This Week in People’s History, Sep 30-Oct 6, 2026

Photo of statue commemorating 1851 act of resistance to the Fugitive Slave Law in Syracuse, NY
‘When Human Government Destroys Human Rights, It Ceases to be a Government, and Becomes a Foul and Blasting Conspiracy; and Is Entitled to No Respect Whatever’ – Frederick Douglass

Who Killed Asylum?

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the US government, across Republican and Democratic administrations alike, has been slowly dismantling what was once the most generous asylum system in the world.

Who Profits From ‘Saving’ Women?

From the Women’s War of 1929 to the Anlu uprising three decades later, African women were organizing and resisting long before donors arrived to ‘give them a voice.’

Ulm 5 Trial and Germany’s Complicity With Gaza Genocide

Five activists who vandalized an Elbit Systems factory aim to put Germany and the Israeli weapons company on trial.

JD Vance Wants To Hurt Single Mothers

I can only conclude that the administration’s plans are either meant to pit stay-at-home parents against working ones, or to punish single parents — and their children — who need support the most.

UnitedHealthcare & UnitedHealth Group-Last Week Tonight

With Luigi Mangione’s upcoming sentencing, John Oliver devotes the full episode to covering UnitedHealth Group: Why customers hate them, how they got so profitable, and why doctors are wishing explosive diarrhea on their board members.

The Slave’s Power

Two recent books employ inventive approaches to read against the grain of the archive left by those who defended and benefited from human bondage.

Wage Suppression in 10 Charts

Wages make up a large share of income for most U.S. working families, lost wage growth meant sluggish income growth. There was one group where wage growth, and income growth, was substantial: the top 1%, whose wages skyrocketed 182% since 1979

The ‘Gray Arm’ of Israeli Annexation

A settler-led wing of the army is driving Palestinian displacement on the state's behalf. But as Yagil Levy explains, this devil's bargain comes not without costs.

What Barbara Kingsolver Believes the Novel Can Do

One of the country’s most popular novelists writes what she calls socially engaged fiction. In her new book, she considers the role of art—and who it’s for.
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Culture

poetry

Writing My Country

Beau Beausoleil
Poet Beau Beausoleil has been called "the most important voice of witness in our country right now."

poetry

Complications

William Berkowitz
At a time when the Trump administration attacks the Smithsonian for presenting a complicated picture of American history, poet William Berkowitz muses on how quickly society forgets its own history.

Labor

labor

Mark Carney Is Taking Aim at Canada’s Labor Movement

Adam D. K. King Jacobin
Mark Carney wants to make Canada a destination for global investment. His new omnibus bill casts the right to strike as an obstacle to the “national interest” — and organized labor as a barrier to national strength rather than its foundation.

labor

Video Game Workers Win First Contract at Microsoft-Owned Blizzard

Dan DiMaggio Labor Notes
Workers who make some of the world’s most popular video games, including World of Warcraft and Diablo, won their first union contracts in early September, in an important step forward for organizing in the tech industry.

labor

DoorDash To Pay $131.5M To Settle Wage Theft Affecting 260,000

Carter Myers-Brown The Chief
New York City officials announced a record $131.5 million settlement with the app-based delivery company Door Dash on Tuesday, saying the delivery company illegally underpaid more than 260,000 workers.

labor

AutoZone Workers Are Trying To Form the Company’s First-Ever Union

Luis Feliz Leon Labor Notes
AutoZone workers went public in July with their drive to join United Auto Workers Local 259. Workers’ rights watchdog LaborLab estimates that the parts retailer AutoZone has paid $210,696 to managers and lawyers to crush their effort.

Friday nite video

video

The Radical Solution to our Rigged Tax Code

How exactly should we tax the rich? We lay out 3 specific ways to target and reduce the wealth gap in society, including taxing billionaires’ SuperPAC contributions.

video

Naza | Documentary

Award-winning documentary, produced with the team behind the Zone of Interest and directed by Oscar-winning film-makers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, includes testimony from 24 Israeli military insiders

An Economist Explains: This Is How To Tax Billionaires

Mehdi Hasan sits down with economist Gabriel Zucman, one of the world’s leading experts on tax avoidance and wealth inequality. “If you want to ensure that the super rich pay their fair share, you have to go after wealth itself.”