Victor Tan Chen, author of Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy, is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University. Victor talks about how the long-term unemployed struggle in today’s unfair economy to support their families, rebuild their lives, and overcome the shame and self-blame they deal with on a daily basis. Victor tells the stories of laid off autoworkers that he interviewed, impacted by the changing economy, with its increasing inequality, putting families who once had well-paid jobs in desperate straits. Their declining fortunes gives a preview of what white-collar workers might see in the years ahead, as job-killing technologies and the shipping of work overseas take away even more good jobs. In addition to proposing needed policy changes, Victor offers a blueprint for a new kind of politics that offer a measure of grace in a society of ruthless advancement.