Robert Reich’s latest book Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America is a deeply felt, compelling memoir of growing up in a baby-boom America that made progress in certain areas, but fell short in so many important ways, and still has lots of work to do. It’s a thought-provoking, principled, candid chronicle of the culture, politics, and economic choices that have landed us where we are today—with irresponsible economic bullies and corporations with immense wealth and lobbying power on top, demagogues on the rise, and increasing inequality fueling anger and hatred across the country.
Nine months after World War II, Robert Reich was born into a united America with a bright future—which went unrealized for so many as big money took over our democracy. His encounter with school bullies on account of his height—4’11” as an adult—set him on a determined path to spend his life fighting American bullies of every sort. He recounts the death of a friend in the civil rights movement; his political coming of age witnessing the Berkeley free speech movement; working for Bobby Kennedy and Senator Eugene McCarthy; experiencing a country torn apart by the Vietnam War; meeting Hillary Rodham in college, Bill Clinton at Oxford, and Clarence Thomas at Yale Law.
He details his friendship with John Kenneth Galbraith during his time teaching at Harvard, and subsequent friendships with Bernie Sanders and Ted Kennedy; he talks of his efforts as labor secretary for Clinton and economic advisor to Barack Obama. Ultimately, Reich asks: What did his generation accomplish and did they make America better, more inclusive, more tolerant? Did they strengthen democracy or come up short? With his characteristic spirit and humor, Reich outlines how we can reclaim a sense of community and a democratic capitalism based on the American ideals that he believes we still have the power to salvage.
Bernie Sanders applauds Reich because he has dedicated his life to public service. “I am a big fan of Robert Reich. He is the rare academic who addresses the real problems facing America and fights to fix an economic system propelled by uncontrollable greed and contempt for human decency. He has used every position and platform at his disposal to reverse the unbridled pursuit of power and profit by the ultra-wealthy at the expense of working people. We would all do well to follow his example.”
“Being bullied as a child helped Reich become a champion for the little guy. As Secretary of Labor, political economist, and public intellectual, he has called out the bullies, demagogues, and oligarchs who exploit working people and now threaten to subvert democracy. With characteristic wit and verve, Reich’s thoroughly absorbing memoir shows how his generation fell short in achieving a just society, and how the next generation can do better.”—Michael Sandel.
Speakers
Robert B. Reich
Robert B. Reich recently retired as Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. He has served in three presidential administrations, Republican and Democrat, as Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton, and has written eighteen books, including The Work of Nations (translated into twenty-two languages) and the bestsellers The Common Good, Saving Capitalism, and Locked in the Cabinet. His articles have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. He is a columnist at Newsweek and The Guardian, and writes a daily newsletter. He is co-creator of the award-winning film Inequality for All and the Netflix original Saving Capitalism, and co-founder of Inequality Media. He lives in Berkeley, CA.
Richard Parker
Reich is interviewed by Richard Parker, who has taught for over 30 years at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He also co-founded Mother Jones, is the award- winning biographer of economist John Kenneth Galbraith, and served with Joseph Stiglitz as economic advisor to Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou. Parker helped build environmental group Greenpeace from 2,000 supporters to 650,000; he also worked with Norman Lear to launch People for the American Way; and served both Sens. George McGovern and Edward Kennedy. He serves on the board of The Nation magazine and the anti-gun-violence group March for Our Lives. He and Robert Reich have been friends for more than 60 years
Video
History
LIVING IN THE SHADOW OF OUR FATHERS
Omo Moses‘s book, The White Peril, is a coming-of-age story, a multigenerational family memoir, an epic father-son road trip, a searing account of the Black male experience. Moses deftly interweaves his own life story with excerpts from both his great-grandfather’s sermons and the writings of his father, the civil rights activist Robert P. Moses.
Culture
In Between
Mark Morrison-Reed, a Unitarian Universalist minister, discusses In Between: Memoir of an Integration Baby, his memoir of growing up during the era of the civil rights movement.
History
Colored People
Henry Louis Gates, Chairman of the Afro-American Studies Department at Harvard University, discusses his book Colored People, a memoir that weaves personal narrative with social history of the 1950s.