Robert Reich Calls Out Corporate Power Threatening US Democracy [Episode Cut, Rewind]

Synopsis:  As a bestselling author of 18 books, including "Aftershock" and "The System: Who Rigged It and How We Fix It", Robert Reich shares his insights on how to address growing income inequality and its impact on politics and economy.

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Description (original air date September 14, 2025)-  The crisis we’re in was a long time coming. Now that we’re here, what do we do about it? Returning to the show, former Labor Secretary and longtime professor Robert Reich joins Laura Flanders to discuss two bullies tormenting U.S. democracy: concentrated wealth and corporate power. As Reich shares, growing income inequality yields corruption in our politics and economy. No one election will change everything, but that’s not a reason not to act, and act quickly to defeat the Trump administration — in Congress, and at the polls. Reich’s latest Substack, “Should Democrats Shut Down the Government?” presents some ideas. Reich's latest book is “Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America”. He  is also the subject of “The Last Class” about his final semester teaching at UC Berkeley's Goldman School. He's the author of eighteen books, including the bestsellers, “Aftershock” and “The System: Who Rigged It and How We Fix It,” and is co-founder of Inequality Media. Online, you can find Reich’s viral video explainers and his widely-read newsletter on Substack. Join Reich and Flanders as they unpack how economic and political power intersect in American life – and catch Laura’s two cents on “democratic capitalism.”

“If the Republicans who now control Congress say, “‘We're not going to give you any role at all, and we are not even going to reassume our constitutional role as Congress,’ then I think the Democrats have no choice but to say, ‘Forget it. That's it. The only way we bring attention to this crisis is we stop and shut the whole place down.’” - Robert Reich

“More than a century ago, we had the first Gilded Age in the United States . . . We had the equivalent of billionaires, the equivalent of Elon Musk . . . Why would we not have another Progressive Era as a response to the Gilded Age? We are now in the second Gilded Age.” - Robert Reich

Guest:  Robert Reich- Former Secretary of Labor; Professor Emeritus, University of California Berkeley; Author, Coming Up Short: My Memoir of America

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Full Episode Notes are located HERE.

-Related Podcast: Robert Reich Full Uncut Conversation 

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Music Credit:  'Dawn Smolders' by Bluedot Sessions, and original sound design by Jeannie Hopper

 

RESOURCES:

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Related Articles and Resources:

•  Documentary:  The Last Class with Robert Reich

•  “The Jobs Crash” by Robert Reich, Substack

•  Democrats Regain Advantage in Party Affiliation, by Jeffrey M. Jones, July 31, 2025, Gallup News

•  Bessent hails new ‘Trump accounts’ as ‘backdoor for privatizing Social Security, by Michael Stratford, July 30, 2025, Politico

•  Co-founded by Robert Reich: Inequality Media and Inequality Media Civic Action

•  Office Hours:  Who is MOST responsible for this catastrophe, other than Trump? By Robert Reich, September 3, 2025, SubStack

• Schumer:  Democrats ‘will force votes’ on Trump tariffs after disappointing jobs report, by Al Weaver, September 5, 2025, The Hill

 

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