It Could Happen Here Weekly 247

All of this week's episodes of It Could Happen Here put together in one large file. 

• How to Rob a City: NBA Billionaire Edition 

• How the United States Built its Colonial Empire, Pt. 2

• Sophie Cunningham's Transphobic WNBA Panic 

• DHS Surveillance and Infiltration of ICE Protests in Minnesota 

• Executive Disorder: Mail-In Voting Restrictions, Canadian Trade War, Record High ICE Detentions 

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Sources/Links:

How to Rob a City: NBA Billionaire Edition 

• https://www.forbes.com/profile/thomas-dundon/
• https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-nbas-newest-cheapest-owner-shows-how-billionaires-ruin-sports
• https://www.opb.org/article/2025/10/03/tom-dundon-blazers-subprime-loan/
• https://archive.nytimes.com/dealbook.nytimes.com/2015/01/26/investment-riches-built-on-auto-loans-to-poor/#:~:text=Ms.,the%20loan%20with%20her%20daughter
• https://www.youtube.com/live/UD8erzI72Fg
• https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/shadow-bank-blue-owl-caps-021700097.html
• https://wealth.blueowl.com/solutions/investment-strategy-real-assets-digital-infrastructure
• https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-04/blue-owl-fund-sells-warehouse-to-dhs-for-ice-mega-jail
• https://youtu.be/3BqOjrFFNK0
• https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jep.14.3.95
• https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecin.12572
• https://belkcollegeofbusiness.charlotte.edu/economic-working-papers/wp-content/uploads/sites/850/2012/10/wp2016-014.pdf
• https://www.cfr.org/backgrounders/economics-hosting-olympic-games
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/24131508_Mega-Events_The_effect_of_the_world's_biggest_sporting_events_on_local_regional_and_national_economies
• https://econjwatch.org/file_download/222/2008-09-coateshumphreys-com.pdf
• https://econjwatch.org/file_download/222/2008-09-coateshumphreys-com.pdf
• https://media.clemson.edu/economics/data/sports/Stadiums%20and%20Econ%20Impact/Matheson-2019-Journal_of_Policy_Analysis_and_Management.pdf
• https://www.blazersedge.com/trail-blazers-analysis/114957/portland-moda-center-portland-trail-blazers-arena-revenue-debate-sports-teams-city-revenue-taxes-deal
• https://www.kjzz.org/business/2026-05-10/diversification-matters-glendale-says-desert-diamond-arena-is-thriving-post-hockey
• https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/oakland-arena-coliseum-record-best-fiscal-year-of-all-time-after-sold-out-bad-bunny-k-pop-concerts/
• https://oaklandside.org/2026/06/16/how-hot-is-the-oakland-arena-a-second-bidder-has-emerged-to-buy-it/
• https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/keyarena-turns-a-bigger-profit-than-it-ever-did-with-the-sonics/
• https://journalistsresource.org/economics/sports-stadium-public-financing/
• https://idahocapitalsun.com/2024/07/03/smith-entertainment-group-estimates-spending-525-million-remodeling-delta-center/
• https://www.opb.org/article/2026/04/20/trail-blazers-moda-center-portland-basketball-sports/
• https://www.ripcitynotripoff.com
• https://weareripcity.org/#supporters
• https://www.opb.org/article/2026/07/16/portland-councilors-release-draft-term-sheet-as-business-coalition-presses-for-public-moda-center-funding/
• https://multnomah.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php
• https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7145153/2026/03/25/nba-expansion-seattle-las-vegas/

How the United States Built its Colonial Empire, Pt. 2

• How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr

• Colonial Crucible: Empire in the Making of the Modern American State edited by Alfred W. McCoy and Francisco A. Scarano

• The Anarchy of Empire in the Making of U.S. Culture by