anti-monopoly leaders – Matt Stoller and Zephyr Teachout say the fight against economic concentration isn’t separate from democracy—it’s the battle over whether people can still direct their own lives. Speaking alongside The Nation podcast hosts, they argue the country needs a new pu
On August 28, 2025, demonstrators took to New York City for a “March on Wall Street,” calling for economic justice. The message wasn’t delivered through a policy memo or a court filing—it came with bodies in the street. a public refusal to accept that the economy’s biggest players can keep tightening their control while ordinary people feel their freedom slipping away.
Matt Stoller and Zephyr Teachout—two leaders in the anti-monopoly movement—argued that the country is making a mistake by treating democracy as a political question and economics as something separate. In their view. that division is “fundamentally false.” They joined a conversation with The Nation’s podcast to lay out how. as they see it. economic concentration is driving a loss of freedom across many parts of daily life.
Stoller and Teachout describe economic concentration not as a distant market phenomenon but as a force that reshapes what people can choose—how they live. how they work. and how power gets exercised when a few corporations dominate industries. Their central claim is that corporate monopolies aren’t just winning business. They’re changing the underlying reality of democratic freedom, shrinking it until it feels like something people used to have.
They also argue that the United States needs a major shift in public mindset to fight back. Stoller and Teachout talk about a “re-illusionment”—a phrase presented as the opposite of disillusionment—meant to capture the idea that people must be reawakened to what corporate monopoly power is doing and mobilize against it rather than settle into resignation.
The discussion takes place alongside the podcast’s other voices. including Jonathan Smucker. the cofounder and executive director of Popular Comms. cofounder of Pennsylvania Stands Up. and author of *Hegemony How-To: A Roadmap for Radicals*. Smucker has worked for over 25 years as a political organizer. campaigner. and strategist. and has trained thousands of organizers and social movement participants.
The conversation also includes Aaron Regunberg. described as a climate lawyer. a contributing editor at *The New Republic*. and a former Rhode Island state representative. Other podcast figures named in the material include Matt DaSilva. a co-host of the *Fighting Fascism* podcast. and The Nation’s subscription prompt appears in the same package of content.
Across the episode. the emotional center is clear: the idea that monopoly power is not just an economic story. but a freedom story—one that shows up in everyday constraints and then hardens into political life. The street demonstration on Wall Street sets the tone. The argument that follows insists the same struggle belongs in the same room as democracy itself. not pushed off into an entirely separate category.
United States politics anti-monopoly movement Matt Stoller Zephyr Teachout democracy economic concentration corporate monopolies March on Wall Street economic justice
So basically Wall Street is taking away freedom? Idk seems like common sense but ok.
I feel like they’re blaming corporations for everything, but at the same time… I get it. Like how do regular people “direct their own lives” when prices and jobs are controlled by giant companies? Not sure what the fix is though.
Wait, so was this talking about the March on Wall Street like actual bodies in the street?? That part sounds wild/messed up. Also “re-illusionment”??? sounds like propaganda word salad to me, not gonna lie.
They say democracy and economics aren’t separate, but democracy literally IS politics so how is that not separate? Either way, monopolies do feel like they run the country. I just wish they’d say names like who the biggest problem companies are instead of these big phrases like “economic concentration”.