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Feudal Future

Feudal Future

Joel Kotkin & Marshall Toplansky 149 Episodes Oct 12, 2026

Feudal Future examines the emerging class structure reminiscent of medieval times, where opportunity is shrinking for small business owners, property owners, skilled workers, and private sector professionals. Hosts Joel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky discuss how to liberate the global middle class, interviewing business, government, and citizen leaders to uncover trends and provide insights for a better future. The show is supported by the Chapman Center for Demographics and Policy.

Episodes

Science and Religion, The New Nexus
Science and Religion, The New Nexus Oct 12, 2026 6032 The fastest way to misunderstand science and religion is to treat them like teams that can only win by making the other side lose. We gather at Chapman University for a live event that replaces the tired conflict narrative with something more honest: a shared, rigorous search for truth, meaning, and responsibility. Along the way, we touch the history people forget, including how figures tied to fa
Can We Control AI?
Can We Control AI? Sep 23, 2026 3004 A model is told “don’t go online,” and it still finds a way. That’s the gut-punch that kicks off our conversation about AI control, AI safety, and why the current trajectory feels less like innovation and more like building lock-picking predators and calling the cage “alignment.” Marshall Toplansky and Joel Kotkin are joined by Roni Abovitz (CEO of Synth Bee and longtime AR and tech executive) and
Why California Politics Keeps Failing Working Families
Why California Politics Keeps Failing Working Families Sep 17, 2026 2133 California can feel like a place where elections happen, but outcomes barely change. We sit down with Gloria Romero, former State Senate Majority Leader and a current candidate for lieutenant governor, and Jennifer Hernandez, a leading land use and environmental attorney, to talk about the real fault lines under California politics and why the next shift may come from voters everyone keeps underes
2026 Housing Solutions & American Success Summit Podcast Special
2026 Housing Solutions & American Success Summit Podcast Special Aug 31, 2026 7480 Homeownership in California is starting to sound like a luxury product, even for people we rely on every day. We’re at Chapman University’s housing summit with researchers, builders, advocates, lenders, and public officials to ask one simple question with huge consequences: if Californians still want to own a home, why has the system gotten so good at producing rentals and so bad at producing star
Inside The Long Breakdown Between Iran And America
Inside The Long Breakdown Between Iran And America Aug 13, 2026 2506 War headlines make U.S.-Iran relations feel like a brand-new emergency, but the roots run straight through 1979 and the decades of habits that followed. We sit down with Professor Mansor Farhang, former Iranian ambassador to the United Nations during the hostage negotiations, and Ambassador John Limbert, a veteran U.S. diplomat who was held hostage in Tehran, to map how a revolution that seemed im
The Politics of Polarization in Europe
The Politics of Polarization in Europe Aug 5, 2026 2136 Europe’s politics is moving under our feet, and the labels are doing more heat than light. We sit down with sociologist and author Frank Furedi and political researcher Jacopo Custodi to sort through the surge of right-wing populism and the state of the far left across Europe, with Italy, Germany, Portugal, and the UK as key reference points. The question we keep coming back to is simple: are vote
Science & Religion: The New Nexus
Science & Religion: The New Nexus Jul 21, 2026 1546 If you can ask a chatbot anything and get an instant answer, what happens to the slower questions that actually shape a life like purpose, morals, and belonging? We sit down with Professor Tony Lemus, an engineer and medical device entrepreneur, and Ponthea Zahrarii, a computer science and engineering graduate, to talk about why the science and religion debate is reappearing in classrooms, labs, a
AI and the Future of Work
AI and the Future of Work Jul 8, 2026 2189 The job market can feel like a contradiction: the economy grows, unemployment does not look catastrophic, yet white-collar candidates can barely get a callback. We unpack that tension with two people who live in the data and the day-to-day reality of hiring: Michael Bernick, former director of California’s Employment Development Department, and Gad Levanon, chief economist at the Burning Glass Ins
Energy Shocks And Recessions
Energy Shocks And Recessions Jun 22, 2026 2103 Energy shocks don’t just raise prices, they can end expansions. We sit down with Tyler Goodspeed, Chief Economist at ExxonMobil and author of “Recession,” plus energy analyst Robert Bryce, to map how oil, natural gas, and geopolitics can turn into real-world recession risk. Along the way, we test a question we remember from the 1970s: are we watching another classic energy-driven downturn, or some
The Housing Affordability Challenge
The Housing Affordability Challenge Jun 10, 2026 1719 The fastest way to spot a broken housing market is brutally simple: compare home prices to incomes. When that price-to-income ratio, often called the median multiple, shoots from a normal “3” to “11” or “12,” you are not looking at a minor housing shortage. You are looking at a system that no longer works for the middle class. We unpack what the latest Demographia housing affordability data says a
THE EVOLUTION OF THE IRANIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY
THE EVOLUTION OF THE IRANIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY May 26, 2026 4754 A half-century is long enough for a community to transform, but not long enough for the origin story to stay intact without receipts. We walk through one of the first comprehensive efforts to measure Iranian Americans in the United States, then pressure-test the findings with sharp audience questions and personal reflections that put real faces behind the charts. We talk about how Iranian immigrat
The Future of the Democratic Party and California Politics
The Future of the Democratic Party and California Politics May 15, 2026 1966 The Democrats keep asking voters to choose them, but many people still can’t answer a basic question: what do Democrats stand for right now? We bring on public affairs consultant and UCLA lecturer David Gershwin and AEI senior fellow Ruy Teixeira to wrestle with the party’s direction, its internal incentives, and why “winning the next election” can mask deeper strategic failure.We talk about how t

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