Transcripts For CSPAN2 BOOK TV 20151206 : vimarsana.com

Took place 15 years before and during the depression so that a 1938 a writer named louis corey wrote a book called the crisis of the middle class, 1938, it became a bestseller for about three weeks, but it was on the list and the thing that is interesting about it is that corey had a definition which i think still works im going to say, the middle class are people either have an independent professional or property basis to the economy, that is one definition of middleclass, theres also a second definition which is less understood which is a cultural middleclass, we have a cultural middleclass in the United States and that cultural middleclass are people who actually go to the operating go to concerts, they are interested in literature, interested in reviewing books and so on. They are not the same people always but generally speaking they coincide now the only group of salary people who are genuinely of the middle class are the managers. Plumbers who may make more than managers and often do, they are working class. Especially in construction, you can make a lot of money youre not make your not middleclass, what you find is your job is over in your over until you find another job. So we have to be very careful about it, the loss middleclass at this point is very well been rehearsed in the president ial campaign but i would argue that Bernie Sanders notwithstanding, none of them really have a clear idea of what the middle classes and what the middle class is. Most of us are working class. We have to really come to terms with that, if your contractor, a freelancer, you might be in the cultural middleclass but youre not in the economic middleclass. Your contingent, precarious worker. More and more young people, especially millennials like my daughter, they are in the working class but they have cultural, journalists and so on, they have cultural interests and Cultural Capital and that gives them the opportunity to make income. But they can be dumped anytime, anyplace, and she has been dumped four times in the last three years. Its true, she got her First Permanent job in they dumped her recently. When i think about my definition of the middle class, i grew up in a college town town Northern California and i would describe my family as being lower middle class. What middleclass met was uppermiddleclass, met not only did you have to not worry about shelter, food, and clothing per month to month, and that there was some sort of catastrophe, you might not be completely emptied of all of your money and pushed in the street. Even though i would describe my bringing its uppermiddleclass theres definitely an anxiety that one small thing couldve ruined my family, i dont think my peers who were uppermiddleclass share. That those from the 70s and 80s. I dont know that i would describe the middle class that way. I wont hear what your definition of the metaclasses and how its changed. Well i really like that tension, i like it for purposes of talking about it. Between the economic and the cultural social, politicians are able to obsess, we have to protect the rights of the middle class because they know middleclass, particularly qualify by lower, middle and upper is very much a state of mind, by that i mean the assumption, snobberys, aspirations, anxieties, all sheltered by your income, your neighborhood et cetera. Your geography, so, everybody they know they know everyone would rather think of themselves as middleclass in some way because some level of security and privilege are implied at least inside your head, even if youre scrimping by. You can watch this and other programs online apple tv. Org. And now book tv we want to introduce you to connie long, missed long, what is your career been. Guest it has been amazing, thats why detail did in my book, im book, im sr. Whitehorse correspondent in 1968, it was an amazing year, i had one of the last interviews with Bobby Kennedy before he was shot. I got accolades from nelson and then della who said he used to listen to me in jail, he pick me up and swung me around and said youre not as big as i thought you were, i got beat up in chicago in 1968 during the democratic convention, went to czechoslovakia and spent six months there, made 18 trips to is the israel. Still covering the president s. Host for what station where can people find her work. Guest right now i do stuff on the weekends and contribute blocks to huffington post. Com. I hope you read my book you wake me each morning. This a final addition because i have parkinsons disease. We are all terminal at some point in our life, i guess im more terminal than others. Im under hospice care, the hospice people are great and they come to my house, one of their mottos is hospice is for those when more yesterdays than tomorrows. Host how long have you had parkinsons and what is it dump your work . Guest its horrible, its very painful ive had about five years. Ive lost my voice. Thank god i can still type on a computer, it takes me an hour to do one paragraph, i cant cant write, you lose your handwriting completely, it affects every part of the body, its very cruel, as we are standing here now at the National Press club, how do do you feel . Very weak, very shaky but energize one thing i make in my book as i dont have as much me, lift through other people thats why ago to the white house as much as i can, im really interested in people, so i have to be with my friends, you can see them trampling now as we talk. Guest where did the title come from. Guest the final addition, that was an investor from sam lewis from israel, i was at a press conference and were supposed to identify ourselves and i said connie long and he said all you wake me morning, so that was nice. Thousands of people have called me the same thing,. Host very quickly lets look at your career and give us a snapshot of president s that were fun to cover and difficult to cover. Guest brock obama i like him as a president but hes difficult to cover. Kind of boring, and the and all day was with the other president s you would have maybe 20 reporters asking one question each, now you like if you have four reporters chosen by the president. Once they get the floor they can go on and on, theyre not listening to what the president says. Theyre repeating the same question. I. I always tried as different question. There been some president s, clinton was was the most exciting to cover, reagan was fascinating,. Host how did you get in the business. Guest i started out working on capitol hill, i was a Political Science major, capitol hill is deadly boring, i went up to Regine Mccarthy and then i thought reporters were having much more fun so im worked into a reporter, those were really hard days, we slept on church pews, i slept anyplace i could come in closets. Thats what makes my book different. The fact i did all my self, never work for a big company. I work for a series of companies and thats a way to survive in this business now, ive had ten or 14 different clients maybe they pay me at the most 10,000 a year, but, but you can make a living that way, i never had anybody pay me big bucks. I never had insurance i took it out myself, this is the age of the entrepreneur, everyone is a journalist now. I predicted that happened in 1960, i think its wonderful. The name of the book, you wake me each morning, the final chapter the author, senior white house correspondent, thank you for the time. Guest thank you so much. Next on book tv our coverage from the 50th annual vegas valley book festival features several author panels on topics including the american west, the 2016 election, free speech and more, first up a panel on race and ethnicity in the 21st century