The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich

Friends, Welcome back to our Saturday coffee klatch with Heather Lofthouse. Today we examine: — The temporary ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. What does it really mean? — Black Friday holiday sales. My personal relationship to the day. Consumer spending is up, so why are so many people down on the Biden economy? — Bob’s new Substack series on the reality of American capitalism and whether Ameri...

Friends, Welcome back to our Saturday coffee klatch with Heather Lofthouse. Today we examine: — House Republicans will not kick out George Santos despite his fake resume and mounting evidence of illegal activity. Will the GOP and Santos be held accountable? — Incidents of violence and potential violence in the House and Senate, among lawmakers. Why is this happening? — Trump’s full-throated fascis...

Friends, Welcome back to our Saturday coffee klatch with Heather Lofthouse. Today we examine: — The results of races in Ohio, Kentucky, and elsewhere in “red America” are showing how out of step the GOP’s white Christian nationalism is with the majority of Americans. How much encouragement should Democrats take from this? — Mike Johnson’s utter inability to get anything done , including a continui...

Friends, Good morning, and welcome back to my Saturday coffee klatch with Heather Lofthouse (executive director of Inequality Media Civic Action), where we examine the highs, lows, and even lower points of the previous week. Please pull up a chair, grab a cup, and join us. This week, Heather and I zoom in on: — The war in Gaza. Why not a humanitarian pause? Why is Mike Johnson, the new speaker of...

Friends, Good morning, and welcome back to my Saturday coffee klatch with Heather Lofthouse (executive director of Inequality Media Civic Action), where we examine the highs, lows, and even lower points of the previous week. Please pull up a chair, grab a cup, and join us. Today we examine: — The new speaker of the House, Mike Johnson. Who is he? What does his speakership mean? What does it bode f...

Friends, Good morning, and welcome back to my Saturday coffee klatch with Heather Lofthouse (executive director of Inequality Media Civic Action), where we examine the highs, lows, and even lower points of the previous week. Please pull up a chair, grab a cup, and join us. Today we’re adding a new feature so you can watch as well as hear us (should you wish). And we apologize for the technical dif...

Friends, Good morning, and welcome back to my Saturday coffee klatch with Heather Lofthouse (executive director of Inequality Media Civic Action), where we examine the highs, lows, and even lower points of the previous week. Please pull up a chair, grab a cup, and join us. Today, we look at: — The tragedy in Israel and Gaza. Who and what are responsible? Is Israel solving anything by bombing and m...

Friends, Good morning, and welcome back to my Saturday coffee klatch with Heather Lofthouse (executive director of Inequality Media Civic Action), where we examine the highs, lows, and even lower points of the previous week. Please pull up a chair, grab a cup, and join us. This morning we look at: — The life and death of Senator Dianne Feinstein (who was a friend to both of us). What’s her legacy...

Friends, Good morning, and welcome back to my Saturday coffee klatch with Heather Lofthouse (executive director of Inequality Media Civic Action), where we examine the highs, lows, and even lower points of the previous week. This morning we examine: — Kevin McCarthy’s Republican House mess. Will there be a shutdown? Almost certainly. Who’ll be blamed? Why is Trump pushing for this? — The UAW strik...

Friends, Good morning, and welcome back to my Saturday coffee klatch with Heather Lofthouse (executive director of Inequality Media Civic Action), where we examine the highs, lows, and even lower points of the previous week. This morning we examine: — The awful polls showing Donald Trump running neck-and-neck with Joe Biden. How is that possible? Should we be concerned? — Biden as much more progre...

Friends, Good morning, and welcome back to my Saturday coffee klatch with Heather Lofthouse (executive director of Inequality Media Civic Action), where we examine the highs, lows, and even lower points of the previous week. Today we look at: — The “Goldilocks” economy — inflation is coming down, but we’re not heading into a recession. Yesterday’s jobs report showed continuous buoyant growth of jo...

Friends, Good morning, and welcome back to my Saturday coffee klatch with Heather Lofthouse (executive director of Inequality Media Civic Action), where we examine the highs, lows, and even lower points of the previous week. Pull up a chair and grab a mug shot. This morning we’re looking at: — Trump’s arraignment in Georgia on Thursday, and his brazen use of imagery and marketing to circumvent rat...

Friends, Good morning, and welcome back to my Saturday coffee klatch with Heather Lofthouse (executive director of Inequality Media Civic Action), where we examine the highs, lows, and even lower points of the previous week. This morning we’re looking at: — Trump’s FOURTH indictment, this one in Georgia, and why it could be the one that sends him to jail. — The upcoming Republican primary debate,...

Friends, Good morning, and welcome back to my Saturday coffee klatch with Heather Lofthouse (executive director of Inequality Media Civic Action), where we examine the highs, lows, and even lower points of the previous week. This morning we’re looking at: — Merrick Garland’s appointment of a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden. Will this hurt or help Joe Biden? — Judge Tanya Chutkan’s thre...

Friends, Good morning and welcome back to my Saturday coffee klatch with Heather Lofthouse (executive director of Inequality Media Civic Action), where we examine the highs, lows, and even lower points of the previous week. This morning we’re looking at: — The Trump arraignment in Washington on Thursday. What was notable? What does it suggest about Trump’s future? — Friday’s jobs report. Are we ab...

Friends, Welcome back to our Saturday coffee klatch, where Heather Lofthouse (executive director of Inequality Media Civic Action, and my former student) and I discuss the highlights and lowlights of the week. Today we share with you our discussion before a live audience at the San Francisco Arts and Lectures series. We focus on: — Parallels between what occurred in the midterm elections of 2022 a...

Friends, Welcome back to our Saturday coffee klatch, where Heather Lofthouse (executive director of Inequality Media Civic Action, and my former student) and I discuss the highlights and lowlights of the week. Today, on our roster: — The pending Trump indictment for his attempted coup. When will it drop? What does it mean? Will it strengthen democracy or drive us farther apart? Where will this end...

Welcome back to another Saturday coffee klatch with Heather Lofthouse, where we examine the lows and even lowers of the previous week. Today on our roster: — The Hollywood strike, and what it really means for the new economy. — The FTC’s setback on its attempt to stop Microsoft from acquiring Activision, and what it means for the new economy. — The good news on inflation, and what it means for Bid...

Welcome back to another Saturday coffee klatch with Heather Lofthouse, where we examine the lows and lowers of the previous week. Today on our roster: — Jobs, the economy, and Bidenomics. With everything going well, why are Americans so unhappy? — The presidential sweepstakes. Should we worry that Trump is even more outrageous but seemingly physically strong, while Biden is competent but seemingly...

Welcome back to our coffee klatch, where Heather and I discuss the lows and lowers of the previous week. Today we examine: — Inequality on the high seas. Billionaires’ yachts, unsafe submersibles, and dangerous crossings for migrants. Where will this end? — Inequality on the high court. Billionaires and the justices. Where will this end? — Inequality in Big Tech. Google, Facebook, and Twitter open...

Friends, Welcome back to another Saturday coffee klatch, where Heather and I review the highs and lows (and even lowers) of the week. Today we focus on: — Trump’s arrest. Why was there no violence, as many had feared? Can we possibly elect a president who’s in prison? — Trump’s promise to appoint a special prosecutor to “go after Biden and the entire Biden crime family” if Trump is reelected presi...

Friends, Welcome back to my Saturday coffee klatch with Heather Lofthouse (executive director of Inequality Media Civic Action, and my former student) where we discuss the highs and lows (and often, these days, even lowers) of the week. On tap for today: — The Justice Department’s momentous decision to indict Trump. What’s the likely political and legal fallout? — The Supreme Court’s decision to s...

Lots of news this week, but we thought it a good time to push the pause button for a moment. We get so much mail from so many of you who are curious about, well, us — especially how we got to political views and values we have, and how our stories compare to yours. So we thought we’d spend today’s klatch on the personal and political.  Among the issues we talk about are: — Our political “awakening...

Friends, Welcome back to my Saturday coffee klatch with Heather Lofthouse (executive director of Inequality Media Civic Action, and my former student), when we review the highs and lows (and sometimes very lows) of the week. Today we focus on: — Ron DeSantis will be announcing his run for the Republican nomination next week. Does he have a prayer? — Trump’s Georgia indictment will likely be announ...

Friends, While MAGA Republicans in the House attack and investigate what they dub Biden’s “weaponized” federal government and blast Democratic mayors for being “soft on crime,” they are blatantly ignoring the crimes of their allies in plain sight. After Rep. George Santos was arrested and charged with 13 federal crimes — seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of th...