Join former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and Harvard Kennedy School professor Richard Parker for a powerful and personal conversation on democracy, inequality, and the moral foundations of a good society. In this talk, Reich reflects on his memoir Coming Up Short, shares lessons from decades in public service, and explores the roots of political disillusionment in America.
From the rise of authoritarianism to the erosion of democratic institutions, Reich and Parker examine the forces shaping our political landscape—and offer hope through civic engagement, progressive values, and the next generation of leaders.
Robert B. Reich is professor of public policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He last served in government as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. His articles have appeared in *The New Yorker*, *The Atlantic Monthly*, *The New York Times*, *The Washington Post*, and *The Wall Street Journal*. He contributes weekly commentaries to *Marketplace* on public radio, appears regularly on television, and is a cofounding editor of *The American Prospect*. In 2003 Reich was awarded the prestigious Vaclav Havel Foundation Prize for pioneering work in economic and social thought. He lives in Berkeley, California.
Richard Parker is Lecturer in Public Policy and Senior Fellow of the Shorenstein Center at Harvard Kennedy University. An economist by training, he is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Oxford University. He has worked as an economist for the UNDP, as co-founder of *Mother Jones Magazine*, and as head of his own consulting firm, serving congressional clients, including Senators Kennedy, Glenn, Cranston, and McGovern, among others. Parker has held Marshall, Rockefeller, Danforth, Goldsmith, and Bank of America Fellowships. His books include: The Myth of the Middle Class , a study of U.S. income distribution;Mixed Signals: The Future of Global Television News ; and the intellectual biography, John Kenneth Galbraith: His Life, His Politics, His Economics. His articles have appeared in numerous academic anthologies and journals and in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, New Republic, Nation, Harper's, Le Monde, Atlantic Monthly, and International Economy, among others.
