Reich has served in three national administrations, including as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton, for which Time Magazine named him one of the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. In 2003 he received the Václav Havel Foundation Prize from the former Czech president for his pioneering work in economic and social thought.
He has written 18 books, including the best-sellers The Work of Nations, Aftershock, and The System: Who Rigged It and How We Fix It. His most recent book, Coming Lip Short: A Memoir of My America, published last year, was a #1 New York Times best-seller. He is a columnist for The Guardian, a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine, and co-founder of Inequality Media to which he contributes posts and explainer videos, and he writes daily at robertreich.substack.com. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Reich was the subject of a 2025 documentary directed by Elliot Kirschner called The Last Class. It provides an intimate, emotional look at his teaching career, his lectures on wealth inequality, and the passage of time. The film follows Reich as he prepares to retire from academia after a 40-year career in which he taught over 40,000 students. The heart of the documentary takes place during his final “Wealth and Poverty” course at UC Berkeley, which packed 1,000 students into the largest lecture hall on the campus.
Fiat Lux Redux presents previously aired lectures, conversations, and podcasts originating on the campus of UC Berkeley every other Tuesday from 9am to 9:30am. These often-lengthy original programs have been edited to a 30-minute format by experienced KALX producers. The show’s name, Latin for “Let there be light”, is a reference to the University of California’s motto, which is also Fiat Lux. The show’s goal is to provide listeners with a window into the intellectual and cultural life of UC Berkeley and to showcase the wide range of subjects and diversity of thought and ideas that are present at UC Berkeley.
This episode of Fiat Lux Redux was edited by Lisa Katovich for KALX Berkeley. If you have questions or comments about Fiat Lux Redux, contact lisa.katovich@gmail.
