This is a FREE preview of The United States of Debt, a Slate Academy. To get access to the full episode and more, visit Slate.com/debt. Whether you’re struggling to get by on $30,000 a year or living off of a comfortable six-figure income, credit cards have become an inevitable part of American life. 

In this second episode of the United States of Debt, a Slate Academy, host Helaine Olen explores why so many of us run up more charges than we can easily pay off. What factors have allowed credit card companies to lend us money so indiscriminately, and could a 1978 Supreme Court decision have something to do with it? How has racial inequality played a role in ensuring that some minorities hold more credit card debt than whites? And are we fully to blame for our credit card bills? 

Also tune in to hear Olen give advice about how to get out of credit card debt—including her thoughts on get-out-of-debt organizations, financial coaches, and bankruptcy.

Our guest experts on Episode 2 include former CNBC On the Money host Carmen Rita Wong, Arkansas State University visiting associate professor Dr. Rebecca Barrett-Fox, and Dr. Maya Rockeymoore, president of Global Policy Solutions, a Washington, D.C.–based policy firm and nonprofit.

This episode included music by Kai Engel and Chris Zabriskie.