<p>Defining the middle class is harder than it might seem – it might mean owning a home, having steady work, keeping a pot of savings, or the kids and white picket fence vision of the “American Dream.” Historian Andrew Seal, whose research and writings focus on how the middle class thinks of itself, joins <em>CommonWealth Beacon</em> senior reporter Jennifer Smith on The Codcast to interpret recent Bay State polling and dive into how a middle-class identity intersects with race, media portrayals, and American individualism. </p><p>. </p><p><strong>Host: </strong></p><ul><li>Jennifer Smith, senior reporter for CommonWealth Beacon </li></ul><p><strong>Guests: </strong></p><ul><li>Andrew Seal, senior lecturer at the University of New Hampshire  </li></ul><p>.</p><p><a href="https://commonwealthbeacon.org/middle-class/in-mass-the-middle-class-is-holding-on-but-financial-anxiety-continues-to-climb/"><u>https://commonwealthbeacon.org/middle-class/in-mass-the-middle-class-is-holding-on-but-financial-anxiety-continues-to-climb/</u></a></p><p><a href="https://commonwealthbeacon.org/middle-class/for-mass-residents-housing-is-where-affordability-hits-hardest/"><u>https://commonwealthbeacon.org/middle-class/for-mass-residents-housing-is-where-affordability-hits-hardest/</u></a><br></p><p>https://paulcollege.unh.edu/person/andrew-seal </p><p>.</p><p>Join us on May 14th for our 30th anniversary celebration:</p><p>www.commonwealthbeacon.org/30th</p>