poverty

Ralph Nader talks about the GOP filibuster of unemployment benefits bill, the collapse of the consumer financial protection agency proposal, and the latest auto recalls; photographer Kike Arnal and Ralph Nader discuss Arnal's new book “In the Shadow of Power: and Poverty in Washington, D.C.”; and "Democracy Now!" producer Aaron Maté traveled to Vancouver to look at an issue lost in the two-week spectacle: the struggles of a low-income community in the Olympics’ shadow. "Democracy Now!" is a daily independent newshour.

In a recent article for ColorLines, Seth Wessler reported on one woman's struggle to support her family when cash benefits from the Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) program -- the one that replaced welfare under Bill Clinton's 1996 welfare reform -- run out. "Selling Food Stamps For Kids' Shoes" was the title of the article, and it creates a stark picture of the impossible choices more and more families are forced to make in the continuing recession.

New year, new symbol? The Burj Dubai fits. More than half a mile high, more than two Empire State buildings tall, the Dubai tower boasts 169 stories, the world's highest swimming pool, the world's highest place of worship, and the world's tallest mountain of denial. History repeats … Dubai's Sheikh Mohammed and his Chicago-based architects hail their building as a symbol of renaissance, the future, and all things great. There's just one glitch.

To rethink public housing, one must rethink the idea of public. That's according to Reinhold Martin, Columbia professor of Architecture and author of "The Organizational Complex: Architecture, Media, and Corporate Space." Martin joined us in the studio for a fascinating discussion of public housing, urban and rural living, and the fact that many "public" provisions that do not carry a stigma.