Dry Powder: The Private Equity Podcast

Hugh MacArthur chairs Bain & Company's global private equity practice, and Dry Powder is his biweekly podcast exploring the trends reshaping the PE industry. With 148 episodes, a 4.8 rating, and 140 reviews, it's established itself as one of the go-to audio resources for private equity professionals. Episodes are compact -- typically 12 to 23 minutes -- which means MacArthur and his guests get straight to the point without a lot of preamble. The guest list reflects Bain's extensive network: David Andrews (co-CEO of Gryphon Investors) on navigating industry downturns, Kristin Olson from Goldman Sachs on private wealth portfolio expansion, Dipan Patel (co-CEO of Permira) on revenue growth at scale, and Steve Ellis from TPG on impact investing and carve-outs. Recent topics have covered AI investment cycles, macroeconomic risks, liquidity challenges in the secondaries market, and even sports investing. MacArthur brings the kind of measured, analytical perspective you'd expect from a senior Bain partner, and the conversations benefit from having guests who actually run PE firms rather than just comment on them from the outside. The short format is both a strength and a limitation -- you get the key insights quickly, but some topics could use more room to breathe. Still, for busy PE professionals who want a regular pulse check on industry trends without committing to hour-long episodes, Dry Powder is perfectly calibrated. It's the kind of show you can listen to between meetings and still come away with something substantive.