

The Chad & Cheese Podcast
Evergreen Podcasts
Everything people and workforce—recruiting, marketing, technology, talent management, and workforce economics—delivered with biting sarcasm and unapologetic snark. Industry misfits Chad Sowash and Joel Cheesman bring their no-holds-barred opinions to dissect news, trends, and the occasional dumpster fire. If you’re a hiring company, staffing firm, or vendor looking for insights (and a thick skin), these two won’t just tell you what’s happening—they’ll tell you why you’re probably doing it wrong. Buckle up, buttercup.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 23, 2025 • 33min
Surprise! Work-Life Balance is Stressing You Out
Time management coach Elizabeth Grace Saunders discusses the complexities of flexible work schedules and their potential to lead to burnout.
She emphasizes the importance of defining personal boundaries, understanding emotional drivers, and the need for effective communication in both professional and personal relationships.
The conversation explores the cultural differences in work-life balance, the impact of remote work on productivity, and the necessity for employers to foster a supportive work environment that encourages employees to disconnect and recharge.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction to Time Management and Flexibility
01:43 - The Genesis of Flexibility and Burnout
04:52 - The Emotional Side of Time Management
08:34 - Defining 'Enough' in Work-Life Balance
10:52 - The Role of Employers in Work-Life Balance
12:40 - Flexibility vs. Productivity in the Workplace
18:03 - Cultural Differences in Work-Life Balance
21:29 - Societal Pressures and Burnout
28:27 - Navigating Relationship Dynamics in Remote Work

Sep 19, 2025 • 1h 10min
Workday Shopping Spree & iCIMS' Panic Buy
Buckle up for The Chad & Cheese Podcast, where Joel Cheesman, Chad Sowash, and Maureen Clough dive into HR’s wildest waves with their signature no-filter banter!
This episode tackles the HR tech consolidation frenzy: Workday’s $1.1B Sana acquisition, paired with recent Paradox and Flowise buys, signals a bold AI-driven strategy to streamline everything from sourcing to onboarding with a slick, unified dashboard. It might be Workday’s “peanut butter and jelly” integration but execution’s the key.
Meanwhile, iCIMS grabs Apli (or is it Aptly? Nobody knows! Not sure it matters) for frontline hiring, but it may be a desperate “last girl at the bar” move to keep up in the conversational AI race.
The crew also mourns layoffs: Fiverr’s 250 job cuts and ZipRecruiter’s axing of 80 in Israel, with Chad slamming Zip’s post-IPO pivot to a dud chatbot, Phil, and Mo decrying Fiverr’s dystopian AI push that kneecaps freelancers.
Gen Z’s “revenge quitting” and “great lock-in” trends spark debate—Mo and Chad urge caution, while Joel’s all “life’s tough, kids!”
Starbucks’ dress code drama (no Crocs, tattoos, or piercings!) ignites a fiery clash: Mo and Chad call it discriminatory nonsense, while Joel insists baristas can just take their hustle to Arby’s.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Podcast Overview08:10 Job Market Challenges for Older Workers11:15 Technology and the Future of Work18:46 Sneak Preview of Chicken Cock Whiskey HQ24:11 Acquisitions in the HR Software Sector29:44 Workday's Strategic Moves and Market Positioning35:00 The Future of Work and AI's Impact41:00 Industry Layoffs and AI Transformation51:25 Gen Z's Workplace Challenges and Trends59:18 Starbucks Dress Code Controversy

Sep 18, 2025 • 4min
Shredded: DianaHR, Workday, Sana, Fiverr, Pack, and ZipRecruiter
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.

Sep 16, 2025 • 38min
AI Won’t Save Recruiting with Matt Charney
AI isn’t fairy dust you sprinkle on your ATS latte—it’s duct tape on 20-year-old tech, sold to you with a shiny new buzzword. Enter Matt Charney, the HR-tech cynic who’s seen it all: Monster, SmartRecruiters, Employer.com, and enough bad vendor decks to wallpaper Vegas.
In this episode, Charney calls BS on:
Vendors selling “AI” that’s really just 2003 automation in a new hoodie
HR’s obsession with “a seat at the table” (spoiler: the table’s cold, and nobody saved you a chair)
Why being “first to market” with AI is usually just a great way to bleed out on the cutting edge
And the hilarious reality of candidates getting rejection emails before they’ve even finished hitting submit
👉 Grab your bourbon, hold on to your recs, and hit play.

Sep 12, 2025 • 58min
OpenAI Takes Aim at Jobs : Indeed, LinkedIn Bring the Bots : BLS Chaos
In this episode of The Chad & Cheese Podcast, with Chad Sowash sipping ouzo on a Greek beach, Joel Cheesman and guest J.T. O’Donnell dish out spicy takes on the workforce with their trademark snark.
They kick off with a riff on empathy—or lack thereof—in today’s rage-fueled world, joking that community resilience is basically folks bonding over Wi-Fi outages.
Corporate layoffs get a roasting, with job security shakier than a Jenga tower at a frat party, and fractional employment pitched as the future for those who love working three jobs to afford one coffee.
OpenAI’s shiny new job platform sparks eye-rolls, as they dunk on job boards so outdated they might as well be faxing resumes. AI’s role in job matching gets a nod, though they quip it’s less “perfect match” and more “swipe left on bad fits.”
Labor market woes are dissected, with job seekers facing hurdles higher than a toddler’s tantrum, and generational gripes about work sound like Boomers and Zoomers arguing over who gets the last slice of avocado toast. Economic data? They trust it about as much as a used car salesman’s handshake.
Indeed and LinkedIn’s AI tools get a playful cage match comparison, while Shaker and Radancy’s acquisition drama is served with a side of corporate soap opera. They wrap up cackling about autonomous vehicles, wondering if truck drivers will soon be replaced by robots who honk worse than your uncle at a tailgate.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Current Events
02:25 The State of Empathy and Rage
05:19 Shout Outs and Community Resilience
08:33 Corporate Layoffs and Job Security
11:22 The Future of Work and Fractional Employment
14:22 OpenAI's New Job Platform
17:06 Cynicism Towards Job Boards
20:11 OpenAI's Impact on Job Searching
27:16 AI in Job Matching and Job Seeker Education
29:06 Labor Market Insights and Economic Realities
30:50 Demographics of Job Seekers and Their Challenges
33:04 Generational Perspectives on Employment
35:19 Trust in Economic Data and Its Implications
36:29 AI Tools in Recruitment: Indeed vs. LinkedIn
46:52 Acquisitions in Recruitment Tech: Shaker vs. Radancy
53:57 The Future of Autonomous Vehicles and Job Displacement

Sep 11, 2025 • 8min
Shredded: OpenAI, Throxy, Velocity Global, Shaker Recruitment Marketing, exaqueo, Remuner, & More
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.

Sep 9, 2025 • 32min
Scale Your Suck: Sackett on AI and Talent
Tim Sackett is back, and he’s not here to sugarcoat your broken recruiting process. From running a family staffing biz (yes, his mom started it—nepotism FTW) to launching the HR Tech 100 Fund, Sackett’s got opinions, and Chad & Cheese are here to poke the bear.
Inside this episode:
Why most HR tech still runs on vaporware and broken promises
The Sackett philosophy: If you suck at recruiting, AI just helps you suck faster
“Scale Your Suck” – his accidental book title that SHRM will never publish
Why recruiters might have 18 months before AI eats their lunch (and their jobs)
How execs keep saying “do more strategic work” when nobody knows WTF that actually means
The coming extinction-level event for recruiters who think “tallest dwarf” = top talent
This isn’t a kumbaya “AI will save us all” chat. It’s Sackett unplugged—equal parts brutal honesty, dad jokes, and career counseling for recruiters about to be replaced by bots that actually give candidates feedback.
Grab a stiff drink. Season 3 is here, and it’s coming for your job description.

Sep 5, 2025 • 56min
Google Wins, Meta Spins, and a Recruitics Fail?
From Google’s “flock of dead canaries” warning shot to Meta’s latest identity crisis, this episode is jam-packed with chaos. Recruitix buys a mystery box, Nestlé boots its CEO over an office fling, and Taco Bell AI goes full waterpark mode. Oh, and Chipotle drones are now dropping burritos from the sky. You can’t make this stuff up—so we didn’t.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Overview of the Episode
03:52 Corporate Drama: CEO Dismissals and Scandals
06:10 A Tribute to Greg Louganis: Olympic Legacy and Challenges
08:53 The Fading Glory of Olympians
09:32 International Students and the Impact of Policy Changes
13:15 Upcoming Events and Networking Opportunities
15:34 Fantasy Football Draft Recap
19:14 Closing Thoughts and Future Topics
19:58 Google's Search Monopoly and Market Dynamics
22:42 The Impact of Workforce Imbalance
26:04 The Future of Google Search and Diversification
28:50 Recruitics Acquires Change State: A Strategic Move?
34:31 Meta's Leadership Shakeup and AI Focus
48:22 AI in Fast Food: Taco Bell's Experimentation

Sep 4, 2025 • 7min
Shredded: InstaLILY, Welcome Tech, Darwin AI, Recruitics, Change State, Laborup, Hubert, & More
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.

Sep 2, 2025 • 29min
AI in Hiring: Trust, Safety, and Why Compliance Freaks Out
What happens when you mix SmartRecruiters, a global AI pivot, and a comms pro who loves to “shake shit up”? You get Allyn Bailey dropping truth bombs on everything from why legacy ATS platforms should be left in a museum next to floppy disks, to how scheduling interviews is apparently the Mount Everest of HR tech problems.
Joel and Chad dig into:
Why “feature bloat” is killing platforms faster than a buffet kills willpower
The rise of AI agents that make every TA leader feel “special” (just like their mom told them)
How SmartRecruiters is “releasing the Kraken” on AI adoption—while trying not to terrify every compliance officer on Earth
Why Kenya and Eastern Europe are quietly kicking everyone else’s ass on AI innovation
And yes… the most celebrated use case for AI in recruiting is still… scheduling.
It’s part therapy session, part roast, part masterclass in how to burn down old TA processes without getting fired.
Strap in. Season 3 of The AI Sessions is here.


