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Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and tax policy expert Professor Dorothy A. Brown for a thought-provoking discussion of her books, The Whiteness of Wealth and Getting to Reparations. Drawing on decades of research, Brown examines how seemingly race-neutral tax policies have contributed to widening racial wealth disparities in the United States and explores what meaningful economic repair could look like in practice.

Together, they discuss how the U.S. tax system has historically advantaged white households while limiting wealth-building opportunities for Black Americans. The conversation explores the hidden ways tax policy shapes homeownership, education, employment, and intergenerational wealth, as well as the broader historical forces that continue to influence economic inequality today. Brown also outlines her vision for reparations, arguing that confronting the legacy of slavery and systemic discrimination is essential to building a more equitable society.

This episode offers listeners a deeper understanding of the intersection of race, public policy, and economic justice. It challenges conventional assumptions about fairness in the tax code and invites a broader conversation about how societies can address historical harms while creating more inclusive pathways to opportunity and prosperity.

The Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs is brought to you by the SDG Academy, the flagship education initiative of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Learn more and get involved at bookclubwithjeffreysachs.org.

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Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and historian Professor Rana Mitter, for a compelling discussion of his book Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II, 1937–1945. Drawing on extensive archival research and long-overlooked sources, Mitter brings to light China’s central, and often underappreciated, role in the global fight against Imperial Japan during World War II.

Together, they explore how China’s prolonged resistance tied down vast numbers of Japanese troops, shaping the broader trajectory of the war in Asia and beyond. They examine the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek, the fragile alliances between Nationalists and Communists, and the immense human cost borne by Chinese civilians. The conversation also addresses how China’s wartime experience influenced its postwar political order and its place in the emerging international system.

This episode offers listeners a powerful reframing of World War II, challenging Eurocentric narratives and highlighting the global dimensions of the conflict. It is a story of resilience, sacrifice, and strategic complexity, one that continues to shape how we understand China’s role in the world today and the enduring legacy of a “forgotten ally.”

The Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs is brought to you by the SDG Academy, the flagship education initiative of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Learn more and get involved at bookclubwithjeffreysachs.org.

Footnotes:

• Books by Rana Mitter
• China’s Role in World War II
• Second Sino-Japanese War
• Invasion of Manchuria
• Chiang Kai-shek
• Mao Zedong
• Opium Wars in China
• Ezra F. Vogel
• Marco Polo Bridge Incident
• Chongqhing Bombing
• Wang Jingwei
• Joseph Stilwell
• P5 UN Security Council

⭐️ Thanks for listening to Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs!

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Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs for a compelling conversation on Martyrs to the Unspeakable: The Assassinations of JFK, Malcolm, Martin, and RFK by James W. Douglass. In this sweeping work, Douglass reexamines the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy, arguing that these four leaders were killed not by isolated actors, but within a deeper context of national security power and Cold War politics.

Drawing on extensive documentary evidence, witness testimony, and declassified records, Douglass challenges the official lone-gunman narratives and situates each assassination within a broader struggle between movements for peace and justice and entrenched systems of violence. At the heart of the book is the concept of the “Unspeakable,” a term Douglass uses to describe the hidden structures of power capable of silencing transformative leadership.

Together, they explore how each of these figures, in different ways, broke with prevailing orthodoxies, opposing nuclear brinkmanship, militarism, racism, and war, and how their evolving commitments to peace may have placed them in direct conflict with powerful institutions.

This episode invites listeners into a profound reconsideration of one of the most turbulent eras in American history. It is a story of conscience and consequence and of how the unresolved traumas of the 1960s continue to echo in political life today.

Footnotes:

• Books by James W. Douglass
• JFK Assassination
• Malcolm X Assassination
• MLK Assassination
• RFK Assassination
• US Central Intelligence Agency
• The Warren Commission Report
• James Jesus Angelton
• Eisenhower Farewell Address
• Khrushchev and JFK Communications

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