61 | Unions Are Cool Again

This season, we’re taking an in-depth look at work and the history and future of labor organizing in Brooklyn. To kick off our series, we spoke with Dr. Joshua Freeman, CUNY professor and author of Working-Class New York: Life and Labor Since World War II; Celeste Headlee, NPR journalist and author of Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving. • Brooklyn, USA is produced by Emily Boghossian, Shirin Barghi, Charlie Hoxie, Khyriel Palmer, and Mayumi Sato. If you have something to say and want us to share it on the show, here’s how you can send us a message: https://bit.ly/2Z3pfaW • Thank you to Melanie Kruvelis, Ashley Sandberg, and Zakiya Gibbons. • LINKS Joshua B. Freeman is Distinguished Professor of History (Emeritus) at Queens College, the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Affairs. His books include Behemoth: A History of The Factory and the Making of the Modern World (Norton); American Empire, 1945-2000: The Rise of a Global Power; the Democratic Revolution at Home (Viking); and Working-Class New York: Life and Labor since World War II (The New Press). He has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New York Daily News, Newsday, The Nation, Dissent, Jacobin, and other publications. Professor Freeman lives in New York City. Celeste Headlee is an internationally recognized journalist and radio host, professional speaker and author of bestselling book We Need To Talk: How To Have Conversations That Matter and Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving. Her latest is Speaking of Race: Why Everyone Needs to Talk About Racism and How to Do It. Her TEDx Talk, 10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation, has been viewed over 34 million times. In her 20-year career in public radio, Celeste has been the Executive Producer of On Second Thought at Georgia Public Broadcasting and anchored programs including Tell Me More, Talk of the Nation, Here and Now, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. She also served as co-host of the national morning news show, The Takeaway, from PRI and WNYC, and anchored presidential coverage in 2012 for PBS World Channel. Celeste is a regular guest host on NPR and American Public Media. She is the host of Newsweek’s “Debate” podcast and “Women Amplified,” a podcast from the Conferences for Women, the largest network of women’s conferences in the nation, drawing more than 50,000 people to its annual events. Celeste is also the president and CEO of Headway DEI, a non-profit that works to bring racial justice and equity to journalism and media through targeted training and interventions, and she serves on the board for the National Center of Race Amity. Celeste is the granddaughter of composer William Grant Still, known as the Dean of Black American Composers and she is a trained operatic soprano. She lives in the DC area with rescue dog, Samus. Visit us online at bricartsmedia.org/Brooklyn-USA • MUSIC and CLIPS This episode featured clips from “Why Work?” (1996) by Bill Moyers. • TRANSCRIPT: https://bit.ly/3AEHkOG • Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @BRICTV