#LaborDay: Michelle Eisen on Unionizing Starbucks

Alyssa Milano: Sorry Not Sorry

#Activism #Alyssa Milano #Entertainment #Activists #Politicians #News #Society #Peaceful Productivity #Politics #Citizen

6:43

In 1910, Dorothy Arnold—a wealthy, educated socialite from New York City—left her home for a shopping trip and never returned.

about a year ago 32:02

MP3•Episode home

For the Labor Day holiday, we're revisiting a critical bit of ongoing organizing happening in the United States.

One of the interesting side effects of the post-Covid economy has been a surge in the power and influence employees hold. Wages in service industry jobs have risen dramatically as employers struggle to find workers. However, there have also been increasing stories of worker exploitation, leading to a surge in new unionization efforts. To discuss all of it, we’ve invited Michelle Eisen onto the show. Michelle is a Starbucks Barista and organizing member of Starbucks Workers United.

341 episodes

#LaborDay: Michelle Eisen on Unionizing Starbucks

Alyssa Milano: Sorry Not Sorry

218 subscribers

published about a year ago

MP3•Episode home

For the Labor Day holiday, we're revisiting a critical bit of ongoing organizing happening in the United States.

341 episodes

#Activism #Alyssa Milano #Entertainment #Activists #Politicians #News #Society #Peaceful Productivity #Politics #Citizen

Kaikki jaksot

1
Gretchen Sisson on The Adoption Industry and the Privilege of Motherhood 53:59

14 hours ago53:59

53:59

It’s been nearly three years since the Dobbs decision, which the Supreme Court used to strip women of the right to control our own bodies. In that decision—and frequently presented across the ideological spectrum as an alternative to abortion—adoption has been at the forefront of the discussion. But is adoption as benevolent and empowering as it is presented to be? Our guest today argues that it is not—and she’s got compelling evidence to back that up. Dr. Gretchen Sisson is a researcher at Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. Her book Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly and much more acclaim.…

1
News Roundup May 2025 44:01

8 days ago44:01

44:01

Memorial Day is past us, and we’re barrelling into Summer. So much has been happening over the past month, and so much is going to happen in the near future. This week, Ben and I are going to round up some of the big stories in the news and think a bit about what they might mean for all of us.

1
Dreaming of Home with Author and Immigration Activist Cristina Jimenez 47:05

15 days ago47:05

47:05

Watching the news has been especially horrifying lately. We’re drowning in video of armed, masked ice agents charging into neighborhoods, refusing to identify themselves, snatching up our neighbors, and the next thing you know they’ve been deported to terrible prisons in other countries, deprived of due process, and at the mercy of a government that is refusing to follow orders of federal courts. Cristina Jimenez knows that fear, and also knows how to fight back. She is the co-founder of United We Dream, the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the country, and the author of the new book “Dreaming of Home."…

1
Nicole Graev Lipson, author of Mothers and Other Fictional Characters 52:57

22 days ago52:57

52:57

The archetype of “mother” is a weight many women carry-but it’s certainly not our whole story, or necessarily an accurate one. In fact, the stories we are told about women, the complexities of womanhood, are often shackles that serve to keep us bound to a society that claims to value us but holds us back in so many ways. Nicole Graev Lipson’s new memoir in essays Mothers and Other Fictional Characters captures the complexities of motherhood, of relationships, of womanhood–and defies expectations in so many ways. She joins us to discuss.…

1
Andre Perry on Black Power Scorecard 51:50

29 days ago51:50

51:50

The early part of this decade seemed like it might signify a realignment of the social and cultural power of Black Americans. But the realities of that power–and how it translates into meaningful justice and social change–are less clear, and perhaps less optimistic. Especially now in the second Trump era, where everything which does not perpetuate white power is treated as suspect and anti-American. To discuss the shifting dynamics and a path forward to meaningful change, we’ve asked Andre Perry onto the show. Andre is a senior fellow and director of the Center for Community Uplift at the Brookings Institution and a professor of practice of economics at Washington University in St. Louis. He is also nationally known and respected commentator on race, structural inequality, and education and the author of the new book “ Black Power Scorecard: Measuring the Racial Gap and What We Can Do to Close It. ”…

1
Edge of the World: Alden Jones on Queer Travel Writing 45:10

5 weeks ago45:10

45:10

The Trump regime built much of its identity–and certainly campaigned around–its hatred of LGBTQ Americans. Unfortunately, the success of that campaign again revealed just how much anti-queer bias there is in the American populace. And while there may be no populated nation in the world that is truly free of anti-queer bias, there are places that are better, are different, or that offer new perspectives. Alden Jones’ work explores queer travel. Alden is an assistant professor at Emerson College and the author of the memoirs The Blind Masseuse and The Wanting Was a Wilderness and the story collection Unaccompanied Minors. Best American Travel Writing and other venues. She edited the new anthology of queer travel writing “Edge of the World” and he is here to discuss that work and the queer travel experience.…

1
Laura Packard on the Health Nightmare of the Second Trump Regime 47:12

6 weeks ago47:12

47:12

It’s hard to overstate the danger the Trump regime is posing to Americans. This is especially true for Americans who rely on our healthcare system for chronic diseases or conditions. From cuts to research funding, building registries for people with autism, attacks on women’s access to healthcare, and so much more, it’s truly horrifying what is in store in this country. To help us unpack it, and maybe help find a way to act against it, we’ve asked Laura Packard, Founder of Voices of Health Care Action back onto the show.…

1
Alia Dastagir, Author of To Those Who Have Confused You to Be a Person 47:09

7 weeks ago47:09

47:09

There is a rapist presiding over the United States. That rapist has directed his government to gut federal efforts to protect women from violence of all sorts. Health and Human Services fired nearly all of its staff at the Division of Violence Prevention. The office on violence against women has removed all funding opportunities from its website and reports are coming in that all of the grants it issues are being cancelled. Online, platforms owned by Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg–billionaires who support Trump and his regime–own giant social media platforms rife with digital violence against women and seemingly no efforts at all to curtail it. It is a dangerous time to be a woman. This has always been true, but it is especially true in Trump’s America. Our guest for this episode is Alia Dastagir. Dastagir is an award-winning journalist and former reporter for USA Today who was one of eight U.S. recipients of the prestigious Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism. Her book on women and online abuse, “To Those Who Have Confused You to Be a Person: Words as Violence and Stories of Women’s Resistance Online,” is now available.…

1
Alyssa and Ben's News Roundup 47:51

8 weeks ago47:51

47:51

Most weeks, we bring a guest onto speak in depth on a single issue. But every once in a while, there’s so much going on that Alyssa and Ben take an episode to check in on...all of this nonsense. That’s what we’re doing this week. And we even start with some good news: It’s baseball season.

1
Gianna Toboni- The Volunteer 48:06

9 weeks ago48:06

48:06

The United States executes more people than nearly any other country. In fact, in 2023, the only countries with more reported executions were Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Iraq. Inside the United States, courts are trying to navigate the legality of execution and methods of execution, and the various states have different rules and customs of this barbaric practice. Gianna Toboni has faced some of the world’s most dangerous people: ISIS fighters, cartel hitmen, and sex traffickers. In her new book --- THE VOLUNTEER: The Failure of the Death Penalty in America and One Inmate’s Quest to Die with Dignity -- Gianna dives into her most intense year yet—covering the life of a death row inmate, all while uncovering the shocking, dirty truths about our criminal justice system. And it should be noted that this episode contains frank discussions of both capital punishment and suicidality.…

1
Writing as a Force for Good - Reporting from AWP25 35:54

10 weeks ago35:54

35:54

In late March, thousands of writers, publishers, students, and writing educators gathered in Los Angeles for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs annual conference. Since our own Ben Jackson is a writer and professor of composition, we thought it would be a great opportunity to hear how writing is changing the world for the better in a time when we desperately need to change the world for the better.…

1
Todd Wolfson of the American Association of University Professors 45:25

11 weeks ago45:25

45:25

In the two months since the Trump regime took power, it has worked feverishly to dismantle the higher educational apparatus in the United States. Grant money funding research in the billions of dollars has been stopped or held to use as leverage against researchers and institutions. At the same time, Trump and his cronies are working to suppress free speech on campuses, deporting faculty and graduate students who do not share the administration’s views on the Israel-Gaza conflict. The effects of these actions are terrifying. To discuss, we’ve invited Todd Wolfson, President of the American Association of University Professors and an Associate Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at Rutgers University.…

1
Jesse Baum on the 1-800-MEDICARE workers fighting to unionize 42:03

12 weeks ago42:03

42:03

Right now, our government is making dramatic slashes to the federal workforce. Tens of thousands have already lost their jobs, and healthcare benefits are definitely on the chopping block. At the same time, the Trump regime is perhaps the most anti-union administration in our history, working to lessen the power of workers. In her recent article for Capital and Main, Jesse Baum tells the story of The Southern Women Handling 1-800-MEDICARE Calls and their demands for a Union. She’s with us to discuss.…

1
Sarah Jones, Author of "Disposable: America's Contempt for the Underclass" 36:21

13 weeks ago36:21

36:21

Donald Trump won a second term in part because of a disingenuous populist message that was intended to harness the anger of poor Americans at a system that does not serve them. Their anger is righteous–and while Trump is certainly not doing anything that will change this, his presidency is at least in part a symptom of our national contempt for the poor. Sarah Jones’ new book “Disposable: America’s Contempt for the Underclass” digs into this problem, and we’ve invited her here to discuss it further.…

1
Kris Brown of Brady on the State of Gun Violence in the New America 48:09

14 weeks ago48:09