Elizabeth Warren: The Essential Interviews

Share:

September 14, 2011

Elizabeth Warren, Harvard law professor and consumer advocate, announced today that she’s running for the Democratic ticket in next year’s U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts.

As everyone starts digging into Warren’s past (hello, journalists), we thought we’d give you a hand. We’ve published three extensive interviews with Warren, starting in 2004.

Without further ado:

+ The Secret History of the Credit Card (2004): Warren discusses the problems with America’s massive consumer loan industry, and offers some interesting insights as to why she studies bankruptcy:

Bankruptcy is about financial death and financial rebirth. Bankruptcy is the great American story rewritten. We’re a nation of debtors.

She also tackles the credit card lobby, calling it “a great big multibillion-dollar industry talking to Congress, whispering in their ear.”

+ Can You Afford to Retire? (2006): Warren explains the history of pensions; why many Americans are losing theirs; and how bankruptcy laws play a major role in this:

What we are starting to create now is a notion in the United States that it’s old-fashioned and clearly unprofitable to make good on your promises to your employees and retirees.

+ Breaking the Bank (2009): Among the issues she expounds upon are the Troubled Asset Relief Program [TARP] bailout; her disappointment with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s first speech to the American people; and her plans for the TARP Congressional Oversight Panel, which she chaired. She says that more people should have seen the ’08 financial crisis coming:

If we don’t know that there’s a problem, then it’s because we’ve got our fingers stuffed in our ears, our eyes taped shut, and we’re singing, “La, la, la, la, la, I can’t hear you.”

Also check out these three video excerpts from her extended interview (scroll down, they’re towards the bottom).


More Stories

9/11, More Than 20 Years Later: 20 Essential Documentaries to Watch
These films, selected from more than two decades of extensive FRONTLINE reporting, probe that fateful day and its lasting impacts on America and the world.
September 5, 2025
Watch FRONTLINE’s 5 Most-Streamed Documentaries of 2025 (So Far)
Looking for some documentaries to watch as summer continues? We’ve got you covered.
August 6, 2025
Tonight's New Documentary, This Month, and the Future
A note from FRONTLINE Editor-in-Chief and Executive Producer Raney Aronson-Rath.
July 29, 2025
The Iran-Israel Conflict and the U.S. Role: 11 Documentaries to Watch
Decades of tensions between Israel and Iran erupted into war in June. These FRONTLINE films offer context and background on the conflict, both countries’ leaders and ambitions, the role of the U.S., and the ongoing impact across the Middle East.
July 29, 2025