Wealth

Michael Cecchi-Azzolina talks about what it's like to be a Maitre D' at the fanciest restaurants in New York City. He has worked in the business for three decades telling wealthy diners, celebrities and even the mafia whether or not they can have the table by the window. His memoir is called Your Table is Ready.

Season two of Mike White's Emmy Award Winning HBO series 'The White Lotus' is about wealthy Americans vacationing in a luxurious hotel in Sicily and how they manage to mess up their lives

Imperioli plays a sex-addicted Hollywood producer on vacation in Sicily in the HBO show. In 2021, he published Woke Up This Morning, an oral history of The Sopranos based on his podcast.

COVID-19 attacks indiscriminately: Young or old, rich or poor, it seems like everyone is vulnerable to the virus. But New York Times economics writer Nelson Schwartz says increasing economic inequality in the U.S. means that, as a group, the country's wealthiest one percent are likely to fare better during the pandemic than everyone else.

Journalist Evan Osnos, who recently wrote about doomsday prep for the super rich for The New Yorker, tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross that tech survivalists are stockpiling weapons and food, and, in some cases, preparing luxury underground bunkers.

Critic Maureen Corrigan has watched the TV drama since its debut, though she admits she never thought it was any good. But now that the 1980s are over, she thinks Dallas's outlandish, greed-obsessed storylines no longer resonate with viewers.

Show creator Mitch Hurwitz advises against binge-watching the new season, but TV critic David Bianculli begs to differ. He says hidden identities and perplexing mysteries unfold slowly, and watching everything in one sitting helps make those connections ever clearer.

The rich and good-looking get a taste of life among the 99 percent in Jonathan Dee's novels. In A Thousand Pardons, his protagonist, Helen Armstead, finds a secret talent for getting powerful men to apologize after her marriage falls apart and she is forced to enter the working world.

International investor and philanthropist George Soros and one of the world's wealthiest men. He's been called the "world's greatest investor." As head of the Soros Foundation, (a philanthropic organization) he's given away millions internationally, funding such things as a water-treatment plant for Sarajevo, low-income housing units for South Africa's urban townships, and a University for Central Europe in Budapest.

Journalists Donald Barlett and James Steele. Their reports from the front pages of the "Philadelphia Inquirer" later became the book "America: What went Wrong"; it was a bestseller for eight months, and added fuel to the fire of the 1992 Election. Their new book of investigative reporting is "America: Who Really Pays the Taxes?" (Simon & Schuster). They argue the middle class has been soaked by the current tax system; that the same dollar earned by a neighborhood grocer is taxed more than if it was earned by a foreign corporation doing business here.

Writer and editor Ben Sonnenberg, Junior. Sonnenberg was born into one of New York City's most prominent families. He went on to be a poet and playwright, and he started the influential literary magazine, "Grand Street." Sonnenberg's new memoir, "Lost Property," talks about those events, and about his being stricken with multiple sclerosis. (The book's published by Summit Books).

Television critic David Bianculli reflects on the final episode of "Dallas" and the show's 13 year history.

Book critic John Leonard says Joseph Wambaugh's police thrillers vary in quality, though they're all enjoyable. The writer's newest book, The Golden Orange, about an ex-cop in Southern California, is a return to form.

Malcolm Forbes is the owner, chairman, and editor-in-chief of Forbes Magazine, whose slogan is "Forbes: The Capitalist's Tool." The company was founded by Forbes's father, and Forbes joined the staff in 1947, and was promoted after his father's death in 1954. The firm remains a family business--two of Forbes's sons work for the magazine. Forbes is also known for his wealth and extravagant hobbies such as hot-air ballooning (he was the first to travel coast-to-coast in one), motorcycling, and collecting art and toy soldiers.