It's the Brian Larry Show on WNYC.

Good morning again, everyone.

You know, we use the words oligarch and oligarchy a lot these days, right?

Tech oligarchs are the biggest example right now, probably of a reference to oligarch and oligarchy a lot these days, right? Tech oligarchs are the biggest

example right now, probably of a reference to oligarchs that can get your blood boiling.

Elon Musk, tech oligarch, might soon become the world's first trillionaire, according to recent

reports. And of course, he is very engaged in pushing for his politics to apply to

people who have a million times and more or less wealth than him. Another example of how we hear

the word Russian oligarchs, right? One example of that in the news recently, people say,

Mayor Mamdani's pieter tax on second homes in New York City worth $5 million or more

is largely aimed at people like Russian oligarchs.

And there are other categories of oligarchs too.

So if you wonder why do we have all these oligarchs with their power and politics in a democracy

like ours?

Well, our next guest is an expert on the topic,

and his new book says society is dominated by the interests of the rich,

not despite democracy, but through it.

He is Jeffrey Winters, professor of political science at Northwestern University,

and director of the Equality Development and Globalization Studies Program at Northwestern's Buffett Institute for Global Affairs.

He wrote a seminal book about oligarchy back in 2011. He has a new one called The Blind

Spot, How Oligarchs Dominate Our Democracies.

Professor Winters, thanks for coming on.

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