Emma returns for an EmMajority Report Thursday! She speaks with Rebecca Galemba, associate professor in international studies at the University of Denver, to discuss her recent book Laboring for Justice: The Fight Against Wage Theft in an American City. Then, she’s joined by artist and activist Murray Cox to discuss his work on the project Inside Airbnb. First, Emma runs through updates on Trump’s Georgia trial, the expiration of UAW’s contract with the big three automakers, Mitt Romney’s retirement, Joe Manchin’s future, another attack on DACA, and the most recent environmental disasters, also parsing through her recent COVID-related absence and watching Rashida Tlaib speak in solidarity with the UAW. Professor Rebecca Galemba then dives into her exploration of the most prevalent form of theft in the US – wage theft – exploring the various blatant and more subtle ways that employers steal pay and benefits, and why the existing numbers on the issue are drastically underestimated. Expanding on this, Professor Galemba tackles the role of the often unreported exploitation of more marginalized communities, before parsing through the particular impact of wage theft on migrant communities, and the direct relationship between aggressive immigration law and lax labor regulation in forcing migrants into increasingly insecure situations economically and increasingly precarious work. After tackling the dynamic between the ongoing child labor crisis in the US and the labor exploitation of migrants, Professor Galemba wraps up by walking through the major labor progress (and regress) being made on the local and state levels, and what other policies – both in immigration and labor – should be pushed to continue to tackle this issue. Murray Cox and Emma then get right into tackling his ongoing project tracking Airbnb listings in major cities across the globe, starting with New York, where he previously worked on an anti-gentrification project and first saw the massive impact of Airbnb on local renting and housing markets. Cox then parses through the recent NYC legislation that has drastically reduced the number of short-term rentals in the city, looking at the various laws across the globe that it was inspired by, and what the major problems and limitations are with this type of legislation. They wrap up the interview by assessing what those of us outside of these projects can do to help.

And in the Fun Half: Matt Binder hosts the show solo, as he and Bradley discuss the scabbing of Bill Maher and Drew Barrymore, Eddie from Ft Worth discusses generational voting habits, Never Back Down refuses to back down from their losing tactics, and Jamelle from Cleveland reflects on Michael Brooks, and what it takes to escape the IDW. Mike Lindell can’t deal with the softest of insults, RFK has a word with Matt, and Aaron from Georgia also discusses deradicalization, plus, your calls and IMs!