by Maximillian Alvarez, Hamilton Nolan, and Jacob Morrison | Nov 3, 2026 | labor, Podcast, police accountability, Policing, Politics and Movements: US, Prisons and Policing, Unions, Working People
https://www.spreaker.com/show/2952221/episodes/feed
Far from all the political bluster about police being “defunded,” six years after the earth-shaking George Floyd protests swept the US and public approval for law enforcement plummeted, police have never been more politically and monetarily supported than they are now. But when veteran labor reporters and union activists Hamilton Nolan and Jacob Morrison attended the 23rd Quadrennial Convention of the International Union of Police Associations in Las Vegas, Nevada, they found a different kind of union, and a different kind of convention, than they were expecting…
In this special episode of Working People, we speak with Nolan and Morrison about their August reporting trip to the IUPA Convention in Las Vegas.
Additional links/info:
Hamilton Nolan Substack (How Things Work) and Bluesky page
Jacob Morrison’s Twitter/X page
The Valley Labor Report website, YouTube channel, Facebook page, Bluesky page, and Twitter/X page
Hamilton Nolan & Jacob Morrison, The Real News Network, “Beards and loathing: A cop union convention comes to Las Vegas”
Hamilton Nolan, How Things Work, “We infiltrated a police union convention in Las Vegas”
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. It will be updated.
Jacob Morrison:
All right. Welcome everyone to Working People, a podcast about the lives, jobs, dreams, and struggles of the working class today. My name is not Maximillian Alvarez. It is Jacob Morrison, host of the Valley Labor Report, the largest union talk radio program in the South.
Hamilton Nolan:
And I’m Hamilton Nolan, a labor journalist based in New York City.
Jacob Morrison:
Hamilton and I marched on the boss and took Max’s microphone so we could introduce the special episode about the recent reporting
by Maximillian Alvarez | Nov 2, 2026 | Economy, Economy and Inequality, France, labor, Podcast, Politics and Movements: International, Unions, Working People
https://www.spreaker.com/show/2952221/episodes/feed
For the past month—led by students and joined by parents, teachers, labor unions, and more—France has been gripped by one of the largest protest waves in modern history. Protestors have faced violent police repression, a recalcitrant government, and rampant misinformation or skewed coverage from rightwing and corporate media. In this special international edition of Working People, we speak directly with a broad range of students and union members across France who are on the front lines of the current protest movement, and we put them in conversation with union workers and leaders in the US.
Editor’s Note: This episode contains an edited-down version of a Zoom webinar panel discussion recorded on Sunday, October 25, organized in partnership with The Real News Network, the Chicago Teachers Union, Haymarket Books, and the French labor union Force Ouvrière. Unless expressed by elected organization leaders, all views shared in this conversation and on the original webinar are those of the speakers alone.
Additional links/info:
Chicago Teachers Union website, Facebook page, Bluesky page, and Instagram
Force Ouvrière website, Facebook page, and Instagram
Haymarket Books website, YouTube channel, Bluesky page, and Instagram
Angelique Chrisafis, The Guardian, “Hundreds of thousands march across France in protests over schools and policing”
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. It will be updated.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Alright. Welcome, everyone, to Working People, a podcast about the lives, jobs, dreams, and struggles of the working class today. My name is Maximillian Alvarez, and today we are taking you to the streets of France, where mass, student-led protests have swept the country for the past month. We’ve gotten so many
by Maximillian Alvarez | Oct 5, 2026 | Economy and Inequality, labor, Podcast, Politics and Movements: US, Working People
https://www.spreaker.com/show/2952221/episodes/feed
Because he was bullied in elementary school for being Native American, James Gardner’s friends lovingly call him “NDN.” His friends and family know NDN to be a fiercely loyal, loving person, and a fiercely hard worker. But as a third-generation concrete specialist, NDN was exposed to chemicals that have left him disabled, terminal, and facing foreclosure on his home. In this episode of Working People, we speak with James “NDN” Gardner and his best friend James Quigg.
Additional links/info:
GoFundMe: James Gardner: Terminal Liver Failure—Home at Risk
Maven Navarro, Forth Worth Star-Telegram, “Terminally ill, this proud man is fighting to keep the Fort Worth home he built”
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. It will be updated.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Alright. Welcome everyone to Working People, a podcast about the lives, jobs, dreams, and struggles of the working class today. My name is Maximillian Alvarez, and today we are in Fort Worth, Texas, and we’re talking about a fellow worker named James. As Maven Navarro recently reported in the Fort Worth Star Telegram, “After leaving Oklahoma, James Gardner built a life for himself in Fort Worth. Now he could lose it all. When Gardner walks into doctor’s offices to receive treatment for his terminal liver failure, he has to ask staff to remove all the air fresheners for his skin condition. Gardner has multiple chemical sensitivity, which he says was caused by his time as a concrete specialist working with two-part epoxy resin. The illness causes him to break out anytime he gets around chemicals, air fresheners, perfumes, cleaning supplies, and paint spark allergy
by Maximillian Alvarez | Sep 30, 2026 | Economy, Economy and Inequality, labor, Podcast, Unions, Working People
by Maximillian Alvarez | Sep 23, 2026 | Economy and Inequality, EPA, Podcast, Politics and Movements: US, sacrifice zones, Working People
https://www.spreaker.com/show/2952221/episodes/feed
On the morning of August 18, residents living near the Brent Industries facility in Toledo, Ohio, awoke to a series of massive explosions and a towering chemical fire in their backyards. Two Brent Industry workers who were on shift at the time of the explosion were killed. Members of the surrounding community say they are experiencing symptoms of chemical exposure, and that they are not getting the answers they need from Brent Industries or the Environmental Protection Agency.
In this episode of Working People, we speak with a panel of Toledo residents about the industrial disaster at Brent Industries and the harrowing aftermath. Panelists include:Toledo Councilwoman Dr Brittany Jones; Mike Balonek, Toledo-based filmmaker and sacrifice zone advocate; Sarah Locker and Kris Ramsdell, who both live right next to the Brent Industries facility where the deadly explosion occurred.
Editor’s note: According to WTVG Toledo, “The coroner’s office identified those who died in the [Brent Industries] fire as Heladio G. Perez, 46, and Mary Allen, 64. An autopsy revealed they both died as a result of blunt force trauma.”
Additional links/info:
Toledo – Lucas County Health Department: Smoke Event Exposure – Public Health Information and Guidance
Dave Collins & John Seewer, Associated Press, “Explosions and fire tear through Ohio industrial building, killing 2 workers”
Kevon DuPree, WTVG Toledo, “Records show history of fires, violations at Brent Industries facility”
Lily Lowndes, Alexis Means, & Brianna Weaver, WTVG Toledo, “Two dead after explosions rock Toledo industrial facility”
Mike Balonek website, Facebook page, Instagram, and production company website
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. It will be updated.
News Clip 1:
A massive
by Maximillian Alvarez | Sep 16, 2026 | AI, Economy, health care, labor, Podcast, Politics and Movements: US, Unions, Working People
https://www.spreaker.com/show/2952221/episodes/feed
On August 27, registered nurses, patients, and community allies rallied and stopped traffic in cities around the US to demand that hospitals and elected officials cut all ties with artificial intelligence giant Palantir. In this episode of Working People, we speak with a panel of registered nurses—Kelli Brennan (Portland, Maine), Lee Barker (Kansas City, Missouri), and Kiera Arbour (Chicago, Illinois)—about National Nurses United’s “Purge Palantir!” campaign, and about the disturbing creep of Big Tech and Big Brother into a US healthcare system that is already in crisis.
Additional links/info:
National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United website, Facebook page, Twitter/X page, and Instagram
National Nurses United: “Nurses hold nationwide civil disobedience actions to demand ‘Palantir Out!’”
Sheera Frenkel & Aaron Krolik, The New York Times, “Trump Taps Palantir to Compile Data on Americans”
Aisha Down & Robert Booth, The Guardian, “Palantir manifesto described as ‘ramblings of a supervillain’ amid UK contract fears”
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. It will be updated.
Maximillian Alvarez:
Alright. Welcome everyone to Working People, a podcast about the lives, jobs, dreams, and struggles of the working class today. My name is Maximillian Alvarez, and today we are speaking with union nurses who are speaking out against big tech and big brother, sneaking more of their tentacles into our healthcare system and into our lives. They and their union, National Nurses United, participated in a National Day of Action on August 27th, which brought together hundreds of registered nurses, patients, and community allies in cities around the country to demand that hospitals and elected officials cut all ties with artificial intelligence
