The saying goes that laughter is the best medicine. But it can be a powerful driver for social change. Our guest this week is Steve Hofstetter. Steve’s a comedian, a Nobel Prize nominee, and a philanthropist who’s been making people laugh and think for a long time.

There is perhaps no industry which intersects more completely with immigration, labor, and health and safety than meat packing. In her new book “The Life and Death of the American Worker” Alice Driver takes the industry head on through the stories of Tyson Food employees in Arkansas, and she’s joined us to discuss.

As the American right becomes more and more authoritarian, it is attempting to rewrite history. From its claims that the United States isn’t a democracy to its attempts to remove books from libraries and rewrite curricula, the reshaping of the past risks our future. In light of this evolving reality, bestselling author Jason Stanley joins us to discuss his new book Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future.

For the Labor Day holiday, we're revisiting a critical bit of ongoing organizing happening in the United States.

One of the interesting side effects of the post-Covid economy has been a surge in the power and influence employees hold. Wages in service industry jobs have risen dramatically as employers struggle to find workers. However, there have also been increasing stories of worker exploitation, leading to a surge in new unionization efforts. To discuss all of it, we’ve invited Michelle Eisen onto the show. Michelle is a Starbucks Barista and organizing member of Starbucks Workers United.

The traditional way of influencing a foreign nation’s policy is through diplomacy. But, as recent headlines have shown us, that’s certainly not the only way. Foreign lobbyists are working to shape our policies globally, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Casey Michel’s new book Foreign Agents: How American Lobbyists and Lawmakers Threaten Democracy Around the World examines this dark underside of international relations.

The voting rights act of 1965 restored voting power to people of color across the United States. Of course, the American right couldn’t have that, and it begane a 50-year fight to overturn it. In his new book “Undemocratic,” David Daley, bestselling author of “Ratfucked,” takes us inside that fight and its consequences.

Read Roxane's essay here: https://try.everand.com/roxanegay/

In early July, Russia’s illegal and immoral bombardment of  Okhmatdyt children’s hospital in Kyiv forced doctors, nurses, and hospital administrators to work to save the lives of hospitalized children while scrambling to stay alive themselves. In this episode, we’ll hear from several of those workers who will share their stories of trying to help children overcome disease and injury in a war zone. We’ll also hear from Helen Kovalska, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, who will talk about United 24 and their critical mission in that country.