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PODCAST

The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich exposes where power lies in our system — and how it"s used and abused. robertreich.substack.com

news politics

All Episodes

43:53

Will I Get Canceled? | The Coffee Klatch for...

The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich ·

2025/09/20

Friends,Today Michael and I take a deep dive into ABC’s decision this week to fire late-night entertainer Jimmy Kimmel — and why ABC caved to Trump and Trump’s FCC. The decision came barely two months after CBS canceled Stephen Colbert’s contract, for similar reasons. What’s the underlying story?Are we on the verge of an authoritarian clampdown on criticism of the Trump regime? If so, what are our options and responsibilities? We explore the economics and the politics of free speech, what it

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39:37

Trump Fuels Even More Anger | The Coffee Klatch for...

The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich ·

2025/09/13

Friends,Today Heather and I take a hard look at political violence in America — not just this week’s heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk but other violence I’ve witnessed, and the nation’s history of violence in politics — and we ask whether there’s something unique to American culture that harbors such deep hatred that people feel compelled to murder others for their political beliefs. Yesterday, Trump doubled down on blaming what he calls the “radical left” for political violence in the United

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33:21

Trump’s Doomed Economy | Coffee Klatch for Saturday,...

The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich ·

2025/09/06

Friends,Trump’s economy is going down what he describes as a “sh*thole.” Job growth has stalled and prices continue to rise. The problem is it’s not just Trump’s economy; it’s also our economy. Today, Heather and I try to give some context to the bad economic news — looking at what it means politically, who is suffering most, and how it can possibly be turned around. Along the way, we talk about the extraordinary push-back by the federal courts and the hopes for the Democrats, and we venture into

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36:24

The Occupation of America | Coffee Klatch for...

The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich ·

2025/08/30

Friends,Today Heather and I come to you from one of our favorite local bookstores to emphasize the importance of free speech, free expression, and freedom to criticize the current regime — even as it seeks ever-greater control over the media, universities, museums, and our cities. Our neofascist emergency worsens.Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, take our poll, and join in the conversation. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus

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52:41

How to Stop Trump’s Second Coup | The Coffee Klatch...

The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich ·

2025/08/23

Friends,Michael and I are coming to you today from the Empire Café in Houston, Texas, where the coffee is superb and the service comes with a smile (the café’s motto is “corporate coffee sucks”). It’s a bit noisy here (for which I apologize) but, hey, that’s what you get when you mix it up with real people. While I’m apologizing, I also want to apologize for the petition that was inadvertently posted on this page yesterday. When its provenance couldn’t be validated, I had it taken down. I should

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53:24

Trump’s Fascist Thuggery | The Coffee Klatch for...

The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich ·

2025/08/16

Friends, Today, Heather and I discuss Trump’s occupation of Washington, D.C.; his meeting with war-criminal Putin; his takeover of key industries; his demands that Republican governors gerrymander their states to find more Republican seats; and his widening corruption. (If I had written the previous sentence several years ago, I would have thought it a parody. But it’s not. It’s real, and it’s fascist thuggery)Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, take our poll, and join in the discussion. This is

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43:24

Trump's 24-Karat Corruption | The Coffee Klatch for...

The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich ·

2025/08/09

Friends,Today Heather and I look into Trump’s efforts to get payoffs (such as the 24-karat gold bar that Apple’s Tim Cook gave him apparently in return for exempting Apple from import taxes on semiconductors); Trump’s attacks on facts he doesn’t like (such as the latest jobs report); and his methods of achieving political outcomes he wants (such as instructing Texas to come up with five more House seats). We explain how each of these connects to one another, and how the result is the opposite of

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47:40

The Trumping of America | The Coffee Klatch for...

The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich ·

2025/08/02

Friends,Today, Heather and I look at how Trump has moved almost all law and policy into personal deal-making — whether it’s what tariff rate (that is, import tax) is to apply to which country, which corporations will be exempted from import taxes, which universities have to do what to satisfy him, which law firms have to do what to avoid his penalties, which media corporations have to genuflect in which ways to gain his approval or avoid his wrath, and so on. It’s a form of government completely

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49:46

Will Ghislaine Pardon Trump? | The Coffee Klatch for...

The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich ·

2025/07/26

Friends,Today we take another deep dive into the murky world of Epstein and Trump, looking at how Trump’s consolidation of power has made it harder for him to rebut charges of a cover-up. We also look at the stories that “Epsteingate” has crowded out this week: Palestinian children starving in Gaza because of Netanyahu’s policies (backed by Trump), more than a third of all federal judges complaining that Trump is defying them, and a mind-boggling number of people being detained in ICE’s inhumane

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40:46

Epstein's Ghost | The Coffee Klatch for July 19, 2025

The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich ·

2025/07/19

Friends,Today, Heather and I explore why Jeffrey Epstein’s death in 2019 is now shaking the foundations of Trump and his regime. Why now? What is there about this alleged conspiracy that has made Trump so vulnerable? What does it tell us more broadly about the soaring distrust in our society toward elites that Trump exploited to get elected in 2016 and then again in 2024? What does it suggest Democrats ought to do, now and in the ramp-up to the 2026 midterm elections? Please pull up a chair, grab a

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37:11

We Should Stop Calling Him Our “President” | The...

The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich ·

2025/07/12

Friends,Today, Heather, Michael, and I do a deep dive into the cruel incompetence of the Trump regime — how Trump is hurting millions of people for no reason, whether he’s doing it because of cruelty or incompetence, and what all of us can do about it between now and the 2026 midterm elections (including not calling him “President,” because he considers himself president of only the people who voted for him). Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, take our poll, and join in the discussion. This is a

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39:11

Fascism On The Fourth | The Coffee Klatch for July 5,...

The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich ·

2025/07/05

Friends,Happy Fourth of July weekend. Today Heather and I examine Trump’s newly enacted Big Ugly Bill — its record-breaking redistribution of income upward, its budget-busting deficits, and its creation of an anti-immigrant police state. And we explore whether there’s anything positive that could possibly come of this. Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, take our poll, and join the conversation. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus

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22:15

Mamdani! | The Saturday Coffee Klatch for June 28, 2025

The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich ·

2025/06/28

Friends,Today, Heather and I come to you from Central Park in New York City, where we assess the remarkable upset victory of 33-year-old Zohran Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, over former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, in the race for New York City mayor.We also take a look at the bind Trump and his lackeys have gotten themselves into — with an attack on Iran that the Defense Intelligence Agency says sets back Iran’s nuclear program by only three months and that didn’t touch Iran’s

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39:37

Trump’s Ultimate Power Trip? | The Coffee Klatch

The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich ·

2025/06/21

Friends,Today Heather and I look at the war in Iran through the lens of Donald Trump’s insatiable need to expand and display his power. How can he even consider getting America into this war without consulting Congress? Doesn’t doing so also violate his promise to the American people in the 2024 election that he would avoid foreign entanglements? And who is advising him, now that half of the professionals on the National Security Council have been fired and neither Tulsi Gabbard (who’s supposed to

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52:33

Fighting Trump | The Coffee Klatch for June 14, 2025

The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich ·

2025/06/14

Friends,Today, Michael and I take a deep dive into Trump’s most authoritarian week yet. (Heather will be back next week.) We ask: Why did he choose this week to escalate his dragnet raids? From what does he want to deflect our attention? What kind of trap is he laying? What must we be careful to do and avoid doing today, as he conducts a military parade in Washington to celebrate his military might and his birthday, just as other authoritarian leaders have done — and as many protest his rising

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48:03

Ultimate Fighting Championship | The Coffee Klatch...

The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich ·

2025/06/07

Friends,That any of us have to care about the messy breakup of these two malignant narcissists — and that they both individually wield such massive power — is an indictment of our political system and further proves the poisonous influence of Big Money on our democracy. That’s today’s Coffee Klatch theme. Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, take our survey, and join the conversation. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes,

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38:40

Is Musk Gone for Good? | The Coffee Klatch for...

The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich ·

2025/05/31

Friends,Today Heather and I examine whether the three big political events of this week — Musk’s leaving the White House, the U.S. Court of International Trade’s striking down Trump’s tariffs, and Senate Republicans’ being stymied over Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful” (actually Ugly) budget bill — signal the beginning of the end of Trump. Is Elon really gone for good? Are Trump’s tariffs in real trouble? Is his Big Ugly bill destined for the political junkyard? We’ll probe these and other

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30:22

The Gerontocracy Problem

The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich ·

2025/05/29

Friends,V Spehar invited me to join them today to talk about how we should deal with America’s aging politicians — our “gerontocracy.” I’m something of an expert on the subject because I’ve been around politicians for over 50 years. Also I’m getting up there (I’ll be 79 years old soon). And I recently retired from teaching because I didn’t want to give students anything less than my best. So I know how difficult it is to give up a job you love. But, as I mention to V, we need a system that allows

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32:39

What Should We Do Now? Live with Rev. Dr. William J....

The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich ·

2025/05/29

Friends,One of my favorite people in the world is the Reverend Dr. William Barber, whose moral and strategic insights at this horrific moment in our nation’s history are invaluable. I asked him to join me today to talk about what all of us can do to unite people in America in pursuit of social justice and against Trump. Barber is a Protestant minister, social activist, professor in the Practice of Public Theology and Public Policy and founding director of the Center for Public Theology and Public

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37:32

The New Fascism | Coffee Klatch for May 24, 2025

The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich ·

2025/05/24

Friends, Today Heather and I look at the Trump regime’s decision to bar international students from Harvard and ask, what’s the difference between a neofascist diktat and Trump’s orders? As in fascism, Trump arbitrarily targets particular institutions and people, then takes away their freedoms for no reason other than that they’ve opposed the regime. (In recent days, the regime has also charged, investigated, or threatened to investigate Kamala Harris, Letitia James, Andrew Cuomo, Bruce Springsteen,

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