EPISODE · May 4, 2022 · 48 MIN
#81 - May Day, or Mayday
from Lewis Black's Rantcast · host Lewis Black
In this week's episode, Lewis delves into the history of May Day and why in the US we moved the celebration of labor to the end of the summer. Honoring the working class at the same time as the rest of the world was too communal an experience for our nation of rugged individualists, and it was stained by links with socialists and anarchists and by fears of association with the 1886 Haymarket Riots. President Grover Cleveland thus proposed having the celebration for those who labor in September and it became a federal holiday in 1894. Now, more than a century later, we join together the first Monday each September to pay lip-service to the hard-working laborers who keep our economy and society functioning, while also somehow highlighting the importance of management and owners. Lewis also offers a modest proposal for relocating refugees and migrants, explores the vague return to normalcy that was the 2022 NFL draft, and offers this athletics-related opinion: Wizards is the worst name in sports. Also, if there’s a manliness crisis in America, Madison Cawthorne is clearly not the person to offer solutions. The live rants come from Chicago and Detroit, two towns where the citizens don't agree on much, especially regarding Lions, Tigers, Bears, or Cubs (or Pistons, Bulls, White Sox, Blackhawks, or Red Wings), but definitely agree that the potholes need to be fixed!\ The big news on the rant front is that we now have a prize for the best rant submission of the week: a subscription for cheeses from Jasper Hill Farm in Vermont. Want to see Lewis live? Tickets are available here: https://www.lewisblack.com/tickets Check out Lewis’ Grammy-nominated special, Thanks For Risking Your Life https://tlbrecords.lnk.to/LewisWE SUBMIT RANTS TO LEWIS https://www.lewisblack.com/live SUBSCRIBE TO THE RANTCAST https://www.lewisblacksrantcast.com FOLLOW LEWIS www.lewisblack.com www.youtube.com/officiallewisblack www.instagram.com/thelewisblack www.facebook.com/thelewisblack www.twitter.com/thelewisblack www.tiktok.com/@thelewisblack New episodes arrive every Wednesday. For advertising opportunities/contact email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What this episode covers
In this week's episode, Lewis delves into the history of May Day and why in the US we moved the celebration of labor to the end of the summer. Honoring the working class at the same time as the rest of the world was too communal an experience for our nation of rugged individualists, and it was stained by links with socialists and anarchists and by fears of association with the 1886 Haymarket Riots. President Grover Cleveland thus proposed having the celebration for those who labor in September and it became a federal holiday in 1894. Now, more than a century later, we join together the first Monday each September to pay lip-service to the hard-working laborers who keep our economy and society functioning, while also somehow highlighting the importance of management and owners. Lewis also offers a modest proposal for relocating refugees and migrants, explores the vague return to normalcy that was the 2022 NFL draft, and offers this athletics-related opinion: Wizards is the worst name in sports. Also, if there’s a manliness crisis in America, Madison Cawthorne is clearly not the person to offer solutions. The live rants come from Chicago and Detroit, two towns where the citizens don't agree on much, especially regarding Lions, Tigers, Bears, or Cubs (or Pistons, Bulls, White Sox, Blackhawks, or Red Wings), but definitely agree that the potholes need to be fixed!\ The big news on the rant front is that we now have a prize for the best rant submission of the week: a subscription for cheeses from Jasper Hill Farm in Vermont. Want to see Lewis live? Tickets are available here: https://www.lewisblack.com/tickets Check out Lewis’ Grammy-nominated special, Thanks For Risking Your Life https://tlbrecords.lnk.to/LewisWE SUBMIT RANTS TO LEWIS https://www.lewisblack.com/live SUBSCRIBE TO THE RANTCAST https://www.lewisblacksrantcast.com FOLLOW LEWIS www.lewisblack.com www.youtube.com/officiallewisblack www.instagram.com/thelewisblack www.facebook.com/thelewisblack www.twitter.com/thelewisblack www.tiktok.com/@thelewisblack New episodes arrive every Wednesday. For advertising opportunities/contact email: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
NOW PLAYING
#81 - May Day, or Mayday
No transcript for this episode yet
Similar Episodes
May 8, 2026 ·12m