by Maximillian Alvarez | Feb 13, 2026 | Economy, Economy and Inequality, labor, Podcast, Politics and Movements: US, Unions, Working People
The longest-running nurses strike in New York City history has come to an end—for some. Nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, however, overwhelmingly voted this week to reject a tentative agreement and to stay on strike until their demands for safer staffing and more job security are met. In this unscheduled strike update episode, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Beth Loudin, a neonatal nurse and member of the executive committee of the New York State Nurses Association at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.
Additional links/info:
New York State Nurses Association website, Facebook page, Bluesky page, and Instagram
Claudia Irizarry Aponte & Ben Fractenberg, The City, “NewYork-Presbyterian nurses reject contract by overwhelming margin”
Luis Feliz Leon, Sarah Hughes, & Danielle Smith, Labor Notes, “Fifteen thousand New York City nurses strike”
Featured Music:
Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song
Credits:
Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Alright. Welcome everyone to Working People, a podcast about the lives, jobs, dreams, and struggles of the working class today. Working People is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network and is brought to you in partnership within these Times Magazine and the Real News Network. This show is produced by Jules Taylor and made possible by the support of listeners like you. My name is Maximillian Alvarez and I know that you guys may have just listened to our latest episode with healthcare workers on strike at Kaiser Permanente over on the West Coast, but we’ve got another urgent strike update episode for y’all today on another critical healthcare worker strike that was actually mentioned in that
by Maximillian Alvarez | Feb 6, 2026 | east palestine, Economy and Inequality, Podcast, Politics and Movements: US, sacrifice zones, Working People
Feb. 3, 2026 marked the three-year anniversary of the Norfolk Southern train derailment and chemical disaster in East Palestine, OH—one of the worst industrial disasters in US history. Over the last three years, residents have been exploited and abandoned by Norfolk Southern, the government, opportunistic politicians, sensationalist media outlets, and self-serving attorneys, but we haven’t forgotten them. On the three-year anniversary of the day that changed their small-town lives forever, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez was on the ground in East Palestine speaking with residents about their lives and needs today. Here is what they said…
Additional links/info:
Ohio Valley Derailment Mutual Aid Facebook page and fundraiser
Chemically Impacted Communities Coalition (CICC) website
Golomb Research Group (UCSD) website and East Palestine Health Effects Study website
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “America’s toxic future looks like East Palestine, Ohio, today” (click for a full list of all of Max’s East Palestine reporting for TRNN over the last three years)
Featured Music:
Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song
Credits:
Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Jim Stewart (CNN Town Hall):
I’m angry. I’m angry about this. I lived in East Palestine for 65 years now that’s my home. My grandmother came from Germany. She lived in Palestine. My dad grew up there. My family’s grown up there. Now I live in a house that’s probably the closest of any of these, and it’s a shame I don’t feel safe in this town. Now you took it away from me. You took this away from this. You seem like a sincere man. I’m not calling you
by Taya Graham and Stephen Janis | Feb 4, 2026 | Economy, Economy and Inequality, Inequality Watch, labor, Oil, Politics and Movements: US, Venezuela, video
In this episode of Inequality Watch, investigative journalists Taya Graham and Stephen Janis are joined by renowned economist Dr. Richard Wolff to break down how extreme wealth inequality is reshaping politics, economics, and democracy itself. First, Dr. Wolff explains how extractive economies concentrate wealth, fuel authoritarianism, and lock societies into destructive systems that benefit the ultra-rich while leaving working people behind. He then examines questions about the future of AI—can an economy still survive when millions are displaced from work? Who benefits and who pays the price?
Credits:
Written by: Stephen Janis
Produced by: Taya Graham, Stephen Janis
Post-Production: David Hebden
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Taya Graham:
Hello, my name is Taya Graham and welcome to the Inequality Watch, our show that reveals how extreme wealth inequality defines how we live while holding the people who hoard that wealth accountable. And today, we will be unpacking two topics that are critical to understanding how inequality defines and affects our lives and politics. Specifically, we’ll be breaking down how a highly politicized resource and the political economy it creates facilitates an authoritarian grip on our society in unseen ways. And then we will be breaking down how all of this leads to a frightening consolidation of power that threatens the very existence of our democracy. And to do so, we’re going to be joined by one of the most brilliant thinkers and popular analysts on the intersections of politics and economics on YouTube, Dr. Richard Wolff. But before we get to him, I want to break down an outline of our
by Jon Queally | Feb 4, 2026 | Article, Economy, Economy and Inequality, immigration, labor, Politics and Movements: US, Reprint
by Maximillian Alvarez | Feb 3, 2026 | east palestine, Economy and Inequality, Podcast, Politics and Movements: US, sacrifice zones
It’s been three years since a Norfolk Southern “bomb train” carrying toxic chemicals derailed in the small town of East Palestine, OH, on the night of Feb. 3, 2023. Three days later, Norfolk Southern pressured local authorities to make the disastrous and completely unnecessary decision to vent five giant carloads of vinyl chloride into a ditch and set the contents on fire, releasing a massive chemical plume into the air, exposing residents in East Palestine and the surrounding areas to deadly toxins in one of the worst industrial disasters in US history. Three years later, residents are still getting sick, many have been financially ruined, they have been abandoned by their government and Norfolk Southern, and forgotten by the public. And, as Katya Schwenk details in a blockbuster new report for The Lever, residents are still waiting for the restitution they were promised from the $600 million settlement that Norfolk Southern agreed to pay to resolve residents’ class-action lawsuit over the derailment.
Guest:
Katya Schwenk is a journalist based in Phoenix, AZ, and a reporter for The Lever. Her reporting and essays have appeared in The Intercept, the Baffler, the American Prospect, and elsewhere.
Additional links/info:
Katya Schwenk, The Lever / The Real News Network, “Three years later, life in East Palestine, Ohio, is still derailed”
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “America’s toxic future looks like East Palestine, Ohio, today”
Credits:
Audio Post-Production: Alina Nehlich
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Welcome everyone to the Real News Network podcast. I’m Maximillian Alvarez. I’m the editor in chief here at The Real News,
by Maximillian Alvarez | Feb 3, 2026 | east palestine, Economy and Inequality, Politics and Movements: US, sacrifice zones, video
Everything changed for Laurie Harmon and her neighbors on Feb. 3, 2023, when a Norfolk Southern “bomb train” carrying hazardous chemicals derailed less than a mile away from her home in the small town of East Palestine, Ohio. Three days later, Norfolk Southern pressured local authorities to dump and burn five tanker cars full of vinyl chloride, blasting a massive chemical plume into the air and exposing residents to toxins that have poisoned their bodies and homes. Three years later, Harmon and other residents are still suffering the toxic fallout from one of the worst industrial disasters in US history.
Additional links/info:
Laurie Harmon Facebook page
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “Residents in this small town ‘left for dead’ after industrial disaster”
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “An industrial disaster wrecked my home. Now I’m living out of a hotel”
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “A billion-dollar company poisoned my home and destroyed my town”
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “They poisoned a whole community. The EPA helped cover it up”
Credits:Filmed and edited by Maximillian Alvarez
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Laurie Harmon:
Anybody who lives far away and you watch some of the major news stations and you read things on Facebook, everything’s fine here and everything is not fine. I’m telling you this from experience.
Speaker 2:
We are following breaking news as we come on the air. This morning. A trained derailment forces hundreds from their home in Ohio,
Speaker 3:
Date of emergency in Ohio, after a train derailment and massive fire, some of the cars were carrying hazardous
