Working Life

When Toys R Us went belly up, 33,000 workers were cast into the streets with no severance because the bankruptcy laws favor corporate thieves and raiders. But, those workers are fighting back. I talk to two key leaders in the campaign to change the laws and get a bit of justice, not just for Toys […]

Read the full story

The destruction of our education system hasn’t just been a natural phenomena like the sun rising in the east. It’s been a determined assault on our schools and teachers by right-wing ideological zealots. To get the facts about this campaign of destruction, I talk to Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, about […]

Read the full story

Yesterday was Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, the day that signifies how long it would take for an African American woman to work in 2018 to equal the *2017* pay of a white male counterpart. I noted this day a year ago in Episode 41—and come back to it today in conversation with Valerie Wilson […]

Read the full story

In the sea of millions of migrant workers who end up slaves or in forced labor, a pilot project has empowered Nepalese women working in Jordan’s garment industry to make a better deal. I spoke to the International Labor Organization’s Phillip Fishman about how the project works—and whether it can be scaled up. I, then, […]

Read the full story

Republican Steve King is a racist, a despicable politician who fans the flames of hatred and division aiming mainly at immigrants. So, I welcomed to the show J.D. Scholten, the progressive Democrat who is aiming to take this guy down in November in the race for Iowa’s 4th Congressional district. Kimberly Ellis comes back to […]

Read the full story

Anyone remember the talk show “Firing Line” with arch-conservative William F. Buckley, Jr., which ended its run in 1999? Well, it’s baaaaack…with a new host, my conservative friend Margaret Hoover, who visits with me to talk about reviving the iconic show, as well as the state of conservatism and the Republican Party. I, then, welcome […]

Read the full story

I recently posted a column, which I talk a bit about in the opening of the episode, predicting that the recent teachers’ uprisings (which have been featured a lot on the podcast) will have far more lasting impact on the country’s economic policies than any one electoral race—and those uprisings may blow up the Big […]

Read the full story

Patriotism isn’t embodied in flag-waving. It’s seen every day in the hard work done by community and union activists. So, with the fluke of our regularly scheduled podcast falling on July 4th, I start by talking with Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, the co-executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health about a new initiative […]

Read the full story

Today, the inevitable happened. The Supreme Court ruled in Janus v. AFSCME, with the now-familiar right-wing conservative majority siding with the anti-union billionaire forces against public sector unions, and, really, the entire middle-class. I welcome back Celine McNicholas from the Economic Policy Institute to look at who is hurt by the decision. I, then, give […]

Read the full story

I start off on the West Coast with a conversation with Sylvia Cabrera, a “this is the future” union activist who helped lead winning organizing drives at three schools in Los Angeles owned by the biggest charter school chain in the area. So, yeah, charter schools undermine the public school system but, if they exist, […]

Read the full story