The coronavirus pandemic, it's going to challenge the lifestyles of all Americans for the foreseeable future,

but it's already waking us up to uncomfortable realities that we've been ignoring for a very long time.

It's just so powerful now to feel that dissonance between the workers we rely on to save our lives

and how poorly we treat them.

Today on this podcast, will coping with the pandemic show us that all workers deserve economic dignity

as it's showing us what that really means.

First, a threat to an institution older than

the Constitution. Your local post office may close by this summer. That's the headline from

a liberal political action committee claiming that President Trump has politicized the Postal Service.

Louis de Joy, Trump's choice for Postmaster General, is already being denounced by Democrats as a crony.

But both political parties agree the Post Office is in serious trouble.

Lisa Raines, part of a team of reporters, covering the story for the Washington Post.

Hi, Warren.

Thanks for having me.

Indeed.

So why is the post office in crisis?

What's the problem?

Well, the Postal Service has been losing money for a good 10 years, just as it has really

struggled to find a path to survival in the digital age,

right? Because people aren't mailing letters, people are not paying their bills through the mail

anymore. And of course, package delivery was really, you know, a savior in reason the past

five years or so that's really kept things afloat. But what's

...