Abigail Disney: The American Dream or Nightmare for Workers?

Is the American Dream dead? When Abigail Disney, the granddaughter of one of the founders of Disney, received a message from a worker at Disney’s flagship theme park, she discovered that some employees were earning one two-thousandth of the earnings of CEO Bob Iger. She wrote to Iger, testified in Congress and ultimately made a film, “The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales.” In one scene she asks a group of workers, “How many of you know someone that works at Disney that sleeps in their car?” Abigail underscores the need to tax the top 1%, speaks out against corporate greed and calls out the policies and values that created such gaping inequality at Disney and across the business world. The median net worth of the top 10 billionaires in the world has nearly tripled over the last decade while most Americans are earning less than their parents and economic mobility is on the decline. Abigail Disney is an Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker, an activist and the granddaughter of Roy Disney who co-founded the company with Walt. The film, co-directed with Kathleen Hughes is available for streaming now. Laura and Abigail ask how long can corporations sustain the “American Dream” at the expense of their workers.

“Absent collective bargaining, we are all subject to the tender mercies of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. Collective bargaining is the only way workers have to democratically represent their own interests in the workplace.” - Abigail Disney
_________________
GUEST:
Abigail Disney: Documentary Filmmaker & Social Activist; Co-Director & Producer, The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales; Founder Fork Films; Producer & Host All Ears with Abigail Disney

🎧 PODCAST:
Prefer to listen? Hear this week's episode on your favorite podcast platform (Available Monday, 1/16): https://lauraflanders.simplecast.com/episodes/abigail-disney-the-american-dream-or-nightmare-for-workers

✏️ EPISODE NOTES:
Visit our Patreon for more information on this week's episode, including related articles, books and more: https://www.patreon.com/posts/show-notes-dream-77147265

📺 RELATED EPISODES:
Lisa Graves: The Extremist Revolution & Democracy Hanging by a Thread: https://youtu.be/KhwBab5B9Y4
Heather McGhee: Racism Costs Everyone: https://youtu.be/sO2Bz7dQilU
The Pandemic Economy: https://youtu.be/S7SsCuZzdKQ

📚 Book of the Week:
“The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together” by Heather McGhee: https://bookshop.org/a/22992/9780525509585
________________________________________________________________________
The Laura Flanders Show is non-commercial independent media that relies on the contributions of viewers and listeners.

DONATE TODAY at https://lauraflanders.org/donate/ or consider becoming a PATREON partner at https://www.patreon.com/thelfshow

📩 SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter: http://www.lauraflanders.org

🎧 LOOKING FOR UNCUT INTERVIEWS? Patreon subscribers get exclusive access to our full uncut conversations and audio extras! Join our growing family today! https://www.patreon.com/thelfshow

FOLLOW The Laura Flanders Show
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thelfshow
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theLFshow
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelfshow/
Website: https://www.lauraflanders.org
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thelfshow
Subscribe to our podcast: https://www.lauraflanders.org/listen

📚 Shop our Bookshop Store: https://bookshop.org/shop/thelfshow

ACCESSIBILITY
This episode is closed captioned.

CREDITS
Executive Producer: Laura Flanders
Senior Story Producer: Sabrina Artel
Director of Development: Alicia Duque
Consulting Producer: Rory O'Connor
Editors: Nat Needham, David Neumann
Radio & Podcast Producer: Jeannie Hopper
Communications Manager: Janet Hernandez
Motion Graphics: Nat Needham

#AbigailDisney #DisneyDocumentary #Disneyland #WageInequality #Labor #Unions #Economy #DisneyParks #BobIger #RoyDisney #WaltDisney #Sundance