Labor History Today

Justice Denied: Ben Shahn and the Case of Sacco and Vanzetti (Encore)

On this week’s Labor History Today: Justice Denied: David Gariff on “Ben Shahn and the Case of Sacco and Vanzetti.” Saul Schniderman remembers musician activist Elaine Purkey. From the Tales from the Reuther Library podcast, “When It Happened Here: Michigan and the Transnational Development of American Fascism.”And, on Labor History in 2: Paul Robeson, “The Voice of an Era.” Originally aired October 18, 2020; produced and edited by Chris Garlock and Evan Papp. To contribute a labor history item, email laborhistorytoday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University. We're a proud founding member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network; #LaborRadioPod

The Donora Death Fog

On this week’s Labor History Today: A visit to the Donora Smog Museum, where a six-day inversion in 1948 trapped toxic fumes over a Pennsylvania mill town and changed how the U.S. thinks about work, health, and accountability.And, on Labor History in 2:00: The Mother Jones Monument is Dedicated.
Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.
#LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

Remembering Mary Kenney O’Sullivan (Encore)

On this week's Labor History Today: Mary Kenney O’Sullivan, first AFL woman organizer; novelist Jack London’s classic definition of a scab; Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union leads Missouri Highway sit-down; Roosevelt creates National War Labor Board to mediate labor disputes during World War II.
Today’s show is an encore of our January 7-13, 2018 and features labor historians Joe McCartin and Leon Fink.Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.
#LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

Red Bandanas and Solidarity

This week on Labor History Today: From the 2025 Camp Solidarity, West Virginia Mine Wars Museum co-founder Wilma Steele unpacks the red bandana—tracing its paisley roots from Persia to Appalachia—and how a scrap of cloth became labor’s emblem of courage, memory, and solidarity.And, on Labor History in 2:00: The Uprising of the 20,000.
Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.
#MineWars #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

Cecil Roberts: “ You must continue to fight”

On this week’s Labor History Today: From Camp Solidarity in Matewan, West Virginia—the heart of the legendary Mine Wars—UMWA President Cecil Roberts reflects on the long struggle of coal miners to claim America’s promise that “this land belongs to all of us.” On the eve of his retirement, Roberts’ words connect today’s fights for justice with a century of labor history rooted in the hollers of Appalachia.
Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.
#LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

Unmasking Anti-union Antisemitism

This week on Labor History Today, labor historian Joseph McCartin joins Chris Garlock to unpack his recent congressional testimony on unions, antisemitism, and the long fight for solidarity. From the labor movement’s diverse roots to employers’ historic use of antisemitic attacks to weaken unions, McCartin offers critical perspective on the dangers of rewriting history and why today’s struggles echo the past.
Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.
#LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

Trouble! at Coal Creek

On this week’s Labor History Today: Activist and artist Austin Sauerbrei talks about his debut graphic novel Trouble! at Coal Creek, which brings to life the 1890s miners’ uprising in Tennessee, where striking workers and Black prisoners found common cause against exploitation. It’s a moving call for solidarity, told in powerful words and images. Austin talked with our colleague Robert Lindgren, who hosts and produces Labor Exchange, the excellent radio show that airs weekly on KGNU Community Radio in Boulder, Colorado.Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.
@aflbobby #LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory  

Patriotism, Paranoia, and Labor on Trial

On this week’s Labor History Today: Historian Dr. Jeffrey Johnson tells the story of the 1916 San Francisco Preparedness Day bombing and the infamous frame-up of labor leader Tom Mooney, who spent more than two decades behind bars before his eventual release and pardon. Recorded live at the 9th Annual Reuther-Pollock Labor History Symposium, Johnson explores how xenophobia, anti-labor fervor, and miscarriages of justice from a century ago still echo loudly today.Plus, on Labor History in 2:00: The Battle of Blair Mountain.
Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by the Labor Heritage Foundation and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.
#LaborRadioPod #History #WorkingClass #ClassStruggle @GeorgetownKILWP #LaborHistory @UMDMLA @ILLaborHistory @AFLCIO @StrikeHistory #LaborHistory @wrkclasshistory