What Happened to Bagel Stores and Cinnabon?

In the early-2000s Great American Carb Inquisition, smug bow-tie charlatan Dr. Robert Atkins convinced a nation of bacon-worshipping denialists that calories were a myth, willpower was for losers, and the real enemy wasn’t overeating entire deep-dish pizzas but innocent carbs—especially the treacherous bagel and the satanic cinnamon roll—that supposedly spiked insulin and handcuffed fat to your ass forever. America went full cult mode: low-carb aisles popped up like panic bunkers, restaurants castrated burgers, office bagels vanished into witness protection, and Cinnabon became dietary war crime central, all while early water-weight whooshes tricked morons into thinking they’d hacked biology. Physics eventually bitch-slapped the fantasy—calories still ruled, saturated fat wasn’t suddenly heart medicine, Atkins himself died looking suspiciously un-shredded—and corporate America swooped in with low-carb Twinkies to keep the processed grift alive. Decades later, after keto reboots and gluten exorcisms, waistlines kept climbing because the true villains (giant portions, endless ultra-processed snacking, sedentary screen lives) never got torched. The bagel was framed, you paranoid dipshits; breakfast deserves parole. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit misongrey.substack.com