Lecture & Talk: Julian Heißler - America's Oligarchs

Moderation: Friederike Schulte, Director Carl-Schurz-Haus

America's democracy in the stranglehold of the super-rich

The deep-rooted intertwining of money and power is a legacy that has existed since the founding of the USA and is part of the DNA of the most powerful nation in the world. This book sheds light on how the super-rich, from the Founding Fathers to Elon Musk and co. influence American politics while jeopardizing democracy not only in the US, but around the world. Despite numerous attempts at reform, the power of money has been growing inexorably since Trump's re-election. Will the world's oldest democracy succeed in breaking the power of the oligarchs and preserving its fundamental democratic values? A gripping insight into the nature of America and the future of this fractured nation.

Julian Heißler studied journalism and communication studies, political science and philosophy at the Free University of Berlin and completed the master's program in journalism at the Hamburg Media School. He has been reporting from Washington DC for "WirtschaftsWoche" since 2018. Prior to that, he spent several years in Berlin writing about German federal politics for various media outlets, including "der Freitag", "SWR", on the editorial team of the talk show "Anne Will" and as an author in the ARD capital studio for "tagesschau.de". His first book "Dream and Nightmare: America and the Many Faces of Freedom" will be published in 2023.

In cooperation with: Carl-Schurz-Haus Freiburg