Working Life Podcast

Episode 50: If Danielle Martin tells you that single-payer is more popular in Canada than ice hockey and the Royal Mounted Police, trust us, it's worth believing this doctor from the North—Bernie Sanders does, inviting her to stand with him when he recently unveiled his single-payer, "Medicare for All" plan. Martin is a clear, smart advocate for single-payer health care and she joins Jonathan for an in-depth conversation that answers everything you ever will be asked, and wanted to know, about how the Canadian system works—including how it needs to be made better even as it is undeniably better, by far, than the bankruptcy-causing, sickness-encouraging system in the U.S. Our Robber Baron of the week is Tom Rutledge, the CEO of Charter/Spectrum.

Episode 49: Today, 152 million children—children—are in forced labor around the world, along with 40 million people who are simply slaves. Don’t turn your head away! Because we need to know about this—and understand the movement afoot to end this moral stain on the planet. After participating in a United Nations summit, Jonathan speaks to two leading global advocates who are combating modern slavery. What you will hear is stunning, sad and, also, spirit-moving. We can make a difference.

Episode 48: It's just a smidgen but every time you get a chance to hear about the shake-ups needed in our beloved labor movement, it's worth saying "yeah, baby". And, sisters and brothers, we have a double-barreled shot for you today. Jonathan chats first with MaryBe McMillan, the new president of the North Carolina AFL-CIO, about organizing in the south. And, then, a special guest who gives almost no interviews to media, friendly or not, comes by: Richard Bensinger, the founder of the Organizing Institute and long-time labor organizer, chats about what works and doesn't in union organizing, the brutality of companies in organizing campaigns and how to make sure companies pay a price when they break the law. Our Robber Baron of the week is the CEO of Equifax.

Episode 47: It's not going to happen tomorrow or even next year. But, the day when insurance companies are no longer bankrupting people every single day because of outrageous premiums is drawing closer. Today, Bernie Sanders will unveil a "Medicare For All" bill that rockets the conversation about universal health care to a new level. And he won't be standing alone: more than a dozen Democratic Senators have endorsed the bill, with the pressure building on others to do the same. Jonathan talks with a policy expert who has been on the front lines of the single-payer, "Medicare for All" battle going back to the 1990s when Rep. John Conyers laid down a comprehensive proposal that now has 117 cosponsors in the House. We also talk to a minister who is pushing single-payer at the grassroots in North Carolina. Our Robber Baron of the week is the price-gouging airline industry.

Episode 46: No surprise. The traditional media will never tell people about the multi-billion dollar anti-union industry which corporations use to intimidate any workers who try to organize a union. So, Jonathan explores the anti-union industry in several segments of this week's podcast. We look at the steps Donald Trump is about to take to let these assassins of worker rights go deeper into the shadows. The Robber Baron of the week, appropriately is Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta. Bonus: check out Jonathan's CNN.com op-ed on the topic!

Remember the election for the Democratic California state party chair? It has stayed sleazy. Jonathan circles back with progressive chair candidate Kimberly Ellis to hear the latest—sexism, racism and just plain bully tactics are still the order of the day. Then, just two weeks after Jonathan talked about a big-time corporate fleecing of taxpayers in Wisconsin, it's happening again—in Iowa. The culprit: Apple. Yup, Jonathan shows the seamy side of lovable Apple, which, despite its billions of dollars stashed overseas, is holding up the people of Iowa for corporate ransom. And, in that vein, Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple gets a second crown of Robber Baron of the week.

Episode 44: Having chicken tonight? Go right ahead, but pause for a few minutes to listen to Jonathan's look at the brutal working conditions faced by poultry plant workers—and the entirely insane idea being pushed by industry lobbyists to make those birds whizz by even faster on the factory assembly line. Jonathan, then, takes us half way around the world to chat with youth union organizer Jane Njoki about the monumental challenge of finding decent work for the hundreds of millions of unemployed and underemployed young people. Appropriately, our Robber Baron of the week comes from the poultry processor world: Pilgrim CEO William W. Lovette who runs a company that has sky-high injury rates for workers.

Episode 43: Here's how the elites reach deep into your pocket to rob you. By now, we know how fraud is a business model for Wall Street and other elites. But, it's legalized fraud that hurts us most—rip-offs that are perfectly legal in today's system. Jonathan devotes the entire podcast this week to the big-time scam that is at the heart of the multi-billion FoxConn deal unveiled recently. And, for the first time in the podcast's history (woohoo!), our Robber Baron of the week is a repeat from last week: Terry Gou, FoxConn's billionaire owner.

Episode 42: Sometimes, you have to wonder: are Democratic Party leaders dumb or just ideologically bankrupt? Jonathan talks to a leading abortion rights advocate, Vicki Saporta, about the foolish suggestion floated by some Democratic leaders that the party would not have a litmus test--and, thus, support with money and resources--candidates who are not pro-choice. How stupid is that since womens' reproductive rights are central to the party's platform, not to mention a human right that animates many voters? And speaking of litmus tests, maybe the next step under consideration is to give a pass to Democrats willing to support the massive Republican tax cuts for the rich about to be unveiled any day—and Jonathan digs into key aspects of that future robbery with tax expert Matt Gardner. Our Robber Baron of the week is Terry Gou, the billionaire owner of Foxconn.

Episode 41: Start by being inspired by Billy Bragg's "There Is Power In The Union". Then, listen to Jonathan talk to a Nissan worker who is at the center of a critical campaign to win a union at Nissan's plant in Canton, Mississippi—a two-day vote that will start tomorrow (and we will update the result for our listeners in next week's podcast!). Jonathan, then, marks this week's Black Women’s Equal Pay Day by talking with economist Janelle Jones about the blatant racism black women face in wages. Our Robber Baron of the week is Olivier Brandicourt, the CEO of French drug giant Sanofi, who is happy to pocket U.S. taxpayer-funded research money but won't commit to a fair drug price for a Zika virus vaccine—but, as you will learn, Bernie Sanders isn't sitting by quietly and accepting that scam.