Working Life Podcast

Episode 60: It's been 13 years since Ray Gonzalez was killed in an explosion at a British Petroleum facility in Texas. Jonathan has a searing conversation with his daughter, Katherine, who keeps his memory alive by campaigning for safety and health in the workplace. Out in California, Colonel Doug Applegate is taking another shot at unseating the odious Darrell Issa in the 49th Congressional District—Jonathan has a chat with Doug as he campaigns in a key 2018 race, and promotes a progressive platform that includes raising the federal minimum wage to $15-an-hour, opposition to the TPP and support for single-payer health care. Our Robber Baron of the week is the CEO of Aetna.

Episode 59: Don Blankenship, the coal CEO robber baron, served a year in prison for his central role in a conspiracy that killed 29 miners in a massive 2010 mine explosion. Because workers' lives don't matter in our legal system, Blankenship could only be convicted of a misdemeanor violation, not manslaughter or murder. But, hey, when a party is willing to crown a pedophile, what's a few miners' deaths to stand in the way: Blankenship is running for the Republican nomination for US Senate in West Virginia. Jonathan has the low-down on how the miners died. Jonathan is, then, joined by Marianela Acuna Arreaza, executive director of Fe y Justicia Worker Center, to dig into the threat to the health of day laborers cleaning up after Hurricane Harvey. Jonathan wraps up with Mara Ortenburger of Worksafe who gives us insight into worker injuries at Tesla. Our Robber Baron is, yup, Don Blankenship.

Episode 58: Women are leading the way in the political revolution. Jonathan talks with three fantastic women candidates: two who are running for seats in the state Senates in Oregon and New York, and one who is vying to become the chair of the Florida Democratic state party. Jonathan rolls out five tidbits on truths about the Republican tax plan robbery—truths you can use to debate just about anyone to expose the tax bill fraud. Jonathan also chats with Karl Frisch of Allied Progress about the brazen move by a recent shill for a pay-day lending scammer to help Trump seize control over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau—and, then, effectively destroy it.

Episode 57: Leading off, Jonathan has a thought about how we should think about the estate tax—billionaires owe us that dough! Keeping up the podcast's regular reporting on real people running for office, longtime union organizer and first-time candidate Tanya Boone stops by to talk with Jonathan about her race for a Congressional seat in New York. And if you want to re-imagine what the Post Office can do for people, you will love Jonathan's chat with Mark Dimondstein, the president of the American Postal Workers Union. Our Robber Baron of the week is Ajit Pai, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, who is about to engage in a big-time scamming of the people.

Episode 56: No one would suggest unions have outsized predators like Harvey Weinstein. But, sexual harassment, driven by an entrenched male culture and power structure, has been a long-time problem inside labor. And, now, in dribs and drabs, people are speaking up. Jonathan talks about it with labor activist and former AFL-CIO official Ana Avendano. And you want to talk about real robbery? How about the $2.6 trillion corporations hide overseas to avoid paying taxes? That money is part of the debate over tax changes—so Jonathan welcomes back tax guru Matt Gardner. Our Robber Baron of the week is Alex Gorsky, the CEO of Johnson & Johnson which has $66 billion stashed overseas.

Episode 55: Sure, there were shenanigans in the 2016 Democratic primary. But, we need to understand what is tough politics versus what is rotten in the system. Jonathan unwinds this a bit in an Election Rigging 101 (and, hey, nice election results last night). Jonathan also digs into the battle for labor rights in South Korea with two women leaders, Kristyne Peter and Mi-Kyung Ryu. Our Robber Baron of the week is Nike CEO Mark Parker.

Episode 54: Just about every piece of clothing you put on is made with blood, sweat and tears of exploited labor. Jonathan revisits the April 2013 murder of 1,138 garment workers in Bangladesh with his two guests, two women global labor leaders: Christy Hoffman, the deputy secretary of the 20-million member UNI and Nazma Akter, who began working in a garment factory when she was 11 years old. We hear from Bernie Sanders who continues to bring the message of the political revolution to every corner of the country. Our Robber Barons of the week are a pair of Johns from greedy Big Pharma.

Episode 53: We start this week's podcast by remembering Paul Wellstone, the progressive firebrand who died exactly 15 years ago in a small plane crash while campaigning for re-election. Jonathan, then, brings us the voice of Bruce Franks, a powerful leader of the Black Lives Matter movement in St. Louis and across the nation. Jonathan also sits down with Peter Mutasa, the president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, who tells us the story of the struggle in Zimbabwe of workers fighting a brutal dictator. Our Robber Baron of the week is Wall Street financier Steven Rattner who, on behalf of the ruling elites in the Democratic Party, has launched an attack on single-payer, Medicare for All.

Episode 52: We've got great stuff on tap for our one-year anniversary episode. Jonathan starts off by asking members of the Democratic National Committee "What are you thinking?" with a bizarre loyalty resolution aimed at Bernie Sanders. Then, he focuses our attention on the right answer to economic growth—raising wages, not cutting taxes. From there, Jonathan checks in with trade warrior Lori Wallach for a look at the inside fight—the wild lies and the truth—over a possible new framework for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Newly elected progressive New York Assemblyperson Christine Pellegrino talks about her amazing win in a Republican Trump-supporting district and what it's like to be in public office—and she gives tips for progressives looking to run. And we close, as usual, with our Robber Baron of the week: Chinese billionaire Cao Dewang.

Episode 51: That guy in the Oval Office can't stop making up fibs. Yesterday, he repeated a lie: "We're the highest taxed nation in the world". Not even close. Which inspired Jonathan to look at lies about the economy. Thea Lee, the incoming president of the Economic Policy Institute, stops by to talk the truth about trade, taxes and health care. Jonathan, then, chats with Mark Weisbrot, the co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, about the truth about which country accounted for 75 percent of the people who rose out of deep poverty over the last 25 years…you might be surprised by the answer. Back to capture the crown of Robber Baron of the week once again is the CEO of Wells Fargo, Tim Sloan, who rakes in millions while he oversees the shipping of call center jobs overseas to low-wage countries.