Shifting Terrain

You’ve probably heard that AI is coming for your job. That it will replace you. And probably ruin a lot of our lives.  Or, that it’s going to make life, and especially work, easier. Ushering in a new age of productivity, efficiency, and therefore, leisure.  What’s going on beyond the hype cycle? Ava, a worker training AI, shares details from inside an industry shrouded in secrecy - including a ver...

How do you define the working class? Is it based on education, income, job, or taste? Is there even a definitive answer? Several guests are on the show to help figure it out. Starting with Rachel Sherman, a professor of Sociology at The New School in New York City, who lays out the many possible ways to define class.  We also hear from Joan Williams, Founding Director of the Equality Action Center...

This season focuses on what’s capturing and dividing the working class. But if we’re interested in more unity, what’s a good way to bring everyone together? How about a joke? Rachel invited Gavin Matts onto this episode after seeing his standup set where he joked about debt, unemployment, and other class issues from a real-world perspective that are rarely seen on stage. She also speaks with Kenic...

Shifting Terrain had its finger on the pulse of working class voters in 2024, but a lot of people were shocked by the outcome of the presidential election. A lot of analysis has gone into what exactly moved millions of voters to the right. Was it proposed economic policies or emphasis on the culture wars? Instead of clear answers, even more questions emerged: Will the Democrats forever have a toxi...

We discuss Practical Radicals: Seven Strategies to Change the World—a guide for a new generation of activists seeking not just to understand power, but to build it. Stephanie's civic action toolkit recommendations are: 1) Learn a new skill, like non cooperation or mutual aid 2) Find organizations that align with your values and check if they offer trainings Stephanie Luce is Professor of Labo...

Think the recent wave of Starbucks and Amazon unionizing signals a tidal shift in worker power? A new wave of labor movement activity to take down corporations? Our guests have some news for you.  While unions have long been considered the best way to build worker power, what’s really happening on the ground right now as the workforce increasingly moves towards a gig economy? And what does this me...

What is happening with immigration policy and enforcement? Are we witnessing an unprecedented level of surveillance and violence? Or does social media just make people more aware of what’s always been happening?  Sociologist Shannon Gleeson helps us untangle the knot of immigration policy and modern day tactics to reveal the bipartisan roots of strategies designed to snarl legal migration; what $4...

There is a noticeable discussion of Christian Nationalism in popular culture. Is its growing influence actually undermining democracy?  In this episode, Samuel Perry reveals the surprising relationship between capitalism and Christianity; Jack Delehanty identifies how the church gives working people more than just a sermon on Sundays; and a former Evangelical speaks about the impact of political p...

What happens when you combine the political opinions of a weightlifting social media star with the analysis of a professor who researches Fox News and political Youtube? A conversation that reveals some uncomfortable truths about the media. Colin Davis and Reece Peck discuss why liberal messaging continues to fail, where to find the Joe Rogan of the left, and how to actually reach working class me...

Building power to win for the working class isn’t simply a theory. People have been doing it for years.  JaNaé Bates, Co-Executive Director of ISAIAH and Faith In Minnesota, explains the strategy for improving the lives of working people that put Minnesota on the political map.  We talk about the work behind a miracle; how risk and failure are necessary for success; flanking imperfect politicians...

There’s a real reckoning going on in the Democratic Party. Their reputation for being the party of the working class had been waning for years. It took a crushing defeat - emotionally and electorally - for the party establishment to get on the page some people have been on for years: a majority of the electorate see the Democrats as the party of the elite.  Congresswoman Delia Ramirez of Illinois,...

 If you had to guess how many politicians are working class, what would you say? Ten percent? Five? In this episode we talk to Eric Hansen, a researcher who ran the data to determine how many working class politicians represent the working class majority. Along with the on-the-ground experience of Angelina Cruz and William Walter, two working class candidates who ran for state assembly in Wisconsi...

There’s a lot of finger pointing about which media outlet is to blame for the rise in political polarization, racism, and the class war. The brash boldness of Fox News is a likely target, but what about the hushed tones of liberal news?  In this episode, researcher Reece Peck reveals what makes some media, like YouTube, a compelling place for news; how we can’t sidestep the culture war with facts;...

Damaging stereotypes about rural and urban voters abound in politics. What’s really going on in the charged landscape known as the rural-urban divide? Are rural voters actually voting against their interests when they elect a Republican? And are urban voters so immersed in the culture war they’re out of touch with the everyday concerns of working people? Is there any commonality across this geogra...

Political strategists Jordan Berg Powers and Mike Lux discuss how major political campaigns have abandoned working class voters, the undeserved power of polls, and why you should never play Trump’s voice in a Democratic political ad.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Shifting Terrain, we explore race and class in politics, beyond the simplistic stereotypes in the news, and between election cycles.  Voters, political strategists, organizers, and politicians will speak to the ways race and class are playing out in voting patterns, campaigns, the news, and election outcomes. And, ultimately, how we navigate America’s multiracial, cross-class democracy.  We hig...