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Now & Then

Tax Dollars and Tech Dollars: Who Supports Society?

Now & Then

Vox Media Podcast Network

News, Society & Culture, History, News Commentary

4.93.7K Ratings

🗓️ 19 April 2022

⏱️ 43 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Who should support the needy in American society? The news is filled with controversies over the use and misuse of philanthropy, from Mackenzie Scott’s giving drive, to Elon Musk tax avoidance claims, to GoFundMe campaigns.  Heather and Joanne look at historical debates over philanthropy, from colonial community support and “warning out” laws, to Carnegie’s “Gospel of Wealth,” to the relationship between nonprofits and President Johnson’s Great Society. Join CAFE Insider to listen to “Backstage,” where Heather and Joanne chat each week about the anecdotes and ideas that formed the episode. Head to: cafe.com/history For more historical analysis of current events, sign up for the free weekly CAFE Brief newsletter, featuring Time Machine, a weekly article that dives into an historical event inspired by each episode of Now & Then: cafe.com/brief For references & supplemental materials, head to: cafe.com/now-and-then/tax-dollars-and-tech-dollars-who-supports-society Now & Then is presented by CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

I think that the holidays feel like frozen noses. I love walking with the dog for long periods of time.

0:10.0

Hopefully it's snowing and you've got to wrap up warm. So I think a frozen nose is a sweaty armpit

0:15.0

because your wrapped up so warm but then you're climbing hamps and heath and you get to the top

0:20.0

and you're like, and then you can see the breath but then your nose is still freezing to touch.

0:25.0

Joy in every sip with red cups now back at Starbucks.

0:30.0

Sam Mendes presents Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, an audible original drama.

0:36.0

The young gentleman's name would be Oliver. Oliver Twist.

0:41.0

With Brian Cox as Fagin.

0:43.0

What have you seen? Street boy.

0:45.0

Nicola Cochlan as Nancy and Daniel Callugia as Bill Sykes.

0:50.0

Look at me like a hello to my lawyer.

0:52.0

With original music by Dan Gillespie's cells, subscription required, see audible.co.uk for terms.

1:03.0

From Cafe and the Vox Media Podcast Network, this is now and then.

1:10.0

I'm Heather Cox Richardson and I'm Joanne Freeman.

1:14.0

Today we're going to tackle a topic which I'll offer here in one word and then I'll explain why that one word really doesn't do it justice.

1:21.0

So the one word I'll throw out here is philanthropy, which sounds kind of sweeping and broad and maybe even a little bit boring.

1:30.0

But what we're really interested here and talking about is connecting people or organizations with money,

1:39.0

with parts of society or people in society who can use or need that money.

1:44.0

We're trying to get a sense of who does the improving or connecting or funding of people in need or causes that need funding.

1:55.0

And there are a number of ways in which this has been intersecting in the news.

2:00.0

One of them has to do with Mackenzie Scott, who divorced Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos in 2019 and set up her own corporation in Delaware called Lost Horse.

2:13.0

And she has been really giving out vast quantities of money.

...

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