Labor Heritage Power Hour

“There is no hierarchy of oppression”

Broadcast on November 23, 2023Hosted by Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant
Kevin Cummings has been a member of the Machinists Union for 35 years; he’s also a Native American who traces his lineage to both the Lumbee and Cherokee peoples, which means that Kevin Cummings has spent his life fighting for rights, whether it was his fellow workers or his Native brothers and sisters.
On today’s show, we talk with Kevin about those twin struggles, as well as his unexpected post-retirement career as a singer-songwriter. Today’s music: I Cried Today, Stolen Angels, Angels Here Among Us, Someday, all written and performed by Kevin Cummings and recorded for the Labor Heritage Power Hour. Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Shepsu Baker. @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod @MachinistsUnion @fire_council

Art/Work: Women Printmakers of the WPA

Broadcast on November 16, 2023Hosted by Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant
Virginia Anderson, Curator of American Art at the Baltimore Museum of Art
walks us through the BMA’s brand-new exhibit, Art/Work: Women Printmakers of the WPA, which explores the importance of women artists
many of whom are unknown today, yet who captured the human faces of industrial and domestic labor and its inherent racial, gendered, and class inequities while they used their art to support important reforms led by the era’s growing communist and socialist movements.
Singer-songwriter Si Kahn finds poetry in the many names for the third shift, that overnight work period that is the bane of existence for so many.
And, on Labor History in 2:00…the year was 1938. That was the day that the National Federation of Telephone Workers was founded in New Orleans, Louisiana.Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike Nasella & Kahlia Chapman. Graphic: Miners, by Elizabeth Olds@wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod @artbma

Zweig on “Class, Race, and Gender”; Who “Oppenheimer” left out

Broadcast on November 9, 2023Hosted by Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant
“Class is about power,” says professor Michael Zweig, whose new book, “Class, Race, and Gender: Challenging the Injuries and Divisions of Capitalism” will be out later this month. He’ll be at the Shirlington Busboys and Poets on Sunday, November 12 at 6p; RSVP here.The summer blockbuster “Oppenheimer” generated a lot of interest in the history of how nuclear weapons were developed in the United States, but the film leaves out an important part of this history: the sacrifice made by tens of thousands of workers in the production of our country's nuclear weapons arsenal. From the Heartland Labor Forum, a conversation with Tina Cordova, co-founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium.Plus: The first integrated general strike in U.S. history, on Labor History in 2:00. Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike Nasella & Kahlia Chapman. @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod @PMPressOrg @Heartland_Labor @TBdownwinders

Day 112: Hollywood strike “Still going strong”

Broadcast on November 2, 2023Hosted by Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant
On this week's show: The Hollywood actors’ strike is 112 days old; Strike for Our Rights Executive Director Sarah Moe talks with actor Kaliswa Brewster about the Halloween picket, the threat of AI, how the strike has built solidarity and how her union – SAG-AFTRA -- saved her life. In the second part of our interview with Andrew Tilson, the founder and director of the Workers Unite! Film Festival, as well as several filmmakers -- Sean Claffey (Americonned), Bryony Gilbey (Honorable But Broken - EMS In Crisis), Sean Morrow (More Perfect Union), Valerio Ciriaci & Isaak Liptzin (Stonebreakers:  American Monuments and Myth) -- whose work is featured in the festival, which is now in its second week, we explore the role of films and filmmakers as social activists.
 
And, on Labor History in 2:00: In Hershey, Pennsylvania, tagged “The sweetest place on earth” you’ll find the nation’s chocolate center, but it wasn’t always so sweet for workers who in 1937 tried to win union recognition.Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike Nasella & Kahlia Chapman. @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod @strike4rights @sagaftra @kaliswa @WorkersUniteFF @americonneddoc @honorablebroken @Stonebreakers22 @MorePerfectUS

Workers Unite Film Festival preview (& Art Works redux)

Broadcast on October 26, 2023Hosted by Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant
This week's show: We talk with the director of the Workers Unite! Film Festival – Oct 27-Nov 12 in New York City -- and directors of some of the films that will be screening there. Plus: Ken Grossinger on his new book Art Works: How Organizers and Artists Are Creating a Better World Together (Originally aired July 13; Ken will be in conversation with Bill Fletcher Jr starting at 5p on Sunday, October 29 at the 14th Street Busboys and Poets) and Labor History in 2:00. Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike Nasella & Kahlia Chapman. @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod @WorkersUniteFF @KgrossingerG @busboysandpoets @MorePerfectUS

Triangle: Scenes from a Prosecution

Broadcast on October 19, 2023Hosted by Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant
This week's show: We talk with the writer, producer and director of Triangle: Scenes from a Prosecution, a new one-act dramatization of the criminal trial of the owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory following the fire that took 146 lives in New York City in 1911. Plus, music and poetry by Bev Grant, Joe Glazer and John O’Connor.The new Triangle Fire Memorial was unveiled and dedicated on October 11.
On Labor History in 2:00: Paul Robeson and victory at J.P. Stevens. Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike Nasella & Kahlia Chapman. @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod #Theatre68NY #Theatre68LA #VenonaDecryption #TriangleFirePlay #Theatre68 #TriangleFireMemorial #TriangleFire #TriangleShirtwaistFactoryFire #JesseWaldinger

The Detroit Diva walks the picket line

Broadcast on October 12, 2023Hosted by Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant
This week's show: Striking auto workers on the power of song as “Detroit Diva” Lynne Marie Smith joins their picket line. Plus: Music from “The Detroit Diva,” a report from the Hollywood actors’ strike and Labor History in 2:00 remembers Mother Jones. Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike Nasella & Kahlia Chapman. @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod @sagaftra @UAW @uawlocal900

An exiled labor leader speaks

Broadcast on September 28, 2023Hosted by Bill Fletcher Jr.Guests: David Abdulah, former general secretary of the Trinidad Oilfield Workers Trade Union; Lizaveta Merliak, leader of Salidarnast, the Belarus labor organization in exile. Originally aired on WPFW’s 2023 Labor Day show. Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike Nasella & Kahlia Chapman. @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod

Pride at Work: Stories of coming out on the job

Broadcast on September 21, 2023Hosted by Jerame Davis & Elise BryantA panel of union members discusses LGBTQIA+ issues in the workplace. Guests: Keturah Johnson (AFA); Joseph McCue, Baltimore P@W; Lyseria Kursave, IBEW member, Pride@Work; Liv Yelton, IBEW. Originally aired on WPFW’s 2023 Labor Day show. Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike Nasella & Kahlia Chapman. @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod

Run for office, not for coffee

Broadcast on September 14, 2023 (Original airdate September 4, 2023)Hosted by Elise Bryant and Chelsea BlandA panel of women union leaders, members and elected officials on why and how to run for office. Guests: Gina Cooper (IBEWIVP 4th District); Crystal Herrera, CLUW National Officer/Young Women Workers Committee; Dora Cervantes, IAM Sec-Treasurer; Laura Wentz, CLUW State President/City Council member. Produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike Nasella & Kahlia Chapman. @wpfwdc @aflcio #1u #unions #laborradiopod