# How the U.S. has arrived at its most blatant era of oligarchy

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Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/river-to-river-1060576/how-the-u-s-has-arrived-at-its-most-blatant-era-of-oligarchy.md
Podcast: [River to River](https://stenobird.com/podcast/river-to-river-1060576)
Published: 2026-05-20T12:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.iowapublicradio.org/podcast/river-to-river/2026-05-20/how-the-u-s-has-arrived-at-its-most-blatant-era-of-oligarchy
Audio file: https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/4c9587f2-e550-4709-b293-ad0300ce922d/5d200c83-8a20-48a7-ab87-ad51012cafbe/8ea909ca-ce60-45d2-b385-b44f011a4d7b/audio.mp3
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Duration seconds: 2884

## Resource

After two centuries of expanding democracy, why has America become more unequal — not less? On this episode we listen to highlights from a recent conversation with political scientist Jeffrey Winters of Northwestern University. His new book, The Blind Spot: How Oligarchs Dominate Our Democracy, examines the failure of democracy to address wealth inequality and why this issue is by design. This conversation was recorded on May 7 at the Englert Theatre, presented by the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council.

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## Transcript

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