Labor Heritage Power Hour

This week, the Labor Heritage Power Hour presents a special edition adapted from the Labor Radio Podcast Weekly, featuring extended excerpts from two outstanding shows from the Labor Radio Podcast Network. Chris Garlock and Harold Phillips join The Solidarity Report to discuss labor storytelling, arts and culture, and building the Labor Radio Podcast Network, while Continent of Resistance explores how movements create cultures of solidarity through democratic organizing, relationships, and collective care. Plus, latest Labor Arts News Briefs and Labor History in 2:00.Broadcast on July 23, 2026, hosted by Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant; produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Kahlia Chapman.
The Labor Heritage Power Hour is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network and syndicated on Pacifica’s Audioport.@LaborHeritage1 @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod

This week on the Labor Heritage Power Hour: Simon Sapper explores the working-class roots of soccer, Gabe Logan tells the story of Detroit's factory and workers' soccer teams, Augustus Wood examines the dismantling of Black labor power in Atlanta, plus latest labor news briefs and Labor History in 2:00 remembers the 1381 execution of Peasants' Revolt leader John Ball.Broadcast on July 16, 2026; hosted by Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant; produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Kahlia Chapman. The Labor Heritage Power Hour is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network and syndicated on Pacifica’s Audioport.@LaborHeritage1 @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod

On this week's Labor Heritage Power Hour: Join us for highlights from the 2026 Great Labor Arts Exchange Concert, recorded live at the Labor Notes Conference in Chicago. Hosted by Sig Meilus and MacGyver Williams, the concert features performances by The Labor Notes, George Mann, Joe Jencks, the Pittsburgh Labor Choir, the DC Labor Chorus, and other outstanding labor artists, culminating—as every great labor concert should—with everyone joining together for "Solidarity Forever."Broadcast on July 9, 2026; hosted by Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant; produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Kahlia Chapman. The Labor Heritage Power Hour is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network and syndicated on Pacifica’s Audioport.@LaborHeritage1 @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod

On this week’s Labor Heritage Power Hour: As America celebrates Independence Day, we ask whose stories of freedom get told. This week: the People's 250 campaign reclaims working-class history, historian Carrie Rael revisits the largest strike in Disneyland history, Kathleen Newman joins us to unpack Boots Riley's wildly original new film I Love Boosters, Patrick Dixon explores a historic Philadelphia labor landmark, and Labor History in 2:00 traces the origins of New Orleans' iconic po'boy sandwich—all framed by the enduring words of Frederick Douglass.Broadcast on July 2, 2026; hosted by Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant; produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Kahlia Chapman. The Labor Heritage Power Hour is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network and syndicated on Pacifica’s Audioport.@LaborHeritage1 @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod

This week on the Labor Heritage Power Hour, we explore the power of solidarity—from the labor roots of "We Shall Overcome" to the workers who built movements one person at a time.
Elise Bryant shares Marge Piercy's powerful poem "The Low Road" from this year's Great Labor Arts Exchange, Eric Bernardino tells the story of Emma Tenayuca and the 1938 San Antonio Pecan Shellers' Strike, and we visit Akron's Rubber Worker statue as part of the People's 250 project. We also hear Kenyetta Dunston's stirring poem "We Didn't Come This Far to Go Back," learn how labor activists won a groundbreaking living wage ordinance in Madison, Wisconsin, and mark the anniversary of the Taft-Hartley Act and the worker resistance it inspired. Plus: latest labor art news, a bonus People’s 250 visit to Ben’s Chili Bowl, two versions of the Taft Hartley Song and Robin Roberts sings If It Weren't For The Union.  
As Marge Piercy reminds us: "It starts when you say we and know who you mean."
Broadcast on June 25, 2025; hosted by Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant; produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Kahlia Chapman. Thanks to America’s Work Force Radio Podcast for the Eric Bernadino segment. The Labor Heritage Power Hour is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network and syndicated on Pacifica’s Audioport.@LaborHeritage1 @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod

On this week’s Labor Heritage Power Hour, we bring you highlights from the 2026 Great Labor Arts Exchange at Labor Notes in Chicago, where thousands of labor activists, artists, musicians, writers, and organizers gathered to explore how culture helps build worker power.
Our featured segment is Art Is a Hammer to Shape the World, a panel moderated by longtime union organizer and author Ken Grossinger (Art Works: How Organizers and Artists Are Creating a Better World Together). Panelists include textile artist Tabitha Arnold, Puerto Rican labor organizer Edwin Morales, artist and organizer Josh MacPhee, and Labor Heritage Foundation board member and DC Labor Chorus director Elise Bryant. Together they explore how art and culture strengthen movements, build community, preserve memory, and help workers imagine a better future.
We also sample two of the new Labor Culture moments introduced at this year’s Great Labor Arts Exchange—brief performances woven into Labor Notes workshops and panels—including appearances by Jordan Bridges of the New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice and singer-songwriter Joe Jencks.
Plus: Harold Phillips with Labor Arts & Culture News, Labor History in 2:00 visits Chicago’s historic stockyards, another installment of the People’s 250 project, lifting up the stories of working people who shaped America, and music from the Great Labor Arts Exchange.
The Labor Heritage Power Hour is heard Thursdays at 1 p.m. Eastern on WPFW 89.3 FM in Washington, DC and on stations across the country via the Pacifica Network. The show is also available through the Labor Radio Podcast Network.
For more photos, videos, reports, and interviews from the 2026 Great Labor Arts Exchange, visit laborheritage.org.
Broadcast on June 18, 2026; hosted by Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant; produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Kahlia Chapman. The Labor Heritage Power Hour is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network and syndicated on Pacifica’s Audioport.@LaborHeritage1 @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod

This week on the Labor Heritage Power Hour, Chris Garlock checks in from Chicago, where the Labor Heritage Foundation is joining thousands of activists, artists, organizers and union members at the Great Labor Arts Exchange and the Labor Notes Conference. Follow the action all weekend on Labor Heritage Foundation social media.
We start with Harold Phillips' Labor Arts News, featuring SAG-AFTRA's new contract, a major union victory for public library workers in Kansas City, and a preview of labor arts events around the country.
Then we hear an inspiring AFL-CIO convention address from SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin, who reflects on his journey from actor to labor leader and explains why unions remain essential to democracy and worker power.
Next, we visit Seattle's remarkable labor mural with the Labor Archives of Washington, uncovering a story of preservation, solidarity, and anti-fascist labor history.
From America's Workforce, historian and union activist Max Krochmal discusses organizing higher education workers across the South and the lessons today's labor movement can learn from multiracial organizing campaigns in Texas and Louisiana.
We'll also visit Barre, Vermont's historic Socialist Labor Party Hall, one of the last surviving labor halls of its kind in America, and close with Labor History in Two on the downfall of Senator Joseph McCarthy and the labor movement's struggle against the Red Scare.
Broadcast on June 11, 2026; hosted by Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant; produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Kahlia Chapman. The Labor Heritage Power Hour is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network and syndicated on Pacifica’s Audioport.@LaborHeritage1 @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod

This week on the Labor Heritage Power Hour, we celebrate the life and legacy of labor educator and immigrant rights champion Kent Wong. Friends, family, and fellow organizers reflect on Kent's lifelong commitment to worker justice, immigrant rights, labor education, and international solidarity.We also continue our People's 250 coverage with a story about whose histories are remembered—and whose are forgotten—as Native leaders and scholars discuss removing a harmful monument and creating a more inclusive public memory. Then we head back to the Labor Archives of Washington, where founding archivist Conor Casey explains why preserving working people's history matters, how labor records are often at risk of being lost, and why archives remain essential to understanding the struggles that shaped our world. Plus Harold Phillips has this week's labor arts news, including new union organizing in gaming, publishing, and bookselling, and upcoming labor arts events around the country.
Broadcast on June 4, 2026; hosted by Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant; produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Kahlia Chapman. The Labor Heritage Power Hour is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network and syndicated on Pacifica’s Audioport.@LaborHeritage1 @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod

On this week's Labor Heritage Power Hour: As America approaches its 250th anniversary, whose stories get remembered? This week: Jay Youngdahl talks with labor artist Fred Lonidier, we visit the Labor Archives of Washington, plus a People's 250 story from Mary Louise Patterson, “The Mother of All Strikes” from Labor History in 2:00, a favorite labor song, and the latest labor arts news and calendar.Broadcast on May 28, 2026; hosted by Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant; produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Kahlia Chapman. The Labor Heritage Power Hour is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network and syndicated on Pacifica’s Audioport.@LaborHeritage1 @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod

On this week’s Labor Heritage Power Hour, What does labor culture actually do? SEIU President April Verrett accepts the Labor Heritage Foundation’s 2026 Solidarity Forever Award and delivers a powerful reminder that “culture moves people before politics ever will.” We bring you highlights from the evening, featuring music, storytelling, and reflections on why labor arts remain central to organizing, solidarity, and movement-building.
Then Harold Phillips heads to Bellingham, Washington for a conversation with playwrights Lantz Simpson and Victoria McCallum about The Last Words of Joe Hill, a contemporary theater piece imagining legendary labor organizer and singer Joe Hill walking into a modern coffee shop union drive. Through clips from the play and a wide-ranging interview, they explore labor memory, Starbucks organizing, songwriting, storytelling, and why working-class history still matters to young workers today.
Along the way, we hear new stories from the People’s 250 campaign, including the story of Virginia Snow, the rebel educator and organizer who helped defend Joe Hill during his 1915 trial, and a remembrance of the 1968 Memphis sanitation strike that brought Martin Luther King Jr. to Memphis. Plus: this week’s labor arts calendar, labor arts news, and Labor History in 2:00 on the Matewan Massacre and the road to Blair Mountain.
Broadcast on May 21, 2026; hosted by Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant; produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Kahlia Chapman. The Labor Heritage Power Hour is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network and syndicated on Pacifica’s Audioport.@LaborHeritage1 @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod