Prevail with Greg Olear

Rich people are not like us–they have more money. And mega-rich people? They not only have more money, but they hide it “offshore,” to avoid detection by the tax man, law enforcement, creditors, divorce lawyers, and, sometimes, their fellow citizens whose collective coffers they’ve plundered.In this conversation, Greg Olear speaks with the economic sociology professor Brooke Harrington, author of Offshore: Stealth Wealth and the New Colonialism, about the murky world of offshore finance, its implications for global inequality, the challenges of studying the ultra-rich, the culture of competitive depravity among the wealthy, and the dangers of their influence on both democracy and capitalism. They also discuss the looming AI bubble, the true purpose of AI, Jeffrey Epstein, and why studying the humanities is so vital.Brooke Harrington is Professor of Economic Sociology at Dartmouth College. Since 2007, she has examined inequality from the top end of the socio-economic spectrum—a research program inaugurated by her training for two years to become a certified offshore wealth manager. Her previous book—Capital without Borders —won the “Outstanding Book” award from the Inequality, Poverty and Mobility section of the American Sociological Association. She advises the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, EU Parliament, and the tax agencies of countries across Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific. Her latest book, Offshore: Stealth Wealth and the New Colonialism, was named a “Best Book” of 2024 by the Financial Times.Follow Brooke:https://bsky.app/profile/ebharrington.bsky.socialVisit her website:https://brookeharrington.com/Buy the book:https://brookeharrington.com/books/offshore-book/Please subscribe to PREVAIL on Substack. There’s six full years’ worth of work in the archives on Trump, Russia, Jeffrey Epstein, Leonard Leo, and much more. Every piece at PREVAIL is free to read and always will be. No paywalls, ever. Your generous support keeps it that way. Subscriptions are just $6.99 a month, $65 a year. Visit gregolear.substack.com to learn more. Make America Great Gatsby Again!https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-great-gatsby-four-sticks-press-centennial-edition/e701221776c88f86?ean=9798985931976&next=tSubscribe to The Five 8:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0BRnRwe7yDZXIaF-QZfvhACheck out ROUGH BEAST, Greg’s new book:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D47CMX17ROUGH BEAST is now available as an audiobook:https://www.audible.com/pd/Rough-Beast-Audiobook/B0D8K41S3T Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What happens when you discover that the reason your father never speaks about his parents or his childhood growing up in Hawaii is because his mother, father, and older sister were Nazi spies? And not just any Nazi spies–the spies sent by Berlin to help the Japanese surveil Pearl Harbor.Chris­tine Kuehn was living a qui­et sub­ur­ban life when a mys­te­ri­ous let­ter in 1994 pierced that bub­ble, send­ing her on a thir­ty-year quest to dis­cov­er the truth behind a hor­ren­dous fam­i­ly secret kept hid­den for half a cen­tu­ry. The result is the new book, FAMILY OF SPIES. Fol­low­ing a career in jour­nal­ism, pub­lic rela­tions, and non­prof­its, Chris­tine now lives in Mary­land with her hus­band, Mark Schiponi, who helped her research the book for 30 years.In this conversation, Greg Olear talks to the couple about how the book came to be, the long and unusual research process, and the emotional impact of learning the truth.Buy the book:https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250344465/familyofspies/Support the podcast:gregolear.substack.com Make America Great Gatsby Again!https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-great-gatsby-four-sticks-press-centennial-edition/e701221776c88f86?ean=9798985931976&next=tSubscribe to The Five 8:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0BRnRwe7yDZXIaF-QZfvhACheck out ROUGH BEAST, Greg’s new book:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D47CMX17ROUGH BEAST is now available as an audiobook:https://www.audible.com/pd/Rough-Beast-Audiobook/B0D8K41S3T Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this conversation with Greg Olear, Paul Starr discusses his book “American Contradiction: Revolution and Revenge from the 1950s to Now,” exploring the complex themes of American identity, the contradictions inherent in the nation’s history, and the evolution of political dynamics over the decades. He delves into the impact of 1950s nostalgia, the rise of identity politics, the decline of labor movements, and the role of the Supreme Court in shaping contemporary democracy. The discussion highlights the challenges facing the United States as it grapples with its past and seeks a path forward amidst political turmoil.Paul Starr is professor of sociology and public affairs at Princeton University and founding coeditor of the American Prospect magazine. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction and Bancroft Prize in American History for The Social Transformation of American Medicine. Over a half-century he has written essays and op-eds for newspapers and magazines as well as books on America’s institutions, history, and politics. His new book is called “American Contradiction: Revolution and Revenge from the 1950s to Now.”Buy the book:https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300282436/american-contradiction/Paul Starr at The American Prospect:https://prospect.org/author/paul-starr/ Make America Great Gatsby Again!https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-great-gatsby-four-sticks-press-centennial-edition/e701221776c88f86?ean=9798985931976&next=tSubscribe to The Five 8:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0BRnRwe7yDZXIaF-QZfvhACheck out ROUGH BEAST, Greg’s new book:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D47CMX17ROUGH BEAST is now available as an audiobook:https://www.audible.com/pd/Rough-Beast-Audiobook/B0D8K41S3T Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Robert W. Fieseler is a National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association “Journalist of the Year” and the acclaimed author of Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation—winner of the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America and the Louisiana Literary Award from the Louisiana Library Association, shortlisted for the Saroyan International Prize for Writing from Stanford Libraries. Queer literary icon Andrew Holleran reviewed Tinderbox as "far more than just a history of gay rights" and Michael Cunningham praised it as "essential reading at any time." A Tulane Mellon Fellow, Fieseler graduated co-valedictorian from the Columbia Journalism School and is a board member of the LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana. His latest book is called American Scare: Florida’s Hidden Cold War on Black and Queer Lives.Buy the book:https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/665384/american-scare-by-robert-w-fieseler/Follow Bobby:https://www.instagram.com/wordbobby/https://bsky.app/profile/wordbobby.bsky.socialSubscribe to Greg's Substack:https://gregolear.substack.com/archive Make America Great Gatsby Again!https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-great-gatsby-four-sticks-press-centennial-edition/e701221776c88f86?ean=9798985931976&next=tSubscribe to The Five 8:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0BRnRwe7yDZXIaF-QZfvhACheck out ROUGH BEAST, Greg’s new book:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D47CMX17ROUGH BEAST is now available as an audiobook:https://www.audible.com/pd/Rough-Beast-Audiobook/B0D8K41S3T Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the publication of her hit debut novel THE MERCY OF THIN AIR, Ronlyn Domingue talks to Greg Olear about the story’s timeless themes of love and loss, the significance of New Orleans as a backdrop, her unusual creative process, the Trump Administration and SCOTUS’s retrograde position on reproductive rights, the importance of the novel in modern society, nature as an antidote to doomscrolling, the impact of technology on human connection, and more. Plus: a song from the war zone in DC.Ronlyn Domingue’s critically acclaimed debut novel THE MERCY OF THIN AIR was published in ten languages. It was a fiction finalist for the 2005 Borders Original Voices Award and 2006 SIBA Book Award, a long list nominee for the 2005 James Tiptree, Jr. Award (now known as the Otherwise Award), and a 2010 Costco Pennie’s Pick. Her “Keeper of Tales” Trilogy, which can be read in any order, includes The Mapmaker’s War, The Chronicle of Secret Riven, and The Plague Diaries. Her essays and short stories have appeared in New England Review, Clackamas Literary Review, and Lion’s Roar (formerly Shambhala Sun) as well as on mindful.org, The Nervous Breakdown, and Salon.com. She holds a MFA degree in creative writing from Louisiana State University, has taught composition and fiction writing at the college level, and served as a fiction editor and co-editor in chief of New Delta Review. Born and raised in the Deep South, she lives in the woods somewhere in Louisiana.Follow Ronlyn:https://bsky.app/profile/ronlyndomingue.bsky.socialBuy THE MERCY OF THIN AIR:https://www.ronlyndomingue.com/motaRead CRONE ENERGY, her Substack:https://ronlyndomingue.substack.com/Read her essay on GATSBY in the Four Sticks Press edition:https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-great-gatsby-four-sticks-press-centennial-edition/e701221776c88f86?ean=9798985931976&next=tSubscribe to the PREVAIL newsletter:https://gregolear.substack.com/about Make America Great Gatsby Again!https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-great-gatsby-four-sticks-press-centennial-edition/e701221776c88f86?ean=9798985931976&next=tSubscribe to The Five 8:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0BRnRwe7yDZXIaF-QZfvhACheck out ROUGH BEAST, Greg’s new book:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D47CMX17ROUGH BEAST is now available as an audiobook:https://www.audible.com/pd/Rough-Beast-Audiobook/B0D8K41S3T Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.