The Elite Charade of Changing the World

Library Talks

The world’s leading philanthropists are constantly working to “make the world a better place,” leading passionate campaigns against everything from climate change to poverty that had once been the province of governments. Journalist Anand Giridharadas asks whether those rich and powerful people who have most benefitted from “our highly inequitable status quo” are in fact the best candidates to take on these challenges. When are their solutions democratic and universal, and when do they reflect and support the biases that introduced the inequity in the first place? In conversation with Joy-Ann Reid, political analyst for MSNBC and host of “AM Joy,” Giridharadas discussed his new book, “Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World,” a call to action—for elite and everyday citizens alike—to build more egalitarian institutions.