Boot Biters

In the 4th (AND FINAL!!!!) part of our West Virginia Mine Wars coverage, we're diving into the most tumultuous period of the mine wars, the absolute batshit crazy summer of 1921, the murder of Sit Hatfield, the armed miner's march, and the Battle of Blair Mountain. Need I say more?Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading (resources are publicly available): patreon.com/BootBitersCredits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

In the 2nd part of our West Virginia Mine War coverage, we're diving into the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike, when coal companies in Paint Creek refused to recognize union negotiations for a simple wage adjustment and lit the metaphorical match on a bed of gasoline-doused straw. We cover more Baldwin Felts shenanigans including the Bull Moose Special, along with the Dirty Eleven and the guerrilla tactics used by strikers in retaliation. We cover the state intervention that included threatening workers with deportation if they didn't accept a bare bones settlement to go back to work. And we also learn more about the schism between rank and file strikers like Frank Keeney and Fred Mooney and union leadership that saw strikers continue to fight back, with or without union support, until they got what they wanted. Let's get into it!Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading (resources are publicly available): patreon.com/BootBitersCredits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

Before we talk about major events like the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike, the Matewan Massacre, and the Battle of Blair Mountain, we need to understand how a full-blown worker insurrection comes to be. In this episode we contextualize the violence that was inherent in West Virginia's company coal towns. They really had it all: stolen wages, police in the pockets of coal companies, freedoms of speech and assembly non-existent, forced evictions, intimidation, beatings, and murders. There's a reason that workers felt they had no other option than to fight back. We also learn about labor leaders Frank Keeney, Fred Mooney, Sarah Blizzard, and Mother Jones and discuss the UMWA's prior activity and challenges in the region. Buckle up, because this is the start of a wild ride. Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading (resources are publicly available): patreon.com/BootBitersCredits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

***Warning: this one's got some fruity language and touches on some darker themes very applicable to the present day.****With increasing boldness from ICE and CBP, it felt right for a timely reminder that the U.S. security apparatus has always had a problem with exerting violent and sometimes deadly force against workers, but especially BIPOC and immigrant workers. In 1913, not for the first time, Colorado sent in its National Guard to quell a strike of miners against their company Colorado Fuel and Iron (CF&I). Working with deputized militia, company mine guards, and Baldwin Felts agents, the results of this was one of the deadliest strike breakings we've seen in U.S. history. Let's get into it.Know Your Rights Trainings:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0iF8mWgjrs - Video training led by AOC and The Immigration Defense Project (IDP)https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/know-your-rights-with-ice/https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/immigrants-rightsReporting Hotlines, and Legal and Advocacy Services for Immigrants:https://nnirr.org/education-resources/community-resources-legal-assistance-recursos-comunitarios-asistencia-legal/immigration-hotlines-lineas-directas-de-inmigracion/ - Multiple reporting hotlines listed by statehttps://www.freedomforimmigrants.org/hotline - If you are detained, dial 9233# from within a facility to reach the National Immigration Detention Hotline (free and unmonitored)https://www.immigrationadvocates.org/nonprofit/legaldirectory/

Yay it's our first listener recommended strike! Today we're learning about the 1973 wildcat strike that broke out at a Ford plant in Cologne, Germany when predominantly Turkish guest workers stood up for their unjustly fired colleagues and walked out. There are a lot of interesting parallels to US migrant worker policy to talk about. While this one got shut down violently by police, it gained a lot of national attention, changed the way management engaged with its workforce going forward, and forced German industry and society to reckon with its problematic attitudes toward guest workers. Let's dive in!Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading (resources are publicly available): patreon.com/BootBitersCredits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

This one has another cool labor song! Also weirdly nepo babies doing good? In this episode, we're covering the 1909 Shirtwaist Strike or the Uprising of the 20,000, when predominantly Jewish and Italian women launched a general strike in the garment industry in New York City, winning better pay and strengthening their union, not to mention inspiring a whole lot of other workers to demand better for themselves too! Let's dive in!Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading (resources are publicly available): patreon.com/BootBitersCredits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

In this episode we're talking about the Bread and Roses or the Singing Strike of 1912, when an insanely diverse and incredibly organized group of mill workers, many of them women, working in the industrial town of Lawrence, MA went on a successful strike to protest a wage cut. This strike was another dramatic one, with a sabotage plot orchestrated by the mill owners and women strikers duking it out with cops. Even though several strikers died over the course of the strike, their sacrifice wasn't in vain, with eventual pay raises and changes to working conditions being seen not just in Lawrence but across all of New England. Let's get into it!Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading (resources are publicly available): patreon.com/BootBitersCredits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

In this episode we're continuing the Pullman saga, but this time we're talking about the Black porters and maids who were busy developing their own union (with the coolest name) the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Their slow but steady movement would grow to result in not just the first negotiated bargaining contract between Black workers and a company in the U.S. but the birth of wider civil rights activism. Let's get into it!Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading (resources are publicly available): patreon.com/BootBitersCredits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

In ANOTHER two parter (I know! I know!) we're talking the 1894 Pullman Strike, when predominantly white factory workers living and working in the company town of Pullman went on strike. This one didn't end the most hopefully, with business cartels playing dirty, federal troops getting called in to violently suppress the strike, and strike leaders being arrested. BUT in our second part, we'll cover the work that Black porters and maids at Pullman were doing undercover to develop their own union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, and how their movement would grow to result in not just the first negotiated bargaining contract between Black workers and a company in the U.S. but the birth of wider civil rights activism. Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading (resources are publicly available): patreon.com/BootBitersCredits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

GLOWING VOMIT SAY WHAT? In this episode we cover the 1888 Matchwomen Strike that took place in the East End of London when women and girls walked out of a matchstick factory called Bryant and May after a retaliatory firing of one of their colleagues who was a whistleblower in a damning article. This action won a huge victory for their working conditions, pushed for legislative changes, and impacted the wider labor movement for years to come in the UK!Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBitersCredits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

In this episode, we learn about the mostly forgotten Chinese workers who predominantly built the Central Pacific Railroad. We cover the insane conditions they faced (from both the elements and the railway company) and the major risk they took in launching a strike along the tracks. While the strike was shut down, it did push the railway to quietly raise wages and institute pay raises during adverse weather. Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBitersCredits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

In this episode we cover the hostile landscape for worker organizing in apartheid South Africa, the immediate lead up to the 1973 Durban Strikes, and deep-dive into the strike wave that spread from factories in Durban and Pinetown to municipal workers in the city and turned into a powerful general strike. These strikes had a direct impact on future legislation and positioned trade unions and worker organizing as an important tool for wider anti-apartheid activism. Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBitersCredits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

In this first part of a two-part episode series talking about the 1973 Durban Strikes, we set some contextual background and learn how labor issues played a major role in fueling apartheid. In this episode we learn about the colonial interests in the region, the various laws passed well before Apartheid that set the precedent, the rise of Afrikaner nationalism, and the strategy of the National Party. This was a party that capitalized on a failed, repressed strike led by white miners and harnessed the growing anger of a poor white voting base to put forward a platform of formalized segregation that tried to keep Black African working power repressed. And that inadvertently made working organizing such a powerful tool to ending apartheid, leading to major actions like the Durban Strikes. Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBitersCredits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

Ey, it's the bulls! Cheese it! After discussing the real-life historical events of the 1899 Newsboys Strike, it's time to talk about the 1992 movie Newsies! What a movie for Disney to put out! We talk about the historical inaccuracies, the things the movie did right and well, and how they almost pushed the envelope even farther in the original screenplay (with a special guest star: the Specter of Communism).Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBitersCredits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

Soak 'em boys! Today we're discussing the real-life historical events that inspired the 1992 Disney movie Newsies and its later broadway adaptation: it's the 1899 Newsboys Strike! This strike has everything from super creative nicknames, a bitter feud between newspaper moguls and the impacts of yellow journalism, colorful transcripts from speeches and rallies, and kids armed with rocks and clubs holding their own against grown adults.Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBitersCredits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

In this episode we learn about one of the most famous - and longest strikes - the Delano Grape Strike and Boycott that lasted from 1965 to 1970. Initiated by experienced Filipino organizers, this strike brought together Filipino and Mexican workers to develop the United Farm Workers (UFW) union. We'll learn about the many famous labor leaders involved including Larry Itliong, Philip Vera Cruz, Cesar Chavez and Helen Chavez, and Dolores Huerta. We'll also explore the groundbreaking successes of the movement along with some of the challenges and shortfalls. https://doloreshuerta.org/https://chavezfoundation.org/https://www.aclu.org/https://immigrantjustice.org/Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBitersCredits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

In this episode we learn about the Arab American Auto Workers in Detroit who went on strike in 1973 to demand their union divest from its investments in Israel. We talk about their wins and losses, Black worker's cooperation with their Arab peers, the wider historical context of Palestinian activism and the BDS movement, and what happens when unions aren't acting in the interests of all their workers. Free Palestine. Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBitershttps://laborforpalestine.net/https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/why-did-britain-promise-palestine-to-arabs-and-zionistsCredits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

The teacher is pulling out the TV to watch a movie in class today. I think we've all earned it!In the first episode of the Labor in Pop Culture series, we're taking a deep dive into the way labor organizing shows up in the hit TV show Severance (spoilers ahead!). From talking about the portrayal of Lumon that pulls from real world corporate shenanigans to the steady building of unity amongst the workers that ultimately leads to resistance, to the wilder aspects of the show (waffle party anyone?), this is a fun one!Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBitersCredits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

In this episode we cover a large, inspirational, multi-ethnic labor movement from 1946 that shook the monopoly that sugar companies held over Hawai'i. Workers and organizers learned lessons from other movements, prepared meticulously in advance, and purposefully brought in an element of fun to keep morale high and sustain themselves for a strike that lasted almost three months! The strike cost plantations BIG TIME and turned Hawai'i into an example of successful union organizing that is still the case today!Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBitersCredits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

Migrant contract laborers in Namibia played a role in the wider movement for independence! The 1971 General Strike marked a major turning point in worker organizing across sectors, cities, and ethnic groups in the country and set the foundations for a wider political movement to overturn the South African mandate and the legacy of German colonialism. Let's learn about it!Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBitersCredits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

We've talked about the first recorded work stoppage in history in our very first episode, but when did we actually start using the word strike and why? In this episode we bounce back to 1768 in Sunderland and London, where sailors and coal heavers were getting creative in their strikes to demand better pay.Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBitersCredits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode describes graphic torture and discusses human rights abuses, including child death because of state neglect. I do give a heads up in episode before speaking about these topics, but wanted to caution upfront. In this episode, we learn about the successes and failures of a sampling of early strikes by migrant farmworkers in the Imperial Valley and the San Joaquin Valley in California, covering the 1928 Cantaloupe Strike, the 1930 Lettuce Strike and our main story: the absolutely insane 1933 San Joaquin Cotton Strike that devolved into open conflict between farmers and striking cotton pickers. Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBitersCredits: Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders-----Know Your Rights Trainings:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0iF8mWgjrs - Video training led by AOC and The Immigration Defense Project (IDP)https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/know-your-rights-with-ice/https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/immigrants-rightsReporting Hotlines, and Legal and Advocacy Services for Immigrants:https://nnirr.org/education-resources/community-resources-legal-assistance-recursos-comunitarios-asistencia-legal/immigration-hotlines-lineas-directas-de-inmigracion/ - Multiple reporting hotlines listed by statehttps://www.freedomforimmigrants.org/hotline - If you are detained, dial 9233# from within a facility to reach the National Immigration Detention Hotline (free and unmonitored)https://www.immigrationadvocates.org/nonprofit/legaldirectory/

In this episode we delve into the real history behind May Day, the Haymarket Riot, and explore why exactly it is that we don't celebrate International Worker's Day in the U.S.Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to the Water Cooler monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBitersCredits:Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

In this episode we talk about the washerwomen in post-civil war Atlanta, Jackson, and Galveston who, in spite of an extremely hostile political environment, weren't afraid to take a risk for better wages and get their hands dirty with laundry strikes!Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBitersCredits:Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

With the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) back in the news, there's never been a better time to learn about the illegal (and successful) wildcat strike that letter carriers undertook in 1970!Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBitersCredits:Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

In part two of the deep dive into W.E.B. Du Bois' book Black Reconstruction, we talk about the relationship between white and Black workers, the challenging conditions facing Black labor in the reconstruction period, and efforts to improve conditions like the Freedman's Bureau.Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts!Instagram and TikTok: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBitersCredits:Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

In part one of this two-part series, we deep-dive into W.E.B. Du Bois' book Black Reconstruction and explore his General Strike thesis, looking at how enslaved Black workers in the South engaged in intentional and effective resistance and withdrew their forced labor from the plantation economy, ultimately pushing the outcome of the Civil War and their own emancipation.Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts.Instagram: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast, get access to monthly bonus episodes, and check out resources used in episodes for further reading: patreon.com/BootBitersCredits:Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

Plebeians in the Roman Republic weren't playing around! In this episode we cover the first Secessio Plebis when the citizens of Rome abandoned the city in a general strike to get what they wanted. We also talk about the Servile Wars: the series of armed rebellions of enslaved workers in Rome that had the army scrambling. From that city-wide walk out, to fire-breathing magicians, to Spartacus, there's a whole lot to unpack!Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts.Instagram: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast and get access to monthly bonus episodes!patreon.com/BootBitersCredits:Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

Did you know the first recorded labor strike in history happened over 3,000 years ago in Ancient Egypt? Well now you do! In this introductory episode we talk about the Deir El Medina strikes, where artisans working on the tombs in the Valley of the Kings pushed back on not being paid on time...repeatedly. This one has everything from graffiti to grave robbing, tangents about pottery shards, and some good ol' rants (TM) about our lack of mandated sick leave in the U.S.Find Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast online:Website and Transcripts: https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/You can also listen to the pod on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts.Instagram: @bootbiterspodBlueSky: @bootbiterspod.bsky.socialSupport the podcast and get access to monthly bonus episodes!patreon.com/BootBitersCredits:Creator, Host, Social Media, Art, Music, General Chaos Sower: Dakota Saunders

Trailer for Boot Biters - A Labor History Podcast with your host Dakota!Subscribe and listen wherever you get your podcasts! Or visit the home website at https://rss.com/podcasts/boot-biters/ to listen online and get transcripts for every episode.Follow the pod on socials @bootbiterspod on Instagram and BlueSky.To support the pod or gain access to cool bonus content, check out my patreon at patreon.com/BootBiters.