Podcast appearances and mentions of maximillian alvarez

On June 6, thousands of veterans, union members, VA hospital nurses, elected officials, and more gathered on the National Mall in Washington D.C. at the “Unite for Veterans, Unite for America rally” to protest the Trump administration's attacks on veteran jobs, benefits, and healthcare. In this on-the-ground edition of Working People, we report from Friday's rally and speak with veterans and VA nurses about how Trump's policies are affecting them now and how to fix the longstanding issues with the VA. Speakers: Peter Pocock, Vietnam War veteran (Navy) and retired union organizer Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees Terri Henry, Air Force veteran Ellen Barfield, Army veteran and national vice president of Veterans for Peace Lindsay Church, executive director and co-founder of Minority Veterans of America Lelaina Brandt, veteran (National Guard), 2SLGBTQIA+ advocate, and part-time illustrator and graphic designer. Eric Farmer, Navy submarine veteran Irma Westmoreland,  registered VA nurse in Augusta, GA, secretary-treasurer of National Nurses United, chair of National Nurses United Organizing Committee/NNU-VA Andrea Johnson, registered VA nurse in San Diego, CA, medical surgical unit and the NNOC/NNU director of VA Medical Center- San Diego Justin Wooden, registered VA nurse in the intensive care unit (ICU) at James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital in Tampa, FL Cecil E. Roberts, Vietnam War veteran (Army) and president of the United Mine Workers of America Additional links/info: Tim Balk & Helene Cooper, The New York Times, “Military parade in Capital on Trump's birthday could cost $45 million, officials say” Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press, “Transgender troops face a deadline and a difficult decision: Stay or go?” Eric Umansky & Vernal Coleman, ProPublica, “Internal VA emails reveal how Trump cuts jeopardize veterans' care, including to ‘life-saving cancer trials'” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “Trump cuts leave VA hospital nurses and veteran patients in a crisis” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

On June 6, thousands of veterans, union members, VA hospital nurses, elected officials, and more gathered on the National Mall in Washington D.C. at the “Unite for Veterans, Unite for America rally” to protest the Trump administration's attacks on veteran jobs, benefits, and healthcare. In this on-the-ground edition of Working People, we report from Friday's rally and speak with veterans and VA nurses about how Trump's policies are affecting them now and how to fix the longstanding issues with the VA.Speakers:Peter Pocock, Vietnam War veteran (Navy) and retired union organizerEverett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government EmployeesTerri Henry, Air Force veteranEllen Barfield, Army veteran and national vice president of Veterans for PeaceLindsay Church, executive director and co-founder of Minority Veterans of AmericaLelaina Brandt, veteran (National Guard), 2SLGBTQIA+ advocate, and part-time illustrator and graphic designer.Eric Farmer, Navy submarine veteranIrma Westmoreland,  registered VA nurse in Augusta, GA, secretary-treasurer of National Nurses United, chair of National Nurses United Organizing Committee/NNU-VAAndrea Johnson, registered VA nurse in San Diego, CA, medical surgical unit and the NNOC/NNU director of VA Medical Center- San DiegoJustin Wooden, registered VA nurse in the intensive care unit (ICU) at James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital in Tampa, FLCecil E. Roberts, Vietnam War veteran (Army) and president of the United Mine Workers of AmericaAdditional links/info:Tim Balk & Helene Cooper, The New York Times, “Military parade in Capital on Trump's birthday could cost $45 million, officials say”Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press, “Transgender troops face a deadline and a difficult decision: Stay or go?”Eric Umansky & Vernal Coleman, ProPublica, “Internal VA emails reveal how Trump cuts jeopardize veterans' care, including to ‘life-saving cancer trials'”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “Trump cuts leave VA hospital nurses and veteran patients in a crisis”Featured Music:Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme SongCredits:Audio Post-Production: Jules TaylorHelp us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Sign up for our newsletterLike us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterDonate to support this podcast

Already burdened by years of funding cuts and understaffing, registered nurses who work at Veterans Health Administration (VA) facilities across the country are facing a crisis as the impact of the Trump administration's cuts to the federal workforce take effect. In this episode of Working People, Maximillian Alvarez speaks with VA nurses and union representatives for National Nurses United about how these cuts, coupled with Trump's attempt to strip over one million federal workers of their collective bargaining rights, are hurting VA workers, the quality of care they've been trained to provide, and the veterans they serve.Guest(s): Irma Westmoreland, a registered VA nurse in Augusta, Georgia, who currently serves as secretary-treasurer of National Nurses United and chair of the National Nurses United Organizing Committee/NNU-VA Sharda Fornnarino, a navy veteran who has worked as a VA nurse for 25 years, and who currently serves as the National Nurses United director of the Denver VA. Additional links/info: National Nurses United website, Facebook page, X page, and Instagram National Nurses United - Veterans Affairs website NNU Press Release: National Nurses United RNs join Unite for Veterans, Unite for America rally in Washington, DC NNU statement on executive order seeking to strip federal employees of their protected union rights Eric Umansky & Vernal Coleman, ProPublica, “Internal VA emails reveal how Trump cuts jeopardize veterans' care, including to ‘life-saving cancer trials'” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “What's really behind Trump's war on federal unions?” Featured Music: Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Credits: Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor  

Already burdened by years of funding cuts and understaffing, registered nurses who work at Veterans Health Administration (VA) facilities across the country are facing a crisis as the impact of the Trump administration's cuts to the federal workforce take effect. In this episode of Working People, Maximillian Alvarez speaks with VA nurses and union representatives for National Nurses United about how these cuts, coupled with Trump's attempt to strip over one million federal workers of their collective bargaining rights, are hurting VA workers, the quality of care they've been trained to provide, and the veterans they serve.Guest(s):Irma Westmoreland, a registered VA nurse in Augusta, Georgia, who currently serves as secretary-treasurer of National Nurses United and chair of the National Nurses United Organizing Committee/NNU-VASharda Fornnarino, a navy veteran who has worked as a VA nurse for 25 years, and who currently serves as the National Nurses United director of the Denver VA.Additional links/info:National Nurses United website, Facebook page, X page, and InstagramNational Nurses United - Veterans Affairs websiteNNU Press Release: National Nurses United RNs join Unite for Veterans, Unite for America rally in Washington, DCNNU statement on executive order seeking to strip federal employees of their protected union rightsEric Umansky & Vernal Coleman, ProPublica, “Internal VA emails reveal how Trump cuts jeopardize veterans' care, including to ‘life-saving cancer trials'”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “What's really behind Trump's war on federal unions?”Featured Music:Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme SongCredits:Audio Post-Production: Jules TaylorHelp us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Sign up for our newsletterLike us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterDonate to support this podcast

In the latest episode of Working People, we go back to the picket line to get a critical update on the longest ongoing strike in the United States. In October 2022, over 100 workers represented by five labor unions—including production, distribution, advertising, and accounts receivable staff—walked off the job on an unfair labor practice strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PPG). The strike began after the newspaper's management, Block Communications, which is owned by the Block family, cut off health insurance for employees on Oct. 1 of that year. After more than 2.5 years on strike, with other unions reaching contracts or taking buyouts and dissolving their units, workers represented by the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh are the last remaining strikers holding the line. We speak with a panel of union officers for the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh about how they've managed to stay on strike so long and about recent legal updates that have given them hope that an acceptable end to the strike may be on the horizon. Panelists include: Ed Blazina, striking transportation writer at the PPG and one of the Vice Presidents of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh; Erin Hebert, also one of the Vice Presidents of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh and a striking copy-editor and page designer at PPG; Emily Matthews, photographer on strike and treasurer for the Post-Gazette Unit of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh. Additional links/info: Pittsburgh Union Progress website, Facebook page, X page, and Instagram Donate to Support Striking Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Workers Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh website Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “TRNN wins 2025 Izzy Award for coverage of East Palestine, OH, trainwreck & chemical disaster” Bob Batz Jr., Pittsburgh Union Progress, “The strike is over for 3 Pittsburgh news production unions, but the journalists' strike continues” Ian Karbal, Pennsylvania Capital Star, “The strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is now the longest in the nation. And it's not over” Mel Buer, Working People / The Real News Network, “Two years into a strike, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette workers aren't ready to give up” Bob Batz Jr. & Steve Mellon, Pittsburgh Union Progress, “A start to the end of the strike? Feds file for temporary injunction to return Pittsburgh news unions to work” Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams / The Real News Network, “‘AI will not scab us': Post-Gazette newsroom decries use of artificial intelligence” Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “(Livestream) After months of striking, media workers aren't backing down” Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “(Livestream) Strikes at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, University of Michigan, and more” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's half-year strike” Permanent links below… Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

In the latest episode of Working People, we go back to the picket line to get a critical update on the longest ongoing strike in the United States. In October 2022, over 100 workers represented by five labor unions—including production, distribution, advertising, and accounts receivable staff—walked off the job on an unfair labor practice strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PPG). The strike began after the newspaper's management, Block Communications, which is owned by the Block family, cut off health insurance for employees on Oct. 1. After more than 2.5 years on strike, with other unions reaching contracts or taking buyouts and dissolving their units, workers represented by the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh are the last remaining strikers holding the line. We speak with a panel of union officers for the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh about how they've managed to stay on strike so long and about recent legal updates that have given them hope that an acceptable end to the strike may be on the horizon. Panelists include: Ed Blazina, striking transportation writer at the PPG and one of the Vice Presidents of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh; Erin Hebert, also one of the Vice Presidents of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh and a striking copy-editor and page designer at PPG; Emily Matthews, photographer on strike and treasurer for the Post-Gazette Unit of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh. Additional links/info: Pittsburgh Union Progress website, Facebook page, X page, and InstagramDonate to Support Striking Pittsburgh Post-Gazette WorkersMaximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “TRNN wins 2025 Izzy Award for coverage of East Palestine, OH, trainwreck & chemical disaster”Bob Batz Jr., Pittsburgh Union Progress, “The strike is over for 3 Pittsburgh news production unions, but the journalists' strike continues”Ian Karbal, Pennsylvania Capital Star, “The strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is now the longest in the nation. And it's not over”Mel Buer, Working People / The Real News Network, “Two years into a strike, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette workers aren't ready to give up”Bob Batz Jr. & Steve Mellon, Pittsburgh Union Progress, “A start to the end of the strike? Feds file for temporary injunction to return Pittsburgh news unions to work”Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams / The Real News Network, “‘AI will not scab us': Post-Gazette newsroom decries use of artificial intelligence”Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “(Livestream) After months of striking, media workers aren't backing down”Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “(Livestream) Strikes at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, University of Michigan, and more”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's half-year strike”Permanent links below…Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageIn These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageThe Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music…Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme SongAudio Post-Production: Jules TaylorHelp us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Sign up for our newsletterLike us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterDonate to support this podcast

At this very moment, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip who have managed to survive Israel's scorched-earth siege and bombing are being deliberately starved to death as a result of Israel's 11-week blockade preventing food and aid from entering Gaza. As Jem Bartholemew writes at The Guardian, “The UN's humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, told the BBC [Tuesday] morning that 14,000 babies could die in Gaza in 48 hours if aid did not reach them in time. Five aid trucks entered Gaza on Monday but Fletcher described this as a “drop in the ocean” and totally inadequate for the population's needs.” In response to this dire humanitarian crisis, students at multiple university campuses in the US have launched hunger strikes in solidarity with the starving people of Gaza. In this urgent episode, we speak with four hunger strikers at the University of Oregon (UO), including: Cole, Sadie, and Efron, three undergraduate students who are all members of Jewish Voice for Peace - UO and who just completed a 60-hour solidarity hunger strike; and Phia, a Palestinian-American undergraduate student who has organized with JVP-UO on the hunger strike and who currently remains on hunger strike herself.Additional links/info: UO Gaza Hunger Strike Instagram and TikTok UO Gaza Hunger Strike: Community Calls to Action! Press Release: University of Oregon Students, Faculty, and Staff Launch “UO Gaza Hunger Strike” Campaign Protesting Mass Starvation and Genocide Jewish Voice for Peace - UO Instagram Nathan Wilk, KLCC, “University of Oregon protesters begin hunger strike for Gaza” Michael Arria, Mondoweiss, “Students across the U.S. are going on hunger strike as Israeli-engineered famine takes hold in Gaza” Syma Mohammed, Middle East Eye, “US: UCLA student hospitalised during hunger strike for Gaza” Jem Bartholemew, The Guardian, “First Thing: UN says 14,000 babies could die in Gaza in next 48 hours under Israeli aid blockade” Ronen Bergman & Natan Odenheimer, The New York Times, “In private, some Israeli officers admit that Gaza is on the brink of starvation” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘The raids happened Wednesday, finals started Thursday': FBI agents raid homes of pro-Palestine students at University of Michigan” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘A tremendous chilling effect': Columbia students describe dystopian reality on campus amid Trump attacks” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘People are hiding in their apartments': Inside Trump's assault on universities”  Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “‘Worse' than McCarthyism: Trump's war on higher education, free speech, and political dissent” Permanent links below… Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor

At this very moment, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip who have managed to survive Israel's scorched-earth siege and bombing are being deliberately starved to death as a result of Israel's 11-week blockade preventing food and aid from entering Gaza. As Jem Bartholemew writes at The Guardian, “The UN's humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, told the BBC [Tuesday] morning that 14,000 babies could die in Gaza in 48 hours if aid did not reach them in time. Five aid trucks entered Gaza on Monday but Fletcher described this as a “drop in the ocean” and totally inadequate for the population's needs.” In response to this dire humanitarian crisis, students at multiple university campuses in the US have launched hunger strikes in solidarity with the starving people of Gaza. In this urgent episode, we speak with four hunger strikers at the University of Oregon (UO), including: Cole, Sadie, and Efron, three undergraduate students who are all members of Jewish Voice for Peace - UO and who just completed a 60-hour solidarity hunger strike; and Phia, a Palestinian-American undergraduate student who has organized with JVP-UO on the hunger strike and who currently remains on hunger strike herself.Additional links/info:UO Gaza Hunger Strike Instagram and TikTokUO Gaza Hunger Strike: Community Calls to Action!Press Release: University of Oregon Students, Faculty, and Staff Launch “UO Gaza Hunger Strike” Campaign Protesting Mass Starvation and GenocideJewish Voice for Peace - UO InstagramNathan Wilk, KLCC, “University of Oregon protesters begin hunger strike for Gaza”Michael Arria, Mondoweiss, “Students across the U.S. are going on hunger strike as Israeli-engineered famine takes hold in Gaza”Syma Mohammed, Middle East Eye, “US: UCLA student hospitalised during hunger strike for Gaza”Jem Bartholemew, The Guardian, “First Thing: UN says 14,000 babies could die in Gaza in next 48 hours under Israeli aid blockade”Ronen Bergman & Natan Odenheimer, The New York Times, “In private, some Israeli officers admit that Gaza is on the brink of starvation”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘The raids happened Wednesday, finals started Thursday': FBI agents raid homes of pro-Palestine students at University of Michigan”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘A tremendous chilling effect': Columbia students describe dystopian reality on campus amid Trump attacks”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘People are hiding in their apartments': Inside Trump's assault on universities” Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “‘Worse' than McCarthyism: Trump's war on higher education, free speech, and political dissent”Audio Post-Production: Jules TaylorHelp us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Sign up for our newsletterLike us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterDonate to support this podcast

While state officials and legislators have positioned Texas to be “the bitcoin mining capital of the world,” in small towns like Granbury, working-class residents living next to giant, loud, environmentally destructive data centers are the ones paying the price for Texas's crypto boom. “None of us are sleeping,” Cheryl Shadden, a Granbury resident who lives across the street from a 300-megawatt bitcoin mining data center owned by Marathon Digital, tells TRNN. “We can't get rid of this alien invasion in our homes…This is like being a prisoner of war. It's like being tortured with loud sounds and bright lights and being sleep deprived.”In this episode of Working People, we dive deeper into the reality of living next to crypto mining data centers like the one in Granbury, the unseen threats they pose to human and nonhuman life, and what residents in Granbury are doing to fight back. TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with: Cheryl Shadden, a registered nurse anesthetist and resident of Granbury, who lives right next to the site of the Marathon bitcoin mining operation; Dr. Shannon Wolf, Precinct Chair in Hood County, who lives about 3 miles from the bitcoin mine; and Nannette Samuelson, County Commissioner for Precinct 2 in Hood County.Additional links/info: Protect Hood County website Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “A bitcoin mine in Texas is “killing us slowly,” local residents say” Andrew R. Chow, TIME, “‘We're living in a nightmare:' Inside the health crisis of a Texas bitcoin town” Andrew R. Chow, TIME, “Noisy neighbor: Bitcoin's hidden health cost” (Video Report) Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “TRNN wins 2025 Izzy Award for coverage of East Palestine, OH, trainwreck & chemical disaster” Keaton Peters, Inside Climate News, “Texas leaders worry that bitcoin mines threaten to crash the state power grid” NBC News, “Inside the Texas bitcoin mine reportedly making residents sick” James Pollard, The Texas Tribune, “Texas Republicans want to make the state the center of the cryptocurrency universe” Permanent links below… Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Studio Production: Maximillian Alvarez Post-Production: Jules Taylor

The Trump administration continues to escalate its authoritarian assault on higher education, free speech, and political dissent—and university administrators and state government officials are willingly aiding that assault. On the morning of April 23, at the direction of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, law enforcement officers, including FBI agents, raided the homes of multiple student organizers connected to Palestine solidarity protests at the University of Michigan. “According to the group Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE), agents seized the students' electronics and a number of personal items,” Michael Arria reports at Mondoweiss. “Four individuals were detained, but eventually released.” In this urgent episode of Working People, we speak with a panel of graduate student workers from the University of Michigan and Columbia University about how they and their unions are fighting back against ICE abductions, FBI raids, and top-down political repression, all while trying to carry on with their day-to-day work. Panelists include: Lavinia, a PhD student at the University of Michigan School of Information and an officer in the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO); Ember McCoy, a PhD candidate in the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan and a rank-and-file member of GEO and the TAHRIR Coalition; Jessie Rubin, a PhD student in the School of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University and a rank-and-file member of Student Workers of Columbia (SWC); and Conlan Olson, a PhD student in Computer Science at Columbia and a member of the SWC bargaining committee.   Additional links/info: Graduate Employees Organization (GEO), University of Michigan website, Instagram, Facebook page, and X page Student Workers of Columbia-UAW Local 2710 website, Instagram, Facebook page, and X page TAHRIR Coalition UMich X page Legal Fund of Michigan Students for Palestine GEO Worker Solidarity Fund GEO Press Release: FBI and police raid homes of pro-Palestine activists, including a GEO member Mahmoud Khalil statement from ICE detention: “My name is Mahmoud Khalil and I am a political prisoner” Allie Wong, The Intercept, “This is not about antisemitism, Palestine, or Columbia. It's Trump dismantling the American dream“ Grant Miner, The Nation, “Columbia expelled me for my palestine activism, but I won't be silenced” Michael Arria, Mondoweiss, “FBI and police raid homes of Palestine activists in Michigan” Alvin Powell, The Harvard Gazette, “Harvard files lawsuit against Trump administration” Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “‘Worse' than McCarthyism: Trump's war on higher education, free speech, and political dissent” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘A tremendous chilling effect': Columbia students describe dystopian reality on campus amid Trump attacks” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘People are hiding in their apartments': Inside Trump's assault on universities” Permanent links below… Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Studio Production: Maximillian Alvarez Post-Production: Jules Taylor      

The Trump administration continues to escalate its authoritarian assault on higher education, free speech, and political dissent—and university administrators and state government officials are willingly aiding that assault. On the morning of April 23, at the direction of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, law enforcement officers, including FBI agents, raided the homes of multiple student organizers connected to Palestine solidarity protests at the University of Michigan. “According to the group Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE), agents seized the students' electronics and a number of personal items,” Michael Arria reports at Mondoweiss. “Four individuals were detained, but eventually released.” In this urgent episode of Working People, we speak with a panel of graduate student workers from the University of Michigan and Columbia University about how they and their unions are fighting back against ICE abductions, FBI raids, and top-down political repression, all while trying to carry on with their day-to-day work.Panelists include: Lavinia, a PhD student at the University of Michigan School of Information and an officer in the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO); Ember McCoy, a PhD candidate in the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan and a rank-and-file member of GEO and the TAHRIR Coalition; Jessie Rubin, a PhD student in the School of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University and a rank-and-file member of Student Workers of Columbia (SWC); and Conlan Olson, a PhD student in Computer Science at Columbia and a member of the SWC bargaining committee.Additional links/info:Graduate Employees Organization (GEO), University of Michigan website, Instagram, Facebook page, and X pageStudent Workers of Columbia-UAW Local 2710 website, Instagram, Facebook page, and X pageTAHRIR Coalition UMich X pageLegal Fund of Michigan Students for PalestineGEO Worker Solidarity FundGEO Press Release: FBI and police raid homes of pro-Palestine activists, including a GEO memberMahmoud Khalil statement from ICE detention: “My name is Mahmoud Khalil and I am a political prisoner”Allie Wong, The Intercept, “This is not about antisemitism, Palestine, or Columbia. It's Trump dismantling the American dream“Grant Miner, The Nation, “Columbia expelled me for my palestine activism, but I won't be silenced”Michael Arria, Mondoweiss, “FBI and police raid homes of Palestine activists in Michigan”Alvin Powell, The Harvard Gazette, “Harvard files lawsuit against Trump administration”Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “‘Worse' than McCarthyism: Trump's war on higher education, free speech, and political dissent”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘A tremendous chilling effect': Columbia students describe dystopian reality on campus amid Trump attacks”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘People are hiding in their apartments': Inside Trump's assault on universities”Permanent links below…Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageIn These Times Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.

I would like to see Texas become the center of the universe for bitcoin and crypto,” US Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said in 2021. In 2024, Republican Governor Greg Abbott said Texas “wears the crown as the bitcoin mining capital of the world.” But in small towns like Granbury, TX, about an hour southwest of Fort Worth, residents are the ones paying the price for Texas' crypto boom. Granbury's 300-megawatt bitcoin mine, which is owned by Marathon Digital, a Florida-based cryptocurrency company, uses a mix of liquid immersion and industrial fans to prevent over 20,000 computers from overheating. Many residents say that it's the constant sound from those fans that has made life increasingly unbearable in their small town—and that their concerns are going ignored by the company and government officials. In this episode of Working People, we speak with four residents of Granbury living near the Marathon bitcoin mine: Danny Lakey, Karen Pearson, Nick Browning, and Virginia Browning. Additional links/info:   Protect Hood County website Andrew R. Chow, TIME, “‘We're living in a nightmare:' Inside the health crisis of a Texas bitcoin town” Andrew R. Chow, TIME, “Noisy neighbor: Bitcoin's hidden health cost” (Video Report) Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “TRNN wins 2025 Izzy Award for coverage of East Palestine, OH, trainwreck & chemical disaster” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘I had to move away from everything that I ever had': Chemically exposed residents of East Palestine, OH, and Conyers, GA, have been left behind” Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “‘This is murder!': Industrially poisoned South Baltimore residents march on state capitol, demand help from Gov. Moore” Maximillian Alvarez, Steve Mellon, & Mike Balonek, The Real News Network, “Trainwreck in ‘Trump Country': Partisan politics hasn't helped East Palestine, OH (DOCUMENTARY)” Keaton Peters, Inside Climate News, “Texas leaders worry that bitcoin mines threaten to crash the state power grid” NBC News, “Inside the Texas bitcoin mine reportedly making residents sick” James Pollard, The Texas Tribune, “Texas Republicans want to make the state the center of the cryptocurrency universe” Permanent links below… Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Studio Production: Maximillian Alvarez Post-Production: Jules Taylor    

“I would like to see Texas become the center of the universe for bitcoin and crypto,” US Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said in 2021. In 2024, Republican Governor Greg Abbott said Texas “wears the crown as the bitcoin mining capital of the world.” But in small towns like Granbury, TX, about an hour southwest of Fort Worth, residents are the ones paying the price for Texas's crypto boom. A 300-megawatt bitcoin mine, which is owned by Marathon Digital, a Florida-based cryptocurrency company, uses a mix of liquid immersion and industrial fans to prevent over 20,000 computers from overheating. Many residents say that it's the constant sound from those fans that has made life increasingly unbearable in their small town—and that their concerns are going ignored by the company and government officials. In this episode of Working People, we speak with four residents of Granbury living near the Marathon bitcoin mine: Danny Lakey, Karen Pearson, Nick Browning, and Virginia Browning.Additional links/info:Protect Hood County websiteAndrew R. Chow, TIME, “‘We're living in a nightmare:' Inside the health crisis of a Texas bitcoin town”Andrew R. Chow, TIME, “Noisy neighbor: Bitcoin's hidden health cost” (Video Report)Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “TRNN wins 2025 Izzy Award for coverage of East Palestine, OH, trainwreck & chemical disaster”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘I had to move away from everything that I ever had': Chemically exposed residents of East Palestine, OH, and Conyers, GA, have been left behind”Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “‘This is murder!': Industrially poisoned South Baltimore residents march on state capitol, demand help from Gov. Moore”Maximillian Alvarez, Steve Mellon, & Mike Balonek, The Real News Network, “Trainwreck in ‘Trump Country': Partisan politics hasn't helped East Palestine, OH (DOCUMENTARY)”Keaton Peters, Inside Climate News, “Texas leaders worry that bitcoin mines threaten to crash the state power grid”NBC News, “Inside the Texas bitcoin mine reportedly making residents sick”James Pollard, The Texas Tribune, “Texas Republicans want to make the state the center of the cryptocurrency universe”Permanent links below…Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageIn These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageThe Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music…Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme SongStudio Production: Maximillian AlvarezPost-Production: Jules TaylorBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.

One year ago, Columbia University became ground zero for the student-led Gaza solidarity encampment movement that spread to campuses across the country and around the world. Now, Columbia has become ground zero for the Trump administration's authoritarian assault on higher education, academic freedom, and the right to free speech and free assembly—all under the McCarthyist guise of rooting out “anti-semitism.” From Trump's threats to cancel $400 million in federal grants and contracts with Columbia to the abduction of international students like Mahmoud Khalil by ICE agents, to the university's firing and expulsion of Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers union president Grant Miner, “a tremendous chilling effect” has gripped Columbia's campus community. In this urgent episode of Working People, we speak with: Caitlin Liss, a PhD candidate in history at Columbia University and a member of Student Workers of Columbia-UAW (SWC); and Allie Wong, a PhD student at the Columbia Journalism School and a SWC member who was arrested and beaten by police during the second raid on the Gaza solidarity protests at Columbia on April 30, 2024. Additional links/info: Student Workers of Columbia-UAW Local 2710 website April 17: Day of Action to Defend Higher Ed website Mahmoud Khalil statement from ICE detention: “My name is Mahmoud Khalil and I am a political prisoner” Allie Wong, The Intercept, “This is not about antisemitism, Palestine, or Columbia. It's Trump dismantling the American dream“ Grant Miner, The Nation, “Columbia expelled me for my palestine activism, but I won't be silenced” Jonah E. Bromwich & Hamed Aleaziz, The New York Times, “Columbia student hunted by ICE sues to prevent deportation” AAUP letter to college and university legal offices: “Institutions Should Not Provide Student and Faculty Info To Enable Deportations” Alan Blinder, The New York Times, “Trump Has Targeted These Universities. Why?” Oliver Laughland, The Guardian, “‘Detention Alley': inside the Ice centres in the US south where foreign students and undocumented migrants languish” Alice Speri, The Guardian, “‘A huge cudgel': alarm as Trump's war on universities could target accreditors” Annie Ma, Makiya Seminera, & Christopher L. Keller, Associated Press, “Visa cancellations sow panic for international students, with hundreds fearing deportation” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘People are hiding in their apartments': Inside Trump's assault on universities” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘Kill these cuts before they kill us': Federally funded researchers warn DOGE cuts will be fatal” Permanent links below… Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Studio Production: Maximillian Alvarez Post-Production: Jules Taylor  

One year ago, Columbia University became ground zero for the student-led Gaza solidarity encampment movement that spread to campuses across the country and around the world. Now, Columbia has become ground zero for the Trump administration's authoritarian assault on higher education, academic freedom, and the right to free speech and free assembly—all under the McCarthyist guise of rooting out “anti-semitism.” From Trump's threats to cancel $400 million in federal grants and contracts with Columbia to the abduction of international students like Mahmoud Khalil by ICE agents, to the university's firing and expulsion of Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers union president Grant Miner, “a tremendous chilling effect” has gripped Columbia's campus community. In this urgent episode of Working People, we speak with: Caitlin Liss, a PhD candidate in history at Columbia University and a member of Student Workers of Columbia-UAW (SWC); and Allie Wong, a PhD student at the Columbia Journalism School and a SWC member who was arrested and beaten by police during the second raid on the Gaza solidarity protests at Columbia on April 30, 2024.Additional links/info:Student Workers of Columbia-UAW Local 2710 websiteApril 17: Day of Action to Defend Higher Ed websiteMahmoud Khalil statement from ICE detention: “My name is Mahmoud Khalil and I am a political prisoner”Grant Miner, The Nation, “Columbia expelled me for my palestine activism, but I won't be silenced”Jonah E. Bromwich & Hamed Aleaziz, The New York Times, “Columbia student hunted by ICE sues to prevent deportation”AAUP letter to college and university legal offices: “Institutions Should Not Provide Student and Faculty Info To Enable Deportations”Alan Blinder, The New York Times, “Trump Has Targeted These Universities. Why?”Oliver Laughland, The Guardian, “‘Detention Alley': inside the Ice centres in the US south where foreign students and undocumented migrants languish”Alice Speri, The Guardian, “‘A huge cudgel': alarm as Trump's war on universities could target accreditors”Annie Ma, Makiya Seminera, & Christopher L. Keller, Associated Press, “Visa cancellations sow panic for international students, with hundreds fearing deportation”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘People are hiding in their apartments': Inside Trump's assault on universities”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘Kill these cuts before they kill us': Federally funded researchers warn DOGE cuts will be fatal”Permanent links below…Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageIn These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageThe Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music…Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme SongStudio Production: Maximillian AlvarezPost-Production: Jules TaylorBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.

International students are being abducted and disappeared by ICE in broad daylight. Life-saving research projects across the academy are being halted or thrown into disarray by seismic cuts to federal grants. Dozens of universities are under federal investigation for their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs, their allowance of trans athletes to compete in college sports, and their tolerance of constitutionally protected Palestine solidarity protests. In today's urgent episode of Working People, we get a harrowing, on-the-ground view of the Trump administration's all-out assault on institutions of higher education and the people who live, learn, and work there. TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Todd Wolfson, President of the American Association of University Professors, Associate Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at Rutgers University, and co-director of the Media, Inequality and Change Center; and Chenjerai Kumanyika, Assistant Professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, AAUP Council Member, and Peabody-award winning host of Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD. Additional links/info: April 17: Day of Action to Defend Higher Ed website American Association of University Professors (AAUP) website Federal Unionists Network website AAUP letter to college and university legal offices: “Institutions Should Not Provide Student and Faculty Info To Enable Deportations” Alan Blinder, The New York Times, “Trump Has Targeted These Universities. Why?” Oliver Laughland, The Guardian, “‘Detention Alley': inside the Ice centres in the US south where foreign students and undocumented migrants languish” Alice Speri, The Guardian, “‘A huge cudgel': alarm as Trump's war on universities could target accreditors” Joy Connolly, Chronicle Review, “Colleges must stand together to resist Trump” Collin Binkley, Associated Press, “More than 50 universities face federal investigations as part of Trump's anti-DEI campaign” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘Kill these cuts before they kill us': Federally funded researchers warn DOGE cuts will be fatal” Permanent links below… Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Studio Production: Maximillian Alvarez Post-Production: Jules Taylor

On Tuesday, April 8, unions, unionized federal workers, and their supporters around the country mobilized for a national “Kill the Cuts” day of action to protest the Trump administration's cuts to life-saving research, healthcare, and education programs. As organizers stated on the Kill The Cuts website,  "By cutting funds to lifesaving research and medical care, the Trump administration is abandoning families who are suffering and costing taxpayers billions of dollars. These cuts are dangerous to our health, and dangerous to our economy. On Tuesday, April 8th, 2025 workers across the country are standing up and demanding NO cuts to education and life-saving research." In this on-the-ground edition of Working People, we take you to the front lines of the Kill the Cuts rally that took place in Washington DC, and we speak with workers and union representatives whose lives and work have already been affected by these cuts.Speakers include: Margaret Cook, Vice President of the Public, Healthcare, and Education Workers sector of the Communications Workers of America (CWA); Matt Brown, Recording Secretary of NIH Fellows United (United Auto Workers Local 2750); Rakshita Balaji, a post-baccalaureate researcher at the National Institutes of Health (NIH); and Amanda Dykema, shop steward for American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 1072 at the University of Maryland, College Park.Additional links/info: Kill the Cuts website NIH Fellows United website Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “What's really behind Trump's war on federal unions?” Jocelyn Kaiser, Science, “NIH under orders to cancel $2.6 billion in contracts” Permanent links below… Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Studio Production: Maximillian Alvarez Post-Production: Jules Taylor

International students are being abducted and disappeared by ICE in broad daylight. Life-saving research projects across the academy are being halted or thrown into disarray by seismic cuts to federal grants. Dozens of universities are under federal investigation for their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs, their allowance of trans athletes to compete in college sports, and their tolerance of constitutionally protected Palestine solidarity protests. In today's urgent episode of Working People, we get a harrowing, on-the-ground view of the Trump administration's all-out assault on institutions of higher education and the people who live, learn, and work there. TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Todd Wolfson, President of the American Association of University Professors, Associate Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at Rutgers University, and co-director of the Media, Inequality and Change Center; and Chenjerai Kumanyika, Assistant Professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, AAUP Council Member, and Peabody-award winning host of Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD.Additional links/info:April 17: Day of Action to Defend Higher Ed websiteAmerican Association of University Professors (AAUP) websiteFederal Unionists Network websiteAAUP letter to college and university legal offices: “Institutions Should Not Provide Student and Faculty Info To Enable Deportations”Alan Blinder, The New York Times, “Trump Has Targeted These Universities. Why?”Oliver Laughland, The Guardian, “‘Detention Alley': inside the Ice centres in the US south where foreign students and undocumented migrants languish”Alice Speri, The Guardian, “‘A huge cudgel': alarm as Trump's war on universities could target accreditors”Joy Connolly, Chronicle Review, “Colleges must stand together to resist Trump”Collin Binkley, Associated Press, “More than 50 universities face federal investigations as part of Trump's anti-DEI campaign”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘Kill these cuts before they kill us': Federally funded researchers warn DOGE cuts will be fatal”Permanent links below…Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageIn These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageThe Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music…Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme SongStudio Production: Maximillian AlvarezPost-Production: Jules TaylorBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.

In this urgent episode of Working People, we focus on the Trump-Musk administration's all-out assault on federal workers and its takeover and reordering of our entire system of government. “At least 20,000 federal workers have so far been fired by the Trump administration,” Ed Pilkington and Chris Stein report in The Guardian, “most of them recent hires on probationary periods who lack employment protections. In addition, the White House claims that more than 75,000 employees have accepted its offer of deferred resignations. The purge has prompted speculation that Trump is engaging in one of the biggest job cutting rounds in US history, which could have a powerful knock-on effect on the American economy.” In today's episode, we take you to the front lines of struggle and hear directly from three federal workers about what is happening inside the federal government, why it concerns all of us, and how federal workers and concerned citizens of all stripes are fighting back. Panelists include: Cat Farman, president of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Union, Local 335 of the National Treasury Employees Union; Jasmine McAllister, a rank-and-file CFPB Union member and data scientist who was illegally fired two weeks ago; and Will Munger, a rangeland scientist who works across the intermountain west and who, until this month, served as a postdoctoral researcher with the USDA Agricultural Research Service.  Additional links/info:  CFPB Union website,  Federal Unionists Network website, Bluesky page, and Instagram   5Calls.Org website  Ed Pilkington & Chris Stein, The Guardian, “US personnel office walks back email ultimatum from Musk to workers” Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “Elon Musk is making technofascism a reality before our eyes” Democracy Now!, “‘Grand Theft Government': Federal workers send SOS over Musk's DOGE, mass firings & service cuts” Emily Anthes & Apoorva Mandavilli, The New York Times, “Mass federal firings may imperil crops, cattle and pets” Permanent links below… Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song   Studio Production: Maximillian Alvarez Post-Production: Jules Taylor

We kick off the new season of Working People with another crucial installment of our ongoing series where we speak with the people living, working, and fighting for justice in America's “sacrifice zones.” In this episode, cohost Maximillian Alvarez speaks with a panel of guests about the ongoing public health crises in East Palestine, OH, where a Norfolk Southern train derailment in Feb. 2023 changed residents' lives forever, and in Conyers, GA, where residents continue to deal with the toxic fallout of a chemical fire that broke out in Sept. 2024 at a facility owned by pool chemical company BioLab. Panelists include: Ashley McCollom, a displaced resident of East Palestine; Hannah Loyd, a displaced resident of Conyers; and Kristina Baehr, a community safety lawyer with Just Well Law.  Additional links/info:  Ashley's Facebook page Ashley's GoFundMe page Hannah's Facebook page Just Well Law website  Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘Everytime we come back, we all get sick': GA residents affected by September BioLab fire are still going through hell” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “Trainwreck in ‘Trump Country': Partisan politics hasn't helped East Palestine, OH (DOCUMENTARY)” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “One year later, East Palestine residents want Norfolk-Southern held accountable” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, ““Let's unite!”: Poisoned residents of America's sacrifice zones are banding together” Steve Mellon, Pittsburgh Union Progress, “Vance visit on derailment's second anniversary leaves residents wondering, ‘Who has our backs?'” Grace Gibson, The Georgetown Environmental Law Review, “Hawaiʻi's Red Hill Water Crisis Isn't Over” Permanent links below… Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Studio Production: David Hebden Post-Production: Jules Taylor

In this urgent episode of Working People, we focus on the Trump-Musk administration's all-out assault on federal workers and its takeover and reordering of our entire system of government. “At least 20,000 federal workers have so far been fired by the Trump administration,” Ed Pilkington and Chris Stein report in The Guardian, “most of them recent hires on probationary periods who lack employment protections. In addition, the White House claims that more than 75,000 employees have accepted its offer of deferred resignations. The purge has prompted speculation that Trump is engaging in one of the biggest job cutting rounds in US history, which could have a powerful knock-on effect on the American economy.” In today's episode, we take you to the front lines of struggle and hear directly from three federal workers about what is happening inside the federal government, why it concerns all of us, and how federal workers and concerned citizens of all stripes are fighting back. Panelists include: Cat Farman, president of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Union, Local 335 of the National Treasury Employees Union; Jasmine McAllister, a rank-and-file CFPB Union member and data scientist who was illegally fired two weeks ago; and Will Munger, a rangeland scientist who works across the intermountain west and who, until this month, served as a postdoctoral researcher with the USDA Agricultural Research Service. Additional links/info: CFPB Union website, Federal Unionists Network website, Bluesky page, and Instagram  5Calls.Org website Ed Pilkington & Chris Stein, The Guardian, “US personnel office walks back email ultimatum from Musk to workers”Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “Elon Musk is making technofascism a reality before our eyes”Democracy Now!, “‘Grand Theft Government': Federal workers send SOS over Musk's DOGE, mass firings & service cuts”Emily Anthes & Apoorva Mandavilli, The New York Times, “Mass federal firings may imperil crops, cattle and pets”Permanent links below…Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageIn These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageThe Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music…Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme SongStudio Production: Maximillian AlvarezPost-Production: Jules TaylorBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.

“In late September,” Timothy Pratt writes in Capital & Main, “a massive billow of smoke from a chemical fire spread over metro Atlanta, lingering for weeks and prompting national news coverage. The smoke has cleared, but the anger has not dissipated in Conyers, the city of 20,000 where the fire occurred, and in surrounding areas... Smoke from the blaze left some residents with breathing difficulties, headaches, dizziness and skin rashes in the days that followed, along with a deepening worry about their community's safety... The fire was pool-chemical company BioLab's fourth in the last two decades, a track record that has created what one observer described as “generational rage” among residents.” In this installment of our ongoing series Sacrificed—where we speak to people living, working, and fighting for justice in America's “sacrifice zones”—we speak with Hannah Loyd, Christina O'Connor, and Jeramie Julian: three residents who live near, and have been directly affected by, the September fire at the Conyers BioLab facility.   Additional links/info below… Christina's Facebook page and TikTok Hannah's Facebook page Conyers, GA, Facebook group: Helping Our Health Timothy Pratt, Capital & Main, “Chemical fire at Atlanta-area plant sparks local movement against BioLab” Holly Yan, CNN, “Weeks after a chemical plant inferno, nearby residents say they're suffering prolonged illnesses and financial upheaval” Status Coup News, “POISONED Georgians DEMAND toxic chemical plant close after chlorine gas inferno” Joi Dukes, FOX 5 Atlanta, “EPA whistleblower on BioLab debris testing: 'You can't find what you don't look for'” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, ““Let's unite!”: Poisoned residents of America's sacrifice zones are banding together” Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “Trainwreck in ‘Trump Country': Partisan politics hasn't helped East Palestine, OH (DOCUMENTARY)” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘Towns are gone': In Helene-devastated Asheville, NC, volunteers battle misinformation and ‘apocalyptic' wreckage” Maximillian Alvarez, In These Times / The Real News Network, “Scenes from a sacrifice zone: South Baltimore residents fight back against industrial pollution” Permanent links below… Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song

“In late September,” Timothy Pratt writes in Capital & Main, “a massive billow of smoke from a chemical fire spread over metro Atlanta, lingering for weeks and prompting national news coverage. The smoke has cleared, but the anger has not dissipated in Conyers, the city of 20,000 where the fire occurred, and in surrounding areas... Smoke from the blaze left some residents with breathing difficulties, headaches, dizziness and skin rashes in the days that followed, along with a deepening worry about their community's safety... The fire was pool-chemical company BioLab's fourth in the last two decades, a track record that has created what one observer described as “generational rage” among residents.” In this installment of our ongoing series Sacrificed—where we speak to people living, working, and fighting for justice in America's “sacrifice zones”—we speak with Hannah Loyd, Christina O'Connor, and Jeramie Julian: three residents who live near, and have been directly affected by, the September fire at the Conyers BioLab facility. Additional links/info below… Christina's Facebook page and TikTokHannah's Facebook pageConyers, GA, Facebook group: Helping Our HealthTimothy Pratt, Capital & Main, “Chemical fire at Atlanta-area plant sparks local movement against BioLab”Holly Yan, CNN, “Weeks after a chemical plant inferno, nearby residents say they're suffering prolonged illnesses and financial upheaval”Status Coup News, “POISONED Georgians DEMAND toxic chemical plant close after chlorine gas inferno”Joi Dukes, FOX 5 Atlanta, “EPA whistleblower on BioLab debris testing: 'You can't find what you don't look for'”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, ““Let's unite!”: Poisoned residents of America's sacrifice zones are banding together”Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “Trainwreck in ‘Trump Country': Partisan politics hasn't helped East Palestine, OH (DOCUMENTARY)”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “‘Towns are gone': In Helene-devastated Asheville, NC, volunteers battle misinformation and ‘apocalyptic' wreckage”Maximillian Alvarez, In These Times / The Real News Network, “Scenes from a sacrifice zone: South Baltimore residents fight back against industrial pollution” Permanent links below… Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageIn These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageThe Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Studio Production: Maximillian AlvarezPost-Production: Jules TaylorBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.

On November 12, unionized nurses at Ascension St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore held a rally in front of the Marriott Hotel downtown, where the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) was holding a meeting. St. Agnes nurses rallied with supporters from around the city, and they were even joined by fellow Ascension nurses who traveled from Wichita, Kansas, and Austin, Texas.   According to a press release from National Nurses Organizing Committee / National Nurses United (NNOC-NNU), the purpose of the rally was to “highlight how Ascension has failed to follow USCCB directives to Catholic health care organizations to both serve and advocate for patients ‘at the margins of society' and ‘treat its employees respectfully and justly.'... Baltimore nurses have been in negotiations since Feb. 2024, following a successful union election in November 2023. Ascension has failed to bargain in good faith with Saint Agnes nurses on language that would improve safe staffing and protect patients from cuts to services, lawsuits for billing disputes, and surprise billing or excess charges.” In this on-the-ground episode, you'll hear speeches and chants from the Nov. 12 rally, and we speak with Gideon Eziama, a registered nurse with over 20 years of experience who has worked at Ascension St. Agnes for the last six years, and Lisa Watson, a registered nurse at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis Hospital in Wichita, who traveled to Baltimore to stand in solidarity with her coworkers at Ascension St. Agnes. Additional links/info below… National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Instagram NNOC/NNU Press Release: “Ascension nurses call on US bishops to hold Catholic hospital chain accountable to church directives” Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “Baltimore nurses at largest Catholic health network in US fight on for first contract” Aleja Hertzler-McCain, Religion News Service, “Ascension nurses receive tepid response from Catholic bishops after rally” Permanent links below… Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Studio Production: Max Alvarez Post-Production: Jules Taylor

On November 12, unionized nurses at Ascension St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore held a rally in front of the Marriott Hotel downtown, where the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) was holding a meeting. St. Agnes nurses rallied with supporters from around the city, and they were even joined by fellow Ascension nurses who traveled from Wichita, Kansas, and Austin, Texas.According to a press release from National Nurses Organizing Committee / National Nurses United (NNOC-NNU), the purpose of the rally was to “highlight how Ascension has failed to follow USCCB directives to Catholic health care organizations to both serve and advocate for patients ‘at the margins of society' and ‘treat its employees respectfully and justly.'... Baltimore nurses have been in negotiations since Feb. 2024, following a successful union election in November 2023. Ascension has failed to bargain in good faith with Saint Agnes nurses on language that would improve safe staffing and protect patients from cuts to services, lawsuits for billing disputes, and surprise billing or excess charges.” In this on-the-ground episode, you'll hear speeches and chants from the Nov. 12 rally, and we speak with Gideon Eziama, a registered nurse with over 20 years of experience who has worked at Ascension St. Agnes for the last six years, and Lisa Watson, a registered nurse at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis Hospital in Wichita, who traveled to Baltimore to stand in solidarity with her coworkers at Ascension St. Agnes. Additional links/info below…National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and InstagramNNOC/NNU Press Release: “Ascension nurses call on US bishops to hold Catholic hospital chain accountable to church directives”Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “Baltimore nurses at largest Catholic health network in US fight on for first contract”Aleja Hertzler-McCain, Religion News Service, “Ascension nurses receive tepid response from Catholic bishops after rally”Permanent links below…Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageIn These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageThe Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music…Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme SongStudio Production: Max AlvarezPost-Production: Jules TaylorBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.

Sacrifice zones are areas where people have been left to live in conditions that threaten life itself, from toxic industrial pollution to the deadly, intensifying effects of man-made climate change. In a more just and less cruel society, the very concept of a “sacrifice zone” wouldn't exist. And yet, in America, after decades of deregulation and public disinvestment, more working-class communities are becoming sacrifice zones, and more of us are being set up for sacrifice at the altars of corporate greed and government abandonment. America's sacrifice zones are no longer extreme outliers; they are, in fact, a harrowing model of the future that lies in store for most of us if the corporate monsters, corporate politicians, and Wall Street vampires destroying our communities aren't stopped. And residents of different sacrifice zones across the country, fellow workers on the frontlines of all this reckless and preventable destruction, are connecting with each other, learning from one another, and working together to fight back. In this Working People liveshow, recorded on Oct. 19 at Red Emma's worker cooperative bookstore, cafe, and community events space in Baltimore, we speak with a special panel of residents from four different sacrifice zones in the US about how the situations they're facing in their own communities and their struggles for justice and accountability are connected. Panelists include: Hilary Flint, communications director of Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community and a former resident of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, a few miles from the site of the Feb 2023 Norfolk Southern train derailment and chemical disaster in East Palestine, Ohio; Melanie Meade, a community organizer, educator, and life-long resident of Clairton, Pennsylvania, the site of US Steel's Clairton Coke Works, which was named the most toxic air polluter in Allegheny County in a 2021 report by PennEnvironment; Elise Keaton Wade, a real estate attorney by trade, longtime environmental justice activist, and a native of Southern West Virginia; Angela “Angie” Shaneyfelt, a resident of Curtis Bay in South Baltimore, who lives just blocks away from an open air coal terminal owned and operated by rail giant CSX Transportation, which has been polluting her community for generations. Special thanks to Dr. Nicole Fabricant and the South Baltimore Community Land Trust for organizing this live show. Additional links/info below… Coal-Free Curtis Bay Facebook page and Instagram South Baltimore Community Land Trust website, Twitter/X page, Facebook page, and Instagram Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community website, Facebook page, Instagram, and Twitter/X page Hilary's Instagram Nicole Fabricant's Instagram Melanie's Facebook page Angela's Facebook page Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "South Baltimore residents on the toxic reality of living in a 'sacrifice zone'" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "East Palestine residents demand fully-funded healthcare" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “One year later, East Palestine residents want Norfolk-Southern held accountable” Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “‘Towns are gone': In Helene-devastated Asheville, NC, volunteers battle misinformation and ‘apocalyptic' wreckage” Maximillian Alvarez, In These Times / The Real News Network, "Scenes from a sacrifice zone: South Baltimore residents fight back against industrial pollution" Maximillian Alvarez & Molly Crabapple, In These Times, “Wasteland warriors” Laura Gottesdiener, The Nation, “You can wipe out coal, but you can't bring the mountains back” Nicole Fabricant, University of California Press, Fighting to Breathe: Race, Toxicity, and the Rise of Youth Activism in Baltimore Nicole Fabricant, The Real News Network, “Opinion | CSX explosion in Curtis Bay should alarm Baltimore City and accelerate real change” Adam Willis, The Baltimore Banner, "A state-backed report found coal dust across Curtis Bay. CSX isn't convinced" Melanie Meade, PublicSource, “Family history, loss and hopes for a bright future fuel my fight for clean air in Clairton” Daniel Shailer, PublicSource, “The Mon Valley holds its breath as the latest U.S. Steel settlement promises a fresh approach” Permanent links below… Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song   Studio Production: Max Alvarez Post-Production: Jules Taylor

Two years ago, the US was on the cusp of seeing its first national rail strike in decades. Then, President Joe Biden, at the urging of the rail companies, and with the help of both parties in Congress, preemptively blocked railroad workers from striking in December of 2022. Workers were forced to accept a contract that did not address the vast majority of issues that have been putting them, our communities, and our supply chain at hazard. How has this all shaped railroad workers' attitudes and approaches to the upcoming elections? In this urgent panel discussion, we pose this question directly to three veteran railroaders, and we have an honest discussion about how working people should act strategically within and outside the electoral system to advance their interests.  Panelists include: Hugh Sawyer, a veteran locomotive engineer with 36 years of experience, a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Division 316, and a founding member and acting treasurer of Railroad Workers United; Mark Burrows, a retired locomotive engineer with 37 of experience, who has served as co-chair and organizer for Railroad Workers United, where he still edits RWU's quarterly newsletter “The Highball”; Ron Kaminkow, a recently retired former brakeman, conductor, and engineer who worked for many years in freight rail before working 20 years as a passenger engineer at Amtrak, a founding member of RWU and delegate in the Northern Nevada Central Labor Council.  Additional links/info below… Railroad Workers United website, Facebook page, and Twitter/X page Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “Railroad workers speak out after Congress and Biden block rail strike” Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “Why do railroad workers keep dying on the job?” Maximillian Alvarez & Mel Buer, The Real News Network, “Labor militancy can't be stopped: Palestine and Labor Notes 2024” Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “US freight workers say it's time to nationalize the railroads” Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "“This was preventable”: Railroad workers explain how Wall St caused the East Palestine derailment" Mel Buer, The Real News Network, “Corporate billionaires are wrecking the supply chain. Just look at the railroads” Adam Johnson, Nima Shirazi, Maximillian Alvarez, & Mel Buer, Citations Needed / The Real News Network, “Biden and Congressional Dems partner with GOP and corporate media to discipline railroad workers” Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “Railroad workers are being ground to dust. Who will help them?”  Permanent links below… Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music... Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song

Two years ago, the US was on the cusp of seeing its first national rail strike in decades. Then, President Joe Biden, at the urging of the rail companies, and with the help of both parties in Congress, preemptively blocked railroad workers from striking in December of 2022. Workers were forced to accept a contract that did not address the vast majority of issues that have been putting them, our communities, and our supply chain at hazard. How has this all shaped railroad workers' attitudes and approaches to the upcoming elections? In this urgent panel discussion, we pose this question directly to three veteran railroaders, and we have an honest discussion about how working people should act strategically within and outside the electoral system to advance their interests. Panelists include: Hugh Sawyer, a veteran locomotive engineer with 36 years of experience, a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Division 316, and a founding member and acting treasurer of Railroad Workers United; Mark Burrows, a retired locomotive engineer with 37 of experience, who has served as co-chair and organizer for Railroad Workers United, where he still edits RWU's quarterly newsletter “The Highball”; Ron Kaminkow, a recently retired former brakeman, conductor, and engineer who worked for many years in freight rail before working 20 years as a passenger engineer at Amtrak, a founding member of RWU and delegate in the Northern Nevada Central Labor Council. Additional links/info below…Railroad Workers United website, Facebook page, and Twitter/X pageMaximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “Railroad workers speak out after Congress and Biden block rail strike”Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “Why do railroad workers keep dying on the job?”Maximillian Alvarez & Mel Buer, The Real News Network, “Labor militancy can't be stopped: Palestine and Labor Notes 2024”Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “US freight workers say it's time to nationalize the railroads”Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "“This was preventable”: Railroad workers explain how Wall St caused the East Palestine derailment"Mel Buer, The Real News Network, “Corporate billionaires are wrecking the supply chain. Just look at the railroads”Adam Johnson, Nima Shirazi, Maximillian Alvarez, & Mel Buer, Citations Needed / The Real News Network, “Biden and Congressional Dems partner with GOP and corporate media to discipline railroad workers”Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “Railroad workers are being ground to dust. Who will help them?” Permanent links below…Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageIn These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageThe Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music…Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme SongStudio Production: Max AlvarezPost-Production: Jules TaylorBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.

As the climate crisis intensifies, billions of poor and working people around the world are suffering from lack of regular (or any) access to clean water, but the dawn of “AI” is about to make the problem much worse. In their recent report for Context, “Forget jobs—AI is coming for your water,” Diana Baptista and Fintan McDonnell write, “Artificial intelligence lives on power and water, fed to it in vast quantities by data centres around the world. And those centres are increasingly located in the global south.” In Colón, a municipality in Central Mexico that is home to Microsoft's first hyperscale data center campus in the country, working people are already bearing the environmental costs of man-made climate change, and they will be the ones to bear the costs of AI and Big Tech. “The town of 67,000 is suffering extreme drought. Its two dams have nearly dried up, farmers are struggling with dead crops, and families are relying on trucked and bottled water to fulfill their daily needs.” In the latest installment of our ongoing series, Sacrificed, Max speaks with Diana Baptista, a data journalist at the Thomson Reuters Foundation based in Mexico City, about Mexico's ongoing water crisis and about the human and environmental costs of AI and cloud computing. Additional links/info below… Diana's Context author page and X page Fintan McDonnell & Diana Baptista, Context, “Forget jobs. AI is coming for your water (Video Report)” Fintan McDonnell & Diana Baptista, Context, “Thirsty data centres spring up in water-poor Mexican town (Text Report)” David Berreby, Yale Environment 360, “As use of A.I. soars, so does the energy and water it requires” Tamara Pearson, The Real News Network, “Indigenous Mexicans risk their lives to defend the environment from organized crime and ‘insatiable, predatory' transnational corporations” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “In Brazil, the climate crisis is already turning working people into climate refugees” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “East Palestine residents have been left behind—and they're running out of water” Permanent links below… Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Studio Production: Max Alvarez Post-Production: Jules Taylor

As the climate crisis intensifies, billions of poor and working people around the world are suffering from lack of regular (or any) access to clean water, but the dawn of “AI” is about to make the problem much worse. In their recent report for Context, “Forget jobs—AI is coming for your water,” Diana Baptista and Fintan McDonnell write, “Artificial intelligence lives on power and water, fed to it in vast quantities by data centres around the world. And those centres are increasingly located in the global south.” In Colón, a municipality in Central Mexico that is home to Microsoft's first hyperscale data center campus in the country, working people are already bearing the environmental costs of man-made climate change, and they will be the ones to bear the costs of AI and Big Tech. “The town of 67,000 is suffering extreme drought. Its two dams have nearly dried up, farmers are struggling with dead crops, and families are relying on trucked and bottled water to fulfill their daily needs.” In the latest installment of our ongoing series, Sacrificed, Max speaks with Diana Baptista, a data journalist at the Thomson Reuters Foundation based in Mexico City, about Mexico's ongoing water crisis and about the human and environmental costs of AI and cloud computing.Additional links/info below…Diana's Context author page and X pageFintan McDonnell & Diana Baptista, Context, “Forget jobs. AI is coming for your water (Video Report)”Fintan McDonnell & Diana Baptista, Context, “Thirsty data centres spring up in water-poor Mexican town (Text Report)”David Berreby, Yale Environment 360, “As use of A.I. soars, so does the energy and water it requires”Tamara Pearson, The Real News Network, “Indigenous Mexicans risk their lives to defend the environment from organized crime and ‘insatiable, predatory' transnational corporations”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “In Brazil, the climate crisis is already turning working people into climate refugees”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “East Palestine residents have been left behind—and they're running out of water”Permanent links below…Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageIn These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageThe Real News Network website, YouTubechannel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music…Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme SongStudio Production: Max AlvarezHelp us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Sign up for our newsletterLike us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterDonate to support this podcast

Two years ago, workers from several different Trader Joe's grocery stores joined the wave of unionization efforts spreading across the country. Workers in Hadley, Massachusetts, made history in 2022 by not only becoming the first Trader Joe's store to vote to unionize but also by opting to form an independent union, Trader Joe's United (TJU). However, like with Starbucks, Amazon, Medieval Times, and other companies where workers have been exercising their right to organize in recent years, rampant union busting has been part of the Trader Joe's story from the beginning. What's worse, as Alex Press writes in Jacobin, rather than be compelled to follow the law and play by the rules, the supposedly progressive grocery chain has joined Elon Musk's SpaceX in attacking the very constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board. What is the current state of the union drive at Trader Joe's? What issues are employees (“crew members”) still dealing with on the job, and what can supporters do to help? In this episode, Max speaks with Alec Plant, a worker organizer at the Lincoln and Grace Trader Joe's in Chicago and a member of Trader Joe's United. Additional links/info below…Trader Joe's United website, Twitter/X page, and InstagramLauren Kaori Gurley, The Washington Post, “As Chicago Trader Joe's votes on unionizing, grocer fights other efforts”Alex Press, Jacobin, “Trader Joe's rejects the New Deal” Dave Jameison, HuffPost, “Trader Joe's threatened workers ahead of union vote, feds allege”Talia Soglin, Chicago Tribune, “Workers at North Center Trader Joe's are first in Chicago to file for union election”Steven Greenhouse, The New Republic, “How corporations crush new unions”Steven Greenhouse, The Guardian, “Major US corporations threaten to return labor to ‘law of the jungle'”Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "Want to unionize your workplace? These worker-organizers have some advice” Permanent links below…Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageIn These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageThe Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music…Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Studio Production: Max AlvarezPost-Production: Jules TaylorHelp us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Sign up for our newsletterLike us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterDonate to support this podcast

Two years ago, workers from several different Trader Joe's grocery stores joined the wave of unionization efforts spreading across the country. Workers in Hadley, Massachusetts, made history in 2022 by not only becoming the first Trader Joe's store to vote to unionize but also by opting to form an independent union, Trader Joe's United (TJU). However, like with Starbucks, Amazon, Medieval Times, and other companies where workers have been exercising their right to organize in recent years, rampant union busting has been part of the Trader Joe's story from the beginning. What's worse, as Alex Press writes in Jacobin, rather than be compelled to follow the law and play by the rules, the supposedly progressive grocery chain has joined Elon Musk's SpaceX in attacking the very constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board. What is the current state of the union drive at Trader Joe's? What issues are employees (“crew members”) still dealing with on the job, and what can supporters do to help? In this episode, Max speaks with Alec Plant, a worker organizer at the Lincoln and Grace Trader Joe's in Chicago and a member of Trader Joe's United.  Additional links/info below… Trader Joe's United website, Twitter/X page, and Instagram Lauren Kaori Gurley, The Washington Post, “As Chicago Trader Joe's votes on unionizing, grocer fights other efforts” Alex Press, Jacobin, “Trader Joe's rejects the New Deal”  Dave Jameison, HuffPost, “Trader Joe's threatened workers ahead of union vote, feds allege” Talia Soglin, Chicago Tribune, “Workers at North Center Trader Joe's are first in Chicago to file for union election” Steven Greenhouse, The New Republic, “How corporations crush new unions” Steven Greenhouse, The Guardian, “Major US corporations threaten to return labor to ‘law of the jungle'” Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, "Want to unionize your workplace? These worker-organizers have some advice”  Permanent links below… Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song   Studio Production: Max Alvarez Post-Production: Jules Taylor  

Cats and dogs. Truth and lies. Substance and spectacle. The second presidential debate of the 2024 election, and the first between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, took place on September 10. In stark contrast to the first debate, which put the final nail in the coffin of the Biden candidacy, Trump was clearly on the defensive in this round. Yet with the candidates neck-and-neck in the polls, it seems unlikely that this debate will meaningfully swing voter opinion in favor of Harris. Maximillian Alvarez, Marc Steiner, Stephen Janis, and Alina Nehlich respond.Studio / Post-Production: David HebdenHelp us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Sign up for our newsletterLike us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterDonate to support this podcast

Eleanor Goldfield is joined on this week's program with a special guest co-host: Maximillian Alvarez, Editor-in-Chief at the Real News Network. Their subject is the Julian Assange case and its implications for press freedom going forward. Their guests provide a recap of the case and new information on why the U.S. abandoned its years-long effort to extradite Assange from the UK and instead agreed to a plea bargain under which the Wikileaks founder was freed. GUESTS: Chip Gibbons is Policy Director at Defending Rights and Dissent, www.rightsanddissent.org. Kevin Gosztola is the editor of the Dissenter newsletter, www.thedissenter.org. His book on the Julian Assange case, Guilty of Journalism, was published in 2023.   The post The Julian Assange Case and the Future of Journalism appeared first on KPFA.

This show is made possible by you! To become a sustaining member go to https://LauraFlanders.org/donate Thank you for your continued support!Description: What risks do working people face this Labor Day? Workers continue to die on the job and struggle to protect worker safety, but the dangers for labor go beyond bad bosses. On the federal level, the far Right's Project 2025 playbook has plans to gut unions, fire federal workers and limit the power of agencies like the National Labor Relations Board. In this special for Labor Day, Laura Flanders is joined by co-host Maximillian Alvarez, of The Real News Network and James Goodwin, Policy Director at the Center for Progressive Reform. The episode also includes a report from the School of Labor and Urban Studies at the City University in New York on the rise of construction worker deaths in New York City; and an excerpt of “'Death Star' State: The GOP's War on Democracy”, a report from The Real News Networks' Marc Steiner on the Texas effort to overturn workers' rights to mandatory worker water breaks. All that, plus a commentary from Laura on people as policy, and the late union organizer and author Jane McAlevey.“You do not need to be in a union to act like one, even in the most exploitative industries with the most dangerous working conditions. When workers know their rights and band together to exercise them, they can accomplish incredible things and drastically improve their lives.” - Maximillian Alvarez“The disparities between me and my bosses are going to be made even bigger. My coworkers who may not look like me, who may be queer or people of color are going to be fearful to speak out because they don't have recognized civil rights anymore . . . That's the dynamic that Project 2025 is trying to set up . . .” - James GoodwinGuests:• James Goodwin: Policy Director, Center for Progressive Reform• Maximillian Alvarez (Co-host): Editor-in-Chief, The Real News Network; Author, The Work of LivingFull Episode Notes are located HERE.  They include related episodes, articles, and more.   Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders, Sabrina Artel, David Neuman, Nat Needham, Rory O'Conner, Janet Hernandez, Sarah Miller, Jeannie Hopper, Nady Pina, Miracle Gatling, and Jordan Flaherty FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LFAndFriendsFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

The death toll in Gaza continues to climb, with conservative estimates putting the numbers of dead around 40,000, but a recent report in the British medical journal The Lancet estimates the actual death toll could be 186,000 or even higher—that's roughly 8% of Gaza's population. And with each passing day, the humanitarian crises unfolding in Gaza and the West Bank gets orders of magnitude worse. Seeing the dire situation in Palestine, seven major US labor unions collectively drafted, signed, and sent a letter to President Biden demanding that US military aid to Israel stop immediately. The letter reads, in part: "Large numbers of Palestinian civilians, many of them children, continue to be killed, reportedly often with US-manufactured bombs. Rising tensions in the region threaten to ensnare even more innocent civilians in a wider war. And the humanitarian crisis deepens by the day, with famine, mass displacement, and destruction of basic infrastructure including schools and hospitals. We have spoken directly to leaders of Palestinian trade unions who told us heart-wrenching stories of the conditions faced by working people in Gaza." In this episode, Max and Mel speak with George Waksmunski, president of the United Electrical, Radio, & Machine Workers of America (UE), Eastern Region, and Brandon Mancilla, Region 9A Director for the United Auto Workers, about why their unions signed onto this call for an end to US aid to Israel and what organized labor can do to end the genocide in Gaza.Read the transcript of this podcast here.Additional links/info below…UAW website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and InstagramUE website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and InstagramMichael Sainato, The Guardian, "Seven major US labor unions call on Biden to ‘shut off military aid to Israel'"Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "UAW endorses Harris, but won't stop fighting for ceasefire in Gaza"Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Organized labor shows up for Palestine"Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Labor organizers explain why they're marching on DC for Palestine"Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Tortured Palestinian activist describes military and settler carnage in the West Bank"Permanent links below…Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageIn These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageThe Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music…Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme SongStudio Production: Max AlvarezPost-Production: Jules TaylorHelp us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Sign up for our newsletterLike us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterDonate to support this podcast

The death toll in Gaza continues to climb, with conservative estimates putting the numbers of dead around 40,000, but a recent report in the British medical journal The Lancet estimates the actual death toll could be 186,000 or even higher—that's roughly 8% of Gaza's population. And with each passing day, the humanitarian crises unfolding in Gaza and the West Bank gets orders of magnitude worse. Seeing the dire situation in Palestine, seven major US labor unions collectively drafted, signed, and sent a letter to President Biden demanding that US military aid to Israel stop immediately. The letter reads, in part: "Large numbers of Palestinian civilians, many of them children, continue to be killed, reportedly often with US-manufactured bombs. Rising tensions in the region threaten to ensnare even more innocent civilians in a wider war. And the humanitarian crisis deepens by the day, with famine, mass displacement, and destruction of basic infrastructure including schools and hospitals. We have spoken directly to leaders of Palestinian trade unions who told us heart-wrenching stories of the conditions faced by working people in Gaza." In this episode, Max and Mel speak with George Waksmunski, president of the United Electrical, Radio, & Machine Workers of America (UE), Eastern Region, and Brandon Mancilla, Region 9A Director for the United Auto Workers, about why their unions signed onto this call for an end to US aid to Israel and what organized labor can do to end the genocide in Gaza. Additional links/info below… UAW website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Instagram UE website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Instagram Michael Sainato, The Guardian, "Seven major US labor unions call on Biden to ‘shut off military aid to Israel'" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "UAW endorses Harris, but won't stop fighting for ceasefire in Gaza" Mel Buer, The Real News Network, "Organized labor shows up for Palestine" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Labor organizers explain why they're marching on DC for Palestine" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Tortured Palestinian activist describes military and settler carnage in the West Bank" Permanent links below… Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music… Jules Taylor, “Working People” Theme Song Studio Production: Max Alvarez Post-Production: Jules Taylor

In 2024, Working People officially crossed the 300 episode mark! Since we published our first episode back in 2018, the show has grown in ways we never could have imagined, and the world itself has changed in radical, hopeful, terrifying ways, the labor movement has undergone incredible changes, and we've done our best to document that change and this moment in history through the conversations we've had with workers across industries, from all walks of life, about their lives, jobs, dreams, and struggles.Over the past seven seasons of the show, we've interviewed working people, young, old, and middle-aged, union and non-union, worker-owners at worker cooperatives, workers who were just laid off, workers on strike, workers unionizing, families of workers who were killed by their jobs, Indigenous workers living on reservations, workers whose children were murdered in a school shooting, sex workers, academic workers, manufacturing workers, railroad and airline workers, educators, yoga instructors and professional massage therapists, social workers, baristas, journalists, healthcare workers, service workers, construction workers, coal miners, lumberjacks, Amazon workers. We've spoken with working people in Cuba, Canada, Brazil, Slovenia, Turkey, Myanmar, the UK, France, and more. In this special episode commemorating 300 episodes of Working People, Max and new cohost Mel Buer reflect on how far the show has come and where we're going next.To all of our listeners and supporters, to those who have been with us since the beginning and to those who found the show at some point over the past 7 seasons, to everyone who has ever listened to the show, shared our episodes, donated to our Patreon, to everyone who ever reached out to remind us that someone was listening and encouraged us to keep going, to everyone who has supported us , THANK YOU. We love you, and we wouldn't be here without you. We hope to keep making you and all our fellow workers proud with this show, and it's an honor to be in this struggle with you.Additional links/info below…Maximillian Alvarez, Current Affairs, "Can the Working Class Speak?"Working People, "Jesus Alvarez" (the first episode)Mel Buer's TRNN Author Page and Twitter/X profileLeave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!Permanent links below...Working People Patreon pageLeave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageIn These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageThe Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music...Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme SongHelp us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Sign up for our newsletterLike us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterDonate to support this podcast

In 2024, Working People officially crossed the 300 episode mark! Since we published our first episode back in 2018, the show has grown in ways we never could have imagined, and the world itself has changed in radical, hopeful, terrifying ways, the labor movement has undergone incredible changes, and we've done our best to document that change and this moment in history through the conversations we've had with workers across industries, from all walks of life, about their lives, jobs, dreams, and struggles. Over the past seven seasons of the show, we've interviewed working people, young, old, and middle-aged, union and non-union, worker-owners at worker cooperatives, workers who were just laid off, workers on strike, workers unionizing, families of workers who were killed by their jobs, Indigenous workers living on reservations, workers whose children were murdered in a school shooting, sex workers, academic workers, manufacturing workers, railroad and airline workers, educators, yoga instructors and professional massage therapists, social workers, baristas, journalists, healthcare workers, service workers, construction workers, coal miners, lumberjacks, Amazon workers. We've spoken with working people in Cuba, Canada, Brazil, Slovenia, Turkey, Myanmar, the UK, France, and more. In this special episode commemorating 300 episodes of Working People, Max and new cohost Mel Buer reflect on how far the show has come and where we're going next.  To all of our listeners and supporters, to those who have been with us since the beginning and to those who found the show at some point over the past 7 seasons, to everyone who has ever listened to the show, shared our episodes, donated to our Patreon, to everyone who ever reached out to remind us that someone was listening and encouraged us to keep going, to everyone who has supported us , THANK YOU. We love you, and we wouldn't be here without you. We hope to keep making you and all our fellow workers proud with this show, and it's an honor to be in this struggle with you. Additional links/info below… Maximillian Alvarez, Current Affairs, "Can the Working Class Speak?" Working People, "Jesus Alvarez" (the first episode) Mel Buer's TRNN Author Page and Twitter/X profile Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Permanent links below... Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music... Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

From East Palestine, Ohio, to South Baltimore and beyond, we've been connecting you with residents living in the toxic wastelands left by private and government-run industry—ordinary working people who have been thrust into extraordinary fights for their lives. In the latest installment of our ongoing Sacrificed series, we go to Toledo, Ohio, a city that, in 2014, lost access to its water supply for three days straight due to a massive, toxic algal bloom caused by runoff from industrial animal farming. We speak with filmmaker Mike Balonek and welcome back Chris Albright, a resident of East Palestine, to discuss the connections between the Norfolk Southern train derailment disaster and the Toledo Water Crisis. We also talk about an upcoming conference in Toledo on Saturday, August 3, hosted by the Justice for East Palestine Residents & Workers coalition: “Is your community a sacrifice zone? A conference on corporate-caused disasters.” The conference will focus on the Toledo Water Crisis, the derailment in East Palestine and the need for better railroad safety, and the radioactive poisoning of residents living near the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Pike County, Ohio. The conference will also feature the world premiere of filmmaker Mike Balonek's new documentary The Big Problem In The Great Lakes, a film about the Toledo Water Crisis of 2014. Additional links/info below… Toledo conference details: Saturday, Aug. 3, 9:30AM  Mike Balonek, The Big Problem In The Great Lakes WTOL 11, "Timeline | Looking back at the 2014 Toledo water crisis" Maximillian Alvarez, Cameron Granadino, & Hannah Faris, The Real News Network, "Factory farms pose an 'existential threat' for rural Wisconsin communities" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Before East Palestine, there was Portsmouth" Stephanie Elverd, The Pakersburg News & Sentinel, "East Palestine residents express frustration with settlement from train derailment" Permanent links below... Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music... Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

From East Palestine, Ohio, to South Baltimore and beyond, we've been connecting you with residents living in the toxic wastelands left by private and government-run industry—ordinary working people who have been thrust into extraordinary fights for their lives. In the latest installment of our ongoing Sacrificed series, we go to Toledo, Ohio, a city that, in 2014, lost access to its water supply for three days straight due to a massive, toxic algal bloom caused by runoff from industrial animal farming. We speak with filmmaker Mike Balonek and welcome back Chris Albright, a resident of East Palestine, to discuss the connections between the Norfolk Southern train derailment disaster and the Toledo Water Crisis. We also talk about an upcoming conference in Toledo on Saturday, August 3, hosted by the Justice for East Palestine Residents & Workers coalition: “Is your community a sacrifice zone? A conference on corporate-caused disasters.” The conference will focus on the Toledo Water Crisis, the derailment in East Palestine and the need for better railroad safety, and the radioactive poisoning of residents living near the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Pike County, Ohio. The conference will also feature the world premiere of filmmaker Mike Balonek's new documentary The Big Problem In The Great Lakes, a film about the Toledo Water Crisis of 2014. Additional links/info below…Toledo conference details: Saturday, Aug. 3, 9:30AMMike Balonek, The Big Problem In The Great LakesWTOL 11, "Timeline | Looking back at the 2014 Toledo water crisis"Maximillian Alvarez, Cameron Granadino, & Hannah Faris, The Real News Network, "Factory farms pose an 'existential threat' for rural Wisconsin communities"Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Before East Palestine, there was Portsmouth"Stephanie Elverd, The Pakersburg News & Sentinel, "East Palestine residents express frustration with settlement from train derailment"Permanent links below...Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageIn These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageThe Real News Network website, YouTubeStudio Production: Maximillian AlvarezPost-Production: Jules TaylorHelp us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Sign up for our newsletterLike us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterDonate to support this podcast

The debate about immigration and the humanitarian crisis at the US-Mexico border has taken center stage in the 2024 elections. But the terms of that “debate” have been set by Donald Trump and the MAGA right, who are calling for “mass deportation” and continue to demonize and scapegoat immigrants as the root cause of America's economic and political decline. With Democrats adopting much of the right's framing of the “immigration debate” and the “border crisis,” how should the left respond? In the face of the MAGA right's neofascist anti-immigrant campaign, what can working people do—during this election season and beyond—to build a truly multiracial resistance that defends the rights of all?Juan González, co-host of ‪Democracy Now‬!, hosts a timely and critical panel for The Real News on immigration, democracy, and the 2024 elections. Panelists include: José Luis Granados Ceja of Venezuelanalysis and Mexico Solidarity Media; Nana Gyamfi, executive director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration; and Emily Lee, executive Director of Seed the Vote. This panel is cosponsored by Liberation Road.Read the transcript of this panel here. Pre-Production: Bill Gallegos, Maximillian Alvarez, Kayla RivaraStudio Production: David Hebden, Cameron GranadinoPost-Production: Adam ColeyHelp us continue producing Rattling the Bars by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Sign up for our newsletterLike us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterDonate to support this podcast

On the morning of Thursday, June 20, unionized nurses at Ascension St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore held a rally outside the hospital to raise awareness of their efforts to secure a first contract and to show management that they're not backing down from their core demands for safe staffing and an operational model that puts patients and patient care first. "St. Agnes nurses are calling on Ascension to accept their proposals to improve safe staffing and, subsequently, nurse retention," a press release from National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU) stated. "Nearly 20 percent of nurses at St. Agnes began employment at the hospital after January 1 of this year. Meanwhile, just over a third of nurses have more than four years of experience at the hospital... The Catholic hospital system is one of the largest in the country with 140 hospitals in 19 states and also one of the wealthiest, with cash reserves, an investment company, and a private equity operation worth billions of dollars—and, because of its nonprofit status, is exempt from paying federal taxes." In this on-the-ground episode, we take you to the NNOC/NNU picket line and speak with Nicki Horvat, an RN in the Neonatal Intensive Care unit at Ascension St. Agnes and member of the bargaining team, about what she and her coworkers are fighting for. Additional links/info below… National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Instagram NNOC/NNU Press Release: "Ascension Saint Agnes nurses demand hospital accept ‘Patients First,' staffing enforcement policies" Angela Roberts, The Baltimore Sun, "Saint Agnes nurses rally for better pay, more patient protections" Gino Canella, The Real News Network, "An oral history of the 10-month St. Vincent Hospital strike" Gino Canella, The Real News Network, "Striking nurses hold the line against investor-owned healthcare giant" Robert Glatter, Peter Papadakos, & Yash Shah, Time Magazine, "American health care faces a staffing crisis and it's affecting care" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Kaiser workers win big after largest healthcare strike in US history" Permanent links below... Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music... Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

On the morning of Thursday, June 20, unionized nurses at Ascension St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore held a rally outside the hospital to raise awareness of their efforts to secure a first contract and to show management that they're not backing down from their core demands for safe staffing and an operational model that puts patients and patient care first. "St. Agnes nurses are calling on Ascension to accept their proposals to improve safe staffing and, subsequently, nurse retention," a press release from National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU) stated. "Nearly 20 percent of nurses at St. Agnes began employment at the hospital after January 1 of this year. Meanwhile, just over a third of nurses have more than four years of experience at the hospital... The Catholic hospital system is one of the largest in the country with 140 hospitals in 19 states and also one of the wealthiest, with cash reserves, an investment company, and a private equity operation worth billions of dollars—and, because of its nonprofit status, is exempt from paying federal taxes." In this on-the-ground episode, we take you to the NNOC/NNU picket line and speak with Nicki Horvat, an RN in the Neonatal Intensive Care unit at Ascension St. Agnes and member of the bargaining team, about what she and her coworkers are fighting for.Studio Production: Maximillian AlvarezPost-Production: Alina NehlichAdditional links/info below…National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and InstagramNNOC/NNU Press Release: "Ascension Saint Agnes nurses demand hospital accept ‘Patients First,' staffing enforcement policies"Angela Roberts, The Baltimore Sun, "Saint Agnes nurses rally for better pay, more patient protections"Gino Canella, The Real News Network, "An oral history of the 10-month St. Vincent Hospital strike"Gino Canella, The Real News Network, "Striking nurses hold the line against investor-owned healthcare giant"Robert Glatter, Peter Papadakos, & Yash Shah, Time Magazine, "American health care faces a staffing crisis and it's affecting care"Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "Kaiser workers win big after largest healthcare strike in US history"Permanent links below...Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageIn These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageThe Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music...Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme SongBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.

“Southern Brazil is facing its worst climate tragedy ever," Latin-America-based journalist Mike Fox wrote from Brazil for the North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA) in early May. "Unprecedented floods have impacted 1.4 million people and forced more than 160,000 people from their homes... The images are shocking. Downtown Porto Alegre, the capital of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, is underwater... On May 2, a dam collapsed, unleashing an over 6-foot-high wave and worsening flooding in the area... Although the tragedy is a natural disaster, experts have pointed out that the lack of preparedness on the part of state and local officials may have contributed to the devastation. According to one report, Porto Alegre slashed funds for flooding prevention over the last three years and didn't spend a cent on it in 2023.” In this episode, we talk with Mike about his reporting trip to Southern Brazil, the devastation he witnessed firsthand, and the conversations he had with poor and working-class people who have borne the worst impacts of the floods and who continue to bear the greatest costs of man-made climate chaos.Additional links/info below…Michael Fox, The Real News Network/NACLA, Under the Shadow (podcast series)Michael Fox Patreon pageMichael Fox, NACLA, "“They're making it up as they go”: Inside the response to Brazil's deadly floods"Michael Fox, Al Jazeera, "‘The future is dark': Brazilian businesses shattered by floods"Michael Fox, Truthout, "Climate refugees are occupying abandoned buildings in Southern Brazil"Bianca Graulau, The Real News Network, "The Puerto Ricans illegally occupying land to resist displacement"Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "‘CSX has got to go!' Industrially polluted South Baltimore residents want rail giant out of their community"Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "South Baltimore residents on the toxic reality of living in a ‘sacrifice zone'"Permanent links below...Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageIn These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageThe Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music...Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme SongBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.

“Southern Brazil is facing its worst climate tragedy ever," Latin-America-based journalist Mike Fox wrote from Brazil for the North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA) in early May. "Unprecedented floods have impacted 1.4 million people and forced more than 160,000 people from their homes... The images are shocking. Downtown Porto Alegre, the capital of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, is underwater... On May 2, a dam collapsed, unleashing an over 6-foot-high wave and worsening flooding in the area... Although the tragedy is a natural disaster, experts have pointed out that the lack of preparedness on the part of state and local officials may have contributed to the devastation. According to one report, Porto Alegre slashed funds for flooding prevention over the last three years and didn't spend a cent on it in 2023.” In this episode, we talk with Mike about his reporting trip to Southern Brazil, the devastation he witnessed firsthand, and the conversations he had with poor and working-class people who have borne the worst impacts of the floods and who continue to bear the greatest costs of man-made climate chaos. Additional links/info below… Michael Fox, The Real News Network/NACLA, Under the Shadow (podcast series) Michael Fox Patreon page Michael Fox, NACLA, "“They're making it up as they go”: Inside the response to Brazil's deadly floods" Michael Fox, Al Jazeera, "‘The future is dark': Brazilian businesses shattered by floods" Michael Fox, Truthout, "Climate refugees are occupying abandoned buildings in Southern Brazil" Bianca Graulau, The Real News Network, "The Puerto Ricans illegally occupying land to resist displacement" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "‘CSX has got to go!' Industrially polluted South Baltimore residents want rail giant out of their community" Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "South Baltimore residents on the toxic reality of living in a ‘sacrifice zone'" Permanent links below... Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music... Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song  

On June 10, in the working-class community of Curtis Bay in South Baltimore, over 50 residents, activists, and supporters from around the city marched through the streets of Curtis Bay to hold CSX Transportation accountable for polluting their community, homes, and bodies with toxic coal dust. Even after an expansive scientific study co-sponsored by the Community of Curtis Bay Association, the South Baltimore Community Land Trust, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland, and the Maryland Department of Environment confirmed the presence of coal dust in the air of the South Baltimore community of Curtis Bay, CSX has denied culpability and called the study “materially flawed.” Residents say they're fed up with the company refusing to take responsibility for the coal dust, and with the city government for ignoring their cries for help for years, and they're not going to stay quiet.    “We got to stand together for Curtis Bay, for South Baltimore,” one resident and youth leader, Carlos Sanchez, told the crowd. “We have to remove CSX for the health of our communities.” With other locals watching from their porches, sidewalks, and storefronts, the crowd marched from the Curtis Bay Rec Center all the way up to the gates of the CSX terminal. There, they signed and delivered a giant “Eviction Notice” to CSX, a company that recorded over $10 billion in gross profits last year. In this on-the-ground edition of Working People, Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Curtis Bay residents on the day of the march and takes you to the heart of the action.    Speakers in this episode (in order of appearance) include: Shashawnda Campbell of Baltimore Community Land Trust; David Jones, a resident who has lived in Curtis Bay for over 35 years; Angie Shaneyfelt, a resident who has lived in Curtis Bay for 17 years; Angela Smothers, a lifelong resident of Mt. Winans in South Baltimore; Carlos Sanchez, a youth leader born and raised in Lakeland, South Baltimore; Roma Gutierrez, a lifelong resident of Brooklyn, South Baltimore, and an environmental organizer and youth leader with South Baltimore Community Land Trust; an unnamed representative of Malaya Movement Baltimore; and Maria Urbina, a South Baltimore resident. Additional links/info below… Coal-Free Curtis Bay Facebook page and Instagram South Baltimore Community Land Trust website, Twitter/X page, Facebook page, and Instagram Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "South Baltimore residents on the toxic reality of living in a 'sacrifice zone'" Aman Azhar, InsideClimate News, “South Baltimore communities press city, state regulators for stricter pollution controls on coal export operations” Nicole Fabricant, University of California Press, Fighting to Breathe: Race, Toxicity, and the Rise of Youth Activism in Baltimore Nicole Fabricant, The Real News Network, “Opinion | CSX explosion in Curtis Bay should alarm Baltimore City and accelerate real change” Michael Middleton & Dr. Sacoby Wilson, Maryland Matters, “Commentary: Maryland deserves a better environmental justice bill” Chloe Ahmann, Baltimore Sun, “Curtis Bay residents deserve a coal-free future” Christine Condon & Dillon Mullan, Baltimore Sun, “Curtis Bay residents ask state to shut down South Baltimore CSX facility after study documents toll of coal dust” Maryland Department of Environment, "New scientific study confirms airborne coal dust in Curtis Bay community" Adam Willis, The Baltimore Banner, "A state-backed report found coal dust across Curtis Bay. CSX isn't convinced"   Permanent links below... Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page Featured Music... Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song

Read the transcript of this podcast here: On June 10, in the working-class community of Curtis Bay in South Baltimore, over 50 residents, activists, and supporters from around the city marched through the streets of Curtis Bay to hold CSX Transportation accountable for polluting their community, homes, and bodies with toxic coal dust. Even after an expansive scientific study co-sponsored by the Community of Curtis Bay Association, the South Baltimore Community Land Trust, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland, and the Maryland Department of Environment confirmed the presence of coal dust in the air of the South Baltimore community of Curtis Bay, CSX has denied culpability and called the study “materially flawed.” Residents say they're fed up with the company refusing to take responsibility for the coal dust, and with the city government for ignoring their cries for help for years, and they're not going to stay quiet. “We got to stand together for Curtis Bay, for South Baltimore,” one resident and youth leader, Carlos Sanchez, told the crowd. “We have to remove CSX for the health of our communities.” With other locals watching from their porches, sidewalks, and storefronts, the crowd marched from the Curtis Bay Rec Center all the way up to the gates of the CSX terminal. There, they signed and delivered a giant “Eviction Notice” to CSX, a company that recorded over $10 billion in gross profits last year. In this on-the-ground edition of Working People, Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Curtis Bay residents on the day of the march and takes you to the heart of the action.Speakers in this episode (in order of appearance) include: Shashawnda Campbell of Baltimore Community Land Trust; David Jones, a resident who has lived in Curtis Bay for over 35 years; Angie Shaneyfelt, a resident who has lived in Curtis Bay for 17 years; Angela Smothers, a lifelong resident of Mt. Winans in South Baltimore; Carlos Sanchez, a youth leader born and raised in Lakeland, South Baltimore; Roma Gutierrez, a lifelong resident of Brooklyn, South Baltimore, and an environmental organizer and youth leader with South Baltimore Community Land Trust; an unnamed representative of Malaya Movement Baltimore; and Maria Urbina, a South Baltimore resident.Additional links/info below…Coal-Free Curtis Bay Facebook page and InstagramSouth Baltimore Community Land Trust website, Twitter/X page, Facebook page, and InstagramMaximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, "South Baltimore residents on the toxic reality of living in a 'sacrifice zone'"Aman Azhar, InsideClimate News, “South Baltimore communities press city, state regulators for stricter pollution controls on coal export operations”Nicole Fabricant, University of California Press, Fighting to Breathe: Race, Toxicity, and the Rise of Youth Activism in BaltimoreNicole Fabricant, The Real News Network, “Opinion | CSX explosion in Curtis Bay should alarm Baltimore City and accelerate real change”Michael Middleton & Dr. Sacoby Wilson, Maryland Matters, “Commentary: Maryland deserves a better environmental justice bill”Chloe Ahmann, Baltimore Sun, “Curtis Bay residents deserve a coal-free future”Christine Condon & Dillon Mullan, Baltimore Sun, “Curtis Bay residents ask state to shut down South Baltimore CSX facility after study documents toll of coal dust”Maryland Department of Environment, "New scientific study confirms airborne coal dust in Curtis Bay community"Adam Willis, The Baltimore Banner, "A state-backed report found coal dust across Curtis Bay. CSX isn't convinced"Permanent links below...Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageIn These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter pageThe Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter pageFeatured Music...Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme SongStudio Production: Maximillian AlvarezPost-Production: Jules Taylor Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.Sign up for our newsletterLike us on FacebookFollow us on TwitterDonate to support this podcast

TMBS 139 aired on May 12th 2020. Episode summary: Avoiding magical thinking about neoliberalism and covid. Maximilian Alvarez (@maximillian_alv) joins us to talk about working during COVID. Adolph Reed Jr. breaks down his political journey, anti-essentialism, and the problem with the 1619 project.   During the GEM, David Griscom @davidgriscom shows why the reopen orders  aren't  about economic growth, they are about breaking labor.  TMBS ReAirs come out every Tuesday here and on The Michael Brooks Show YouTube Channel. This program has been put together by The Michael Brooks Legacy Project. To learn more and rewatch the postgame and all other archived content visit https://www.patreon.com/TMBS   - The TMBS ReAir project was created to give people who discovered Michael's work towards the end of his life or after his passing a weekly place to access his work without feeling overwhelmed by the volume of content they missed, as well as continuing to give grieving friends, family and fans their Tuesday evenings with Michael. While the majority of the content and analysis on TMBS has stayed relevant and timeless, please remember some of the guest's work and subject matter on the show is very much linked to the time when the show first aired. The appearance of some guests on TMBS does not constitute an endorsement of those guests' current work.

In this News Brief we are joined by friend of the show, Maximillian Alvarez of The Real News, to discuss Democrats' pathetic, myopic, and nihilistic attempt to play the Racist Reverse Uno Card on Congressional Republicans.