Why did last week's royal wedding in London attracted millions of UK and US spectators? What social functions did the distraction serve with its huge costs just when economic austerity is official policy and with its celebration of marriage and family just when strains and breakdowns afflict both institutions in both countries? We explore the psychology and economics of the spectacle.

Who wins when politicians only debate which public services and public employees to cut - but dare not tax big businesses and the richest individuals more?What kind of system cuts public services just when most people need them more, and thereby knowingly damages the nation's future? Harriet focuses on growing male unemployment and how it is shaking and changing America.

In this series' second and final podcast, we illustrate two other kinds of needed social changes: in personal life and in economics. To overcome the undesirable social consequences of extreme inequalities of income and wealth in the US now, we suggest changes in how Americans think about, organize and support our personal lives and economic activities.

In the continuing crisis, most of its victims remain isolated, abandoned to individualized survival efforts. The government's crisis response has served them poorly. We discuss why some very different kinds of projects and programs are now needed to provide real solutions for this crisis.