by Maximillian Alvarez | Nov 20, 2025 | Economy, Economy and Inequality, labor, Podcast, Politics and Movements: US, Unions, Working People
Making ends meet in today’s economy is difficult enough, but with so many societal crises affecting working people’s lives on and off the shop floor—from mass layoffs to untenable costs of living, from an authoritarian federal government to AI and the climate crisis—it can feel all but impossible. What does it mean to have a union job, to be a union member, and to be part of the labor movement in these overwhelming times? What role do unions and other labor organizations have to play, not just in the fight for economic justice, but in the fight for democracy, civil rights, the rule of law, and a livable planet? We posed these questions to a range of emerging labor leaders from different unions and worker centers enrolled in the 2025-26 Minnesota Union Leadership Program (MULP). Here’s what they told us…
Additional links/info:
Minnesota Union Leadership Program website
Workday Magazine website
Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / The Real News Network, “What good is a union in Hell?”
Featured Music:
Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song
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:
Alight. 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 am very excited to share today’s episode with y’all because believe me as
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.
BIG NEWS! This podcast has won Gold in this year’s Signal Awards for best history podcast! It’s a huge honor. Thank you so much to everyone who voted and supported.
And please consider signing up for the Stories of Resistance podcast feed on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, or wherever you listen. And please take a moment to rate and review the podcast. A little help goes a long way.
The Real News’s legendary host Marc Steiner has also been in the running for best episode host. And he also won a Gold Signal Award. We are so excited. You can listen and subscribe to the Marc Steiner Show here on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Please consider supporting this podcast and Michael Fox’s reporting on his Patreon account: patreon.com/mfox. There you can also see exclusive pictures, video, and interviews.
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 Marc Steiner | Nov 13, 2025 | Civil Rights, Podcast, Politics and Movements: US, Prisons and Policing, Racial Justice, The Marc Steiner Show
Historian David Hollinger connects the history of the 1964 Free Speech Movement in Berkeley, California, to the protest movements and repressive crackdowns on free speech gripping universities today. In this episode of The Marc Steiner Show, co-hosted by Marc Steiner and Michael Fox, Hollinger draws on his firsthand experience and decades of research to explain the lessons we can learn from 1960s civil rights activists and antiwar organizers about how to defend free speech and academic freedom from extinction today.
Guest:
David A. Hollinger is the Preston Hotchkis Professor of History Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, and earlier taught at the University of Michigan, the State University of New York at Buffalo, and the University of Oxford. Hollinger’s books include Protestants Abroad: How Missionaries Tried to Change the World but Changed America (Princeton, 2017), After Cloven Tongues of Fire: Protestant Liberalism in Modern American History (Princeton, 2013), Science, Jews, and Secular Culture (Princeton, 1996) and Postethnic America: Beyond Multiculturalism (New York, 1995, 2000, and 2006). He is an elected member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a former President of the Organization of American Historians.
Credits:
Producer: Rosette Sewali
Studio Production: David Hebden
Audio Post-Production: Stephen Frank
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Marc Steiner:
Welcome to the Marc Steiner Show here on The Real News. I’m Marc Steiner. It’s good to have you all with us. My cohost today is my colleague Mike Fox, who hosts Stories of Resistance for the Real News and covers Latin America and world issues. Today we’re talking with David Hollinger about free Speech, the movement that
by Kelly Hayes | Nov 13, 2025 | Health, Interview, Organizing, Podcast, Psychology, Safety, Trauma
What happens when our movements start to run on empty? In this episode of Movement Memos, Kelly Hayes talks with organizer and WildSeed Society strategist Aaron Goggans about trauma, dysregulation, burnout, and the myth that we can just push through. They discuss why nervous system regulation is a crucial part of political strategy, how neurodivergent organizers hold essential wisdom for this…
Source
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 Marc Steiner | Nov 7, 2025 | Chicago, Fascism, Podcast, Politics and Movements: US, Prisons and Policing, Racial Justice, The Marc Steiner Show, Trump
