Working Class History

This is a teaser preview of one of our Fireside Chat episodes, made exclusively for our supporters on Patreon. You can listen to the full 104-minute episode without ads and support our work at https://www.patreon.com/posts/e105-fireside-in-127749416 In this episode, we spoke to one of our hosts, John, about his experiences organising at work in the public sector, first as an agency worker, then a permanent employee, and as a member and representative of Unison, the UK’s largest public sector union. In the full episode, we go into detail about some small local disputes and victories, and how these connected with the dynamics of large, national disputes – in particular, the public sector pensions dispute of 2011. We also talk about the relationship between union officialdom and struggles on the shopfloor.While these experiences are specific to John, we do think many of the dynamics are pretty common, with similarities with many workplaces – especially office-based ones.Our podcast is brought to you by our Patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistoryAcknowledgementsThanks to our Patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Fernando López Ojeda and Old Norm.Edited by Jesse FrenchOur theme tune is Montaigne’s version of the classic labour movement anthem, ‘Bread and Roses’, performed by Montaigne and Nick Harriott, and mixed by Wave Racer. Download the song here, with all proceeds going to Medical Aid for Palestinians. More from Montaigne: website, Instagram, YouTube.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-history--5711490/support.

Second of a double podcast about the Golden Age of Piracy, with historian Marcus Rediker. Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistoryPart 2 covers the extent of piracy, how pirates organise themselves, how colonial powers fought them, the decline of pirates, and their legacy today.More information, and eventually a transcript on the webpage for this episode here: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e103-pirates/Get Marcus's Books:Marcus Rediker, Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden AgeMarcus Rediker and David Lester, Under the Banner of King Death: Pirates of the Atlantic, a Graphic NovelAcknowledgementsThanks to our Patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Jamison D. Saltsman, Fernando López Ojeda, Nick Williams and Old Norm.Written by Audrey Kemp and Tyler HillProduced by Tyler HillEpisode graphic: Contemporary illustration of the execution of two pirates. Courtesy Wikimedia CommonsOur theme tune is Bella Ciao, thanks for permission to use it from Dischi del Sole. You can purchase it here or stream it here.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-history--5711490/support.

First in a double podcast about the Golden Age of Piracy, with historian Marcus Rediker. The legendary pirates of this era weren’t just thieves—they were daring rebels challenging the very systems of power and authority of their time. Fighting every colonial empire, and creating their own ways of living free from authority, pirates became symbols of liberty and resistance to working-class and poor people everywhere.  Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistoryPart 1 covers the historical and economic background, the different eras of piracy in the golden age, about life at sea, how people became pirates.Our patreon supporters can listen to part 2 now early, covering the extent of piracy, how pirates organise themselves, how colonial powers fought them, the decline of pirates, and their legacy today: available here for early listening for our patreon supporters.More information, and eventually a transcript on the webpage for this episode here: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e103-pirates/Get Marcus's Books:Marcus Rediker, Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden AgeMarcus Rediker and David Lester, Under the Banner of King Death: Pirates of the Atlantic, a Graphic NovelAcknowledgementsThanks to our Patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Jamison D. Saltsman, Fernando López Ojeda, Nick Williams and Old Norm.Written by Audrey Kemp and Tyler HillProduced by Tyler HillEpisode graphic: Painting depicting the capture of Blackbeard, by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, 1920. Courtesy Wikimedia CommonsOur theme tune is Bella Ciao, thanks for permission to use it from Dischi del Sole. You can purchase it here or stream it here.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-history--5711490/support.

This is a teaser preview of one of our Fireside Chat episodes, made exclusively for our supporters on Patreon. You can listen to the full 65-minute episode without ads and support our work at https://www.patreon.com/posts/e102-fireside-124623473The date this episode aired, March 19, Luigi Mangione was scheduled to have his first court hearing on federal death penalty charges, accused of assassinating healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.So we sat down for a Fireside Chat about the case, about the US healthcare system, about Mangione and his past, about media and public reactions to the killing, and about historical parallels and differences with past assassinations.Our podcast is brought to you by our Patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistoryAcknowledgementsThanks to our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Jamison D. Saltsman, Fernando López Ojeda, and Old Norm.Edited by Jesse FrenchOur theme tune is Montaigne’s version of the classic labour movement anthem, ‘Bread and Roses’, performed by Montaigne and Nick Harriott, and mixed by Wave Racer. Download the song here, with all proceeds going to Medical Aid for Palestinians. More from Montaigne: website, Instagram, YouTube.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-history--5711490/support.

Part 2 of our double-episode about the Working-Class Literature Festival held every year in Florence, at the former GKN car parts factory, which was taken over by the workers after they were made redundant in 2021.We're joined again by working-class author and one of the main organisers of the festival, Alberto Prunetti, and former GKN worker, Dario Salvetti. We also talk to another two working-class writers who have participated in the festival: Claudia Durastanti, who helps organise the festivals, and Anthony Cartwright, who has attended the last two.In this episode, we discuss what went on at the last two festivals and what made them different from conventional literary events: from the attendees and various events and presentations to the participation of GKN workers not just in logistics but in readings and performances. We also discuss the possibilities for the future of the festival - and for the GKN struggle itself.Full show notes including further reading, photos, a documentary about the GKN struggle, and a full transcript are available on our website: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/wcl10-11-florence-working-class-literature-festival/AcknowledgementsMany thanks also to Alberto Prunetti and Edizioni Alegre for giving us permission to reproduce photos from previous years' festivalsThanks to all our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jamison D. Saltsman, Jazz Hands, Fernando Lopez Ojeda and Jeremy CusimanoOur theme tune for these episodes is ‘Occupiamola’ (or ‘Let’s Occupy It’) as sung on a GKN workers’ demonstration in 2024. Many thanks to Reel News London for letting us use their recording. Watch the documentary it's taken from hereThis episode was edited by Tyler HillBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-history--5711490/support.

First of a double-episode podcast about the Working-Class Literature Festival held every year in Florence, at the former GKN car parts factory, which was taken over by the workers after they were made redundant in 2021.In this episode, we talk to working-class author and one of the main organisers of the festival, Alberto Prunetti, as well as former GKN workers Dario Salvetti and Tiziana De Biasio. We discuss the history of the struggle at GKN from the redundancies to the workers' takeover and 'permanent union assembly' at the factory.We also dive into how the idea for the Working-Class Literature Festival at the factory began, and how the first two events were organised (despite repeated attempts at sabotage).Full show notes including further reading, photos, a documentary about the GKN struggle, and a full transcript are available on our website: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/wcl10-11-florence-working-class-literature-festival/AcknowledgementsMany thanks to Antonella Bundu for doing the voiceover for Tiziana's audioMany thanks also to Alberto Prunetti and Edizioni Alegre for giving us permission to reproduce photos from previous years' festivalsThanks to all our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jamison D. Saltsman, Jazz Hands, Fernando Lopez Ojeda and Jeremy CusimanoOur theme tune for these episodes is ‘Occupiamola’ (or ‘Let’s Occupy It’) as sung on a GKN workers’ demonstration in 2024. Many thanks to Reel News London for letting us use their recording. Watch the documentary it's taken from hereThis episode was edited by Tyler HillBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-history--5711490/support.

This is a teaser preview of one of our Radical Reads episodes, made exclusively for our supporters on patreon. You can listen to the full 87-minute episode without ads and support our work at https://www.patreon.com/posts/e101-radical-and-120598405In this episode, we speak to Alex Charnley and Michael Richmond about their excellent book, Fractured: Race, Class, Gender and the Hatred of Identity Politics. The book pushes back against the idea of 'identity politics' as a vaguely defined and universal bogeyman for both left and right-wing politics.Instead, they show how 'identity' is not just a ‘subjective’ idea in people’s heads, but the result of real, material ways the working class is structured according to race, gender, nationality etc by the various divisions of labour, immigration laws, etc. And, as we discuss in the episode, what often gets called ‘identity politics’ is actually an attempt to think through how class functions, and is acted upon, in the reality through which it’s lived.Listen to the full episode here:E101: Radical Reads – ‘Fractured: Race, Class, Gender and the Hatred of Identity Politics’More information:Buy Fractured: Race, Class, Gender and the Hatred of Identity Politics from an independent bookshop'Aliens at the Border' – a lightly edited version of Chapter Four from Fractured, looking at Jewish immigration to Britain from Eastern Europe in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century'Fascism and the Women's Cause: Gender Critical Feminism, Suffragettes and the Women's KKK' – piece by Alex and Michael looking at the link between contemporary transphobic feminists and the far-right by placing it against reactionary elements within the women's suffrage movement, and trajectories which led some into the Ku Klux Klan and British Union of FascistsListen to an earlier Radical Reads episode with Michael, discussing David Baddiel's hilariously terrible book, Jews Don't CountBooks and merch related to Black history and struggleBooks and merch related to women's history and struggleBooks and merch related to LGBTQ history and struggleWebpage for the episode is available here: https://workingclasshistory.com/blog/e101-radical-reads-fractured-race-class-gender-and-the-hatred-of-identity-politics/AcknowledgementsThanks to our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Jamison D. Saltsman, Fernando López Ojeda, Jeremy Cusimano, and Nick Williams.The episode image of a London Black Lives Matter protest, 2020. Credit: Katie Crampton, Wikimedia UK (with additional design by WCH). CC BY-SA 4.0.Edited by Louise BarryOur theme tune is Montaigne’s version of the classic labour movement anthem, ‘Bread and Roses’, performed by Montaigne and Nick Harriott, and mixed by Wave Racer. Download the song here, with all proceeds going to Medical Aid for Palestinians. More from Montaigne: website, Instagram, YouTubeBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-history--5711490/support.

With the background of the Vietnam war, rising prices and stagnant wages, workers in the US began to ignore calls to support the war effort and keep working, and instead launch a wave of wildcat strikes in key industries, while women homeworkers fought for lower prices. We tell the story of these struggles in this double podcast episode.Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistoryThis is an improved, re-edited version of our original episode 8. In conversation with Jeremy Brecher, author of the excellent book, Strike!, we learn about the support for the war from union officials, the responses from the rank-and-file, and lessons we can learn from them today.In part 2, we look at strikes by postal workers, Teamsters, hospital workers and auto workers, and protests by women homeworkers More information, sources, and eventually a transcript on the webpage for this episode: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e99-vietnam-war-strike-wave/AcknowledgementsThanks to our Patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Jamison D. Saltsman, Fernando López Ojeda, Jeremy Cusimano, Nick Williams and Old Norm.Edited by Jesse French, with original editing by Emma Courtland.Episode graphic: Postal workers on wildcat strike, 1970. Courtesy APWUcommunications/Wikimedia Commons CC SA 3.0Our theme tune is Bella Ciao, thanks for permission to use it from Dischi del Sole. You can purchase it here or stream it here.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-history--5711490/support.

Jeremy Brecher, author of "Strike!", dives into the tumultuous labor landscape of the 1960s against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. He discusses how rising prices and stagnant wages fueled a wave of wildcat strikes, with workers prioritizing their needs over war support. Highlighting the Memphis sanitation workers’ strike, he illuminates the intersection of labor and civil rights. Brecher also examines the early labor movement’s initial support for the war and the ensuing grassroots resistance, setting the stage for significant changes in worker activism.

This is a teaser preview of one of our Radical Reads episodes, made exclusively for our supporters on patreon. You can listen to the full 85-minute episode without ads and support our work at https://www.patreon.com/posts/e97-radical-10-116392240In this episode, we talk to Michael Richmond, a Jewish communist author and anti-racist activist, about David Baddiel's ridiculous book, Jews Don't Count. In this book, Baddiel claims that the key thing about contemporary antisemitism is the left's confusion over it, and how this confusion means that Jews are uniquely excluded from left-wing political discourse and activism.We discuss (and make fun of) Baddiel's book for about an hour and a half covering every aspect of his shallow understanding of racism, whiteness, Jewishness and antisemitism, and why Baddiel should probably get new friends.Listen to the full episode here:E98: Radical Reads – ‘Jews Don’t Count’ by David BaddielMore information:Read Michael's excellent book (co-authored with Alex Charnley), Fractured: Race, Class, Gender and the Hatred of Identity PoliticsA number of Michael's articles can be found here and here. Some which are particularly relevant to this discussion are:'Philosemitism: An Instrumental Kind of Love''On "Black Antisemitism" and Antiracist Solidarity''A long way from Cable Street''Playing the Jew'Timeline of people's history stories about radical Jewish historyThe webpage for this episode is available here: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e98-radical-reads-jews-dont-count-by-david-baddiel/AcknowledgementsThanks to our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Jamison D. Saltsman, Fernando López Ojeda, Jeremy Cusimano, and Nick Williams.The episode image of David Baddiel at Soho Theatre, 2020. Credit: Raph PH (with additional design by WCH). CC 2.0.Edited by Jesse FrenchOur theme tune is Montaigne’s version of the classic labour movement anthem, ‘Bread and Roses’, performed by Montaigne and Nick Harriott, and mixed by Wave Racer. Download the song here, with all proceeds going to Medical Aid for Palestinians. More from Montaigne: website, Instagram, YouTube.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-history--5711490/support.