Extreme Wealth – Episode 7: Chuck Collins and the Burdens of Dynastic Wealth
Release Date: 11/06/2024
The Unaoil Story
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Nick McKenzie tells the exciting story of his role in the investigation into Unaoil.
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Higher Ground: How Business Can Do the Right Thing in a Turbulent World
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Author, academic and former compliance professional, Alison Taylor joins the podcast to talk about her compelling book, "Higher Ground". She describes the contradictions inherent in companies that talk about “doing well by doing good” and explains why corporate reputation management can’t be an end in itself and how trying to do less can be the best strategy. “You don’t have to join every conversation”. This episode was originally published on 14 February 2024.
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Diana Henriques on Reputation Laundering
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Diana Henriques, award-winning journalist and author, discusses the traits of fraudsters and the menace of reputation laundering. This episode was originally published on 3 August 2024.
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Promoting Facts and Countering Disinformation
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Melissa Goldin, a NY-based News Verification Reporter and Editor with The Associated Press analyzes and debunks fake news. This episode was originally published on 24 July 2024.
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Encouraging and Protecting Whistleblowers
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This week, we’re listening in on Alexandra Wrage’s keynote presentation at a Whistleblowers and Public Integrity conference hosted by the Vancouver Anti-Corruption Institute (VACI). She addresses the incredible personal price that whistleblowers pay when they’re driven to expose misconduct, explores how we can begin to shift the tone of the discussion around reporting and notes how difficult it is to uncover financial crime without whistleblowers. This episode was originally published on 16 November 2022.
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Daphne Caruana Galizia: Her Work, Her Murder and the Chance for Justice
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Paul Caruana Galizia, an investigative journalist at the Financial Times and Author of “A Death in Malta”, joins the podcast to talk about the work of his mother, Daphne, the growing danger she perceived as her investigations reached the highest circles of power in Malta, and now the criminal proceedings against the two men who killed her. Paul also discusses the Daphne Foundation and the incredible journalistic community that worked together, again, to prove that killing a journalist won’t kill their story. This episode was originally published on 12 October 2022.
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Collaborative Investigative Journalism Without Borders
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At the TRACE Prize for Investigative Reporting award ceremony last month, former prosecutor and National Observer columnist Sandy Garossino led a conversation with ICIJ’s Spencer Woodman, Bellingcat’s Aric Toler, and 2022 Prize winners Hans Peterson Hammer of Göteborgs-Posten and Lilia Saúl Rodriguez of the OCCRP. They discuss the evolution, impact and future of cross-border collaborative investigative journalism. This episode was originally published on 20 July 2022.
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Maria Ressa on Holding the Line
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Nobel Peace Prize winning journalist Maria Ressa joins the podcast to talk about corruption, disinformation and how to stand up to a dictator. This podcast was originally published on February 22, 2023.
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How Corruption Undermines Elections
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Dr. Magnus Ohman of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) joins the podcast to discuss how corruption undermines free and fair elections. He discusses his recent publication "Vote for Free: A Global Guide for Citizen Monitoring of Campaign Finance," which provides an eight-step model for civil society organizations seeking to monitor campaign finance. This episode was originally published on 30 November 2022.
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Shattered Families, a Refugee Crisis and the United States’ Diminished Reputation as a Beacon to Newcomers
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In our last podcast before the US election, Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody describe with passion their work with the International Rescue Committee. They tell us what America as a haven means to them and mourn the news that 545 children separated from their parents on the US southern border cannot be restored to their parents. They conclude with a fervent appeal to Americans to turn out to vote in this election.
info_outlineIn his mid-20s, Chuck Collins made a fateful choice. The great-grandson of Oscar Meyer, and thus an heir to part of the meatpacker’s family fortune, Chuck was skeptical of the riches (some $500,000 in 1986 dollars). He didn’t want to perpetuate the imbalances he saw dynastic wealth creating in society. Rather than live off the interest, or to give a portion to charity, Chuck gave away the entire inheritance, and thus embarked on a most unusual sort of normal life.
In this episode, Chuck explains what reverberations his decision to give away his inheritance had on his family and in his career, and he lays out his case to other similarly privileged Americans: Why life is better without the insulation that great wealth provides, and how billionaires can rejoin American life.
Chuck Collins is the director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies, where he edits Inequality.org. He is also a founding member of Patriotic Millionaires, a group of high-net-worth Americans who advocate for public policies — including higher taxes on the wealthy — meant to rein in the political power of the richest Americans. His prolific writings focus on inequality, the racial wealth divide, philanthropy, the climate crisis, and billionaire wealth dynasties. His forthcoming book "Burned by Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power and Ruining Our Lives and Planet" will be published in 2025.