I was saddened to learn of the recent passing of Donald Barlett. Here’s my 2012 conversation with him & Jim Steele, about their book, Betrayal of the American Dream – one of my favorites. Had the Democratic party heeded their warnings about rising inequality & the destruction of the Middle Class, Trump would never have been President. To say nothing of the positive impact on the lives of the millions whose feelings of being left behind fueled the rise of MAGA and the Right. Even more prescient – Betrayal was an update of 1992’s #1 best-seller, America: What Went Wrong. 

MARSHALL GANZ worked on organizing campaigns with Mississippi Freedom Summer in 1964 and Cesar Chavez and UFW for 16 years, helped devise the grass-roots organizing model for Obama’s 2008 campaign, and teaches organizing and public narrative at Harvard. We talk about his life’s work and his new book PEOPLE, POWER, CHANGE: Organizing for Democratic Renewal. You can learn more at marshallganz.com, hks.harvard.edu, or leadingchangenetwork.org 

Transcript – Ganz 11.19.2024

 

I talk with  PAULA DANIELS, Co-Founder, Chair of the Board of the Center for Good Food Purchasing, and recently announced initial director of the Los Angeles County Office of Food Equity, which aims to address the root causes of food-system problems in the region. We talk about what it takes to pull together elements of business, entrepreneurism, politics, government, science, and more to move the needle on a huge and complex system. The Center uses the power of procurement to create a food system that prioritizes the health and well-being of people, animals, and the environment. As its goals and standards are adopted by a growing national network of major food purchasers such as school districts, the program exerts growing leverage on the larger food system in America. You can learn more at GoodFoodPurchasing.org 

In 2024, Republicans won the popular vote for only the second time since 1980. After the worst four years of his life, Trump, running against the best administration for labor in years, won bigger numbers than 2020 among working class voters – including Blacks & Latinos. Hartmann’s new book, THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN DREAM: The Demise of the Middle Class – and How to Rescue Our Future, supplies the backstory to that damaging development. Biden finally dumped neo-liberalsim but voters didn’t know.

As we have for the last few elections, ROB JOHNSON – Executive Director of the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET) and host of podcast ECONOMICS & BEYOND – and I offer our post-mortems. Biden’s late withdrawal meant the Dems skipped primaries, debates, and a convention that would have tested candidates and messages. 2024 was another “change” election and they didn’t get the memo. Bad time to be an incumbent. Trump’s message: If you’re angry, vote for me. Turns out a lot of voters were angry.