Robert Reich joins UK Political Book Club for his memoir Coming Up Short

Posted by Isabel Liu
February 23, 2026

On Tuesday March 17 Robert B. Reich joins us (by pre-recorded video) when we meet on Zoom to discuss his book Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America. "The central struggle of civilization is fighting bullies--standing up against brutality."

Reich has just retired from his role as Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations, including as Clinton's Secretary of Labor. He is Chair of Common Cause, a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine and co-founder of Inequality Media. Reich is hugely popular on Substack, Instagram and TikTok.

As much manifesto as memoir.

-Publishers Weekly

A sharply pointed chronicle of a society that, Reich laments, gladly tolerates the strong brutalizing the weak.

-Kirkus

At 7:30pm we'll watch the video Reich has recorded just for us at the DAUK Political Book Club as our "Q&A with the Author" and discuss his book for 45 minutes. We'll then discuss current events for 30 minutes, finishing at 8:45pm. RSVP here to receive the Zoom link, book discussion questions, and current events newsletter. Any questions? Contact [email protected] .

All are welcome, even if you haven't read the book. The official UK release of Coming Up Short is March 12, so you'll likely see more then. In the meantime, here is more to complement or substitute for reading the book in a way that fits your schedule.

20250726 Robert Reich thinks the baby boomers blew it - New York Times

20250803 Reich reads two chapters of his memoir on his Substack (35m video)

20250821 Robert Reich: The baby boomers fell short - NPR (40m audio)

20250806 Robert Reich on his memoir, rising US inequality & fighting against bullies - Democracy Now (40m video & transcript, Reich interview starts at 17m with Patti Smith)