This interview with former Congressman Beto O’Rourke was originally released on May 5, 2018. We are reposting this episode because he is now a candidate for the highest office of the land. He is again running a people-powered campaign, visiting as many communities as possible in order to listen to the needs and concerns of every day Americans.

Revisit some of the highlights of this season that gave us so much insight into poverty in America, added to our discourse, and helped us revise our thinking.

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.

Stephen Pimpare is a nationally recognized expert on poverty, homelessness, and U.S. Social policy, as well as a Faculty Fellow at the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire. We discuss the history and deep indignities of poverty, the stubborn misconceptions, as well as successful public policies that can guide our future.

Gail Joseph is the Founding Executive Director of Cultivate Learning at the University of Washington and the Bezos Family Foundation Distinguished Professor in Early Learning. We discuss the critical importance of high-quality programs, the costs to society of not investing in this space, and the necessity of a well-educated early learning workforce.

Dan Weissmann is the host of a podcast on the cost of health care called "An Arm and A Leg" as well as a veteran reporter for outlets such as "Marketplace" and "Planet Money". We discuss the complexities of picking a health insurance plan, the extreme vigilance we need to practice as health care consumers, and how to navigate getting good care and good coverage.

Maria Foscarinis is the founder and executive director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, and has advocated for solutions to homelessness at the national level since 1985. We discuss why housing is a human right, how criminalization of the homeless is both perverse and ineffective, and examine the leading reasons behind the affordable housing crisis.

Max Kenner is the founder and executive director of the Bard Prison Initiative, a college that is spread across six interconnected prisons in New York State. We discuss the enduring value of the liberal arts, the immense power of an education on reducing recidivism, and the critical importance of deep investments in human beings.

Stephen Bright served as the director of the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, and is currently a lecturer at Yale Law School, as well as professor of practice at Georgia State College of Law. We discuss the death penalty in the United States and its relationship to poverty, race, and disadvantage.

Ross Morales Rocketto is co-founder of Run For Something, an organization that supports diverse, young progressives running for state and local office. We discuss which candidates win, why building a bench of local and state politicians is important, and how an increase of candidates leads to better voter turnout.