Poorly Understood: What America Gets Wrong About Poverty

Sonali Kolhatkar speaks with Mark Rank about what America gets wrong about poverty.

Inequality in America, already sky high before the coronavirus hit, has been greatly exacerbated by the pandemic. But understanding poverty in the world’s richest nation has always been a challenge. Media narratives and politicians’ rhetoric fuel the perception that poverty is what someone else experiences. But in fact poverty is widespread in America and affects nearly everyone at some point in their lives. Understanding poverty, who it affects, how it can be addressed, what works and what doesn’t, is critical to fixing the nation’s deep economic inequality. My author has launched an ambitious effort to that end.

Mark Rank, Herbert S. Hadley Professor of Social Welfare at Washington University in St. Louis. He is widely recognized as one of the foremost experts and speakers in the country on issues of inequality, poverty, and social justice. He has written numerous books and created a website called Confronting Poverty. His newest book, co-authored with Lawrence Eppard, and Heather Bullock is called Poorly Understood: What America Gets Wrong About Poverty.

Rising Up with Sonali is a radio and television show that brings progressive news coverage rooted in gender and racial justice to a wide audience. Rising Up With Sonali was built on the foundation of Sonali Kolhatkar's earlier show, Uprising, which became the longest-running drive-time radio show on KPFK in Los Angeles hosted by a woman. RUS airs on Free Speech TV every weekday.

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