In the wake of the global economic crisis, it seems Americans agree on at least one thing: the middle class is under siege. But who is the middle class? And what is it that's plaguing them? Host Frank Stasio considers the state of the American dream with guests Sara Appel, a graduate student in literature at Duke University and a blogger for Working Class Perspectives; Michael Bowen, author of “The Roots of Modern Conservatism: Dewey Taft and the Battle for the Soul of the Republican Party” (UNC Press/2011); Scott Spiegel, chief financial officer for the America Institute of Certified Public Accountants; Michal Grinstein-Weiss, director of Assets Building Group and associate professor in the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Will Wilkinson, author and blogger at www.commondreams.org. Listener Call-in.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
Amber Nimocks came to The State of Things in January 2009. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a survivor of 15 years in the newspaper business. As a reporter and editor, her posts have included such exotic locales as her hometown of Fayetteville, Robeson County, Wilmington, Raleigh and Fort Worth, Texas.