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.

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.