Paper Trails: Chris Hedges on the Death of the Liberal Class

When Chris Hedges attacks mainstream newspapers, he knows what he is talking about: he once wrote for The New York Times. When he attacks the liberal Protestant establishment, he knows what he is talking about: his father is a minister. Hedges has a scathing critique of how the old liberal institutions have caved, he believes, in this age of right-wing and capitalist ascent. He is not shy about saying it.

Which means he is an invigorating interview, and he was the perfect choice to begin season two of Paper Trails, the public radio show about books. The interview was recorded well before Occupy Wall Street, but it resonates with everything that inchoate movement seems to be about. Our only regret is that we don't have a post-OWS update.

But listen in, as hosts Oppenheimer and Slattery try to get a word in edge-wise. (Hedges speaks in complete sentences...lots of them.) You'll learn something. Or at least be angry trying.