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Beneath The Surface
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Sunday, October 19, 2025 10:00 am
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1:00:12
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| Guests:
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| Jesse Baum, David Williams
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| Topics
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| When the Law Fails Workers, They Organize Anyway
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Suzi Weissman talks with Capital & Main reporter Jesse Baum and David Williams, a Dollar General worker and organizer with Step Up Louisiana, about the rise of pre-majority unionism — organizing and acting like a union, without one.
They discuss how workers are winning raises and safety audits through direct action and solidarity, even as Trump’s second administration hobbles the National Labor Relations Board. When the law fails to protect workers, they’re proving that collective action still works — and may well be shaping the future of the labor movement itself.
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Beneath The Surface
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Sunday, October 12, 2025 10:00 am
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1:00:12
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| Guests:
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| Tom Alter, Bill Gallegos
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| Topics
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| From Texas to Los Angeles: Resistance & Solidarity Win
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Professor Tom Alter, a tenured historian at Texas State University was fired on September 10 for speaking at an online socialist conference. His remarks were secretly recorded and doctored by a self-proclaimed fascist influencer, and within days, the university president fired him without due process — a blatant violation of his First Amendment and academic freedom rights. Tom joins me to describe what happened, why his case has become a flashpoint in the new McCarthyism sweeping U.S. campuses, and how his reinstatement by court order -- pending the decision of the University President-- marks a victory not just for him, but for free speech everywhere.
Then we turn to Los Angeles — where Trump opened his war on the enemy within" by sending thousands of National Guard soldiers and U.S. Marines into LA to enforce ICE ethnic cleansing raids, terrorize immigrant communities and crush resistance. But the city fought back. Longtime Chicano activist Bill Gallegos joins me to discuss his forthcoming Nation article “Los Angeles Boots Out Trump’s Troops.” Bill shows how labor unions, immigrant organizations, faith leaders, artists, and even business groups built a united front demanding troops out – and they won. Trump’s troops were forced to withdraw. LA showed the country what resistance and broad solidarity can achieve: when people organize and stand firm, even a President bent on repression can be pushed back. LA was supposed to be Trump's model for his authoritarian power grab, but instead it was the template for defeating it.
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Beneath The Surface
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Sunday, September 28, 2025 10:00 am
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1:00:12
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| Guest:
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| Thomas Ferguson
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| Topic
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| Tech Capital Taking Over Politics
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Thomas Ferguson has investigated money in politics for decades, and he has found, over and over again, that money and election outcomes are directly linked.
He joins me to talk about how Silicon Valley, finance, defense, and crypto have fused into what he calls “red tech.”
Ferguson explains why the Democrats’ crisis isn’t about messaging — it’s about failing to deliver for working people while catering to donors. We dig into the investment theory of politics, the K-shaped recovery, crypto’s bipartisan capture, and the structural impasse at the heart of the Democratic coalition.
What does this new tech-capital bloc mean for labor, democracy, and the future of American politics?
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Beneath The Surface
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Sunday, September 21, 2025 10:00 am
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1:00:12
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| Guest:
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| Pema Levy
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| Topics
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| Trump’s DOJ: His Personal Hit Squad?
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| The Roberts Court gave Trump sweeping immunity — and he’s using it to intimidate critics, greenlight ICE's racial profiling raids, and crackdown on political speech. Pema Levy of Mother Jones joins me to unpack the landmark decision in Trump v. United States — a ruling that didn’t just grant Trump immunity for official acts, but armed him with the ability to wield the Justice Department as a personal weapon against political rivals, as if the DOJ were Trump’s private legal office. Pema Levy traces how law, politics, and authoritarian practices are converging in ways that threaten us all.
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Beneath The Surface
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Sunday, September 14, 2025 10:00 am
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1:00:15
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| Guests:
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| Sebastian Budgen, Joe Allen
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| Topics
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| French political crisis; Teamsterland
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Sebastian Budgen joins to unravel the political turmoil in France, where Prime Minister François Bayrou’s government has collapsed after losing a vote of confidence. President Emmanuel Macron’s relentless drive to impose austerity has sparked yet another wave of resistance: the “Block Everything” mobilization on September 10, which brought unions, students, and grassroots activists into the streets, with another national strike set for September 18. Sebastian Budgen is here to help understand this political moment: over the years I’ve spoken to him about explosive social movements that have stopped governments in their tracks. Today we ask: what makes this mobilization different — and what does the crisis mean for the left, the far right, Macron’s presidency, and the future of the Fifth Republic?
Joe Allen talks about his new book Teamsterland — a story of the union’s notoriety and contradictions. In 2023, after a year-long contract campaign and practice pickets, the Teamsters came close to launching one of the largest strikes in U.S. history before reaching a last-minute agreement with UPS covering 340,000 workers. Leaders hailed it as “game-changing,” but some Teamsters worried about what was left on the table. And just months later, Teamster president Sean O’Brien stunned many by speaking at the Republican National Convention. From the near-strike at UPS to O’Brien’s embrace of Donald Trump, Allen shows how the Teamsters’ fate mirrors the challenges facing the American working class.
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Beneath The Surface
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Sunday, August 31, 2025 10:00 am
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1:00:13
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| Guest:
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| Vermont Senator Tanya Vyhovsky
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| Topic
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| Inside Ukraine at War
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| Vermont State Senator Tanya Vyhovsky has just returned from several weeks in Ukraine, where she traveled from Kyiv to L’viv, Kryvyi Rih, and Dnipro. In her diary and now with us, Tanya shares on-the-ground reflections from meetings with trade unionists, feminists, students, and survivors of Russia’s bombardment. Her visit coincided with Putin’s meeting with Trump in Alaska — pointedly without Zelensky at the table. We’ll hear Tanya’s analysis of Ukraine’s fight for survival, the role of labor and grassroots organizations in keeping society alive, and why international solidarity has never been more urgent.
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Beneath The Surface
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Sunday, August 24, 2025 10:00 am
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1:00:12
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| Guest:
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| Barry Eidlin
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| Topic
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| Air Canada Strike and what labor can win
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Labor sociologist Barry Eidlin returns to discuss the recent Air Canada strike, which has now reached a tentative agreement. The strike began when 10,000 flight attendants, organized in the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), walked off the job on August 16, after months of failed negotiations. The Canadian government responded with its usual move: a back-to-work under Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code—a provision that ostensibly regulates strikes, but is instead used to short-circuit them. But this time, something unusual happened: the workers defied the order, chanting “Forced to fly? We won’t comply!”
After an all-night bargaining session, they secured a tentative settlement on August 19th — showing what labor can do when it doesn’t back down.
We talk about the strike, the government response, its outcome and what it portends. We’ll also talk about the differences between Canadian and US labor law, strike outcomes and public policy.
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