by Michael Fox | Nov 14, 2025 | Economy and Inequality, farmers, Podcast, Politics and Movements: US, Stories of Resistance
It was the Great Depression. Early 1930s. United States. More than a thousand mortgages a day were being foreclosed on. Hundreds of thousands of families were losing their homes each year.
Times were hard for everyone. Especially hard for farmers. But neighbors found a way to push back and help their friends in a very creative way. They called it a penny auction.
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Written and produced by Michael Fox.
Transcript
Michael Fox: It’s the Great Depression. Early 1930s. United States. More than a thousand mortgages a day are being foreclosed on. Hundreds of thousands of families are losing their homes each year.
Times are hard for everyone. Especially hard for the farmers. See, it’s also the dust bowl. Intense drought. Huge dust storms roll across the midwest. And for farmers, a couple of bad seasons can break you. You borrow some
by Julia Conley | Nov 13, 2025 | Article, Economy, Economy and Inequality, elections, Inequality, Politics and Movements: US, Reprint
This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Nov. 13, 2025. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.
With the help of an “army of grassroots volunteers” and the support of Seattle’s working-class neighborhoods, progressive candidate Katie Wilson was named the winner of the city’s mayoral election on Wednesday night, beating corporate-backed Democratic Mayor Bruce Harrell after a campaign that focused heavily on how unaffordable Seattle is for many families—including Wilson’s.
Wilson, who rents a one-bedroom apartment with her husband and young child and spoke on the campaign trail about how her parents have helped her pay for childcare, was elected after taking a 1,976-vote lead over Harrell, with just 1,320 ballots remaining.
The Seattle Times called the race for Wilson and reported that it was unclear whether the close race would go to a recount, and Harrell said he would address voters on Thursday.
“Ahead by almost 2,000 votes, we now believe that we’re in an insurmountable position,” said Wilson in a social media post on Wednesday night. “We’re so grateful to all the volunteers who have powered this grassroots campaign to victory. We look forward to hearing the mayor’s address to the city tomorrow.”
The mayoral election results were mirrored by other municipal elections in Seattle, with the Times reporting a “progressive sweep” of City Hall as voters elected left-leaning nonprofit leader Dionne Foster as City Council president and progressive challenger Erika Evans as city attorney.
Wilson’s victory also proved wrong the commentators who had dismissed New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s victory over corporate-backed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo as an aberration that would not be replicated outside of the solidly Democratic city.
Wilson has never held public office and is the co-founder of the Transit Riders Union, where she
by Taya Graham and Stephen Janis | Nov 13, 2025 | Economy and Inequality, Epstein, Inequality, Inequality Watch, Politics and Movements: US, Prisons and Policing, video
Jeffrey Epstein was able to traffic and assault young women and girls for almost two decades, without consequence. How did he get away with this? The simple answer is wealth. But how did a college dropout who was quietly dismissed from his first job as a teacher at a private school acquire a private jet and party with some of the most famous and powerful people in the world? We delve into the money and the people who may have aided and abetted Epstein’s scandalous and criminal life.
Credits:
Producers: 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:
For most of 2025. One story and one story alone dominated the cultural and political discourse in America, the Epstein files. This phenomena was remarkable, all but more so for President Trump’s response. This was the first time in Trump’s decade long political career that we saw a significant rift in his fiercely loyal MAGA movement. By late July, 47% of Trump supporters disapproved of how he was handling the issue. Now, given Trump’s controversial association with the dead man, his obfuscation seemed like it could be the only thing to finally chip away at his political capital. Since then, a lot has happened in the American news from a major ice crackdown in blue states to the illegal bombing of ships in the Caribbean to an attempted ceasefire in Gaza, and yet Epstein’s case still looms large, large enough, some believe to have played a significant role in the October government shutdown.
Now ostensibly, the shutdown
by Maximillian Alvarez | Nov 12, 2025 | Economy, Economy and Inequality, labor, Podcast, Politics and Movements: US, Unions, Working People
Four years after the first Starbucks store in the US unionized in 2021, workers across the country are still facing rampant union busting and still fighting for a first contract with the coffee giant. That is why a supermajority of unionized baristas with Starbucks Workers United recently voted to authorize an Unfair Labor Practice strike, which is set to begin on Thursday, Nov. 13, on “Red Cup Day,” in over 25 cities around the US. “Union baristas mean business and are ready to do whatever it takes to win a fair contract and end Starbucks’ unfair labor practices,” says Michelle Eisen, Starbucks Workers United spokesperson and 15-year veteran barista. “If Starbucks keeps stonewalling, they should expect to see their business grind to a halt. The ball is in Starbucks’ court.” In this urgent episode, we speak with Eisen about the impending strike and the state of the yearslong union struggle at Starbucks.
Additional links/info:
“No Contract, No Coffee!” website
Starbucks Workers United website, Facebook page, Bluesky page, Instagram, and TikTok
Starbucks Workers United press release: “With 92% ‘Yes’ vote, union Starbucks baristas overwhelmingly authorize ULP strike”
Dee-Ann Durbin, Associated Press, “Starbucks’ union workers plan strike next week unless company agrees to a contract”
Alina Selyukh, NPR, “Starbucks is closing more stores and laying off 900 workers”
Michael Sainato, The Guardian, “A year under CEO Niccol: Starbucks workers’ long fight for a union contract”
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
by Chris Walker | Nov 7, 2025 | Article, Economy, Economy and Inequality, labor, Politics and Movements: US, Reprint
This story was originally published on Truthout on Nov. 06, 2025. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.
A new report examining worker layoffs in the United States this year finds that the numbers through October closely resemble those seen during recessions in the past.
The report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a private firm that tracks workplace hirings and firings across the country, found that there were 153,074 layoffs reported last month alone, a 183 percent increase from September. October 2025 also saw the highest number of layoffs for that month in particular over the past 22 years.
Around 1.1 million layoffs have been reported in the U.S. from January to the end of October, the report stated. Major companies that posted high layoff numbers included UPS, Amazon, and Target, while tech jobs also saw big hits, with firings at a rate 17 percent higher than in 2024, the result of a slowdown in demand and new technologies.
“Some industries are correcting after the hiring boom of the pandemic, but this comes as AI [artificial intelligence] adoption, softening consumer and corporate spending, and rising costs drive belt-tightening and hiring freezes,” said Andy Challenger, chief revenue officer at Challenger, Gray & Christmas. “Those laid off now are finding it harder to quickly secure new roles, which could further loosen the labor market.”
The 1.1 million layoffs number is 65 percent higher than what was reported through this same period last year. This year’s numbers are also the highest since the start of the Great Recession, excluding the 2020 layoffs during the global pandemic.
The report comes as President Donald Trump consistently pushes the false narrative
by Maximillian Alvarez | Nov 4, 2025 | Economy and Inequality, elections, labor, New York, Politics and Movements: US, video
In 2021, when New York City taxi drivers were dying by suicide and others were going on hunger strike, begging City Hall for relief from the debt trap that had set them up for failure and financial ruin, a young NY Assemblyperson named Zohran Mamdani stood with them. Now, taxi drivers are standing with Mamdani in his bid to become the next mayor of New York City. Reporting on the ground in New York, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Yellow Cab driver-owner and NY Taxi Workers Alliance member Mouhamadou Aliyu about the ongoing struggle for justice for NY taxi drivers—and what Mamdani’s campaign means to them.
Additional links/info:
Zohran Mamdani campaign ad featuring Mouhamadou
Maximillian Alvarez, The Real News Network, “Cheated, desperate, financially ruined NYC taxi drivers go on hunger strike”
NY Taxi Workers Alliance website, TikTok, and Facebook page
Luis Feliz Leon, In These Times, “Zohran Mamdani on the night shift for mayor”
Credits:
Videographer: Maximillian Alvarez
Post-Production: Cameron Granadino
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Mouhamadou Aliyu:
Hello, my name is Mouhamadou Aliyu, a New York City taxi driver and a member of New York Taxi Worker Alliance. We’re so desperate we still going on a hunger strike.
Maximillian Alvarez:
So Mouhamadou, the last time that you and I spoke, it was 2021, you were on a hunger strike at the end of your rope fighting for relief from the city that had entrapped you and so many taxi drivers into this massive amount of debt to get the medallions that you need to drive a taxi cab in the city. And then the
