> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.thecloser.fm/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Welcome to The Closer - URL: https://www.thecloser.fm/welcome/ - Published: 2023-01-26T04:04:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-12T13:44:23.000Z - Description: Deals are the emotional center of the business world, with high stakes and lots of risk. - Author: Bradley Hope - Tags: News, #ben In the world of corporate deal-making, billions of dollars, thousands of jobs, the future of an industry or economy are all on the line. And there’s often hubris, revenge, ruin, even betrayal. It’s everything you could want in a good drama. Think of AOL’s $350-billion [merger](https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/business/media/11merger.html?ref=thecloser.fm) with Time Warner, combining an audacious internet upstart with an old-media behemoth. More than $200 billion in losses later, it wound up being an era-defining deal for all the wrong reasons. And yet, the coverage of most deals is intentionally staid and anodyne, read by people whose job it is to read it. By necessity, a huge chunk of the coverage is breaking news and once you’ve missed it, it’s gone. Who’s getting fired? Executives? Workers? Some of both? If the deal is a triumph, everyone will say so – but what about the deals that are the products of failure?And the consequences of dealmaking – for better or for worse – are often left unexplored. *The Closer* is a podcast that grapples with those questions and our first season of episodes launches February 6\. You can listen to our trailer [here](https://open.spotify.com/show/7jQPWgY7Yk6J13dN3day4H?ref=thecloser.fm). You can find our show at [thecloser.fm](https://thecloser.fm/?ref=thecloser.fm) and on all the major podcasting networks: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/4qTBkVKG0JabgMIRvin6cK?si=PX6iIdDvQxa9tDVCNdQxmg&ref=thecloser.fm), [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-closer/id1668774101?ref=thecloser.fm), and anywhere else you listen. ![The Closer podcast logo, gray version](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3a/b2/3ab24ac3-6659-4e40-b780-779a1acb1fb4/content/images/2023/01/221201_TheCloserPodcastCovers_J-02-2.png) ![The Closer podcast logo, black version](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3a/b2/3ab24ac3-6659-4e40-b780-779a1acb1fb4/content/images/2023/01/221201_TheCloserPodcastCovers_J-03.png) ![The Closer podcast logo, lime-green version](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3a/b2/3ab24ac3-6659-4e40-b780-779a1acb1fb4/content/images/2023/01/221201_TheCloserPodcastCovers_J-04.png) The Closer by Project Brazen and PRX [![Apple Podcasts](https://www.thecloser.fm/assets/img/apple-purple.png)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-closer/id1668774101?ref=thecloser.fm) [![Spotify](https://www.thecloser.fm/assets/img/spotify.png)](https://open.spotify.com/show/7jQPWgY7Yk6J13dN3day4H?ref=thecloser.fm) [![Amazon Music](https://www.thecloser.fm/assets/img/amazonmusic.png)](https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/241fe45d-78c5-492d-9d3d-b82481c175e4/the-closer?ref=thecloser.fm) The first season of *The Closer* tackles: - The dysfunctional, multi-billion dollar codependent relationship between SoftBank and WeWork - David Bowie’s time on Wall Street - What pushed Facebook to make its biggest acquisition ever - Amazon’s jump into the prescription drug business - How a private Brazilian investment fund changed capitalism and ketchup - The role of unions in a massive, era-defining airline merger. But *The Closer* isn’t *just* a podcast. It’s also, as you may have guessed by now, a newsletter that we’ll publish twice a week, written by me. And *The Closer* will also be events, live web chats and more, where we’ll talk directly with you, our audience, about the deals that have shaped your lives and careers. I’ll be producing the *The Closer* podcast, as well as writing this newsletter. I started my career working at Goldman Sachs for five years in equities sales and the executive office before becoming a business and finance journalist. I’ve worked at Reuters, HuffPost, and Barron’s. [BE A CLOSER - SIGN UP HERE](https://www.thecloser.fm/#/portal/signup/free) ![Aimee Keane, host of The Closer, smiling at a laptop beside a studio microphone](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3a/b2/3ab24ac3-6659-4e40-b780-779a1acb1fb4/content/images/2023/01/the_closer_aimee_narrative_092-1.jpg) ![Ben Walsh, producer of The Closer, in a black-and-white portrait](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3a/b2/3ab24ac3-6659-4e40-b780-779a1acb1fb4/content/images/2023/01/the_closer_ben_139-1.jpg) Aimee Keane (Host) and Ben Walsh (Producer) *The Closer* podcast is hosted by Aimee Keane, who was previously the global head of audio at the Financial Times, where she also hosted and was the the founding executive producer and host of the FT’s first narrative business podcast, Behind the Money. In 2020, Behind the Money won the Wincott Award for best audio journalism. Golda Arthur, an award-winning audio journalist, is *The Closer’s* executive producer. She launches and runs podcasts, and manages creative teams on deadline. She has reported, edited and produced audio stories and shows for the BBC, the CBC, Vox Media, and Marketplace. Her [work](https://www.goldaarthur.com/?ref=thecloser.fm) has ranged from [news](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p002vsnk?ref=thecloser.fm) and[ technology](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tear-gas-explained/id1479107698?i=1000477046816&ref=thecloser.fm), to science podcasts ([Curious Coincidence](https://www.technologyreview.com/supertopic/curious-coincidence/?ref=thecloser.fm)), and classical music ([Mission Commission](https://www.missioncommissionpodcast.com/?ref=thecloser.fm)). She teaches audio news at Columbia University and lives in New York City. Siddhartha Mahanta is a consulting producer and editor on *The Closer*. His stops include The Atlantic, Business Insider, and The New York Times opinion page. And Project Brazen’s co-founders, Bradley Hope and Tom Wright, are *The Closer*’s executive producers. Get in touch! [thecloser@projectbrazen.com](mailto:thecloser@projectbrazen.com)