Turns out the CIA has trained gremlins and is trying to disrupt our podcast by breaking John's audio setup but we soldiered on with a tin can on some string. After a few quick congratulations, we discuss the University of Michigan's choice to sacrifice its academic integrity to try and break a strike. We also follow up with developments in the fight back by the South Korean working class against the far right Yoon government. Starbucks has extended its war on its workers to the entire town of Ithaca, prompting protests. UAW workers at the largest car battery manufacturer in the country have gone on strike in Ohio. Workers in Minnesota have used organized pressure to prompt some good legal reforms in recent weeks such as a ban on captive audience meetings. Dancers at Star Garden Topless Dive Bar in LA became the only state recognized union strippers this week, potentially opening the door for another organizing wave. Finally, a huge win in the South where 1400 workers manufacturing school buses at Blue Bird have voted to join the Steelworkers.

Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX 

Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

Ep 158 - Starbucks vs Ithaca

Welcome to the Secret Pittsburgh podcast! During the Fall 2023 semester, Dr. Elise Ryan’s course traveled across Pittsburgh to uncover stories of Pittsburgh’s places and people. Over the course of ten episodes, we explore the buried streams of Pittsburgh and the public art they inspire; Carrie Blast Furnaces' industrial past and creative present; August Wilson’s childhood home and the Pittsburgh neighborhood that inspired him; Rodef Shalom’s role in the development of Reformed Judaism in the US and the synagogue’s partnership with the Violins of Hope exhibit; and Quantum Theater’s production of The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk and the company’s commitment to place-based theater. Join us! 

Series Thumbnail Image Credit

Pittsburgh view from incline © Derek Cashman, used under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

Trailer Episode Works Cited

FrankyBoomer. “Jazz Loop.wav” https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
https://freesound.org/people/FrankyBoomer/sounds/261100/

Williams, James (publishes under manychefsbroth). “Car—Pulling Away.” https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
https://freesound.org/people/manychefsbroth/sounds/151876/

Secret Pittsburgh S1 Trailer: Welcome to Secret Pittsburgh!

"Tariff is the most beautiful word in the dictionary," says Donald Trump, who made many promises throughout the 2024 presidential race to raise the cost of imports from China, Mexico, and Canada—America's three biggest trading partners. But are Trump's tariffs a good idea or a terrible one? And is the era of free trade coming to a close?

That's the topic of today's Reason Interview. Reason's Nick Gillespie talks with Dartmouth economist Douglas Irwin, author of Trade Policy Disaster: Lessons from the 1930s and Free Trade under Fire, now in its fifth edition. They talk about the negative impacts of the tariffs that Trump levied in his first term; why Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden also trafficked in protectionism; and why free trade is always under attack despite its overall benefits.

0:00—Introduction
1:13—The fight for free trade
3:06—Donald Trump: "Tariff Man"
5:44—How tariffs affect consumers
9:03—Trump's political motivations behind tariffs
12:33—U.S. steel industry
15:15—The effect of protectionism on jobs
18:39—Automation, industry, and agriculture
25:40—China's protectionist policies
26:58—Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act
33:59—Free trade debates of the Ronald Regan, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton eras
38:41—China's impact on markets
40:24—Populist arguments against free trade
44:49—The narrative about the baby formula shortage is wrong.
51:29—"Made in China" vs. "assembled in China"
52:41—The "Buy American" fallacy

Today's sponsor:

The Reason Speakeasy. The Reason Speakeasy is a monthly, unscripted conversation in New York City with outspoken defenders of free thinking and heterodoxy that doubles as a taping of The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie. The next one takes place on January 21 with two of the nation's most notable proponents of immigration liberalization, David Bier and Bryan Caplan, who will join Nick for a timely discussion about the state of U.S. immigration policy in 2025. They will discuss the implications of the incoming Trump administration's immigration proposals and make the libertarian case for why more immigration will make America great again.

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Douglas Irwin: Why Trump's Tariff Plans Are Dangerous

Founded in 1968, Reason is the planet's leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Our podcast offerings include:

The Reason Roundtable
Every Monday, the libertarian editors of the magazine of “Free Minds and Free Markets”—Matt Welch, Nick Gillespie, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Peter Suderman—discuss and debate the week’s biggest stories and what fresh hell awaits us all.

The Reason Interview with Nick Gillespie
Want to know what comes next in politics, culture, and libertarian ideas? Reason’s Nick Gillespie hosts relentlessly interesting interviews with the activists, artists, authors, entrepreneurs, newsmakers, and politicians who are defining the 21st century.

The Soho Forum Debates
Reason presents a libertarian-themed debate series recorded monthly before a live audience in New York City. Moderated by former Barron's Economics Editor Gene Epstein, the Soho Forum features Nobel prize winners, radical thinkers, and other public intellectuals facing off over the future of bitcoin, veganism, sex work, illegal drugs, electric vehicles, abortion, robotics, government debt, and other controversial topics.

Welcome the official SoundCloud account for the English Department at the University of Pittsburgh. These pieces are made by independent students and do not represent official opinions of, or statements on behalf of, the English Department or the University of Pittsburgh (But we are proud of our students for sharing their work beyond campus).

New tracks tagged #Steelworkers