The promise of the American Dream—work hard, play by the rules, and you’ll get ahead—is unraveling before our eyes.

In this Back-to-Basics episode, Christian H. Cooper and law professor Khiara Bridges join Nick and Goldy to posit whether economic mobility has ever truly existed, or if the system was rigged from the start. As wages stagnate, homeownership drifts out of reach, and inequality worsens, their conversation exposes how the American Dream has always been selectively granted and systematically denied.

Amid today’s debates over “competitiveness” and “opportunity,” this episode is a reminder: the American Dream didn’t disappear by accident—it’s been taken. Understanding how is the first step toward winning it back.

Christian Cooper is a derivatives trader, quantitative finance author, and commentator based in New York City. He directs Banking for a New Beginning, a collaboration between the Aspen Institute and the U.S. Department of State that connects central banks in emerging markets—such as Turkey, Tunisia, and Pakistan—with best practices to strengthen their financial systems

Khiara M. Bridges is an anthropologist and professor of law at UC Berkeley School of Law, specializing in race, class, reproductive rights, and constitutional law. She is the author of The Poverty of Privacy Rights. 

Social Media:

@christiancooper

Further reading: 

The Poverty of Privacy Rights

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