Working People: A podcast by, for, and about the working class today (now in partnership with In These Times magazine and The Real News Network). Working People is a podcast about working-class lives in 21st-century America. In every episode, you'll hear interviews with workers from around the country, from all walks of life. We'll talk about their life stories, their jobs, politics, and families, their joys and hopes and frustrations. Overall, Working People aims to share and celebrate the diverse stories of working-class people, to remind ourselves that our stories matter, and to build a sense of shared struggle and solidarity between workers around the country.
http://workingpeople.libsyn.com/website
episode 10: John Buckley
In this episode, we talk to John Buckley, a lecturer in the English Department at the University of Michigan. John is a member of the lecturer’s union at U of M, the Lecturers’ Employee Organization (LEO), and was on the bargaining team throughout the effort to negotiate a better contract with the University in 2017/18. We talk about the precarious situation of so many academic workers and what it tells us about the state of higher education today. We also talk about John’s family history and about growing up in Michigan always feeling, as he puts it, “on the bubble.” We talk about our religious upbringings and we talk about being a theater geek and almost joining the military. We also talk about the winding road that took him to the West coast, teaching in different kinds of schools and programs, and that eventually led him back to his alma mater in Michigan.
Additional links/info below...
- University of Michigan Lecturers’ Union website
- Phil Christman, Inside Higher Ed, “A Season of Strikes”
- Heather Ann Thompson, Detroit Free Press, “A Sad State of Affairs for Lecturers at the University of Michigan”
- Grace Kay, Michigan Daily, “LEO Members Ratify New Contract after Months of Bargaining”
Working People goes to Harvard…
- Sound Education conference website (https://www.soundeducation.fm/)
- Ministry of Ideas podcast (https://www.ministryofideas.org/)
Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)
- Lobo Loco, "Malte Junior - Hall"
The Prefab Messiahs, “College Radio” - Snake Oil Salesmen, “Sierra Nevada Torpedo”
- The Mint Chicks, “Life Will Get Better Someday”