Feudal Future Podcast, hosted by Joel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky

Environmental Dogma & Destruction: How California’s Climate Policies Hurt the Middle Class

In the fourth episode of the Feudal Future podcast, hosts Joel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky interview Jennifer Hernandez, a partner with Holland & Knight Law Firm in its California offices. Her firm is one of the most prominent in the world of environmental regulations, including California environmental law.

Virtual Town Hall: California Feudalism – Addressing California’s Inequality Crisis

Join a presentation on Kotkin and Toplanksky's research brief —California Feudalism: A Strategy to Restore California's Middle Class— discussing California's inequality crisis and how to restore our state’s dream.

From Tragedy to Opportunity: We Could Live Better When Today’s Mayhem Ends

by Joel Kotkin — Beyond the depressing statistics, the deserted malls, the looted or abandoned Main Streets, lies the potential to use the pandemic to create the impetus for better, more sustainable and family-centric communities.
Protestors set fire to Minneapolis Police 3rd PrecinctPublic Domain

Pandemics and Pandemonium

by Joel Kotkin — The rage ignited by the death of George Floyd is symptomatic of a profound sense of alienation among millions of poor, working class urbanites. The already diminished prospects facing many workers have only been worsened by the unforeseen onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic and the policies devised to combat it.
COVID-19 Map of USA

One Nation, Under Lockdown, Divided by Pandemic

by Joel Kotkin — The last thing this divided Republic needs is more polarization, but America is now further divided by pandemic, in large part by the different experiences of various localities and in how economies function from region to region.
Americans Not Deeply DividedMike Scheid

Americans Are Not As Divided About the Pandemic As It May Seem

by Samuel J. Abrams — Data from the Pew Research Center collected during the epidemic reveals that Americans are indeed polarized around Trump and his behavior but are not deeply divided when it comes to real, concrete safety measures to mitigate the virus and protect Americans.
View of NYC midtown and Queens, a densely populated area

Subways Seeded the NYC Epidemic: MIT Economist

by Wendell Cox — According to an MIT economist, continued high ridership on MTA subways and the rapid surge in infections during the first two weeks of March at best supports the hypothesis that the subways played a role.
Aerial view of Washington, D.C.

The Pandemic and the Strengths of Our Networked Government

by Aaron M. Renn — America's system of federalism provides plenty of opportunity for fighting among various levels of government. But as the coronavirus response is showing, this system also has underappreciated strengths that we should take care not to overlook.
Farm workers are shown harvesting crops

Who Will Prosper After the Plague?

by Joel Kotkin — Who will prosper after the plague? By disrupting smaller grassroots businesses while expanding the power of technologies used in enforcement, coronavirus could further empower both tech oligarchs and the “expert” class.
Democratic Presidential Debate, Biden and Sanders

Oligarchy and Pestilence

by Joel Kotkin — It’s January 21, 2021 and President Biden’s first full day in the White House. Surrounded by cheering key Democratic Party constituencies and financial backers, the new president proclaims a “climate emergency” – placing essentially the entire economy under Washington’s control.