The Gilded Age | What America Failed to Learn from the Gilded Age | 7

American History Tellers

Wondery

Society & Culture, Kids & Family, History, Education For Kids

4.7 • 18.3K Ratings

🗓️ 2 September 2020

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Throughout our series, corporate giants and their exploitation of workers was disturbing evidence of capitalism run amok. That greed and disregard for the working class defined the Gilded Age.

But the problems of that era haven’t disappeared. The economic disparities that were forged in the Gilded Age are still affecting our country. And monolithic companies like Facebook and Apple continue to grow, leaving a burning question of whether big tech has too much power.

Today, Lindsay speaks with Tim Wu, a Columbia law professor and author of “The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age,” about the economic and social changes that took place then, and how they set the stage for modern America.

For more on Tim Wu: http://www.timwu.org/about.html

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, prime members, you can listen to American History Tellers add free on Amazon Music,
0:05.6	download the app today.
0:09.0	Imagine a December 1900 in Westchester, New York.
0:21.6	You're just finishing off around of 18 holes of golf with your boss Andrew Carnegie,
0:26.0	and now you're sitting down for dinner at his cottage near the course.
0:29.0	You're the president of the Carnegie Steel Company, but you have a much bigger vision
0:32.8	in store.
0:34.0	You're hoping to engineer a merger of the nation's largest steel firms, and you've
0:37.6	brought in top banker JP Morgan to lead the venture.
0:41.0	But first, you have to do the unimaginable.
0:43.7	You have to convince your boss to sell his steel empire to Morgan.
0:47.8	Carnegie chuckles as he takes a sip of brandy.
0:49.8	I have to say Charles, not your best game today.
0:53.0	You feign a sheepish grin.
0:54.5	Guess I'm out of practice.
0:56.2	Too much time behind a desk, but clearly your swing has never been better.
0:59.8	That's because I have a natural talent.
1:01.9	I'd say you've been spending more time on the course lately.
1:05.0	Why not go all the way?
1:07.2	I hear Louise is ready for you to retire.
1:09.3	Ah, she told you too, huh?
1:11.7	Yes, she's been nagging me for years to spend more time at home.
	...

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