CTU Speaks!; Educating from the Heart; America‘s Workforce Radio; AFT in Action; On The Job; Grit NW; Labor Express Radio; Heartland Labor Forum; The Director‘s Cut

On this week’s show, school is back in session and, most importantly, in-person. Andrea and Jim from CTU Speaks interview the Chicago Teachers Union’s President Jesse Sharkey and Vice President Stacy Davis Gates on how they are feeling about the return of students to school as both CTU union members and CPS parents.

From The Florida Education Association’s Educating from the Heart podcast we hear from Elizabeth Rasmussen, a high-school history teacher of fourteen years. She touches on how the pandemic and political climate has changed the way she thinks about teaching and her own pedagogy. 

In union news on  America’s Workforce Radio, UAW Local 2110 President Maida Rosenstein talks about her work with unionizing museums and other cultural institutions within the context of the pandemic. 

Another exemplary union leader from the latest AFT in Action, is Leah Ralls. Currently, she serves as president of the Windham NAACP, but in this interview, Leah recounts her efforts to organize her community against the closure of the Hartford Healthcare’s maternity ward last year.

Showcasing one of our newer shows is On the Job from Australia. On this episode hosts Francis and Sally, with journalist Kristine Ziwica examine the phenomenon of how when a job that has historically been worked by women shifts to be dominated by men, pay tends to go up and vice versa. Welcome guys from down under!

We then will take a quick break to hear a short promo on the Grit NW’s paintball battle line up. Next, Labor Express Radio where Jerry chats with another Labor Radio Podcast Network host, Avery Bernard from The Amazon. They touch briefly on Avery’s experience with Amazon and how to handle its influence on the labor movement in the future.

From the Archives of the Heartland Labor Forum, is an interview with the actor Ed Asner, most noted for his role as Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, died earlier this week. In this archived episode from 2013, he talks to Judy Ancel about the real reason Lou Grant got cancelled and his connection to the labor movement in the US and Latin America. 

Finally, director Tom McCarthy is featured on the Director’s Cut. His new film, Stillwater, stars Matt Damon as an oil-rigger from Oklahoma who travels to Marseille, France to help exonerate his daughter who is accused of killing her roommate. On the podcast McCarhty discusses how he tried to authentically capture a working class experience in the movie. 

Highlights from labor radio and podcast shows around the country, part of the national Labor Radio Podcast Network of shows focusing on working people’s issues and concerns.

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Edited by Patrick Dixon and Melanie Smith; produced by Chris Garlock; social media guru: Harold Phillips with Mel Smith.