Today we are talking about the billionaires that have hijacked the American government.

My guest, Chuck Collins, is uniquely qualified to talk about this issue.

As heir to a family fortune, he had an insider’s seat at the table of wealth management - and what he learned about how things operate - caused him to do something considered radical - by the others at the table. He chose to donate his inheritance and dedicate himself to exposing the corrupting influence of dynastic wealth.

This is Aspire with Osha; art, nature, humanity, and I’m your host, Osha Hayden. My guest Chuck Collins, has been on the show several times. Let me tell you more about this remarkable man.

Chuck Collins is the Director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies where he co-edits Inequality.org.

Author of several books on wealth inequality, including most recently, The Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions. He also wrote a novel, Altars to an Erupting Sun and has a new book coming out this Fall, and we’ll hear more about that.

You may have listened to our previous interview from Nov 5, 2023, available on my podcast https://oshahayden.com/podcast/how-trillions-in-hidden-wealth-impacts-us-insights-from-chuck-collins/

Osha and Chuck Collins discuss what happens when wealth is transferred from working citizens to the top .01% and billionaires are able to influence policy and elections.

Are you curious about how billionaires have captured such a large percentage of the world’s wealth? About how they have rigged the system in their favor and yet pay so little in taxes? Chuck Collins states that “the combined wealth of the nine-figure club is now $16.1 trillion, up $2 trillion from a year ago.” What are some steps we can take to challenge the takeover of our government by Billionaire oligarchs?

We discuss what happens when mega billionaires seize control of the levers of power, and how that affects middle class and poor citizens.

In Tolkien’s masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, he describes the rings of power and the one ring to rule them all. In the trilogy, evil and hatred are on the rise and the dark lord Sauron seeks to find this ultimate ring of power. Because - once he takes possession of the ring, he has control over everything. But the ring is toxic in its power, it utterly corrupts the soul of whoever carries it. Osha notes the relevance of this story to the corrupting influence of extreme wealth and power.

It’s worth noting that although one of Musk’s corporations, Tesla, is valued at over $1 trillion, it paid zero income tax last year. (ITEP, Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Jan 30, 2025) https://itep.org/tesla-reported-zero-federal-income-tax-in-2024/

The US Debt is now over 36 trillion. It is estimated that the budget package being proposed would add another 5.1 trillion to the deficit. Who is on the hook for that deficit?

Chuck Collins has a new book, Burned by Billionaires, coming out this Fall.

Learn more about Chuck’s work and his books:

https://inequality.org

https://www.chuckcollinswrites.com/

Other Sites of Interest:

https://www.postcarbon.org/. Richard Heinberg, author of

If you enjoyed this show, please leave a positive review and share with your friends. Thank you! Osha

In an inspiring conversation with Justine Willis Toms, co-founder of New Dimensions Radio, Osha and Justine discuss the power of deep listening and holding space as they navigate the troubled water of these times with vision, spirit and joy.

Justine shares powerful practices and lessons from her storied career. As one of the founding conveners of the Millionth Circle Initiative, she has been engaged in Circle Work for decades and speaks about the value of these Circles, especially in difficult times. The Millionth Circle Initiative, is based on Jean Shinoda Bolen’s groundbreaking book, The Millionth Circle.

About

Justine Willis Toms is Co-Founder, Executive Director and Host of New Dimensions Radio & Media which has been broadcasting since 1973. New Dimensions is an internationally syndicated radio series, featuring dialogues with the world’s most visionary wisdom leaders. Justine, along with co-founder Michael Toms, was inducted to the 2011 Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

Justine Willis Toms has also hosted the radio series In Her Company: Deep Dialogues with Women of Wisdom, and has produced many award-winning radio series. Besides her radio work, she leads workshops on Finding Grace in a Chaotic World.

She is coauthor with Michael Toms of True Work: Doing What You Love and Loving What You Do, and author of Small Pleasures: Finding Grace in a Chaotic World.

In June 2004, she was one of thirty people in the world invited to participate in the Synthesis Dialogues with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Check out New Dimensions Radio & media: https://newdimensions.org/

You can hear Justine on her podcasts: New Dimensions Radio, and New Dimensions Cafe https://newdimensions.org/podcasts/

Learn about Circle Work: https://millionthcircle.org/

Jean Shinoda Bolen: https://www.jeanbolen.com/

@aspirewithOsha, @buzzsprout, @newdimensions.org, @millionthcircle.org, @oshahayden.com

If you enjoyed this show, please leave a positive review and share with your friends. Thank you! Osha

Today we’re talking with guest, Larry Tye, about how the joyful swinging sounds of jazz broke through racial barriers during the time of Jim Crow - not only in America - but across the world — and how famous jazz men, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong & Count Basie, basically wrote the soundtrack for the Civil Rights movement in America.

ABOUT LARRY TYE
My guest is Larry Tye, New York Times bestselling author who has written nine books - including his recent, The Jazzmen: How Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong & Count Basie Transformed America. From 1986 to 2001, Tye was an award-winning reporter at The Boston Globe, where his primary beat was medicine. Tye graduated from Brown University, was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, and taught journalism at Boston University, Northeastern, and Tufts.

In the preface to his book, The Jazzmen: How Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong & Count Basie Transformed America, Larry Tye states:

• “This book lies at the intersection of two American stories — one about this country at it most hidebound and straightlaced, the other about jazz, the all-American music form, at its most locomotive and sensuous. We’ll follow those contortions in the enclosed and electrifying settings of honky tonks - and concert halls.”

Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong & Count Basie were trailblazers who brought jazz to the masses and in so doing, broke racial boundaries. Ultimately, they became global ambassadors for the United States as they exported their joyful swinging sounds and brought crowds to their feet. For more information, you can read Larry Tye's deeply researched book, The Jazzmen: How Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong & Count Basie Transformed America.

It’s ironic that the grandson of slaves, an abandoned son raised by a family of Lithuanian Jews, and the son of a coachman & laundress rose to fame and became the face of jazz on the international stage - they met the Queen, were toasted by numerous Presidents, were on the celebrity A-list. Because of them, people began to see black men in a different light. The Jazzmen created the soundtrack for the Civil Rights Movement and opened doors for those to come.

My question for you: Can we help lift and unify the world through our art forms? Can we go go viral with the expression of joy? What would you rather experience and support - doom and negativity - or joy and hope? Perhaps the example of these jazzmen shows us the way.

Thanks for listening. Have an inspired week - and live your joy!

https://larrytye.com
@buzzsprout

If you enjoyed this show, please leave a positive review and share with your friends. Thank you! Osha