The Political Transformation That Happens When Workers Speak for Themselves
On the importance of deep conversations—and listening.
Maximillian Alvarez
Late last year, Max had the honor of getting to speak to a class at Tulane University called “Introduction to Podcasting and Social Justice” taught by Dr. Billy Saas, cohost and producer of the podcast Money on the Left, as well as the cofounder and codirector of the Money on the Left Editorial Collective. The students in the class talked to Max about how and why he started Working People, how the show has grown over the years, and they also had a deep conversation about the political importance of podcasting as a medium. In the first half of this episode, you’ll hear Max’s conversation with the “Introduction to Podcasting and Social Justice” class, which was recorded and edited by the students. Then, in the second half of the episode, you’ll hear Max’s follow-up conversation with Dr. Saas and two students from the class, Sophia Badame and Sophie Harris, about how the class evolved over the semester, the final projects they worked on, and how the next generation of podcasters are working to explore and expand the medium.
Additional links/info below…
- Billy’s faculty page and Twitter page
- Money on the Left website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
- Maximillian Alvarez, The Chronicle Review (The Chronicle of Higher Education), “The Podcast University (An Interview with Zachary Davis)”
- Maximillian Alvarez, Current Affairs, “Can the Working Class Speak?”
Permanent links below…
- Working People Patreon page
- Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
- Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
- In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
- The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)
- Jules Taylor, “Working People Theme Song”
I hope you found this article important. Before you leave, I want to ask you to consider supporting our work with a donation. In These Times needs readers like you to help sustain our mission. We don’t depend on—or want—corporate advertising or deep-pocketed billionaires to fund our journalism. We’re supported by you, the reader, so we can focus on covering the issues that matter most to the progressive movement without fear or compromise.
Our work isn’t hidden behind a paywall because of people like you who support our journalism. We want to keep it that way. If you value the work we do and the movements we cover, please consider donating to In These Times.
Maximillian Alvarez is editor-in-chief at the Real News Network and host of the podcast Working People, available at InTheseTimes.com. He is also the author of The Work of Living: Working People Talk About Their Lives and the Year the World Broke.
