Labor Heritage Power Hour

This week's show: Why live theater still matters: we talk with Shanara Gabrielle, who’s directing the Theatre Alliance production of The Cradle Will Rock; labor historian Dana Frank takes a new look at working-class activism during the 1930s from the perspective of our own time, in What Can We Learn From the Great Depression? Stories of Ordinary People and Collective Action in Hard Times. She’ll talk with Bill Fletcher Jr. on Oct. 8 at the K Street Busboys and Poets.

George Mann and Si Kahn’s new Labor Day CD features 21 songs by Si, a legendary songwriter who celebrated his 80th birthday this year. A tribute to workers and their unions, the CD showcases performances by both Kahn and Mann, as well as contributions from renowned folk artists such as Peggy Seeger, Billy Bragg, John McCutcheon and Tom Chapin. Today’s interview with Si and George originally appeared on the Heartland Labor Forum -- which airs weekly on KKFI 90.1FM Kansas City Community Radio – and includes songs from the new CD.

This week's show: Children’s book author J. Albert Mann, author of “Shift Happens: The History of Labor in the United States”; “Clean Up on Aisle 4” host Jamie Mack, with They/Them; “Therapy” from poet Chris Butters; the R.J. Phillips Band celebrates immigrant workers with “Piece of the Pie”: Chris says Netflix hit “The Union” is a miss; Booker T. Washington and the “Atlanta Compromise Speech” on Labor History in 2:00; plus the DC Labor Chorus live from the Takoma Park Folk Fest!

This week's show: Family Values @ Work’s Jennifer Morales on Caring Out Loud, storytelling that illuminates the often-overlooked work of caregiving; Lorna Gonsalves on Little Meena and the Big Swim, which teaches children that when many little people stand together, they can move mountains. 

This week's show: Chris and Elise play songs submitted in our Labor Heritage Power Hour Theme Song Contest; which will be the winner?

Broadcast on Sept. 5 on WPFW 89.3FM in Washington, DC. (Replay from 9/2 Labor Day show)

Hosted by Chris Garlock and Elise Bryant; produced by Chris Garlock; engineered by Mike Nasella & Kahlia Chapman.

The Labor Heritage Power Hour is a member of the Labor Radio Podcast Network.

Labor Day Special: Longtime labor activist Kurt Stand, with an excerpt from his essay Peekskill, 1949: What Was Lost, What Remained, What It Means Today, plus music from Paul Robeson, Woody Guthrie, Sweet Honey in the Rock and more.

This week's show: Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin on why he loves Tom Morello’s Union Town; a radio version of the new "Saga of KOIN-TV Workers vs The Empire" graphic cartoon; 9 to 5 cofounder Karen Nussbaum’s Unions Songs for Kids playlist; and CWA’s Debbie Goldman on her new book, “Disconnected: Call Center Workers Fight for Good Jobs in the Digital Age”.

This week's show: Blood in the Streets, photographer Chuck Avery’s illustrated history of American labor struggles, Kurt Stand shares an excerpt from his essay, Peekskill, 1949: What Was Lost, What Remained, What It Means Today, and MacGyver shares some of her favorite labor songs.

This week's show: Labor historian Peter Rachleff on how a Midwest strike helped shape national labor law plus a preview of his talk on the 1886 takeover of the Richmond (VA) City Council by black and white union activists.  

Producer MacGyver Williams’ audio postcard from The Fruit of Labor’s 40th anniversary celebration at the Fruit of Labor World Cultural Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.