by Taya Graham and Stephen Janis | Nov 3, 2026 | Economy and Inequality, Inequality Watch, Pennsylvania, Politics and Movements: US, US Elections, video
Pennsylvania’s 7th District, the Lehigh Valley region that includes Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton, is one of the most competitive House races in the country. Democrat Bob Brooks, a firefighters union president, is challenging Republican incumbent Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, and how voters here feel could help decide who controls the House. Taya Graham and Stephen Janis spent several days in the district talking to the people who will determine the outcome.
Voters say high prices, a lack of affordable housing, and a Washington disconnected from working people are driving their vote. Two more specific issues are also shaping the race: proposed data centers, which residents say are being imposed on their communities without adequate review, and the Epstein files, which arrived in Bethlehem aboard the “Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Bookmobile,” a traveling archive of the documents released to date. Underneath it all is a darker worry: that their votes won’t be counted.
Credits
Producers: Taya Graham and Stephen JanisWriter: Stephen JanisEditing/Post-Production: Stephen Janis
Transcript
Taya Graham: Pennsylvania’s 7th District is a diverse community stretching across the Lehigh Valley, but just before the midterm election, there is a common theme from residents that we spoke to.
Kathy: We are not liking what we see in our country.
Taya Graham: Anger and the desire for change.
Kathy: We’re not liking the effects of the things that are taking place in Washington, and therefore people are out trying to make a change.
Taya Graham: And how voters feel here could be critical to who controls the House. It is one of more than a dozen battleground districts, which is why we spent several days speaking to the people who will
by Taya Graham and Stephen Janis | Nov 2, 2026 | Democrats, Economy, elections, Inequality Watch, midterms, Politics and Movements: US, Socialism, video
Democrats are fired up. Some MAGA voters are questioning whether to show up. And in one of America’s most closely watched congressional battlegrounds, that divide could have enormous implications for the fight over control of the House.The Real News Network traveled to Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, home to the fiercely contested 7th Congressional District, to speak directly with voters about the issues, frustrations, and political ideas shaping their decisions for the 2026 midterm elections.From Allentown to Bethlehem, we talked with voters across the political spectrum about what motivates them to head to the polls and what might convince others to stay home.In a district where Republican incumbent Ryan Mackenzie faces Democratic challenger Bob Brooks, questions about economic inequality, the cost of living, war and the role of government are taking center stage.We also explore the debate over socialism and progressive economic ideas. While mainstream media’s political commentary often portrays socialism as politically toxic, conversations with voters raise interesting questions about how those ideas are actually being received on the ground.Could voter enthusiasm, political disillusionment, and changing attitudes toward economic policy help shape the outcome of one of the country’s most closely watched House races?Join Taya Graham and Stephen Janis for an on-the-ground look at Pennsylvania’s 7th District, where the battle for Congress is playing out one voter at a time.
Credits:
Production/Post-production: Taya Graham, Stephen Janis
Transcript
A transcript will provided when ready
by Taya Graham and Stephen Janis | Nov 2, 2026 | AI, Economy, Economy and Inequality, Inequality Watch, Politics and Movements: US, video
Is the AI bubble finally showing signs of popping? As technology companies pour ENORMOUS sums into artificial intelligence, troubling financial indicators are raising questions about whether the industry can generate enough revenue to justify its investments.Economist Dean Baker, co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), joins Taya Graham and Stephen Janis on Inequality Watch to examine the growing financial risks behind the AI boom and what could happen if the money stops flowing.From rising borrowing costs at AI infrastructure company CoreWeave to concerns about massive data-center investments, Baker examines the growing divide between the extraordinary promises of artificial intelligence and the economic realities of financing it.But the biggest question may not be whether the AI bubble bursts. It’s who will pay if it does.Could a financial collapse threaten workers, retirement savings, and the broader economy? Could struggling AI companies seek taxpayer-funded bailouts after years of extraordinary private investment? And why should ordinary Americans bear the consequences of financial decisions they had no role in making? And what about the power grid and our limited potable water?!In this episode, Taya Graham, Stephen Janis, and Dean Baker explore the economics of the AI industry, the risks of speculative investment, and the consequences for working people if the boom fails to deliver its promised returns.As the debate over AI increasingly focuses on the technology’s potential dangers, Inequality Watch asks another question: What happens when an industry promising to transform humanity can’t make the numbers add up? And what if humanity doesn’t want the promised transformation?
Credits:
Producers: Taya Graham and Stephen Janis
Writer: Stephen Janis
Editing/Post-Production: Stephen Janis/Cameron Granadino
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript
by Taya Graham and Stephen Janis | Sep 15, 2026 | Democratic Party, Democrats, Inequality, Inequality Watch, midterms, Politics and Movements: US, video
David Sirota explains how consultants profit from massive television-ad purchases, how billionaire-funded super PACs influence the candidates and policies voters are offered, and how the language of “moderation” and “electability” is used to undermine progressive and populist challengers.We examine the consequences of legalized political corruption: Washington’s silence on America’s healthcare crisis, the widening gulf between voters and their representatives, and the 50-year campaign to transform elections into auctions while concentrating power in the presidency.David Sirota is the founder of the investigative news organization The Lever, a former speechwriter for Bernie Sanders, an Oscar-nominated co-creator of the story for the movie Don’t Look Up, and the producer of the podcast series Master Plan.
Additional links/info:
David Sirota and Jared Jacang Maher’s co-authored book, Master Plan: The Hidden Plot to Legalize Corruption in America
The Lever’s website, Instagram, and podcast series, Master plan
Credits:
Production: Stephen Janis, Taya Graham
Written by: Stephen Janis
Studio Production: Cameron Granadino
Post-Production: Stephen Janis, David Hebden
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated as soon as possible.
Taya Graham:
Hello, my name is Taya Graham and welcome to the Inequality Watch Report, a show that examines government policy and action through the lens of extreme economic inequality, the existential issue of our time. Today, we’re going to discuss a topic that defines who holds power in America and how they keep it despite growing voter dissatisfaction amid a historic wealth imbalance. It’s a story of money, access, and self-enrichment that is at the root of the bad policies and broken institutions we all struggle with daily. And it’s an issue that transcends the nominal state of play in this country
by Taya Graham and Stephen Janis | Aug 6, 2026 | AI, Economy, Economy and Inequality, Inequality Watch, Politics and Movements: US, video
Economist Dean Baker (Center for Economic and Policy Research, author of Rigged and creator of the AI Bubble Monitor) joins Taya Graham and Stephen Janis to break down why the productivity data doesn’t match the hype, why Palantir’s CEO seemed to be panicking on live TV, why Bernie Sanders’ AI sovereign wealth fund idea might backfire, and what signs to watch for if this bubble bursts.
Credits:
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.
Taya Graham:
Hello, my name is Taya Graham and welcome to the Inequality Watch Report, a show that examines government policy and action through the lens of extreme economic inequality, the existential issue of our time. Today, we’re going to discuss a technology which we’ve been told will transform our lives, an invention that has been touted as the ultimate arbiter of our collective futures, whether we like it or not. Of course, I’m talking about artificial intelligence, but with the promise also comes doubt and questions and most of all, a lack of clarity on how we’ll impact the working people of this country. AI leaders have casually warned us that their products could eliminate 40 to 50% of white collar jobs more than the losses in the Great Depression. They’ve promised that technology will be so disruptive that even staunch capitalists have discussed providing a UBI or universal basic income for Americans who will be left out.
They’ve borrowed money at such predigious rates to fund data centers that even Wall Street is beginning to just say no. And now some of the biggest names are saying it’s not working out as
by Taya Graham and Stephen Janis | Jul 22, 2026 | Article, Economy and Inequality, health care, Inequality, Inequality Watch, Politics and Movements: US, Prisons and Policing, Trump
A few weeks ago, we argued the Trump administration was seeking to invent new ways to punish Americans. The idea was that the authoritarian impulses of the MAGA-run government will need to dial up the cruelty in order to sow chaos and pave the way for a broader assault on democracy.
Well, this week a rule was issued by Medicare and Medicaid services that shows just how proficient the Trump administration is at inflicting pain. And the consequences for poor, seriously ill Americans could be devastating.
Before we explain the rule, it’s worth contemplating the often destructive role healthcare — both the lack of it and exorbitant costs associated with it — play in the lives of working-class Americans.
Poll after poll shows that working people rank anxiety over healthcare costs at the top of the list of high-priority concerns. Unpaid medical bills are the most likely cause of personal bankruptcy in the US. Unlike any other wealthy nation on earth, when Americans lose their jobs, they often lose access to a doctor as well.
The US healthcare system is already inherently extractive — making it even more prohibitively expensive means more people will suffer with diseases that can be cured and die from afflictions that would otherwise be treatable. All of this makes the working class vulnerable and likewise incapable of asserting their right to be healthy.
And that’s where the new rule comes in.
The government agency that administers Medicaid has created a new criterion, ‘medically frail,’ which must be met to qualify for the program without working — even if you only have weeks to live. It didn’t exist prior to the passage
