the kohlberg foundation. barbara g. fleischman. and by our sole corporate sponsor, mutual of america, designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. >>> welcome. let's talk one more time about why inequality matters. some people say it doesn't, but they're living in an ideological fairyland on the far side of the looking glass. in the real world, inequality is a deep and divisive force. we see that politically all the time, as the rich buy elections and then shape the laws to their advantage. but in this episode, let's look at just one of the basic needs of life affected by inequality -- a place to live. across our country, millions of people of ordinary means can't afford decent housing. in new jersey, just on the other side of the hudson river from where i'm sitting, three out of five renters can't afford a two-bedroom apartment at market rates. and across the continent in san francisco, residents, including many from an anguished middle class, have taken to the streets to

the kohlberg foundation. barbara g. fleischman. and by our sole corporate sponsor, mutual of america, designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. >> welcome. trade, money and politics are our issues this week, and my guest is the outspoken journalist who runs the iconic "harper's magazine," which for 164 years now has thrown open its pages to some of the most ferociously independent voices in american letters, from mark twain, jack london and herman melville to william styron, joyce carol oates and david foster wallace. as the president and publisher of "harper's" for the last 31 years,john r. "rick" macarthur has been as ferocious a champion of democracy and journalism as any of those illustrious bylines that have appeared in its pages. i've never known him to pull his punches, whether he's writing in harper's, or in his newspaper columns, or in such books as "the selling of free trade," an expose of bipartisan collusion to enact nafta, the north american free trade agre

the kohlberg foundation. barbara g. fleischman.nd by our sole corporate sponsor, mutual of america, designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. >> welcome. what happened in washington over the past several days sent me back a century in time to the gilded age when senators and representatives were owned by wall street and big business and did the bidding of their monied masters by passing favorable laws that increased their already fabulous wealth. we have just watched the senate and the house aided and abetted by president obama reward financial interests that poured almost half a billion dollars into the midterm elections. they did it by slipping into the omnibus spending bill signed by the president a provision permitting wall street to resume the predatory practice of sticking the taxpayer with the bill if the gambles failed and this provision was drafted by the huge banking conglomerate citigroup. lo and behold, the citigroup language turns up in the final bill almos

the kohlberg foundation. barbara g. fleischman. and by our sole corporate sponsor, mutual of america, designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. >>> welcome. like many of you, i've been watching congress since the midterm elections, and what i've seen has me thinking of king louis xvi of france. his majesty was a good friend of the american revolution, but when he gave benjamin franklin a gold snuff box with the monarch's portrait surrounded with diamonds, some of our founding fathers objected. they worried that the gift would corrupt his judgment and unduly bias franklin in france's favor. ever since, we americans have been debating the meaning of corruption. today, gifts to politicians that were once called graft or bribes are called contributions. and the supreme court has ruled that powerful corporations and rich individuals can give just about anything they want to politicians who do their bidding, and it's not considered corruption. the watchdog sunlight foundation

the kohlberg foundation. barbara g. fleischman. and by our sole corporate sponsor, mutual of america, designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. >> welcome. i imagine we will be wondering for a long time to come about the particulars of what happened at that fatal moment in ferguson, missouri last summer, when officer darren wilson and young michael brown confronted each other. and how the arrest here in new york of eric garner could get so out of hand and lead to his death. and what possessed 12-year-old tamir rice to wave that pellet gun around a park in cleveland, or the police to kill him on the spot, within seconds. it's hard to sort out how these things happen. most of us who are not police or young and black are always outsiders, and only from afar can we weigh what little we know of the causes that led to each death. what we can think about more certainly are the indisputable facts. in recent years young black males are at far greater risk of being shot dead by p

the kohlberg foundation. barbara g. fleischman. and by our sole corporate sponsor, mutual of america, designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. >> welcome. trade, money and politics are our issues this week, and my guest is the outspoken journalist who runs the iconic "harper's magazine," which for 164 years now has thrown open its pages to some of the most ferociously independent voices in american letters, from mark twain, jack london and herman melville to william styron, joyce carol oates and david foster wallace. as the president and publisher of "harper's" for the last 31 years,john r. "rick" macarthur has been as ferocious a champion of democracy and journalism as any of those illustrious bylines that have appeared in its pages. i've never known him to pull his punches, whether he's writing in harper's, or in his newspaper columns, or in such books as "the selling of free trade," an expose of bipartisan collusion to enact nafta, the north american free trade agre

the kohlberg foundation. barbara g. fleischman. and by our sole corporate sponsor, mutual of america, designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. >> welcome. what happens when two college professors leave the theories of the classroom behind for the real world of bare-knuckle politics? well, they learn a lesson the hard way. just ask zephyr teachout and larry lessig. each is an outstanding scholar. she teaches constitutional and property law at fordham law school here in new york, and recently published this highly acclaimed book, "corruption in america: from benjamin franklin's snuff box to citizens united." larry lessig teaches law at harvard and directs that university's edmond j. safra center for ethics. both champion free and fair competition in our economy and our elections. zephyr teachout ran for governor of new york in the democratic primary against incumbent and friend of wall street, andrew cuomo. >> my name is zephyr teachout and i'm running in the democratic

the kohlberg foundation. barbara g. fleischman. and by our sole corporate sponsor, mutual of america, designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. >> welcome. in tuesday's elections, money tore its way through our political system like a flash fire and burned its way right down to the foundations. the non-partisan center for responsive politics finds that in races for the house of representatives, the candidate who spent the most money prevailed about 94 percent of the time; in senate races, about 81 percent of the time. much of it was "dark money" from shadowy groups that do not have to disclose their donors. you may never know who really owns the senator or representative, the governor or state judge you voted for. in this penumbra of politics, where corporations and billionaires can safely and secretly purchase shares in america, inc., the big winners on tuesday were the republican bag man karl rove, whose candidates prevailed in at least six senatorial races, and the o