Music

And now, from the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN, the Axviles with your host, David Axelrod.

We're living through revolutionary times driven by technology, driven by globalization, and felt in our economy where jobs that once produced good middle class wages

of disappeared and other opportunities have appeared for people who are highly educated and well-trained.

That shift has been charted by Steve Greenhouse, the long-time labor correspondent for the New York Times, who's written both in his articles and books,

the chronicles of shifting labor patterns in our country and the impact that they've had on people.

Steve Greenhouse was a fellow at the Institute of Politics this spring, and we sat down to talk about his journey and the journey of our economy in the 21st century.

Steve Greenhouse, first of all, thank you for all your great work at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.

It's been great to have you here.

It's been a wonderful gig. I feel part of the gig economy.

But I want to talk to you a little bit about how you were for decades, the pre-eminence sort of labor writer in the country working at the pre-eminence newspaper in the country,

and working on a subject that you obviously were very passionate about.

So I want to talk about the beginning, and you grew up in Massapiqua, Long Island in New York, at the home of Alec Baldwin and Jerry Seinfeld.

You're the third funniest guy to come out of Massapiqua.

I'm probably about 1,000 funniest guys. We used to call it a Massapica because there are so many Jews and Italians.

Tell me about your folks.

So my father was a high school teacher, and he taught math and then economics. He taught community college on the side.

He didn't start that time in 1960 before he was an independent businessman. He was a dry cleaner.

My mother used to work in retail as a sales lady, and then after 1960 she became a social worker for NASA County.

But as you and I have discussed, your dad was not your usual dry cleaner.

No, my father grew up very poor during the Depression. His father was a garment cutter, was laid off during the Depression, and then my father was so poor that his parents had him live with an uncle who had more money.

My father told me, some days at his house, he'd opened up the refrigerator and there'd just be a quart of milk.

...