The Chad & Cheese Podcast

Grab your favorite beverage for a special, highly opinionated "just us girls" episode of the podcast, featuring Joel Cheesman and Maureen “Moe” Clough taking the mic without the rest of the usual crew.

This week, the duo delivers a light-hearted yet deeply substantive look into the massive worker backlash against artificial intelligence and the brutal realities of today's hiring market. The hosts kick things off with quick hits covering a disastrous, heavily booed commencement speech at the University of Central Florida and a surprising take on the narrative depth of The Devil Wears Prada 2.

From there, the conversation tackles major industry shifts as massive job platforms like Upwork and ZipRecruiter face severe financial softening, sparking a debate on whether automation is permanently consuming traditional contractor roles. The gloves come off as they dissect a bold claim from Andreessen Horowitz labeling legacy HR software giants like Workday a "cartel," while analyzing how defensive tech acquisitions—such as Ashby buying Talent Llama—signal a broader software-as-a-service apocalypse.

Moe offers her expertise on age discrimination, discussing a lawsuit against Bloomberg Industry Group. The discussion moves to the backlash against automated hiring tools and LinkedIn’s new paid consultation feature. Finally, there is a disagreement over Google's new Gemini-powered smart glasses.

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction to the Podcast and Hosts

01:35 - Current Events and AI's Impact

05:30 - AI and the Youth Perspective

10:01 - Data Centers and Community Impact16:31Industry News: Upwork, ZipRecruiter, and Workday

19:59 - The Future of Work and AI's Role

22:00 - The SaaS Cartel and Its Challenges

25:02 - Age Discrimination in the Workplace

34:56 - AI's Role in Hiring and Recruitment

42:21 - The Rapid Evolution of AI in Hiring

45:04 - LinkedIn's New Monetization Features

52:51 - The Controversy of Smart Glasses

01:03:01 - The Inevitable Rise of Smart Technology

The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.

The "Lean, Mean, Hiring Machine": 6 Recruiters vs. 2,400 Locations

How do you hire for Applebee’s, Taco Bell, Arby’s, and Planet Fitness without losing your mind? If you’re Mark Gibson at Flynn Group, you don’t—you let a robot named Frankie do it.

In this episode of The Chad and Cheese Podcast, we hang out with the man managing the world’s largest franchise empire with a recruiting team so small they could all fit in one booth at Applebee's. Mark breaks down how they ditched boring forms for text-based AI, turning their six recruiters into "high-level media buyers" instead of resume-shuffling zombies.

What’s inside:


The "Midnight Million": What happens when you flip the switch on a new system and wake up to a literal mountain of applicants.


Frankie Goes to Hollywood (and Pizza Hut): How an AI assistant handles the "boring stuff" so humans can actually be human.


TikTok vs. The Churn: Using Gen Z influencers to drive talent and AI surveys to make sure they don't "ghost" after day three.


Judgment Day: Mark addresses the "Terminator" fears of automation. Spoiler alert: the robots aren't making the pizzas... yet.

From "black card" memberships for fries to surviving the HR tech "Judgment Day," this is a deep dive into how to scale a global empire without the overhead. Grab a snack and listen in—Frankie is watching.

If you could automate the single most annoying part of your job today, what would it be?

Hold onto your hats for another candid episode of The Chad & Cheese Podcast, where the industry’s most opinionated trio—Chad Sowash, Joel Cheesman, and JT O’Donnell—break down the latest HR tech shakeups.

Between JT’s "29th" birthday celebrations and Chad "hydrating" with a Guinness in Portugal, the group dives deep into the iCIMS leadership change. Is a CFO-turned-CEO a sign of a bold new chapter or a flashing "For Sale" sign?

The hosts don’t hold back on what this means for employees and customers alike.The acquisition trail is just as heated, as the team debates Phenom snapping up Plum.io and questions whether more "psychobabble" assessments actually solve hiring problems.

On the flip side, there’s plenty of buzz around Greenhouse’s bet on Ezra AI Labs and the massive revenue potential behind LinkedIn’s new Agentic AI hiring tools.

JT shares her exclusive early-access results, while the guys debate whether it’s a recruiter’s dream or just a glorified search bar.

From a look at LinkedIn’s Thought Leader Ads to a fiery discussion on living wages and a shout-out to King Charles, this episode is packed with industry realism and sharp wit.

It all culminates in a high-stakes round of "Who’d You Rather?" where the team chooses between the AI talent agents at Dex and the personalized coaching of Blooma. 

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction and Celebrations

02:56 - World Cup Ticket Prices and Attendance Concerns

05:57 - The Cost of Experiences and Living Wages

08:55 - Innovative Advertising on LinkedIn

12:00 - Political Commentary and Economic Insights

14:57 - Upcoming Events and Travel Plans

17:10 - Chicago Delicacies and Nostalgia

18:25 - Leadership Changes at iCims

19:15 - The Impact of New Leadership

22:19 - The Future of iCims

26:26 - Acquisitions in the Talent Assessment Space

30:08 - Behavioral Testing: A Critical Perspective

34:15 - Greenhouse's Strategic Acquisition of Ezra AI Labs

39:14 - The Value of Timing in Business Decisions

42:13 - LinkedIn's New AI Hiring Tools

50:10 - The Evolution of Recruitment Skills

54:11 - Innovative Job Seeking Strategies

01:00:24 - Comparing New Startups: Dex vs. Blooma

The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.