Will Ghislaine Pardon Trump? | The Coffee Klatch for July 26, 2025
Friends,Today we take another deep dive into the murky world of Epstein and Trump, looking at how Trump’s consolidation of power has made it harder for him to rebut charges of a cover-up. We also look at the stories that “Epsteingate” has crowded out this week: Palestinian children starving in Gaza because of Netanyahu’s policies (backed by Trump), more than a third of all federal judges complaining that Trump is defying them, and a mind-boggling number of people being detained in ICE’s inhumane detention camps. We also look at Trump’s silencing of critics such as Stephen Colbert, Washington Post columnists, and the students and faculty of Columbia University. Our special guest today is Elliot Kirschner, director of The Last Class film. (His latest Substack post is about the first time he and I ever met — the origin story of the film.)Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, take our poll, 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
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Epstein's Ghost | The Coffee Klatch for July 19, 2025
Friends,Today, Heather and I explore why Jeffrey Epstein’s death in 2019 is now shaking the foundations of Trump and his regime. Why now? What is there about this alleged conspiracy that has made Trump so vulnerable? What does it tell us more broadly about the soaring distrust in our society toward elites that Trump exploited to get elected in 2016 and then again in 2024? What does it suggest Democrats ought to do, now and in the ramp-up to the 2026 midterm elections? Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, take our poll, 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
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We Should Stop Calling Him Our “President” | The Coffee Klatch for July 12, 2025
Friends,Today, Heather, Michael, and I do a deep dive into the cruel incompetence of the Trump regime — how Trump is hurting millions of people for no reason, whether he’s doing it because of cruelty or incompetence, and what all of us can do about it between now and the 2026 midterm elections (including not calling him “President,” because he considers himself president of only the people who voted for him). Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, take our poll, 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
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Fascism On The Fourth | The Coffee Klatch for July 5, 2025
Friends,Happy Fourth of July weekend. Today Heather and I examine Trump’s newly enacted Big Ugly Bill — its record-breaking redistribution of income upward, its budget-busting deficits, and its creation of an anti-immigrant police state. And we explore whether there’s anything positive that could possibly come of this. Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, take our poll, 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
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Mamdani! | The Saturday Coffee Klatch for June 28, 2025
Friends,Today, Heather and I come to you from Central Park in New York City, where we assess the remarkable upset victory of 33-year-old Zohran Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, over former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, in the race for New York City mayor.We also take a look at the bind Trump and his lackeys have gotten themselves into — with an attack on Iran that the Defense Intelligence Agency says sets back Iran’s nuclear program by only three months and that didn’t touch Iran’s stockpile of uranium, with a mammoth (“big beautiful”) budget bill that the Senate parliamentarian has shredded, and tariffs that are already hiking prices for American consumers. Wasn’t Trump elected to keep America out of foreign entanglements and to keep prices down?Please grab a cuppa, pull up a chair, take our poll, and join 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
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