We are not all experiencing the same pandemic. According to Georges C. Benjamin MD, the Executive Director of the American Public Health Association, minorities bear this catastrophe’s brunt by a large margin. “African-Americans, for example, with this COVID outbreak, are three times more likely to get infected and two times more likely to die,” he…
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Social mobility is a vital part of the generalized American Dream—the act of creating a brighter future for yourself and your family by moving to a higher income class. However, it’s an idea that has become increasingly difficult to translate into concrete results, due to decades of wage stagnation, systemic racism, and increasing income inequality….
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The United States has a long and unpleasant history when it comes to Native Americans and education. The long-standing boarding school program severely damaged Indigenous communities; erased millennia-old customs, histories, and languages; and inflicted generational trauma still present in tribes today. The era of boarding schools is now a thing of the past, but the…
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Kathryn Edin is one of the nation’s leading poverty researchers, who works in the domains of welfare and low-wage work, family, and life, through direct, in-depth observations of the lives of low-income populations. We discuss the evisceration of welfare, the rise of destitution, and the absolute necessity of cash in an advanced capitalist society.
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Thomas Abt is a Senior Fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice, and author of Bleeding Out, The Devastating Consequences of Urban Violence–and a Bold New Plan for Peace in the Streets. We talk about why violence must be tackled first, how it is the lynchpin of concentrated urban poverty, and what effective violence reduction strategies should look like.
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Daniel Markovits is the author of The Meritocracy Trap as well as Guido Calabresi Professor of Law at Yale Law School. His book places meritocracy at the center of rising economic inequality and social political dysfunction. We talk about how the myth of meritocracy feeds inequality and erodes democracy.
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Robert L. Tsai is a law professor at American University and an expert in constitutional law. His latest book, Practical Equality, is a call to arms for equality and social progress. We discuss why equality is essential for citizens in a democracy and how the law can often serve as the primary mechanism to ensure justice.
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David Greising is the President and CEO of the Better Government Association, Illinois’ only non-partisan full-service watchdog organization. Through investigative reporting and policy advocacy, BGA works towards transparency, efficiency, and accountability in government. We discuss the value of exposing corruption and empowering citizens to engage and act.
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Louise Dubé is the Executive Director of iCivics, an organization whose mission is to cultivate a new generation of students for thoughtful and active citizenship. We discuss the critical importance of high-quality civics education, the role of iCivics games in effective learning, and the necessity for robust investment and legislation in this space.
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Billy Bragg is an acclaimed songwriter, activist, and author. We recently sat down in front of a live audience at Columbia University’s Holder Initiative to discuss his latest book, The Three Dimensions of Freedom, the current state of Western Democracy, how we got here, and what we can do to make it better.
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