<p>Acclaimed journalist Alissa Quart speaks on topics like poverty, economic inequality, and the myth of the “American Dream.” </p><p>Alissa Quart is the author of five acclaimed books of nonfiction, including <em>Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream </em>(Ecco, 2023). The others are <em>Squeezed</em>,<em> Republic of Outsiders</em>,<em> Hothouse Kids</em>, and <em>Branded</em>. She is the Executive Director of the non-profit the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, which she created with the late author Barbara Ehrenreich. She is also the author of two books of poetry,<em> Thoughts and Prayers</em> and<em> Monetized</em>. She has written for many publications including <em>The Washington Post</em>, <em>The New York Times</em>, and <em>TIME</em>. Her honors include an Emmy, an SPJ award, a Nieman fellowship, being a National Magazine Award finalist and Columbia University Journalism School Alumni of the Year. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York. </p>
Bestselling Author, Journalist, Executive Director of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project
<ul><li><strong>What is Radical Self-Help?: Revealing the American Dream's myths and realities and how to find community in the face of inequality</strong></li><li>The American Dream and the American obsession with self-reliance has made us less healthy, less secure, and less fulfilled. The promise that you can “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” is central to the story of the American Dream. It’s the belief that if you work hard and rely on your own resources, you will eventually succeed. However, time and again we have seen how this foundational myth, with its emphasis on individual determination, brittle self-sufficiency, and personal accomplishment, does not help us. Instead, as income inequality rises around us, we are left with shame and self-blame for our condition. But hope is on the way, as Quart shows, going through the dark history of the making of the lie of the self-made man and unpacking the many ways we can and are forging communities and thinking about ourselves and our politicians differently, paving the way to a new American Dream. </li><li><strong>Really Personal Finance</strong> </li><li>Families today are squeezed on every side—from high childcare costs and harsh employment policies to workplaces without paid family leave or even dependable and regular working hours. Many realize that attaining the standard of living their parents managed has become impossible. In this talk, Quart shows how our country has failed its families and Millennials who can't save enough to buy home or repay their debt. Her middle-class subjects have been wrung out by a system that doesn’t support them, and enriches only a tiny elite. Interlacing her own experience with close-up reporting on families that are just getting by, Quart reveals parenthood and American life itself to be financially overwhelming, except for the wealthiest. She also offers solutions that actually work. </li><li><strong>Liberating Ourselves from the Old American Dream: How to see through the individualist myths and find communal joy</strong></li></ul>