Labor activism

It’s News Day Tuesday! Sam and Emma break down the biggest headlines of the day. But first, they speak with Anna Heetman, striking tenant and leader with the Independence Towers Tenant Union in Kansas City.
It’s Hump Day! Emma speaks with Jeremy Gantz, contributing editor at In These Times, to discuss the recent unionization efforts at Trader Joe’s. Then, she speaks with Leah Goodridge, Commissioner on the New York City Planning Commission and former member of the New York City Rent Guidelines Board...
Happy Monday! Emma speaks with Ashley Dawson, English professor and founder of the Climate Action Lab at the City University of New York (CUNY), to discuss his recent book Environmentalism From Below: How Global People’s Movements Are Leading The Fight For Our Planet. Then she’s joined by Mike El...
Happy Monday! Sam and Emma speak with writer and labor organizer Mindy Isser to discuss the United Auto Workers (UAW) calling for a ceasefire in the Israel/Gaza conflict. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on the US vetoing a UN ceasefire resolution while sending more bombs to Israel, Biden’...
Happy Halloween & News Day Tuesday! Sam and Emma speak with Daniel Nichanian, editor-in-chief of Bolts Magazine, to discuss the biggest upcoming races and ballot measures next Tuesday November 7th. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on Israel’s rejection of a ceasefire, the continuing et...
Happy Monday! Sam and Emma speak with Brian Merchant, tech columnist at the Los Angeles Times, to discuss his recent book Blood in the Machine:The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech. First, Sam runs through updates on Israeli operations in Gaza as 2 million Palestinians remain stuck in a t...
It’s Hump Day! Emma speaks with Sophia Moccio and Aaron Habrack, ICU nurses at the Robert Wood Johnson (RWJ) hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey, to discuss the recent developments in their strike, which has lasted over 75 days. Then, Emma is joined by Bhaskar Sunkara, president of The Nation, ...
It’s Hump Day! Sam speaks with Caroline Lucas, executive director of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions (CKPU), to discuss the recent tentative agreement the union reached with management after a three day strike. Then, in a pre-recorded conversation, Sam spoke yesterday with Meron Rapopor...
It’s News Day Tuesday! Emma speaks with Jeff Schuhrke, assistant professor in labor studies at SUNY Empire State University, to discuss his recent piece at In These Times entitled ”“This Fight Is Global”: Workers Around the World Are Standing With Striking U.S. Autoworkers.” Then, she’s joined by...
It’s Hump Day! Sam speaks with Jarod Facundo, writing fellow at The American Prospect, to discuss his recent piece entitled “Rural Letter Carriers Push for Union Decertification.” Then, he’s joined by Dr. Sara Nur Yildiz, professor in history at Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey,...
It’s News Day Tuesday! Sam is back with Emma to break down the biggest headlines of the day. First, they run through updates on Biden’s decision to join the UAW on the picket line, Trump’s anti-union event in Michigan, the Supreme Court’s rejection of Alabama’s gerrymander, Kevin McCarthy’s crisi...
It’s Casual Friday! Sam speaks with David Dayen, executive editor at the American Prospect, to round up the week in news. Then, Sam speaks with Shunte Sanders Beasley, former vice president of UAW Local 869 and worker at the Stellantis Stamping Plant in Warren, Michigan to discuss the UAW strike ...
It’s News Day Tuesday! Sam and Emma run through updates on the GOP’s Government shutdown, Alabama’s racial gerrymander, Trump’s Co-Defendants, Texas’ crackdown on free will, Ken Paxton’s potential impeachment, and the Georgia DA’s indictment of 61 ‘Cop City’ protestors on RICO charges, before div...
It’s Hump Day! Emma speaks with Vinnie Perrone, President of Teamsters Local 804, to discuss the recent tentative agreement reached between the Teamsters and UPS. Then, Emma speaks with Rebecca Lewis, senior state politics reporter at City & State New York, to discuss her recent reporting on ...
It’s Casual Friday! Emma hosts Alex Pareene, Contributing Editor at the New Republic and co-host of the Politics of Everything podcast, to round up the week in news. Then, she’s joined by Francesca Fiorentini, host of The Bitchuation Room podcast! Emma starts off with some more harrowing updates ...
It’s Hump Day! Sam and Emma speak with Moe Tkacik, investigations editor at The American Prospect, to discuss her recent suite of pieces in this month’s issue on the U.S. healthcare system. Then, they’re joined by Nicole Cyrille, member of the SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee, to discuss the recen...
It’s Hump Day! Sam and Emma speak with Luis Feliz Leon, staff writer at Labor Notes, and Alicia Ozier, a warehouse worker at the Amazon delivery station in Pontiac, Michigan, to discuss the recent decision by Pontiac Amazon workers to walk out for hours on Amazon’s “Prime Day”. Then, they’re join...
It’s Hump Day! Sam speaks to Mila Wade, a Louisville area Starbucks worker, who participated in recent store shutdowns in conjunction with workers at Sunergos Coffee.  Then, they are joined by Guardian environmental reporter Oliver Milman to discuss his recent piece “‘Double Agents: Fossil-Fuel L...
It’s a JAM PACKED Casual Friday! Sam and Emma host Alex Pareene, Contributing Editor at the New Republic and host of the Politics of Everything podcast, to round up the week in news. Then, they’re joined by actor and SAG-AFTRA member Andrew Leeds to discuss the most recent vote by the union to au...
It’s News Day Tuesday! Sam and Emma break down the biggest headlines of the day. First, they run through updates on the DOJ stepping in to block JetBlue’s takeover of Spirit Airlines, Oklahoma’s weed vote, Atlanta protests at the developing Cop City, Florida and Ron DeSantis finally stepping up f...
Sam and Emma host author Steve Paxton to discuss his recent book How Capitalism Ends: History, Ideology and Progress. First, Sam and Emma run through updates on clashes in and around Atlanta’s developing “Cop City,” DHS’s illegal domestic intel program, Biden vs. the airlines, the East Palestine ...
Emma hosts Karen Levy, Assistant Professor of Information Sciences at Cornell University, to discuss her recent book Data Driven: Truckers, Technology, and the New Workplace Surveillance. Emma first runs through updates on Zelesnkyy’s congressional address, Senate Republicans obstructing Biden’s ...
Emma hosts Jamie McCallum, associate professor of sociology at Middlebury College, to discuss his recent book Essential: How the Pandemic Transformed the Long Fight for Worker Justice. Then, Emma is joined by Gerrit Bruhaug, Ph.D candidate at the University of Rochester and research assistant for...
Sam and Emma host Adam Hochschild, lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley School of Journalism, to discuss his recent book American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy’s Forgotten Crisis. First, Sam and Emma run through this weekend’s updates on the Georgia runoff,...
It’s Casual Friday! Sam and Emma host Ryan Grim, DC Bureau Chief at the Intercept, to round up the week in news, including discussions on the freight rail labor contract, the progressives’ role in the debate (and the Democratic party writ large), and Biden’s changes to the election cycle – but fi...
Emma hosts, Beatrice Adler-Bolton, co-host of the Death Panel podcast, to discuss her recent book Health Communism, co-authored with Artie Vierkant. First, Emma runs through updates on the US defense budget, the freight rail contract vote heading to the Senate, DC announcing a shift to free bus t...
Sam hosts Drs. Noa Nessim & Libby Wetterer, 3rd year family medicine resident physicians and members of the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR) who, in affiliation with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), are a part of organizing efforts at the Montefiore Medical Center in ...
Sam hosts Tim Drea, President of the Illinois AFL-CIO, to discuss the Workers Rights Amendment that is on the state ballot next Tuesday. Then he is joined by Lee Harris, reporter at The American Prospect, to discuss her recent piece ”Industrial Policy Without Industrial Unions”. Sam begins by run...
Happy Halloween! Sam and Emma host Daniel Nichanian, editor-in-chief of Bolts Magazine to discuss all of the biggest ballot measures that will be decided in next Tuesday’s midterm elections. Then, they are joined in the studio (!) by Christian Smalls, the President of the Amazon Labor Union (ALU)...
Sam and Emma host writer Jacob Silverman to discuss his recent piece in the New Republic ”The Quiet Political Rise of David Sacks, Silicon Valley’s Prophet of Urban Doom”. Then they are joined by Lauren Ornelas, founder and president of the Food Empowerment Project, to discuss the recent union bu...
Sam breaks down the biggest headlines of the day. Sam begins by tackling the neck-and-neck midterm polling in Wisconsin and Nevada, Peter Thiel shifting his funding from JD Vance back to Blake Masters, and Dr. Oz and Herschel Walker both giving their opponents a boost in Pennsylvania and Georgia,...
Sam and Emma host Jonah Furman of Labor Notes and author of the Who Gets The Bird? newsletter on SubStack to discuss the recent negotiations between rail workers, railroad companies, and the Biden administration. Then they are joined by investigative reporter Seth Harp to discuss his recent repor...
It’s Casual Friday! Sam and Emma host Heather Digby Parton, contributing writer at Salon.com and proprietor of the blog Hullabaloo, to round up the week in news. Then they are joined by David Feldman of The David Feldman Show! Sam and Emma begin by tackling updates on Trump’s special master, the ...
Emma hosts Katherine Blunt, reporter for the Wall Street Journal, to discuss her recent book California Burning: The Fall Of Pacific Gas And Electric-And What It Means For America’s Power Grid. First, Emma dives into updates on the Freight Rail strike, the unionization of Minor League Baseball, a...
Sam and Emma host Jane McAlevey, Senior Policy Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley’s Labor Center, to discuss her recent video for The Nation ”You Voted To Form A Union. Now What?” Then they are joined by T.J. Kitchen, Organizing Director for the Teamsters Joint Council #43, to discu...
Emma is back! Sam and her break down the biggest headlines of the day. Then they are joined by Mike Duncan, host of the Revolutions podcast, and author of the recent book Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution. Sam and Emma run through updates on the Nurses’ strike ...
Emma hosts Dr. Heather Berg, Assistant Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Washington University St. Louis, to discuss her recent book Porn Work: Sex, Labor, and Late Capitalism. Emma hosts Dr. Heather Berg, Assistant Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Washingto...
Sam hosts Brian Callaci, Chief Economist at the Open Markets Institute, to discuss his recent piece in Dissent Magazine ”Inflation Is No Excuse For Squeezing Workers.” Then, Sam is joined by Ilana Marcucci-Morris, a Kaiser Permanente mental health therapist, to discuss recent efforts by her and h...
It’s Casual Friday! Sam and Emma host Alex Pareene, Contributing Editor at the New Republic and proprietor of the AP newsletter on Substack, to round up the week in news. Then, Sam and Emma are joined by comedian Sarah Silverman to discuss her recent Off-Broadway musical The Bedwetter! First, Emm...
Sam and Emma break down the latest headlines, from the Democratic Leadership finally stepping in to ask for “reasonable republicans,” which they’ll surely respond positively to, to the continuing organizing movement within Starbucks franchises nationwide. They begin by covering the rapid response...
Sam and Emma host Jon Marshall, associate professor at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, to discuss his recent book Clash: Presidents and the Press in Times of Crisis. Then, Sam and Emma are joined by Alex Speidel, organizer for the United Paizo Workers to discuss their ...
It’s Casual Friday! Sam and Emma host Ari Rabin-Havt, former deputy campaign manager for Sen. B
Sam hosts David Dayen, executive editor at the American Prospect, to touch on the big weekend in news, as well as all of the fantastic journalism going on at the Prospect. He and Sam kick it off with his recent piece “The Accidental Revolution,” first covering the absolute state of despair within...
Emma hosts Daisy Pitkin, organizer at Workers United, to discuss her recent book On The Line: A Story Of Class, Solidarity, and Two Women’s Epic Fight to Build A Union. Then Emma is joined by Brianna Wu, executive director of The Rebellion PAC, to discuss the upcoming primary in Ohio’s 11th Congr...
Emma hosts Alex Press, writer at Jacobin, to discuss her recent pieces on the burgeoning labor movement countrywide and Eric Adams’s homelessness policies. Then Emma is joined by Daniel Bessner, co-host of the American Prestige podcast on SubStack, to discuss his recent brief for the Quincy Insti...
Sam and Emma host David Dayen, Executive Editor at The American Prospect, to discuss his recent project ”The Great Escape”, about the mass quitting trend in the labor market, as well as his new piece “Lina Khan Cashes in Her Chips.” They begin by confronting the numbers of the recent wave of resi...
Sam and Emma break down what’s to come in the week in news, from the reconciliation negotiations on the Hill, to updates on labor, the courts, and climate. They begin by covering the religious reaction to Universal Pre-K’s non-discrimination requirement, and the news that September was a record-b...
Sam and Emma host Will Stronge, co-director of research at the think tank Autonomy, to discuss his recent book Overtime: Why We Need A Shorter Working Week that he co-authored with Kyle Lewis. They start off by reflecting on the late night infrastructure bill passage from last Friday night, as we...
It’s Casual Friday! Sam and Emma host Alex Pareene, contributing editor at The New Republic and author of the AP newsletter on Substack, to wrap up the week in news. Alex, Emma, and Sam dive right into the wake of this week’s elections, looking first at the particularities of the Virginia governo...
Sam and Emma host Kate Crawford, Research Professor at the University of Southern California Annenberg, to discuss her recent book Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence, on our relationship with big tech, and the concept of the AI industry as a continuat...
Sam and Emma host New Yorker contributor Eyal Press to discuss his recent book Dirty Work: Essential Jobs and the Hidden Toll of Inequality in America, on the moral division of labor and the emotional burden of getting by for countless Americans. They start off with Everett Hughes’ essay “Good Pe...
Emma hosts Alexandra Brodsky, civil rights attorney at Public Justice, to discuss her recent book Sexual Justice: Supporting Victims, Ensuring Due Process, and Resisting the Conservative Backlash, and how the culture around sexual assault and harassment has shifted drastically over the last decad...
Sam and Emma tackle a huge last week in news, as well as what’s coming down the pike in Congress, the courts, and more. They also speak with Bhairavi Desai, Executive Director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA), to discuss NYTWA’s new debt forgiveness campaign for Medallion cab drivers...
Sam hosts Paul Sabin, professor of history at Yale University and director of the Yale Environmental Humanities Program, to discuss his recent book Public Citizens: The Attack On Big Government and the Remaking of American Liberalism, on how the US went from eras defined by government action unde...
Emma hosts Hahrie Han, director of the SNF Agora Institute and Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University, to discuss her recent book Prisms of the People: Power & Organizing in Twenty-First-Century America, that she co-authored with Elizabeth McKenna and Michelle Oyakawa. Hah...
Sam and Emma hosts Joshua Brewer (@JBrewerMe), an organizer at RWDSU (Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union) on workers’ efforts to unionize at the Bessemer, Alabama fulfillment center. Then Eric Levitz (@EricLevitz) joins to discuss the Democrats’ decision to limit who gets Covid relief c...
Sam hosts Alex Sammon, a staff writer at the American Prospect, to discuss California’s Prop 22 and how tech companies are working overtime to set labor laws back decades for non-white working-class people. We’re live at noon ET.
Sam hosts the American Postal Workers’ Union President Mark Dimondstein to discuss the post office, the fall elections, and how Trump donor turned Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has dismantled the USPS.
Happy Tuesday! Author and organizer Jane McAlevey joins Sam to discuss her new book,  A Collective Bargain: Unions, Organizing, and the Fight for Democracy, on how workers must continue to fight with broad-based supermajorities across the working class. McAlevey and Sam begin their conversation d...
Journalist Emily Guendelsberger, author of ‘On the Clock: What Low-Wage Work Did to Me and How It Drives America Insane,’ joins us.