Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn might be best known for their international, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism, but their latest work takes place closer to home. In their own backyard, to be exact.

“Tightrope” is a story of how Americans have lost hope, through drug abuse, alcoholism, and the loss of jobs. But the story doesn’t end there. In this one-on-one interview, Kristof and WuDunn no only address this crisis in working-class America, they lay a framework of policy solutions that could mend half a century of governmental failure.