Batya Ungar-Sargon serves as the opinion editor of Newsweek and the author of multiple books, including her recent book "Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America's Working Men and Women." Join us for an in-depth conversation with her that will explore questions like "Who is the American working class? Do they still have a fair shot at the American Dream? What do they think about their chances to secure the hallmarks of a middle-class life?"

The USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future is excited to present this event in partnership with the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco. This event is supported by the Ken & Jacklyn Broad Family Fund. All in-person attendees will receive a copy of Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America’s Working Men and Women.

This program has 2 types of tickets available: In-person and online-only. We have secured 20 complimentary in-person passes for CPF fans. Use this link for your free in-person tickets: https://commonwealthclub.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/?acode=80abef46e1171e37c3e6eab6609793a5&#/instances/a0FVb0000007ophMAA

To watch the event virtually, use this special link just for CPF supporters: https://commonwealthclub.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/?acode=80abef46e1171e37c3e6eab6609793a5&#/instances/a0FVb0000007oo5MAA

Batya Ungar-Sargon visited states across the nation to speak with members of the American working-class fighting tooth and nail to survive. In her new book Second Class, working-class Americans of all races, political orientations, and occupations share their stories—cleaning ladies, health care aides, police officers, truck drivers, fast food workers, electricians, and more. In their own words, these working-class Americans told Ungar-Sargon the struggles and triumphs of their increasingly precarious lives, as well as what policies they think would improve them. Ungar-Sargon’s reporting and research on America’s emergent class divide reveals people for whom the most basic elements of a secure and stable life are increasingly out of reach for those without a college education.

She says America has broken its contract with its laboring class. So, how do we get back to the American Dream? How do we once again become the land of opportunity, the promised land where hard work and commitment to family are enough to protect you from poverty? Ungar-Sargon says all it would take is for those in power to once again respect the dignity of work—and the American worker.