“How Oligarchs Dominate Our Democracies” | Amanpour and Company @AmanpourandCompany
“How Oligarchs Dominate Our Democracies” | Amanpour and Company  @AmanpourandCompany
Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Fewer than 60,000 people — 0.001% of the world's population — control three times as much wealth as half of humanity. This statistic from the World Inequality Report shows the extreme inequality in our modern world. Political scientist Jeffrey Winters argues that, while the wealthy have dominated the masses throughout history, the gulf between oligarchs and the average citizen today is even greater than during Imperial Rome. In his new book, Winters points out one key difference: Today, this disparity is often achieved and maintained through democratic means. The author joins Hari Sreenivasan to discuss this so-called "blind spot."

Originally aired on May 29, 2026

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Major support for Amanpour and Company is provided by the Anderson Family Endowment, Jim Attwood and Leslie Williams, Candace King Weir, the Sylvia A. and Simon B. Poyta Programming Endowment to Fight Antisemitism, the Straus Family Foundation, The Peter G. Peterson & Joan Ganz Cooney Fund, Charles Rosenblum, Monique Schoen Warshaw, Koo and Patricia Yuen and Barbara Hope Zuckerberg.

Subscribe to the Amanpour and Company channel here: bit.ly/2EMIkTJ

Subscribe to our daily newsletter to find out who's on each night: pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/newsletter

For more from Amanpour and Company, including full episodes, click here: to.pbs.org/2NBFpjf

This program is made possible by viewers like you. Please support your local PBS station: pbs.org/donate

Like Amanpour and Company on Facebook: bit.ly/2HNx3EF

Follow Amanpour and Company on Twitter: bit.ly/2HLpjTI

Follow Amanpour and Company on Instagram: bit.ly/3SaTUhk

Watch Amanpour and Company weekdays on PBS (check local listings).

Amanpour and Company features wide-ranging, in-depth conversations with global thought leaders and cultural influencers on the issues and trends impacting the world each day, from politics, business and technology to arts, science and sports. Christiane Amanpour leads the conversation on global and domestic news from London with contributions by prominent journalists Walter Isaacson, Michel Martin, and Hari Sreenivasan from the Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center in New York City.

#amanpourpbs
“How Oligarchs Dominate Our Democracies” | Amanpour and Company“The New Christian Right, Antisemitism & U.S. Democracy” | Amanpour and CompanyDavid Brooks: “Ive Got One More 10-Year Chapter in My Career, Probably” | Amanpour and CompanyRep. Leger Fernández on the Reforms Needed in CongressRashad Robinson: Why the Left Is LosingInside the Disturbing Rise in Family Killings“Food Is Political:” Marion Nestle on What We Eat and How Its Regulated | Amanpour and CompanyWhy So Many Gen Z Voters Go IndependentWhat Is Hidden in Your User Agreements?How a Mother’s Wisdom Transforms Our Lives | Amanpour and CompanyNDAs and the Shadow Docket: How SCOTUS Has Become “Even More Secretive” | Amanpour and CompanyNo Black Women on the Trump NEA’s America250 List? They Made Their Own | Amanpour and Company
Amanpour and Company |

“How Oligarchs Dominate Our Democracies” | Amanpour and Company

SHARE TO X SHARE TO REDDIT SHARE TO FACEBOOK WALLPAPER