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 “freedom from want” Thanksgiving cover for The Saturday Evening Post. To Trump’s terrible Thanksgiving week — pardoning turkeys, criminals who support him and other criminals who pay him off. Also: American consumers’ exceedingly costly Thanksgiving — due to Trump policies.

Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and join the conversation.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

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: Trump’s abrupt turnaround on the Epstein files. His demand that the Democratic lawmakers who urged members of the military not to follow illegal orders be executed. His disgusting celebration of the Saudi Crown Prince (“Mr. Bonesaw”) Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, who oversaw the brutal killing of Jamal Khashoggi. The terrible Trump economy. His crashing poll numbers. The pushback from the federal courts.

Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and join in the conversation.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

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 Epstein scandal threatening Trump’s presidency. Also news on some critical political races and the economy. And Pope Leo and me.

Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and join in the discussion.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

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 veteran of New York politics, on what to expect when Mamdani takes office in January.

I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

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 and I, along with our colleague Vishal Shankar, take a deep dive into what all this means — for American politics, for the American economy, and for the future.

Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and join the conversation.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

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 vulnerable people — the poor, the very young, the very old, the disabled — will not be receiving nutrition assistance starting today because of …. Why? There are funds to pay them, but Trump and his lapdog Republicans in Congress won’t release them, although they’re happy to keep on paying federal troops and to release tens of billions to the party of Trump’s flamboyant libertarian ally Argentinian President Javier Milei.

Today is also the day that millions of Americans reliant on Obamacare discover that starting January 1, their health care premiums will rise an average of 30 percent, because Trump and his Republicans in Congress refuse to extend Obamacare subsidies. Which is why Democrats are refusing to join Republicans in approving that new budget.

At least King Charles III had the integrity to strip brother Andrew of his royal titles and estates because of Andrew’s apparent entanglements with Jeffrey Epstein. But Trump and his speaker of the House lapdog Michael Johnson are keeping the House in recess and won’t swear in Arizona’s newest member of Congress, Adelita Grijalva — although she won election 39 days ago — out of fear she’ll be the deciding vote to demand release of the Epstein files.

And more.

Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and join the conversation.

P.S. If you haven’t already gotten one, you might consider buying an official Coffee Klatch mug as a special holiday gift.

Or a ticket to:

Or perhaps even:

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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.

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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 about what working families need.

My own granddaughter is knocking doors for him in the final stretch of the NYC mayoral race.

I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did.

Please be sure to also read my previous piece about Mamdani here.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

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 largest demonstration in American history — Trump has found new ways to defile and desecrate his office and the nation.

He’s taken a battering ram to the White House, literally as well as figuratively, to create a giant garish gold-leafed ballroom financed by Trump’s favorite billionaires and big corporations.

Meanwhile, he posted an AI-generated video of himself as a bomber pilot defecating on the Americans who demonstrated against him.

He is using the Justice Department to prosecute people who have tried to hold him accountable for his illegal actions. Deploying federal troops in places he calls “Democrat” cities. Illegally shifting taxpayer money out of what he calls “Democrat” programs during the shutdown. And illegally bombing ships off the coast of Latin America.

Trump is degrading his office and himself.

Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and join the conversation.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe

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 themselves above the law. That we are a nation that values self-government, not a government by an authoritarian dictator. That we are a people whose forebears have sacrificed much — some have sacrificed their lives — so that democracy and freedom shall be preserved. We will not allow that legacy to be destroyed by Trump or anyone else.

Please join Heather and me as we discuss these fundamentals in today’s coffee klatch. Pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and join the conversation.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertreich.substack.com/subscribe