We are living through a paradigm shift from trickle-down neoliberalism to middle-out economics — a new understanding of who gets what and why. Join zillionaire class-traitor Nick Hanauer and some of the world’s leading economic and political thinkers as they explore the latest thinking on how the economy actually works.

Decades of trickle-down thinking hollowed out our government—and now the anti-democracy crowd is finishing the job. This week, legal scholar and former Biden advisor K. Sabeel Rahman joins Nick and Goldy to talk about what happens when the rule of law becomes optional, what the Biden administration got right (and what it didn’t,) and why simply restoring the old system isn’t enough. If we want a real democracy—one that can stand up to corporate power and actually deliver for people—we need to stop playing by outdated rules and start constructing a government that's faster, fairer, and fit for the modern world.



K. Sabeel Rahman is a legal scholar, policy expert, and former senior advisor in the Biden administration, where he served as Associate Administrator at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. A leading voice on democracy, governance, and economic justice, he is Demos's former president and a law professor at Cornell University.



Social Media:

⁠@ksabeelrahman.bsky.social⁠

⁠@ksabeelrahman⁠



Further reading: 

⁠Civic Power: Rebuilding American Democracy in an Era of Crisis⁠



Website: ⁠http://pitchforkeconomics.com⁠

Instagram: ⁠@pitchforkeconomics⁠

Threads: ⁠pitchforkeconomics⁠

Bluesky: ⁠@pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social⁠

Twitter: ⁠@PitchforkEcon⁠, ⁠@NickHanauer⁠, ⁠@civicaction⁠

YouTube: ⁠@pitchforkeconomics⁠

LinkedIn: ⁠Pitchfork Economics⁠ 

Substack: ⁠The Pitch⁠

Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer

Why Democracy Needs a New Operating System (with K. Sabeel Rahman)

This week, we’re revisiting a critical conversation we had back in 2020 with author and historian Nancy MacLean, in which she exposes how today’s threats to democracy were decades in the making. Based on her groundbreaking book Democracy in Chains, MacLean traces how Nobel Prize-winning economist James Buchanan worked with billionaire donors to rig the rules of government to expand corporate power and protect extreme wealth. From public choice theory to voter suppression, this episode reveals the coordinated strategy to undermine democracy—and explains why understanding it is essential to fighting back.



Nancy MacLean is an award-winning historian and the William H. Chafe Distinguished Professor of History and Public Policy at Duke University. Her book, Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America was a National Book Award finalist and winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.



⁠This episode originally aired on July 21, 2020⁠.



Social Media:

⁠@nancymaclean.bsky.social⁠

⁠@NancyMacLean5⁠



Further reading: 

⁠Democracy in Chains⁠



Website: ⁠http://pitchforkeconomics.com⁠

Instagram: ⁠@pitchforkeconomics⁠

Threads: ⁠pitchforkeconomics⁠

Bluesky: ⁠@pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social⁠

Twitter: ⁠@PitchforkEcon⁠, ⁠@NickHanauer⁠, ⁠@civicaction⁠

YouTube: ⁠@pitchforkeconomics⁠

LinkedIn: ⁠Pitchfork Economics⁠ 

Substack: ⁠The Pitch⁠

Democracy in Chains (with Nancy MacLean)

What does “abundance” actually mean—and who is it really for? In this episode, Goldy and Paul welcome back economic policy expert Mike Konczal to unpack the big new idea dominating political discourse: abundance. They dive into the buzz around Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s book “Abundance,” and Konczal’s sharp critique of its deregulatory leanings, missed opportunities, and neoliberal undertones. From housing policy to green energy to the myth that deregulation alone can fix America’s problems, this episode challenges the idea that more is always better, and asks what it would really take to build a future that’s abundant for everyone—not just the rich.

Mike Konczal is the Senior Director of Policy and Research at the Economic Security Project, where he oversees policy development, research, and strategic analysis to advance its ideas. Previously, he served as a Special Assistant to President Biden for Economic Policy and Chief Economist for the National Economic Council. 

Social Media:

@mtkonczal.bsky.social

@mtkonczal

Further reading: 

Democracy Journal - The Abundance Doctrine

Abundance By Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson 

Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress—and How to Bring It Back By Marc Dunkelman 

NBER Working Paper - Supply constraints do not explain house price and quantity growth across U.S. cities

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com
Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics
Threads: pitchforkeconomics
Bluesky: @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social
Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction
YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics
LinkedIn: Pitchfork Economics
Substack: The Pitch

The Abundance Doctrine (with Mike Konczal)

Why does it feel like we can’t build anything anymore? In this episode, Nick and Goldy talk with author Mark Dunkelman about his new book Why Nothing Works, which examines how well-intentioned progressive reforms created a “vetocracy” that makes major public projects nearly impossible. From Seattle’s decades-long waterfront rebuild to the dysfunction of Penn Station, they explore the messy trade-offs between accountability and action—and ask what it would take to make progress possible again.

Marc Dunkelman is a fellow at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs and a former fellow at NYU’s Marron Institute of Urban Management. During more than a decade working in politics, he worked for Democratic members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives and as a senior fellow at the Clinton Foundation.

Social Media:
@MarcDunkelman

Further reading: 
Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress—and How to Bring It Back

Website: http://pitchforkeconomics.com
Instagram: @pitchforkeconomics
Threads: pitchforkeconomics
Bluesky: @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social
Twitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauer, @civicaction
YouTube: @pitchforkeconomics
LinkedIn: Pitchfork Economics
Substack: The Pitch

Civic Ventures

Pitchfork Economics with Nick Hanauer by Civic Ventures

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