Ambitions

Sam Altman Announces That the Singularity Has Arrived: a hypothetical future point in time when technological growth becomes autonomous, uncontrollable, and irreversible, fundamentally transforming human civilization

“We are now, like, in the singularity ... Now we’re actually in the moment that we used to talk about at the lunch table in a very not-serious way ...I’ve been waiting for this my whole life, and I think it’s going to be incredible, hugely positive, awesome for the world.”

Sam Altman says one of his biggest fears is that a small number of companies will control AI: 'That'd be very, very bad'

Sam Altman says the Hugging Face hack is a reminder that an AI power monopoly could lead to 'long-term disaster'

OpenAI says its rogue AI tried to hack other companies

Mark Zuckerberg is urging the U.S. to accelerate AI development, not restrict it

’No Way to Stop It': Elon Musk Warns Humans Will Lose Control of AI and Face Extinction by 2036

Microsoft CEO Warns That Companies Embracing AI Could Drive Themselves Out of Business

AI hackers are getting faster. The government may not be ready

Anthropic says its Claude models 'gained unauthorized access' to other organizations' systems

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