The college dream has failed

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Politics, News, News Commentary, Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.5 • 11.1K Ratings

🗓️ 15 May 2026

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

College was supposed to be a ticket to a better life. A degree meant a good job, a decent salary, and a brighter future. That promise is breaking down. For many graduates, a college degree no longer guarantees economic security or upward mobility. In today’s episode, guest host Miles Bryan talks with reporter and author Noam Scheiber about his new book, Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class, which argues that the economic prospects for college graduates have steadily eroded since the mid-2000s. The result is scrambling our politics. Miles and Noam discuss why college graduates are increasingly drawn to socialist politicians like Bernie Sanders and Zohran Mamdani, why they’ve become some of the strongest supporters of organized labor, and how economic frustration among educated workers could transform the American political landscape. Host: Miles Bryan, Vox reporter and senior producer Guest: Noam Scheiber, New York Times reporter and author of Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working ClassWe would love to hear from you. To tell us what you thought of this episode, email us at thegrayarea@vox.com or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show. And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube. Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:44.9	visit servicenow.com. Welcome to the gray area.
1:00.3	I'm Vox reporter and producer Miles Bryan.
1:02.6	I'm filling in for Sean today.
1:04.4	My guest is New York Times labor reporter Noam Scheiber.
1:08.0	He's written a new book called Mutiny,
1:09.8	The Rise and Revolt of the College Educated Working Class. In the book, Noam Shiber. He's written a new book called Mutiny, The Rise and Revolt of the
1:11.1	College Educated Working Class. In the book, Noam argues that over the last 20 years or so,
1:16.8	college grads prospects have fallen way short of what they were promised, and that's pushed them
1:21.3	left on economics. I asked Noam to come on the show to talk about his book. What exactly are
1:26.2	college graduates mutineing against?
1:28.2	And how could an alliance between white-collar and blue-collar workers transform American politics?
	...

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