Progressive Era Repression and persecution Anti-war and civil rights movements Contemporary The Other America: Poverty in the United States is Michael Harrington's best known and likely most influential book.

A widely read review, "Our Invisible Poor," in The New Yorker by Dwight Macdonald brought the book to the attention of President Kennedy.

[1] The Boston Globe editorialized that Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, and expanded social security benefits could partly be traced to Harrington's ideas.

Over thirty interviews were filmed, including John Kenneth Galbraith, Gloria Steinem, William F. Buckley, Charles Murray, and ordinary people who struggle to make a living or are dependent on social services.

The documentary included a brief history of socialism in America and raised questions on the merits and relevance of trade unions today; the problems of migrant workers, farmers, and big business; and the American health care system.