Organize the Rich Radio

On October 7th, I interviewed economist Gabriel Zucman, one of the world’s leading voices on taxing the rich. He has spent his career exposing how the very wealthy avoid paying their fair share, and making the case for why that has to change. Gabriel teaches at UC Berkeley and the Paris School of Economics, and is the author of several books, including The Hidden Wealth of Nations and, most recently, We Need to Tax Billionaires. In France, his proposal for a minimum tax on the ultra-rich beca...

In this bonus double length episode, Michael interviews his dear friend and former client, Katrina Schaffer. Katrina is part of the 4th generation of the family that owns the Hallmark corporation. Katrina’s family is quite wealthy. They have a large family office, with close to 30 employees, that manages their money. In her lifetime, Katrina is expected to inherit around 94 million dollars, mostly in yearly distributions of around 1.3 million after taxes. Since 2019, Katrina has moved m...

In the last episode of this season, hosts Michael Gast and Allison Budschalow sit down with Monica Simpson. Monica is, among many things, the Executive Director of SisterSong, the United States' largest organization dedicated to reproductive justice for women of color, and one of TIME magazine's 100’s most influential people of 2023. She is also a member of the Trust Web, the redistribution project we learned about in our first episode with Elspeth Gilmore. Monica shares her journey fro...

In this episode, taped in November of 2024, Michael Gast interviews Sharon Chen, an important U.S. based leader in the work of organizing the rich. Earlier this year, Mike and Sharon's conversation was turned into a Substack post titled, "Who's going to reach my people but me?". Sharon is currently (as of Fall 2025) the Interim Executive Director of Donors of Color Network, the former board chair of Donors of Color Action, board member of Women Donors Network, and emeritus president of ...

Movement Money is back! In this episode, co-hosts Allison Budschalow and Michael Gast interview Lisa Owens, Executive Director of the Hyams Foundation. We explore her journey from leading tenant organizing in Boston to running a $135 million private foundation whose mission is to build working class power in Massachusetts. Starting with her own money story, Lisa talks about her transition from her childhood as a class straddler and young Black girl in a predominantly white suburban worl...

The interview from 2023 that turned into the most popular post on the Organize the Rich Substack so far, "Organizing is a skill like anything else. You can learn it." Michael Gast interviews Rajasvini (Vini) Bhansali, Executive Director at Solidaire Network, an organization that builds relationships between social movements, wealthy people and institutional philanthropy. In our conversation, Vini opens up about how she came to this work, the indignities along the way, and her hon...

In this episode, we take a break from Movement Money to join Michael as he interviews social justice movement elder, writer, and strategist Linda Burnham. Their conversation was recorded last year in late October, before the election had been decided. It is one of Michael's favorite interviews from the last year of Organize the Rich. Through her personal story and activist experiences since she was a kid, Linda helps answer big questions like… How were movements funded before the rise of phil...

Who are Allison and Michael? What is their money story? And why are they making a podcast together in the first place?! In Episode 2 of Movement Money, Allison and Mike get personal. They share their money stories, reflect on what it’s like to talk so publicly about money and family, and end the episode with each of their top 3 reasons why they are making this podcast in the first place (besides the fame and glory). Tune in to hear from two underslept middle aged parents attempting to join th...

In this first ever episode of our new podcast Movement Money, Allison Budschalow and Mike talk to their dear friend Elspeth Gilmore. How do Michael and Allison both know Elspeth Gilmore, an heir to the Publishers Clearinghouse fortune and former Executive Director of Resource Generation?How and why did Elspeth decide to give away seven million dollars?What is the Trust Web? And is it just a fancy giving circle?!And— record scratch— why the f#*$ would Elspeth give away millions of dollar...

Allison Budschalow is a sorta working-class Mongolian woman from Philly. Michael Gast is a sorta rich white guy, born and raised in San Francisco. We’re two fundraisers who joined forces because we love talking about money. And class. And left movements. On Movement Money, hear real talk, from two insiders in progressive-left movement building, about money stories and mutual interests, fundraising and philanthropy, and what the fuck we do about bringing people together acros...