The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich

Friends, What do we make of 2025, other than that it was a horrible and cruel year? On today’s Klatch, Heather and I sift through your questions about what we’ve been through, what it means, what are the big lessons...

Friends, I recently had the delight of conversing with acclaimed author Michael Lewis ( The Big Short, Liar’s Poker, Moneyball, Flash Boys, Going Infinite, The Fifth Risk, The Premonition, The Blind Side, The Undoing...

Friends, Today, Heather and I take a deep dive into Trump’s increasingly addled brain — seeking to understand how quickly he’s losing his capacities and the dangers this poses for the rest of us. We begin with his...

Friends, Today, Heather and I — along with our Gen Z associates Katie Milne and Vishal Shankar — explore why the Republican Party is in near revolt against Trump. Congressional Republicans repeatedly rebuked him this...

Friends, Trump evidently persuaded Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, the world football league, to award him the first (and likely last) annual FIFA Peace Prize, along with a hagiographic video. It’s all part of...

Friends, Hope you had a good Thanksgiving and are now enjoying a restful post-Thanksgiving weekend. Today, Heather and I discuss the Thanksgiving holiday — from our own childhood memories, to Norman Rockwell’s iconic...

Friends, The big story this week is that Trump is losing it — losing his grip, losing control over the narrative, losing power over the Republican Party, and losing even more of his mind. Today, we examine at it all...

Friends, Today Heather and I take a deep dive into an extraordinary week that featured the surrender by Senate Democrats to Trump Republicans on ending the government shutdown, as well as the resurrection of the Jeffrey...

Friends, Will Zohran Mamdani actually be able to turn his ambitious agenda into public policy?Today, I had the distinct pleasure of speaking with Dean Fuleihan, Mamdani’s newly named first deputy mayor and a seasoned...

Friends, It was an amazing week. By wide margins, New York City elected a Social Democrat mayor who thinks there shouldn’t be billionaires, while Tesla’s board gave Elon Musk a $1 trillion pay package. Today, Heather...

Friends, Today, Heather and I are joined by the talented writer and comedian W. Kamau Bell to assess the latest week’s dark saga of Trump et al. We start with the horrifying reality that 42 million of America’s most...

Friends, I recently spoke with my old friend Katie Couric, the longtime and much-admired TV host. I was thrilled to oblige when Katie asked me to explain the current government shutdown. This is a public episode. If...

Friends, Today I had the pleasure of speaking with New York Assemblyman — and New York City mayoral candidate — Zohran Mamdani. Zohran Mamdani is the bright future of the Democratic Party — brimming with excellent ideas...

Friends, I used to think of presidents as having dignity and stature, and the White House as being the “People’s House” — the essence of simple taste and modest grandeur. No longer. In the week after No Kings Day — the...

Friends, Today, millions of Americans are standing up for their values and standing up to Trump. Millions are saying clearly and powerfully — and peacefully — that this is a nation of laws, not of people who put...

Friends, Today Heather and I discuss Trump’s sending Texas National Guard troops into Chicago, Illinois — over the objections of Chicago’s mayor and Illinois’s governor. His indictment of New York Attorney General...

Friends, Today, Heather and I assess the government shutdown and explore its connection to Trump’s meeting this week with the military’s top brass, his attempt to create a police state in America, declare war on...

Friends, Today we’re trying something of an experiment. I’ve asked several of my young colleagues — all 50 years younger than me! — to join in discussion about a remarkable week in which Trump has fully bared his...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...