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December 18, 2025 37 mins

How do you define the working class? Is it based on education, income, job, or taste? Is there even a definitive answer?

Several guests are on the show to help figure it out. Starting with Rachel Sherman, a professor of Sociology at The New School in New York City, who lays out the many possible ways to define class. 

We also hear from Joan Williams, Founding Director of the Equality Action Center at UC Law San Francisco and a prominent public intellectual. Joan returns to talk numbers, a particularly important detail for a certain group looking toward one end of the income distribution.

Marbella Eboni Hill, Assistant Professor of Sociology at North Carolina State University, speaks about the intersection of race and class; and how understanding their relationship makes the murky waters of the class conversation much more clear.  

We also hear from Río, Olive, and Colin. Between their jobs cooking, bartending, and personal training, they talk with a lot of people. And, arguably, have the most expert things to say about class in the United States today. Not surprisingly, they’ve got some clear ideas that reflect the reality of being a working class person in these increasingly unaffordable times. 


Rachel Sherman: Website

Joan C. Williams: Website

Marbella Eboni Hill: Website

Colin Davis: Instagram

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