Why is mainstream US TV spreading moral panics about affirmative action run amok? | Robert Reich

Television talkshows have huge power to influence what issues dominate American discourse. And that power demands responsibility

A few days ago, I received an email from an associate producer at the Dr Phil Show. They recently came across my film Inequality for All and wanted to know if I'd be interested in joining Dr Phil as an expert guest for an upcoming episode".

Hey, why not? The Dr Phil Show is the No 1 rated daytime TV talkshow in America. It has over 2 million viewers. I have lots to say to those viewers about the perils of widening inequality.

For this conversation we will be asking questions like: do college admissions enroll minorities over prospective Caucasian students? Are Caucasian teachers and professors being laid off to make up for past discriminations" against minority educators, as seen in Minneapolis?

Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com