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This Week in People’s History, August 19–25, 2026

Portside
NY Daily News with "Airline Strike Snarl Spreads" headline
Big Strike Wins Big (1966), Radical Idea No Longer (1866), Haiti Gives Slavery the Boot (1791), Jury’s Verdict: Freedom! (1781), Greenhouse Effect? Forget About It! (1856), Ugly Moment, Uglier War (1636), Workers Lose Big on Blair Mountain (1921)

Democratic Voters Are Fired Up

Ryan Cooper The American Prospect
2018 was a historic blowout for the Dems. This year, primary turnout is much higher.

Ocasio-Cortez Rewrites the Rules

Rhonda Garelick The New York Times
“We need more depictions of women having full lives,” AOC said on Instagram, while documenting freezing her eggs. She is refusing to disappear the reality of maintaining a female body, working instead to fuse body and mind on the public stage.

A Union of Unions: Revitalizing Labor Councils

Whitney Washington Convergence
Labor councils are important but often overlooked for building working-class power. This article takes us from Tennessee to Vermont to examine how these vital organizations are faring today, while honoring one of their champions, Vonda McDaniel.