{"id":2531,"date":"2025-10-13T23:16:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T23:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/2531\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T23:16:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T23:16:08","slug":"robert-reich-has-a-homework-assignment-for-gen-z-film-television","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/2531\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert Reich has a homework assignment for Gen Z | Film & Television"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the evening of Oct. 8, former UC Berkeley<\/a> Professor Robert Reich<\/a> returned to campus after a screening of \u201cThe Last Class<\/a>,\u201d a documentary that follows his final semester teaching on campus. The film follows Reich throughout the semester as he reckons with his departure from teaching and the many uncertainties he has for the future of the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His last class, \u201cWealth and Poverty,\u201d was designed to provide more than just an explanation of how inequality has been entrenched into our country. It also seeks to expose the emotional reality of data in students\u2019 lives. \u201cThis is not a theory class,\u201d Reich tells his students. This subject is happening in the world in both big and small ways all the time.<\/p>\n

Reich\u2019s humility and unceremonious discussion of his impressive career \u2014 both in the film and on stage \u2014 was almost comical. In one of the film\u2019s scenes, Reich guides the camera around his cluttered office as he consolidates his mementos covered in pink sticky notes. Reich points out his cabinet chair from his time as Secretary of Labor for former President Bill Clinton\u2019s administration, walls of newspapers, various awards and, of course, his Newt Gingrich bobblehead. UC Berkeley students call this office his museum \u2014 a warm, unassuming collection of oddities that represent his legendary career.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After the screening, Reich was met with a standing ovation as he shuffled across the stage to sit beside Emmy Award-winning writer, comedian and activist Kamau Bell. Reich discussed the changes he has seen over his 40 years teaching at UC Berkeley, noting the urgency and relentless determination that today\u2019s students bring to the fight for democracy. Reich said he believes that, whether or not they intend to, Gen Z has found itself at the forefront of addressing these issues in new ways.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey see how awful it is. It\u2019s terrible, but it activates.\u201d Reich said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reich said the United States has found itself here because we have been just \u201cletting things happen.\u201d However difficult and complex our current situation is, Reich asserted that removing money from politics and protecting education and media is a good place to begin.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

The film\u2019s director and Reich\u2019s longtime friend Elliot Kirschner created both a farewell to Reich and a call to action. At times, the film felt merely introductory into the complex legacy of Reich\u2019s career and study of public policy itself, forming a sweet, sentimental picture of how being an educator has served as the social and emotional underpinning of Reich\u2019s world. In many ways, honoring and humanizing Reich overshadowed the larger issues at hand. However, the film may leave its audience in exactly the right place, asking deeper questions and wanting nuanced answers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There were many bittersweet moments in which Reich attempted not to scowl as friends and colleagues congratulated him on his retirement throughout the film. I think his departure from the classroom will only propel the tenacious man to do more, having already released his nineteenth book this year in August \u2014 a memoir titled \u201cComing Up Short\u201d \u2014 in addition to his active online presence on Instagram and weekly Substack posts. Despite this, there is a real tangible impact and relationship that great educators can have while teaching \u2014 something Reich was trying his best to appear unperturbed about leaving behind throughout the film.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cGive them some homework!\u201d Bell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reich\u2019s assignment for the audience was simple: Be active in your community in whatever way you can. He is not concerned with telling us what policy to promote or specific events to attend; that\u2019s for us to discover in our own time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reich has hope for these new generations. As for me, I choose to believe in us too.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On the evening of Oct. 8, former UC Berkeley Professor Robert Reich returned to campus after a screening…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2532,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[3389,3383,3384,3386,3382,3385,143,145,144,3381,3388,149,435,3387],"class_list":["post-2531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-coming-up-short","tag-the-last-class","tag-bill-clinton","tag-elliot-kirschner","tag-kamau-bell","tag-newt-gingrich","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-robert-reich","tag-secretary-of-labor","tag-uc-berkeley","tag-united-states","tag-wealth-and-poverty"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}