Podcasts about Labor history

This week on Labor History Today, we're marking the 50th anniversary of the Walter P. Reuther Library building at Wayne State University with a special episode from our friends at Tales from the Reuther Library. Hosts Dan Golodner and Troy Eller English revisit the origins of one of the nation's premier labor archives, sharing stories from its early days and reflecting on why preserving labor history remains vital in a moment of renewed attacks on worker rights. As part of the celebration, they sit down with Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, whose union recently placed its records with the Reuther. Nelson discusses the history and evolution of the flight attendant profession, the fights that shaped it, and why knowing our past is essential to winning today's battles. Plus, on Labor History in 2:00: the 2012 walkout by more than 100 New York City fast food workers that helped spark a movement. A NOTE TO OUR LISTENERS: Recently we passed the 100,000-download mark here at Labor History Today. Now, we don't pay a whole lot of attention to metrics and all that sort of stuff; we don't have sponsors and we've been putting the show together every week since 2017 because – like Sara Nelson – we believe that the key to the future of working people and their unions lies in knowing about our past struggles. Still, it's nice to know that so many of you are listening out there; so here's a promise: you keep listening and we'll keep putting out the show. And if you get a chance, share the show with a colleague, friend or family and what the hell, let's rack up another hundred thousand downloads even quicker! Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. @ReutherLibrary @FlyingWithSara #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

Historian and former UAW organizer Rudi Batzell joins America's Workforce Union Podcast to explain how the failure of land reform after slavery — and employers' use of racial division and strikebreaking — shaped the early U.S. labor movement. From “40 acres and a mule” to the CIO, Batzell shows how race and class remain inseparable in American labor history. And on Labor History in 2:00: Justice for Janitors. Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

On this week's Labor History Today: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders accepts the 60th annual Eugene V. Debs Award from the Eugene V. Debs Foundation in Terre Haute, Indiana — and pays tribute to the labor legend not as a figure of the past, but as an inspiration for the struggles of today. From the Pullman Strike to the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, from Debs' call for human kinship — “while there is a soul in prison, I am not free” — to Sanders' warning about today's billionaire class, this episode connects the struggles of the past to the movements of the present. Plus, music by The Local Honeys, who performed at the Debs dinner, and Labor History in 2:00 remembers Debs. Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

On October 26, 2025, the Sam and Esther Dolgoff Institute (SEDI) hosted historian Mark Leier for a rich and provocative discussion on Mikhail Bakunin—philosopher, agitator, exile, and one of the most misunderstood revolutionaries of the nineteenth century.Drawing on his biography Bakunin: The Creative Passion, Leier unraveled the myths that have long haunted Bakunin's reputation—from the caricature of a “prophet of destruction” to the false dichotomy between anarchism and Marxism. Through careful historical reconstruction, he showed how Bakunin's ideas on education, materialism, and the role of intellectuals anticipated later critiques of bureaucracy, vanguardism, and the professional-managerial class.Leier traced Bakunin's path from his Hegelian studies in Berlin to his clashes with Marx in the First International, revealing a thinker whose insistence on freedom, spontaneity, and working-class autonomy remains vital today. The talk also explored Bakunin's warnings about the rise of a new class of intellectuals who, under the guise of science and reason, might reproduce domination in revolutionary movements—a lesson Leier connects to contemporary politics and the recurring tension between theory and action on the left.Mark Leier is a professor of history at Simon Fraser University and the author of Bakunin: The Creative Passion (St. Martin's Press / Palgrave Macmillan), Rebel Life: The Life and Times of Robert Gosden, and Where the Fraser River Flows: The Industrial Workers of the World in British Columbia. His scholarship focuses on labor radicalism, anarchist thought, and the history of working-class resistance in North America.This event is part of SEDI's ongoing speaker series, bringing together radical historians, writers, and organizers to deepen our understanding of the past and sharpen our interventions in the present.The Sam and Esther Dolgoff Institute: https://www.dolgoffinstitute.com/Explore Mark Leier's work:Rebel Life: The Life and Times of Robert Gosden, Revolutionary, Mystic, Labour Spy - https://www.newstarbooks.com/book.php?book_id=155420058X Works at The Anarchist Library - https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/mark-leierLIKE, SUBSCRIBE, AND SHARE!https://youtube.com/cyberdandySupport the showhttps://www.patreon.com/c/cyberdandySupport the show

10.28.2025 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Maine GOP Targets Mail Voting, SNAP Cuts Hit Millions, Roxanne Brown Makes Labor History Maine is attempting to make it more difficult for individuals, particularly seniors and people with disabilities, to vote by mail. This GOP-backed measure on the November ballot could restrict access for thousands. Today marks day 28 of the government shutdown. Dozens of states are suing the Trump administration for cutting off SNAP food aid, which millions of families rely on. A historic moment is unfolding: for the first time ever, the United Steelworkers Union will be led by a woman. Roxanne Brown will join us to discuss breaking barriers and what her swearing-in means for labor and equality. We are just one week away from Virginia's significant election. Democratic nominee Jay Jones will join us to explain why he should be the next Attorney General. In our Black Star Network Marketplace, we feature a Black-owned brand, E Marie, that is redefining comfort with its ultra-soft blankets and hoodies. #BlackStarNetwork partner: Fanbasehttps://www.startengine.com/offering/fanbase This Reg A+ offering is made available through StartEngine Primary, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. This investment is speculative, illiquid, and involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of your entire investment. You should read the Offering Circular (https://bit.ly/3VDPKjD) and Risks (https://bit.ly/3ZQzHl0) related to this offering before investing. Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jennifer Albert Mann joins the show to discuss her book "Shift Happens, The History of Labor in the United States," a labor history book for teens and young adults. Shift Happens was the September young adult book recommendation on NEA's Read Across America Calendar, under the theme “invite transformation.”

It's all about shutdown and resistance. First, Jessica LaPointe is President of the American Federation of Government Employees Social Security Council. We'll ask her and a local worker about the present and future of Social Security. Then, we'll ask federal union leaders from HUD, the IRS the Army Corps of Engineers and Social Security how members are surviving with no pay and why they want more unions to show up and protest. Thursday at 6pm, rebroadcast Friday at 5am. Our feature is Voices from Labor History. 

On Labor History Today: In 2005 the Guinness Brewery at Park Royal, West London closed after seven decades of production. Tim Strangleman spent the last six months of the Brewery's life working with a photographer to record in words and picture the site before it closed. Subsequent research revealed an incredibly rich story of corporate cultural change and the transformation of work and the workplace. Drawing on material from his 2019 book, Voices of Guinness: An Oral History of the Park Royal Brewery, Strangleman, Professor of Sociology, in the School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, University of Kent, Canterbury, reflects on what that story tells us about work meaning, identity and organizational life in the second decade of the twenty-first century. Our show – which originally aired on October 24, 2021 -- is excerpted from Strangleman's Zoom presentation at the October 5, 2021 edition of Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives, the lecture series sponsored by the Michigan Traditional Arts Program and the Labor Education Program at Michigan State University. To get on the ODW/ODL email list email John Beck at mailto:beckj@msu.edu Click here for photos of the Park Royal Guinness Brewery.   And, on Labor History in 2:00, the year was 1940; that was the day that the federally mandated 40-hour work week went into effect for U.S. workers. Produced by Chris Garlock. To contribute a labor history item, email laborhistorytoday@gmail.com Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University. #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @MichiganTradArts @MSUSHRLR @DIndustrialKent @SSPSSR @OxUniPress

On this week's Labor Radio Podcast Weekly: Work Stoppage: 32,000 Michigan home healthcare workers win SEIU recognition with a 73% “yes” vote and gear up to bargain with the state. Radio Labour Canada: CUPE re-elects Mark Hancock, announces 800,000 members, and vows to fight back-to-work orders and a right-wing federal agenda. Machinists 141 Connections: Inside JetBlue ramp organizing: why workers want a union and how an in-shop committee is building power. Labor History Today: The 1948 Donora “Death Fog”: how a Pennsylvania smog disaster reshaped U.S. thinking on work, health, and environmental accountability. Plus, on Shows You Should Know: Labor Force, Working People, Labor Notes Podcast, Heartland Labor Forum, Tales from the Reuther Library, Talk The TAUC, Labor Heritage Power Hour. Help us build sonic solidarity by clicking on the share button below. Highlights from labor radio and podcast shows around the country, part of the national Labor Radio Podcast Network of shows focusing on working people's issues and concerns. @WorkStoppage @radiolabour#LaborRadioPod @AFLCIO Edited by Patrick Dixon, produced by Chris Garlock; social media guru Mr. Harold Phillips.

On this week's Labor History Today: Justice Denied: David Gariff on “Ben Shahn and the Case of Sacco and Vanzetti.” Saul Schniderman remembers musician activist Elaine Purkey. From the Tales from the Reuther Library podcast, “When It Happened Here: Michigan and the Transnational Development of American Fascism.” And, on Labor History in 2: Paul Robeson, “The Voice of an Era.” Originally aired October 18, 2020; produced and edited by Chris Garlock and Evan Papp. To contribute a labor history item, email laborhistorytoday@gmail.com Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University. We're a proud founding member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network; #LaborRadioPod

On September 28, 2025, the Sam and Esther Dolgoff Institute (SEDI) hosted historian Jon Bekken for a far-reaching talk on the Marine Transport Workers Union (MTWU) of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) — one of the most militant and transnational labor formations of the early twentieth century.Drawing on decades of archival research and his own publications on the IWW, Bekken reconstructed the MTWU's rise from Spanish-immigrant firemen working the Atlantic coast's coal-fired ships to a globe-spanning network of syndicalist seafarers linking Boston, Buenos Aires, Philadelphia, Hamburg, and Sydney. He challenged the familiar myth that the Wobblies were merely an itinerant “strike-and-disappear” movement, instead revealing how maritime workers built durable ship-board committees, job-branch autonomy, and international solidarity capable of enforcing better food, shorter hours, and direct control over conditions at sea.Bekken also traced how the MTWU confronted racism within the mainstream seamen's unions, created alternative hiring systems to bypass employer blacklists, and maintained cross-border communication through clandestine presses from Chile to Sweden. The result is a vivid portrait of working-class internationalism that redefines what industrial unionism could mean when the workplace itself was the ocean.Jon Bekken is a labor historian, editor, and anarchist writer whose work explores the communication, organization, and radical culture of the working class. He is a co-editor of Anarcho-Syndicalist Review, a contributor to Wobblies of the World: A Global History of the IWW, and author of numerous essays on IWW organizing, the press, and the struggle for workers' self-management.This event is part of SEDI's ongoing speaker series, bringing together radical historians, writers, and organizers to deepen our understanding of the past and sharpen our interventions in the present.PDF for this episode:https://cyberdandy.org/MTW%20International%20Revolutionary%20Industrial%20Unionism.pdfThe Sam and Esther Dolgoff Institute (SEDI):https://www.dolgoffinstitute.com/Explore Jon Bekken's work:Faculty page – https://www.albright.edu/faculty-detail/jon-bekken/The Anarchist Library texts –https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/jon-bekkenAnarcho-Syndicalist Review – https://syndicalist.us/

On this week's Labor History Today: A visit to the Donora Smog Museum, where a six-day inversion in 1948 trapped toxic fumes over a Pennsylvania mill town and changed how the U.S. thinks about work, health, and accountability. And, on Labor History in 2:00: The Mother Jones Monument is Dedicated. Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

Over a century ago, lawyer Clarence Darrow fought battles that sound remarkably similar to present day struggles.

Leanna Renee Hieber is an actress, playwright, ghost tour guide, audiobook narrator and the award-winning, bestselling author of over Gothic, Gaslamp Fantasy, Supernatural Suspense and Non-Fiction books for adults and teens with publishers such as Tor, Sourcebooks and Kensington Books. A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America's Ghosts, co-authored with Andrea Janes, was a 2022 Bram Stoker Award finalist for "Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction". The book explores the intersection of women's history and ghost stories. America's Most Gothic: Haunted History Stranger than Fiction, releases 9/30/25 from Kensington.This is Something Rather than Nothing . . .

This week on Labor History Today: From the 2025 Camp Solidarity, West Virginia Mine Wars Museum co-founder Wilma Steele unpacks the red bandana—tracing its paisley roots from Persia to Appalachia—and how a scrap of cloth became labor's emblem of courage, memory, and solidarity. And, on Labor History in 2:00: The Uprising of the 20,000. Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. #MineWars #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

Unions and community supporters hold a rally for striking health care workers of Mercy Health East Clinic in Janesville, UAW members in California demand a sustainable industrial policy, striking Machinists at Boeing in the St. Louis area offer their own contract proposal absent movement from Boeing management, New Mexico is becoming the first state to institute state-funded universal childcare, strikes spread across Italy in support of the Palestinians undergoing genocide in Gaza and in support of the Sumud Flotilla sailing the Mediterranean, unions at Texas State University rally for colleague and tenured professor Dr. Tom Alter who was summarily fired under political pressure for advocating socialism, and Labor History in Two looks at the Shays Rebellion.

Machinist union members who build Boeing fighter jets reject a tentative agreement, Teamsters Local 320 at the University of Minnesota goes on strike and Labor Radio talks to a strike captain, the US Supreme Court increasingly relies on a "shadow docket" to upend the lives of workers, department store Target's abandonment of diversity gets a target on its back from organized labor, the feds raid a Georgia Hyundai plant and maybe destroy a big capitalist deal with South Korea because foreigners, the National Weather Services doesn't want workers who know about weather, and Labor History in 2 remembers when Eugene Debs ran for president from jail.

It's Labor Day, so we're sharing one of our favorite conversations on the history of labor in the US- our 2018 conversation with Louis Hyman on his book Temp: The Real Story of What Happened to Your Salary, Benefits & Job Security. We hope you have a great holiday!   This episode originally aired as episode 103 on August 18, 2018. This rebroadcast was edited by Ben Sawyer.

On this week's Labor History Today: Historian Dr. Jeffrey Johnson tells the story of the 1916 San Francisco Preparedness Day bombing and the infamous frame-up of labor leader Tom Mooney, who spent more than two decades behind bars before his eventual release and pardon. Recorded live at the 9th Annual Reuther-Pollock Labor History Symposium, Johnson explores how xenophobia, anti-labor fervor, and miscarriages of justice from a century ago still echo loudly today. Plus, on Labor History in 2:00: The Battle of Blair Mountain. Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

Los Angeles may be home to a powerful labor movement today, but it was not always that way. Los Angeles was once known as one of the most anti-union cities in the country. On this Labor Day weekend, we re-air Mike's 2024 interview with Kent Wong of the UCLA Labor Center. Kent walks us through the ups and downs of the history of organized labor in Los Angeles -- and reveals how victories and losses here shaped the labor movement nationally.ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:UCLA Labor CenterMemory Work Los AngelesCal Federation of Labor - Labor HistoryLA Stories: Labor Movements in Los AngelesMiguel Contreras: Legacy of a Labor LeaderMike Garcia and the Justice for Janitors MovementFrom Coors to California: David Sickler and the New Working ClassVoices from the Front Lines: Organizing Immigrant Workers in Los AngelesFrom Mission to Microchip: A History of California Labor by Fred Glass (book)What's Next, Los Angeles? is produced and hosted by Mike Bonin, in partnership with LA Forward.

WBBM political editor Geoff Buchholz takes a closer look at Chicago's Haymarket Monument, honoring victims of a violent blast during a labor rally in 1886.

WBBM political editor Geoff Buchholz takes a closer look at Chicago's Haymarket Monument, honoring victims of a violent blast during a labor rally in 1886.

WBBM political editor Geoff Buchholz takes a closer look at Chicago's Haymarket Monument, honoring victims of a violent blast during a labor rally in 1886.

Over a century ago, lawyer Clarence Darrow fought battles that sound remarkably similar to present day struggles.

On this week's Labor History Today, scholar and creator Shana L. Redmond sits down with Naomi R Williams, Assistant Professor of Labor Studies and Employment Relations at Rutgers University, to discuss Williams' new book A Blueprint for Worker Solidarity: Class Politics and Community in Wisconsin. Williams takes us into the history of Racine, Wisconsin — a small industrial city where, in the 1970s and 80s, workers built cross-racial, cross-sector alliances that transformed their community. From “total person unionism” to coalitions linking labor, civil rights, and women's movements, Racine's story offers a powerful blueprint for building democracy and justice today. NOTE: This conversation is excerpted from a longer version on the Labor Heritage Power Hour, available on all podcast platforms. This episode also features John Lewis Says Freedom, a brand-new song from musical storyteller and political satirist Charlie King. And, on Labor History in Two: A Little Security for Workers. Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

Pierre McGuire joined me on 105,9 The X to talk about Sidney Crosby, NHL Labor history, potential Pens trades and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For decades, rumors have circulated about a strike in space. The story goes that in 1973, the three astronauts on the Skylab 4 mission took an unplanned day off to protest ground controls management style, and the job action resulted in improved working conditions. It's a great story, but according to crew member Ed Gibson, that's not exactly what happened. Reporter Meagan Day says the real story is still a testament to the potential of strikes — or even just the threat of strikes — to shift the balance of power in the workplace. She wrote about it in Jacobin and brings us her report today. MULTIVERSE composed & produced by SutheeComposer. And on this week's Labor History in 2:00…The year was 1969. That was the day hospital workers in Charleston, South Carolina won union recognition. This episode originally aired on July 18, 2021. Produced by Chris Garlock. To contribute a labor history item, email laborhistorytoday@gmail.com Labor History Today is produced by the Metro Washington Council's Union City Radio and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University. #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @jacobin @meaganmday

Episode: 3235 Gender, labor history, and the devaluation of film editing.  Today, the mother of all film editors.

On today's Labor History Today, from our friends at The Docker Podcast, we join ILWU longshore workers James Brophy and Leith Jasinowski-Kahl to mark the 90th anniversary of the 1935 Battle of Ballantyne Pier. From police violence on Vancouver's waterfront to the songs that keep resistance alive, they share why this history still matters today. And on Labor History in 2:00: the year was 1936; Jesus Pallares, a Chicano miner and union organizer was deported from the United States. Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

On this week's Labor History Today: "This drunk came on and he started showing me a bad time, and I up and popped him and knocked him out. The soldier got one arm, I got the other and we put him beside the telephone pole. We got back in, gave a bell, and away we went. Never knew what happened to the guy. He could still be sitting there—I don't know." That was Pearl Wattum, one of Vancouver's legendary “conductorettes”—the women who kept the city's streetcars running during World War II while the men were away fighting fascism. On today's show, from our colleagues at On The Line: Stories of BC Workers, we share their stories—firsthand accounts of grit, humor, and union solidarity from the front lines of public transit. It's a powerful look at gender, labor, and what it took to keep a city moving in wartime. And, on Labor History in 2:00: The Day Rosie the Riveter Died. Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

ORIGINALLY RELEASED Jul 28, 2020 Chris and Dave from the Mandatory OT and IWW join Breht to cover the fascinating and crucially important history of the Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest labor uprising in American history and the largest armed uprising in America since the Civil War.  In this powerful episode, we dive deep into the largest labor uprising in U.S. history—the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain. This was no metaphorical struggle: 10,000 coal miners, armed and organized, rose up against brutal exploitation, corporate tyranny, and state violence in the heart of Appalachia. It's a story of working-class militancy, raw courage, and revolutionary spirit—one deliberately buried and whitewashed by history. We bring it back to light. Check out Dixieland of the Proletariat  ---------------------------------------------------- Support Rev Left and get access to bonus episodes: www.patreon.com/revleftradio Make a one-time donation to Rev Left at BuyMeACoffee.com/revleftradio Follow, Subscribe, & Learn more about Rev Left Radio HERE Outro Beat Prod. by flip da hood

SEGMENTS | TV Option for 'A Land Remembered' | Labor History in Tampa | Cubans in Jim Crow Florida

On this episode of Labor History Today, we mark the 40th anniversary of the end of one of the most significant labor struggles of the 20th century: the 1984–85 British Miners' Strike. Former miner and strike veteran John Dunn shares his harrowing personal account of the violence, repression, and community solidarity that defined the year-long battle between the National Union of Mineworkers and Margaret Thatcher's government. Dunn's story, told in conversation with Heartland Labor Forum host Tino Scalici, brings to life the cost of resistance, the brutality of the state, and the enduring legacy of working-class struggle. We also feature labor music from the Oyster Band, with “Coal Not Dole,” a poem by Kay Sutcliffe set to song, and Labor History in Two on the Haymarket Affair. Subscribe to Labor History Today and listen wherever you get your podcasts. #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @ILLaborHistory @RickSmithShow #LaborHistory @PMPressOrg @FlyingWithSara @labornotes @LN4S Edited/produced by Chris Garlock and Patrick Dixon; social media guru: Harold Phillips

Sara Nelson's inspirational keynote at the April 6, 2021 symposium celebrating the 50th anniversary of Jeremy Brecher's classic labor history book “Strike!” On today's Labor History in 2: Our Thing is DRUM! Originally released May 2, 2021. To contribute a labor history item, email laborhistorytoday@gmail.com Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @ILLaborHistory @RickSmithShow #LaborHistory @PMPressOrg @FlyingWithSara @labornotes @LN4S Edited/produced by Chris Garlock and Patrick Dixon; social media guru: Harold Phillips

If you've been out and about in Vancouver Washington, you may have noticed some new additions to the walls of businesses such as Richland Hub (https://richlandhub.com/) or White Oak Books (https://whiteoakbooks.net/.) These and other businesses are displaying posters that explore our region's deep Labor history. The posters are part of a May Day Scavenger Hunt (https://tinyurl.com/mbwpk8px) put together by a coalition of Southwest Washington educator, health care, state worker, and other unions that will culminate in a May Day celebration at the Clark County Historical Museum (https://cchmuseum.org/) on May 1st at 5:00 PM. Harold sits down with several members of these unions PSE (https://www.pseclassified.org/) member Rachel Rice   EEA (https://www.eeaoffice.com/) member Katherine Aimone   OFNHP (https://ofnhp.aft.org/) member Connor Daniels   CCAHE (https://www.ccahe.org/) member Sydney Brahmavar   WPEA (https://www.wpea.org/) member Courtney Braddock   EEA (https://www.eeaoffice.com/) member Marj Hogan to find out more about May Day, what YOU could win by taking part in this fun community activity, and the scavenger hunt's surprising connection to... Pokemon Go? Find out more about this May Day celebration and how you can participate in the scavenger hunt at https://tinyurl.com/mbwpk8px.  Remember working people in Southwest Washington, this is YOUR podcast! Email us at podcast@swwaclc.org and let us know what you think about the show, and what you'd like to hear in future episodes! We're a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network - find more radio shows and podcasts that speak to working people about working people's issues at www.LaborRadioNetwork.org.

On Labor History Today: Para Power: AFT president Randi Weingarten talks with Nick Juravich, associate director of the Labor Resource Center at UMass Boston, about class, race and education and his book Para Power: How Paraprofessional Labor Changed Education. PLUS: Nick's almost-favorite labor song, and, on Labor History in 2:00, Florence Reece is born. Labor History Today is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network. @AFTunion @rweingarten @NickJuravich @AFISilver @LaborHeritage1 @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod

On Labor History Today: In 1934, as part of an effort to boost morale and encourage citizens to find community in their traditions, the Roosevelt administration sent artists to homesteads throughout the country to lead group activities—including listening to and making folk music. On today's show, a conversation centered around A Chance to Harmonize: How FDR's Hidden Music Unit Sought to Save America from the Great Depression—One Song at a Time, a book by award-winning author and music scholar Sheryl Kaskowitz. The event took place at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College on October 16, 2024; our show today is excerpted from a longer video. On this week's Labor History in Two: Rose Schneiderman is born. Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

On episode 235, we welcome Jaz Brisack to discuss unionizing efforts for Starbucks workers and Project Germinal, how unions form and why workers may fear them, the popular ideas of unions and how they're misrepresented by corporate media, Jaz's experiences in the Starbucks union and “salting,” whether corporate managers act in good faith, anti-union tactics and why they should be considered psychological warfare, and how workers can sustain a sense of hope in the face of their significant and persistent professional struggles. Jaz Brisack is a union organizer and cofounder of the Inside Organizer School, which trains workers to unionize. After spending one year at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, they got a job as a barista at the Elmwood Starbucks in Buffalo, New York, becoming a founding member of Starbucks Workers United and helping organize the first unionized Starbucks in the United States. As the organizing director for Workers United Upstate New York & Vermont, they also worked with organizing committees at companies ranging from Ben & Jerry's to Tesla. Their new book, available on April 29, 2025, is called Get on the Job and Organize: Standing Up for a Better Workplace and a Better World. | Jaz Brisack | ► Website | https://www.insideorganizerschool.com ► Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/jazbrisack ► Twitter | https://x.com/jazbrisack ► Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/jaz.brisack ► Get on the Job and Organize Book | https://bit.ly/GetontheJobandOrganize Where you can find us: | Seize The Moment Podcast | ► Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/SeizeTheMoment ► Twitter | https://twitter.com/seize_podcast  ► Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/seizethemoment  

Kings and presidents and CEOs like to think that they make history but real history is actually made by thousands of small actions like this: a handful of grounds workers at a local school district refusing to handle South African chicken wire, multiplied around the globe until, eventually, the entire racist system of apartheid collapses. Today's episode tells the impressive story of international solidarity by union members in British Columbia – B.C. -- who worked tirelessly in support of those fighting to end apartheid. It comes to us from On The Line: Stories of BC Workers, a consistently terrific podcast from our friends in the free and independent country of Canada. On this week's Labor History in Two: Fifteenth Amendment adopted; Remembering ILWU Leader Harry Bridges Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. @BC_LHC #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

Labor History Today: During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, 800 nurses walked out on strike in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. As concern rises about the return of measles and cuts to healthcare staff and budgets, this edition of the Labor Jawn podcast from February 2022 is especially timely. And, a double-hit of Labor History in Two: The day The Grapes of Wrath opened in movie theaters, and the day Bruce Springsteen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

Driven by his determination to place workers at the center of U.S. history, David Montgomery emerged as a key architect of what's called the New Labor History. James R. Barrett describes Montgomery's investigations into working-class life, his political commitments, and his legacy. Shelton Stromquist and James R. Barrett, eds., A David Montgomery Reader: Essays on Capitalism and Worker Resistance University of Illinois Press, 2024 The post Labor History Pioneer appeared first on KPFA.

On episode 232, we welcome Adam Chandler to discuss the American myth of the self-made man, how it's evolved over time, a potentially better argument for social benefits than the one normally provided by the left, the flaws of the “bootstrap” mentality, the self-made myth of Elon Musk, how billionaires benefit from us believing in the American Dream, the inconsistencies of the libertarian philosophy, how expanding the child tax credit alleviated poverty in the US, and the potential effects of AI on employees. Adam Chandler is a journalist and author based in New York. A former staff writer at The Atlantic, his work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, WIRED, Vox, Slate, New York Magazine, Texas Monthly, Esquire, TIME, and elsewhere. Chandler is the author of Drive-Thru Dreams: A Journey Through the Heart of America's Fast-Food Kingdom and a recurring guest on The History Channel's The Food That Built America. He regularly appears across television, radio, and digital platforms including CBS Sunday Morning, NPR's Planet Money, Morning Edition, and Here & Now. His newest book, available now, is called 99% Perspiration: A New Working History of the American Way of Life.  | Adam Chandler | ► Website | https://www.adamchandler.com ► Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/adamisaac ► Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/allmychandler ► Twitter | https://x.com/AllMyChandler ► 99% Perspiration Book | https://www.adamchandler.com/99-perspiration Where you can find us: | Seize The Moment Podcast | ► Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/SeizeTheMoment ► Twitter | https://twitter.com/seize_podcast  ► Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/seizethemoment ► TikTok | https://www.tiktok.com/@seizethemomentpodcast  

On Labor History Today: A visit to the Northern Ireland city of Derry and a search for the real Factory Girls. On this week's Labor History in Two: Jefferson Outlaws the Slave Trade; Greyhound Bus Drivers Strike Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. Sources: Derry's Factory Girls Deserve Better? Londonderry's factory girls celebrated with new mural @Bradley_Steve #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

In this Black History Month episode, State Senator Elgie R. Sims, Jr. sits down with the president of the Pullman Porter Museum,  Dr. David Peterson Jr., to discuss the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters – a pivotal moment in the labor and civil rights movements.

As Black History Month comes to a close, the On the Line podcast marks the occasion with a fascinating look back at the history of train sleeping car porters, almost all of whom were Black. It's a story that has only recently started to be told, and combines the history of Black employment in Canada, unionization and the fight for dignity and equality. On The Line examines those long-lost days mostly through the voice of Warren Williams, whose Uncle Lee was in the forefront of the drive to organize Sleeping Car Porters in Canada. Warren is the current President of CUPE Local 15 (Vancouver), one of the biggest CUPE locals in Canada. Listen to Warren's full interview here. On this week's Labor History in Two: Black Food Workers Lead Historic Strike at UNC. Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. @BC_LHC #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory

Donald Trump's threatened tariffs would be another nail in the coffin for Florida's citrus industry.Greg Asbed from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers joins us on this episode to discuss the history of working conditions for agriculture workers, especially tomato pickers, in southwest Florida. The CIW was instrumental to enacting one of the most effective programs to improve working conditions for agriculture workers in U.S. history, the Fair Food Program. If you're interested in working conditions for agricultural workers in Florida, the limited edition "Big Sugar" podcast is essential listening revealing the historic and ongoing abuses of workers by Florida sugar companies. The weekly "Seeking Rents" podcast examines corporate power and influence run amok in Florida and our politicians' complicity with corporate power to the detriment of citizens.

For 150 years, Richmond's place in history has been as "the capital of the Confederacy." But this label hides a much richer and more complex history. On today's show, originally aired on Feb. 20, 2022, we hear from Peter Rachleff, Co-Executive Director of the East Side Freedom Library, a retired professor of history at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and author of "Black Labor in Richmond, 1865 -1890," as he reveals part of that hidden history, that of Black and White workers in the second half of the 19th century. Note: Excerpted from Rachleff's Feb. 2, 2022 talk for The Virginia Worker; click here for the complete talk.   On this week's Labor History in Two: Yale Grad Students Strike (2/17/1992). Questions, comments or suggestions welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com Labor History Today is produced by Union City Radio and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. Editing this week by Patrick Dixon. #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory @virginia_worker

On Labor History Today: Grit and Working-Class Solidarity: B.C. Workers Respond to the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike. The On the Line: Stories of BC Workers podcast reports on “A time of unsurpassed working-class consciousness and resistance, the likes of which Canada had not seen before, nor since.” On this week's Labor History in Two: Moral Mondays. Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor. @BC_LHC #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

Episode: 3235 Gender, labor history, and the devaluation of film editing.  Today, the mother of all film editors.

In the late 1920s and early 30s, the coal fields of Harlan County, Kentucky, became the backdrop for one of the darkest chapters in labor history. Known as Bloody Harlan, this tumultuous time saw miners fighting for justice and fair treatment during a time of economic despair and corporate greed. At the heart of this struggle was William B. Jones, a determined union organizer who dared to stand up to the powerful coal operators, culminating in the battle of Evarts. Be sure to subscribe to the Stories podcast on your favorite podcast app or on our YouTube channel at Stories of Appalachia. You can also support our storytelling journey and access exclusive content by becoming a patron of our audio podcast here: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/stories-of-appalachia--5553692/support Thanks for listening!