This month, the radio program Marketplace is launching the Wealth & Poverty Desk, which will provide content on the growing concentration of wealth in the U.S. and its causes and consequences for the economy and society.

“Marketplace’s Wealth & Poverty Desk will provide millions of Americans with the information and insights needed to make critical decisions, and help to empower people to change their lives and the communities they live in,” said Jon McTaggart, American Public Media’s president and CEO. “This reflects our deep commitment to important journalism that can expand perspectives and strengthen communities in every state, big city, small town and rural region in the country.”

The Wealth & Poverty Desk will explore the human impact of wealth and poverty and aspires to foster thoughtful conversation among Americans from different classes, races, and walks of life to increase public awareness of the growing income and wealth gap.

Beginning immediately, reporting from the Wealth & Poverty Desk can be heard across Marketplace’s programming, starting today with a series of features that attempt to define wealth, poverty, middle class, and the wealth gap.

The initiative is made possible by a grant from the Ford Foundation.