Labor Heritage Power Hour

This week on the Labor Heritage Power Hour: We celebrate the 117th anniversary of the IWW’s Little Red Songbook, first published on August 19, 1909, to “fan the flames of discontent.” Listeners share favorite songs from the legendary collection—including “We Have Fed You All for a Thousand Years,” “Mr. Block,” “The Red Flag,” “The Preacher and the Slave” and “Dump the Bosses Off Your Back.”
Later, labor historian Nick Juravich talks with veteran union organizer Phil Cohen about his new memoir, Maximum Leverage: From the Street to the Picket Line. Cohen recounts his journey from the streets of New York to organizing textile and warehouse workers across the South—and shares hard-earned lessons about power, strategy and fighting to win.
Plus the latest labor arts news briefs.  
Broadcast on August 20; 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: DC’s Theatre Alliance brings Woody Guthrie’s songs into today’s struggles, and Richard Trumka explains how labor artists preserve workers’ stories, strengthen solidarity and build the movement.Released on August 13; hosted & produced by Chris Garlock.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

Dave Zirin joins the Labor Heritage Power Hour to discuss The People's Historian, his new biography of Howard Zinn, and Zinn's surprising ties to Hollywood, theater, and radical history. Plus, a conversation about art, hope, and why culture still matters in hard times.Broadcast on August 6, 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.@EdgeofSports @LaborHeritage1 @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod

This week on the Labor Heritage Power Hour: We hear from songwriter Mindy Murray about her powerful song “Striking at Kings,” inspired by the 1938 King Farm strike, plus latest labor arts news and 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 July 30, 2026 (original broadcast date 2/12/2026); 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

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