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This Week in People’s History, Sept 11–17

Cover of sheet Saint Louis Blues sheet music
I Hate to See the Evenin' Sun Go Down (1914), Take National Defense Day and Shove It! (1924), Apartheid on the Skids (1989), Death of an Organizer (1929), Whose Streets? Our Streets! (1964), Big Win for Solidarity (1889), Moses of Her People (1849)

The GOP’s Sisyphean Punishment for Supporting Trump

The political professionals remaining in the GOP insist that mail-in voting is part of their get-out-the-vote program even as Trump vilifies mail-in voting. To defeat Trump, pro-democracy voters need to actually get out the early and mail-in vote.

U.S. Corporations, Zedes and Honduras

Rightwing libertarians around the world are attempting to erode and virtually erase governmental measures that protect both people and the environment from corporate misconduct and unrestrained capitalism.

France Protests Against Macron’s Coup

The protests were called by the center-left coalition New Popular Front (NFP) in more than 150 cities across France.

Lives on the Line: An Interview With Alice Driver

Reporter Alice Driver’s new book “The Life and Death of the American Worker” is an accounting of the lives and working conditions faced by poultry and meatpacking workers in Arkansas, where Tyson Foods is headquartered.

What’s That Smell — and How’d You Know?

It’s clear that genes, receptors and neurons all play a role in detecting odors. But much of how we make sense of what we sniff remains mysterious. A neuroscientist explains. Q and A with Neurobiologist Peter Mombaerts.

Palestine: Shifting Discourse to Changing US Policy

The movement opposing Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza has transformed this country’s conversation about Palestine and opens a path to forcing a change in US policy.

China Africa Policy Shaped by Race for Renewable Energy

China is now Africa’s largest trading partner, with partnerships focused on building roads, railways and energy projects.

Michel Barnier in Office, Marine Le Pen Holds Power

Emmanuel Macron has appointed Michel Barnier as France’s prime minister, after securing Marine Le Pen’s agreement. The creation of a government reliant on her blessing is another step in the far right’s march toward power.

Lessons of a Weimar Anti-Fascist in Palestine

After my father fled Nazi Germany in 1933, he witnessed a toxic new nationalism rising among Jews in Palestine—and was silenced for trying to warn of its dangers.
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Culture

poetry

Sermon on the Mount 2024

Susan Cossette
As Minnesota poet Susan Cossette reminds us, watch out for prophets!

books

America’s War on Theater

Daniel Blank Los Angeles Review of Books
Between 1935 and 1939, the New Deal-sponsored Federal Theatre Project staged over a thousand productions nationwide, reaching an audience of 30 million. It was an early target of the House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC).

food

Seafood Is Getting Riskier To Eat Due to Climate Change

Stacey Leasca Food & Wine
High heat can make seafood more dangerous for human consumption. Both the European Food Safety Authority the U.S. Department of Agriculture warn that increasing sea surface temperatures can expand the range and season of Vibrio infections making seafood potentially more dangerous for human consumption.

Labor

labor

Interview: Bridging Political Divides Through Solidarity

Katy Habr interviews Steve Lawton Labor Notes
How should unions engage with members drawn to right-wing, anti-worker politics and candidates? One union trying to tackle this disconnect is the Communications Workers (CWA).

labor

A Thousand Tennessee Autoworkers Just Joined the UAW

Alex N. Press Jacobin
Workers at Ultium’s Spring Hill electric vehicle plant, a joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution of Korea, have unionized. It’s the latest case of the UAW’s Big Three strike bearing fruit.

labor

U.S. Steel Threatens To Go Rogue

Harold Meyerson The American Prospect
Sparks shooting up from a work table towards a worker with face protection. Until yesterday, U.S. steelworkers hadn’t experienced an attack as sweeping as that of 1892.

labor

Rage in the Red Sea

Steve Yandell The Sea
“All those who care about the lives of seafarers – or a global supply chain that keeps its workers safe – must call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. Peace is the best way to end the attacks on ships in the Red Sea."

Friday nite video

video

KAOS | Limited Series Trailer

The Gods of Olympus are just one big, dysfunctional family — unaware that mortals have the power to bring them down

video

Escaping the Gaza War for my Paralympic Dream

The Gaza Sunbirds are a team of paracyclists from Gaza, set up in 2020 by cyclist Alaa al-Dali after he was shot in the leg by an Israeli sniper during the Great March of Return in 2018