Labor Heritage Power Hour

Union Women Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

On this episode of the Labor Heritage Power Hour, we share highlights from a special edition of the program that originally aired on WPFW on International Women’s Day, hosted by Elise Bryant and celebrating Women’s History Month and the powerful role of women in the labor movement.
But first, Harold Phillips brings us the latest Labor Arts News, including updates on the Labor Oscars voting, the General Strike Song Contest, and several important labor organizing victories across the country.
Then we dive into Elise Bryant’s International Women’s Day special, featuring conversations with labor leaders and activists about women’s organizing, labor history, and the ongoing fight for workplace justice and equality.
Guests include Chelsea Bland, President of the Metro DC Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), Sig Milius, DC CLUW leader and Director of the Community Services Agency of the Metropolitan Washington Council AFL-CIO and Daniella Byck, member of the Washingtonian Guild (CWA).
The program explores the legacy of women in labor history, the continuing struggle for pay equity and worker power, and the organizing campaigns happening right now in Washington, DC and across the country.
Music featured in this episode includes: “Union Woman” – Lynn Marie Smith; “We Were There” – Bev Grant & the Brooklyn Women’s Chorus; “Misogyny” – Anne Feeney; “We Can’t Go Back” – Hali Hammer; “Bread and Roses” – SongRise.
The show also highlights women labor leaders who have broken barriers in the labor movement, including Liz Shuler, President of the AFL-CIO, Roxanne Brown, President of the United Steelworkers and April Verrett, President of SEIU.
📺 Vote in the Labor Oscars: Check out the nominees and cast your vote on the LHF YouTube channel.🎵 Submit a song to the General Strike Song Contest: Deadline: April 11; Details at laborheritage.org📅 Labor Arts Calendar, Labor Landmarks Map, and more labor arts news.Broadcast on March 12, 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

Can the Victims of Slavery Save Democracy?

This week on The Labor Heritage Power Hour: SEIU President April Verrett on worker power and democracy, The Pitt star Noah Wyle on unions, Kathy Newman on Pittsburgh labor history, Sean Duffy’s favorite labor song, Labor History in 2:00 on Frances Perkins, plus the latest labor arts news and events.
Broadcast on March 5, 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 @SEIU @SAG-AFTRA

Goliath at Sunset, Comrades in Arms

On this week’s Labor Heritage Power Hour: former shipyard welder and activist Jonathan Brandow talks about his new novel Goliath at Sunset, inspired by rank-and-file organizing and multiracial solidarity in the 1970s Boston shipyards. Plus, the DC Labor Chorus is featured in Jay Mallin’s “Highly Visible” video; Set the Earth on Fire author David Correia’s favorite labor song; Labor History in 2:00 with Rick Smith; and the latest labor arts and culture news.
Support the Power Hour on WPFW’s listener-powered radio: call 202-588-9739 or 1-800-222-9739 or go to wpfwfm.org or give on PayPal.
Broadcast on February 26, 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

Songs of Revolution and Protest

This week on The Labor Heritage Power Hour, we bring you an all-music special from The Downbeat Music Show (Florence, Oregon), featuring powerful songs of revolution and protest. From historic anthems to contemporary voices of resistance, this hour explores how music has fueled movements, challenged injustice, and sustained working people in the fight for dignity and democracy.Your contributions power the Power Hour on our home station, WPFW 89.3FM; please give generously here (be sure to select “The Labor Heritage Power Hour” on the dropdown menu)!Broadcast on February 19, 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

Striking At Kings

This week on the Labor Heritage Power Hour, latest labor arts news, including Lottie Walker’s one-woman show about East London union leader Sarah Wesker and the return of the Labor Oscars. We hear from songwriter Mindy Murray about her powerful new song “Striking at Kings,” inspired by the 1938 King Farm strike, plus a Labor History in 2:00 look at the 1903 Oxnard Strike. Young adult author J. Albert Mann interviews labor journalist Kim Kelly about Fight to Win and teaching labor history to young people, and we close with a fearless, funny, and furious moment from Carsie Blanton, calling for solidarity and dignity for working musicians.Broadcast on February 12, 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

Songs for Minneapolis

On this week’s Labor Heritage Power Hour: highlights from the 2026 Labor Grammys—including the winning song—and we talk with singer David Rovics about songwriting, AI, and why stories move people more than slogans. Plus: powerful medleys from LHF’s new Songs for Minneapolis playlist, a deep-dive interview with David Correia (Set the Earth on Fire) on the 1902 anthracite strike and the roots of modern policing, and, on Labor History in 2:00, the President calls in the feds. Plus, a tribute to beloved WPFW engineer Mighty Myke Nasella.
Broadcast on February 5, 2026; Chris Garlock, host/producer; Harold Phillips, producer/announcer (labor arts news); Patrick Dixon, producer (Correia interview); David Correia interview by Sean Duffy; WPFW engineering 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

A Brick and a Bible

This week on the Labor Heritage Power Hour: We explore the forgotten 1933 Funsten Nut Strike in St. Louis with playwrights Kathryn Bentley and Colin McLaughlin, creators of the new play A Brick and a Bible, about Black women workers who organized thousands during the Great Depression.
Then, from the Labor Notes podcast, director Chris Sessions and Andy Myers of Working Films discuss the documentary Partners: How Starbucks Baristas Started a Labor Revolution and how screenings are being used to build real-world solidarity.
Plus: the latest labor arts and history news and Labor History in 2:00.
Broadcast on January 29, 2026; hosted by Chris Garlock and Shannon Drake; produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike Nasella & Kahlia Chapman. The Labor Heritage Power Hour is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network and syndicated on Pacifica’s Audioport.@LaborNotes @LaborHeritage1 @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod

Murderous billionaires, labor’s racial divide, and DC Labor Chorus concert highlights

This week on the Labor Heritage Power Hour, culture, history, and struggle collide.
We begin with cultural critic Kathleen Newman, who reflects on labor themes surfacing in contemporary film and television—from Netflix’s The Beast in Me to Apple TV’s Pluribus—and how stories of power, class, and exploitation continue to shape popular culture.
Next, historian Rudi Batzell takes a deep dive into the roots of division within the U.S. labor movement. Drawing from his work on race, class, and strikebreaking in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Batzell explores how racial divisions—and the legacy of slavery—shaped the limits of early union organizing. This segment comes from a labor history series produced by Patrick Dixon for America’s Work Force Radio, hosted by Ed “Flash” Ferenc.
We close with highlights from the powerful DC Labor Chorus 2025 holiday concert—songs of resistance, solidarity, and immigrant justice that remind us why music remains central to movement-building.
Plus: the latest labor arts news, including registration now open for the 2026 Labor Notes Conference and Great Labor Arts Exchange, organizing wins across the museum sector, and more.Broadcast on January 22, 2026; hosted by Chris Garlock and Harold Phillips; produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike Nasella & 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

Homestead Strike Reimagined; Made by Labour

This week on the Labor Heritage Power Hour: cultural critic Kathleen Newman takes us inside The Hidden Shift, a dramatic two-screen film installation inspired by the 1892 Homestead Strike—complete with a Pinkerton, a suspected murder, and questions of loyalty and solidarity. Historian Martin Wright (Made by Labour) joins us for a conversation on working-class history and memory. Plus, the latest labor arts news—including organizing wins across museums, bookstores, animation studios, and the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum—and a new Labor History in 2 on the founding of Britain’s Independent Labour Party.Broadcast on January 15, 2026; hosted by Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant; produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike Nasella & 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

When Workers Tell Their Own Stories

This week on The Labor Heritage Power Hour, we explore what happens when workers recognize their power—and use it to imagine something better.
We begin with a conversation about the post-pandemic union upsurge. Labor organizer and researcher Eric Dirnbach talks with Dave Kamper, author of Who’s Got the Power: Hope for Troubled Times, about graduate student organizing, teachers’ strikes, the UAW’s stand-up strike, and the return of solidarity as a force for change. Drawing on history and recent victories, Kamper reflects on why moments of crisis can also be moments of possibility.
Then we head to Italy with a report from the Working Class History podcast, taking us to the 2025 Working Class Literature Festival at the occupied former GKN factory outside Florence. There, workers are fighting not only to save their jobs, but to transform their workplace into a cooperative—while creating space for writers, artists, and organizers to tell their own stories.PLUS: The 1916 Youngstown Massacre and Carsie Blanton’s “Little Flame”.
From union halls to occupied factories, from organizing drives to poetry and song, this episode reminds us that labor history isn’t just something we remember—it’s something we’re still making.
Broadcast on January 8, 2026; hosted by Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant; produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike Nasella & 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