The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich

Friends,

Ten days away from the midterms, the two most vile people in the United States (in the world?) — Elon Musk and Donald Trump — are plotting how to take over the elections. Musk is pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into Republican races and Trump is using the Justice Department to try to decertify Democratic wins even before they occur.

But as Heather and I explain, they won’t succeed.

Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and join in the conversation.

Friends,

Today, with just over two weeks to go until the midterm elections, Michael, Kamau, and I take stock of where we are: Trump is acting weirder than ever (which is saying something), his polls are lower than ever, inflation is higher than it’s been in years, his war in Iran is getting even worse and his cozying up to Putin even more bizarre.

So please grab a cuppa, pull up a chair, and join the conversation.

Robert Reich

Friends,

Today, Heather and I are joined by our colleague Vishal Shankar to review where the midterm elections now stand and the issues emerging from them. We take a deep dive into what Trump is doing to save — or, in reality, hurt — Republican Senate and House candidates, and what a Democratic Congress (if we get one) might realistically do.

Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and join the conversation.

RR

P.S. Heather and I will be at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, October 14 for a...

Friends,

Today, Heather and I take a hard look at the allegations over what occurred in a Cornell fraternity and explore why they’re sending tremors across America. Do they have anything to do with Trump’s toxic masculinity, the misogyny of his regime, and the male-dominant underpinnings of neofascism? With a culture of impunity fostered by Trump? We also look at the question of accountability in general and examine some of the other ways Trump and the manosphere — including the AI bros and the industry they’re hatching — are functioning with impunity.

Please pull up a chair...

Friends,

Five weeks from today, America will make a choice about the future of our democracy.

Today I talk about tyranny, Trump, and the upcoming midterm elections with Professor Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny as well as a number of other important books.

Snyder specializes in the history of Europe, the Soviet Union, and the Holocaust. He is currently Chair in Modern European History at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, and was previously Professor of History at Yale University. His books include Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and St...

Friends,

Today, Heather and I examine Trump’s efforts to silence criticism — not only by banning CNN, Politico, and MSNOW from the White House this week, but, even more worrisome, putting his billionaire buddy Larry Ellison and Larry’s son David in control of CNN as well as CBS News, HBO, TikTok, and other news outlets. (The deal to let Paramount acquire Warner Bros. Discovery went through this week with little public notice.)

We also look at the larger issue of Trump’s billionaire buddies owning the media (Washington Post, X, Facebook, YouTube, etc.). Also: where th...

Friends,

Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor are two of my favorite thinkers who see the large patterns of wealth and power in our world, and the consequences for our daily lives. Their latest book, End Times Fascism and the Fight for the Living World explains how neofascist groups — religious extremists, right-wing nativists, and techno billionaires — are planning for and seeking to bring an end to civilization, while they alone survive.

Klein and Taylor also talk about what we can do to encourage a counter-movement based on human interdependence, preservation of our planet, and social justice.

Friends,

Today, Heather and I take a deep dive into the debate over AI, why Trump is so against regulating it, and whether the CEOs of giant AI corporations who have called for regulation are sincere or seeking cover for the crises to come. We also look at Trump’s increasingly berserk behavior, his $2.8 billion arms sale to Israel, the worsening U.S. economy, and the latest on the midterm elections.

Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and join in the conversation.

As mentioned in today’s Klatch, I’m relaunching my “We...

Friends,

I’m taking the day off, and Heather, Kamau, and Michael are taking the reins. As you’ll see, they keep our klatch as lively, informative, and enjoyable as ever. They ask, among other things: How excited are you for that $5,000 Trump check? What the Flock is up with the surveillance state? And with gas prices off the charts, just how pissed are voters going to be ahead of the midterms?Btw, for Kamau’s stand-up dates: https://www.wkamaubell.com. Preorder Kamau’s new children’s book, Rock Paper Scissors Cheese here. And to catch a screenin...

Friends,

Today, W. Kamau Bell and Michael Lahanas Calderón join me to take a deep dive into the economy on this Labor Day weekend — which marks the start of the midterm elections. We look at what’s on the minds of voters in terms of jobs, wages, prices, and affordability and ask what all this is likely to mean for the outcome of the upcoming midterms as well as the well-being of the typical American family.

Heather is in New York for a screening of our new film, “The Work in Progress” (you can find out...

Friends,

Today Heather and I examine what Trump is doing as his war on Iran — which he promised would be over in “four to five weeks” — now exceeds six months, with no end in sight. Eager to show that he can still dominate and bully, he’s declared a nonsensical trade war on Canada. And he’s escalated his war on human rights here in the United States. It’s pathetic and also dangerous.

Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and join the conversation.

RR

Friends,

Here’s my conversation today with Heather Cox Richardson, in which we examine the origins of Trumpism. Professor Richardson is, of course, a major resource to all of us on substack. She’s also an historian who has specialized in 19th-century United States history, with a primary focus on American politics and economics.

We started our conversation with Heather’s reference to my 1994 talk to the Democratic Leadership Council, and then discussed the decline of the Democratic Party as the party of American workers — starting with Lewis Powell’s memo to the U.S. Chamber of...

Friends,

Today Heather and I take a deep dive into the wacko views and decisions of Trump’s treasury secretary, Scott Bessent — whose attempts to reduce long-term interest rates before the midterm elections have failed miserably, who believes that inequality is not widening in the United States, and who’s been opening the I.R.S. to Trump’s bonkers vindictiveness. (Oh, and he’s also been attacking me with colossally vapid ad hominem arguments.)

So please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and join in the conversation.

RR

Friends,

Today I’m taking a vacation. (It’s the second Klatch I’ve missed out of 230 since Heather and I began them on March 19, 2022.) But I’ve left you in good hands! Our good friend Kamau Bell is sitting in, and today he and Heather take a deep dive into how America can dump the Trump before he dumps America.

So please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and join in the discussion.

Friends,

Today, Heather and I take a deep dive into the so-called “civil war” inside the Democratic Party, between corporate Dems who keep spending enormous sums on primary races and progressives who keep winning them. We also look at the latest jobs report and Trump’s “trickle-down” economy, which continues to worsen. And we ponder why Anthony Fauci, of all people, has become the Republicans’ latest nemesis.

So grab a cuppa, pull up a chair, and join in the discussion.

Friends,

Today, Michael and I delve into Trump’s plummeting approval ratings and ask whether they’re due to the economy, Trump’s war (which obviously affects the economy), the Epstein files, Trump’s skyrocketing inflation, or Trump’s corruption. Along the way, we explore what Democrats ought to be advocating (and not) in the upcoming midterms.

Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and join in the conversation.

Friends,

Today, Heather and I take a dive into the muck of Trump, 101 days before the midterm elections. His war in Iran is worsening, with no end in sight. His economy is dropping, as gas and food prices soar and as his tariffs (import taxes) take their toll. His regime is descending into chaos, as public health is compromised, measles spreads, children aren’t getting nutrition assistance, and Medicaid is cut.

But how do we peacefully and legally get rid of him between now and the 2028 election? What’s our 2028 strategy for regaining the White Hous...

Friends,

Today, Michael and I take a close look at the sharp contrasts between artificial problems dreamed up by Trump (such as voter fraud) and real problems the nation is failing to deal with (such as big money poisoning our elections).

Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and join the conversation.

RR

Friends,

Welcome back to our 250th-plus-one-week anniversary edition! Hope you have had a good week, despite the cacophony out of Washington.

Today, Heather and I try to understand the real source of Trump’s power — his power to berate the heads of state at this week’s NATO and yet have them defer to him. His power to conduct a war in Iran that’s increasingly bogged down and which the American people don’t support. And his power to keep Republicans in Congress quietly neutered while much of his Republican base is outraged at his never...

I appreciate the active vocal participation of my neighbors, the organizing ability of Sally Baack, and excellent filming by Tia Liddell Ivery.

RR

Friends,

Today marks 250 years since we declared our independence from a vile, arbitrary, impulsive, capricious, greedy, selfish, narcissistic authoritarian. Oh, wait. Sorry, we’re not yet independent of Trump. But George III was pretty awful, too.

Today Heather and I examine where America has come — with a Supreme Court that thinks Trump and any successor president needs more power, a president who is making billions off his office, and an utter dud of Trump-glorification activities on the National Mall.

Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and join in our 250th July 4th c...

Friends,

Today, Heather and I examine all sorts of things that went wrong this week for Trump, starting with Iran’s attack on an oil tanker moving through the Strait of Hormuz and including Trump’s latest problems with the Reflecting Pool — the Strait of Warm Ooze.

Please grab a cuppa, pull up a chair, and join in the conversation.

Friends,

On today’s episode of the Coffee Klatch, Heather and I discuss Trump’s outright surrender to Iran, his algae-infested Reflecting Pool, Democrats’ plan to tackle his staggering corruption, and much more. Please join us.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

Friends,

Today Heather and I take a deep dive into Elon Musk’s new status as America’s first trillionaire — worth one thousand billion dollars — and its meaning for the future of American capitalism. How much of SpaceX’s valuation is based on hype? How much on connections in the Trump regime? How much on Musk’s lobbying of major stock index funds? Answer: almost all of it.

We also look at Musk and Trump’s (and Pete Hegseth’s and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s and JD Vance’s) obsession with male virility — where that comes from and ho...

Friends,

Today’s weather is so beautiful that Heather and I decided to have our coffee klatch outside on the Berkeley campus. Much to talk about — including the giant initial public stock offerings of the Artificial Intelligence behemoths Anthropic, OpenAI, and SpaceX, in coming weeks, expected to generate over a trillion dollars each. AI may create all sorts of fabulous things, but it’s also dangerous as hell, and the window is rapidly closing on what can be done to stop AI from eating our jobs and destroying the human race.

We also talk about Trump’...

Friends,

Trump and his Republicans say gas is hugely expensive in California because of state taxes and fees (mostly related to the environment).

Here’s the sign you’ll see at Chevron stations:

This is total rubbish. See my video, above.

Gas prices are higher in California because giant oil corporations like Chevron have more monopoly power in California than they have in other states, which gives them the power to charge higher prices and make a fatter return.

Chevron, by the way, is a direct descendant of the orig...

Friends,

Heather is back (after a grueling week; we wish her mother a speedy recovery).

Today we take a deep dive into Trump’s Department of Injustice, now headed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who’s criminally prosecuting Trump’s enemies — including private citizens such as E. Jean Carroll.

We also examine Trump and the Republican Party’s obsession with testosterone — part of the so-called “manosphere” — which includes the scheduling of UFC cage matches on the White House’s South Lawn, denigrating Democrats such as Senate candidate James Talarico as being “low T,” ridiculing LGBTQ+...

Friends,

Sorry for being a bit late this morning.

Today Michael and I take a deep dive into Trump’s corruption — beginning with CBS’s merger deal with Skydance that was conditioned, in part, on its canceling Stephen Colbert’s show (which is why I’m wearing a T-shirt I got when I appeared on Colbert’s “The Late Show”).

We then examine whether Jeff Bezos — the fourth-richest person in the world — is a knave or a fool for going on network television claiming that the richest 1 percent of Americans pay 40 percent of all taxes (a Trump-l...

Friends,

To say Trump’s trip to China was underwhelming is to give it even more credit than it deserves. In fact, Trump’s main purpose for making the trip probably wasn’t to accomplish anything important but to deflect attention, even for a few days, from his failing war in Iran (the strait is still closed, and Iran is more determined than ever to build a nuclear bomb) and his failing economy (the closure of the strait continues to push up gas prices in the U.S. to near record levels).

Today, Heather and I take...

Friends,

This morning, Michael and I (Heather is out today) delve into the redistricting wars — including the decision by the Virginia Supreme Court to cancel that state’s redistricting — and examine strategies still open to Democrats before the midterms. We also try to decipher what’s really happening in the Persian Gulf. And we take a close look at Trump’s sycophants Kash Patel at the FBI, Todd Blanche at Justice, Brendan Carr at the FCC, and Bill Pulte at the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the wrecking balls they’re wielding.

Given all this, we compare M...

Friends,

Today, Heather and I ask: Why is Trump so obsessed with his ballroom? What is actually going on in Iran? Is this the worst Supreme Court of all time?

We look ahead to the midterm elections in six months and make some predictions.

We’re also joined by Ben McKenzie to discuss Trump’s crypto corruption.

So please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and join in the discussion.

Joyce Vance was U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. I’m grateful to her for sharing her views on today’s shameful and dishonest Supreme Court decision kneecapping Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, in which Samuel Alito pretends he’s not nullifying Section 2 while doing exactly that. It’s a bad day for American democracy.

Friends,

Today, Heather and I try to make sense out of this week’s riddles: What is Trump’s strategy for reopening the Strait of Hormuz? What’s he doing to stop his base from unraveling over his failed war? How can he avoid a “blue wave” in the midterm elections? And, by the way, why are jobs so hard to come by these days, anyway?

We answer these and other riddles of the week. Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and join the conversation.

Friends,

Today Heather and I are joined by our colleague Michael, who helps us dissect a wild week. What’s the truth about the Strait of Hormuz? Why did Trump and Vance pick a fight with Pope Leo? Who or what’s behind the booming stock market?

We grapple with these and much more on today’s Klatch. Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and join in the conversation.

Friends,

Today, Heather and I examine this wildly horrendous week and tackle a basic question: Did the United States win its war with Iran, or lose it? We also take a deep dive into whether Trump is a war criminal for having threatened to cause the death of an entire civilization. And we talk with our friend journalist Amy Goodman, who’s out with a new movie about her life speaking truth to power.

So, please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and join in the conversation.

Friends,

Today Heather and I venture to the far corners of Trump’s galaxy. First, to the planet from which he’s viewing his war in Iran. He says he’s eliminated Iran’s capacities to threaten U.S. air power, but on Friday Iran shot down an American F-15E bomber.

Next we travel to planet Bondi, whom Trump has sacked. We ask why, and whether this is good news or bad — I think it’s bad. Then on to Trump’s ballroom fiasco, which a federal judge has halted. And we look at Trump’s Suprem...

Friends,

Today is the third (and hopefully the largest) No Kings Day demonstration across the nation — and Heather and Michael and I focus today’s Klatch on how Trump has managed to exert near-regal powers in America. We also give you an update on his calamitous war in Iran and how average Americans are paying for it. But — good news — we focus on how public opinion has shifted against him, as illustrated not only by his awful poll results but also a blue wave of Democratic wins in special elections. And as a special bonus, we offer our reco...

Friends,

That quote comes from someone who voted for Trump three times and now feels betrayed by his war in Iran and its consequential price increases for gas, food, and much else.

Today, Heather and I delve into why Trump is losing his MAGA base, why he’s losing his war in Iran, why he’s losing the economy — and why he’s losing his mind.

We look at Iran’s strategy for outlasting Trump and Israel, based on maximizing the political and economic pressure on Trump.

We also look at Trump’s li...

Friends,

Today Heather and I are joined by E. Jean Carroll — journalist, author, advice columnist (her “Ask E. Jean” column appeared in Elle magazine from 1993 through 2019) … and target of Trump’s sexual assault. Her book Not My Type, subtitled One Woman Against a President, chronicled what happened, and the court cases she initiated against Trump — and won. It’s a fabulous, frightening, but also funny (really!) account. Heather surprised me by snagging E. Jean for our Klatch.

We’ll start with an assessment of Trump’s war, then turn to E. Jean.

Please pull up a chair, g...