This is a special joint episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show and The Truth Report.

Mechele Dickerson is the Arthur L. Moller Chair in Bankruptcy Law and Practice at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law and author of Homeownership and America's Financial Underclass.

Her new book is The Middle-Class New Deal: Restoring Upward Mobility and the American Dream.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Mechele explains how the historic federal shutdown and other economic and political policies have pushed the American middle class to the brink, especially Black and brown Americans who already face significant wealth and income gaps.

She explores what it has historically meant to be middle class in America, how that definition has shifted over time, and how the wealthy legally protect and expand their economic privileges and advantage, passing critical financial knowledge down to their children.

Mechele also offers guidance and encouragement for federal employees and others who have lost jobs due to the shutdown and government cuts, facing the stark realities of reduced income and potential downward mobility. Her message is clear: you are good people who did almost everything right, but circumstances beyond your control have put you in a difficult position. Recovery won't be easy, but it is possible.

Donations and other support for The Chauncey DeVega Show and The Truth Report are always appreciated. But this week, listeners are encouraged, if able, to donate to food banks, nonprofits, and other organizations helping Americans under economic pressure.

Our animal friends are also at risk in this time of calamity as too many people are having to make very tough choices. Please share your donations and other resources with the organizations that are helping our animal friends. In solidarity.

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