11 episodes

Class Matters is the podcast where we ask the question: "What Would Our Country Look Like If It Were Run By and For the Working Class?"

Class Matters Debs-Jones-Douglass Institute

    • News
    • 4.9 • 87 Ratings

Class Matters is the podcast where we ask the question: "What Would Our Country Look Like If It Were Run By and For the Working Class?"

    Ep 11: Labor on the Rise? A Conversation with UE’s Carl Rosen

    Ep 11: Labor on the Rise? A Conversation with UE’s Carl Rosen

    With public approval of unions at its highest since 1965, organizing drives bringing in 200,000 new union members, union election petitions to the NLRB up 51 percent, 60 million workers who want a union, and low unemployment spurring strike actions and gains in wages and benefits, many have declared that labor is on the rise. Yet in 2022, the overall share of workers who are union members declined from 10.3 to 10.1 percent. And the Supreme Court stands ready to significantly curtail workers’ right to strike. Ep 11 takes a close look at the obstacles and opportunities for Labor as we head into 2023.

    • 40 min
    Ep 10: Millionaires Tax on the Ballot in Massachusetts

    Ep 10: Millionaires Tax on the Ballot in Massachusetts

    Can a union-backed "Millionaires Tax" win at the ballot box in Massachusetts? It would raise $2 billion/year for quality public education, for repair and maintenance of roads and bridges and for public transportation. In Episode Ten, Adolph Reed Jr. talks with union leaders Eve Weinbaum and Dean Robinson on state-wide organizing for the amendment and its potential as a model for an electoral strategy that appeals to and unites working people.

    • 37 min
    Ep 9: Inflation: What Workers Need to Know

    Ep 9: Inflation: What Workers Need to Know

    Inflation and the fight against it is on the public agenda today in a way not seen since the 1970s. In Episode Nine, Professor Adolph Reed Jr. leads a discussion with Sam Gindin and Samir Sonti, on what inflation means for the working class, and why anti-inflation policies have often come at the expense of workers. We also look at how this round of inflation is different, how we should fight it and what inflation means for bargaining union contracts.

    • 48 min
    Ep 8: The Jim Crow South + Listener Qs - Part Two

    Ep 8: The Jim Crow South + Listener Qs - Part Two

    In Part 2 of 2, Adolph Reed Jr discusses his new book, The South: Jim Crow and Its Afterlives, with Toure Reed. The Reeds explore how tendencies to romanticize Jim Crow undercuts our ability to address the root causes of racial inequality today. They also tackle questions from our listeners about race and about the labor movement.

    • 49 min
    Ep 7: The Jim Crow South + Listener Questions

    Ep 7: The Jim Crow South + Listener Questions

    In Part 1 of 2, Adolph Reed Jr discusses his new book, The South: Jim Crow and Its Afterlives, with Toure Reed. The Reeds explore how tendencies to romanticize Jim Crow undercuts our ability to address the root causes of racial inequality today. They also tackle questions from our listeners about race and about the labor movement.

    • 40 min
    Episode 6: Why the Supreme Court Matters to Working People

    Episode 6: Why the Supreme Court Matters to Working People

    In Episode 6, we take a look at one of the recent Supreme Court rulings – West Virginia v. EPA. It turns out this case is about much more than climate change. As you will hear from Jenny Breen, Gordon Lafer, Adolph Reed Jr., and Samir Sonti, this ruling is the first time the Supreme Court has used the "major questions doctrine" in a majority opinion. That doctrine is an attempt to squash the ability of agencies like the EPA, OSHA or FDA, for example, to carry out legislation passed by Congress. We dive into the impact it could have on working people in the United States.

    • 41 min

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5
87 Ratings

87 Ratings

robofussin ,

A podcast for workers!

Great podcast, simple and effective for the task of educating the American working class. Thanks so much!

G Sloop ,

Brilliant

A very insightful podcast with great guests. Dr. Reed is both insightful and humorous.

AmeliaInTheForest ,

Essential listening for the 21st century!

This podcast eschews the boring, self-congratulatory theatrical filler so ubiquitous in today’s political podcasts and cuts straight to the important, relevant stuff. Guests offer clear, compelling analyses of the systemic forces that have shaped working-class lives and politics up to the present and beyond, and in every episode, listeners will get a tangible sense of what the U.S. might look like if it really were run by and for working people. Definitely in my top 5 podcasts!

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