Working Class History

Part 2 of our double episode on working-class author Jack Hilton, with Jack Chadwick whose literary detective work rescued Hilton from almost total obscurity. This part covers his novel  Caliban Shrieks in more detail and how it compares to other working-class novels from the same period; his later writing and life, and how his writing career would come to an end (despite George Orwell’s efforts);...

Part 1 of our double episode about Jack Hilton, a working-class author, World War I veteran, unemployed movement organiser, and trade union activist from Rochdale, north-west England. For this episode, we spoke to Jack Chadwick whose literary detective work rescued Hilton from almost total obscurity. We discussed Hilton's life growing up in Rochdale's slums, starting work at nine years old, and hi...

This is a teaser preview of one of our Fireside Chat episodes , made exclusively for our supporters on Patreon . You can listen to the full 104-minute episode without ads and support our work at https://www.patreon.com/posts/e105-fireside-in-127749416  In this episode, we spoke to one of our hosts, John, about his experiences organising at work in the public sector, first as an agency worker, then...

Second of a double podcast about the Golden Age of Piracy, with historian Marcus Rediker.  Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Join us or find out more at  patreon.com/workingclasshistory Part 2 covers...

First in a double podcast about the Golden Age of Piracy, with historian Marcus Rediker. The legendary pirates of this era weren’t just thieves—they were daring rebels challenging the very systems of power and authority of their time. Fighting every colonial empire, and creating their own ways of living free from authority, pirates became symbols of liberty and resistance to working-class and poor...

This is a teaser preview of one of our Fireside Chat episodes , made exclusively for our supporters on Patreon . You can listen to the full 65-minute episode without ads and support our work at https://www.patreon.com/posts/e102-fireside-124623473 The date this episode aired, March 19, Luigi Mangione was scheduled to have his first court hearing on federal death penalty charges, accused of assassi...

Part 2 of our double-episode about the Working-Class Literature Festival held every year in Florence, at the former GKN car parts factory, which was taken over by the workers after they were made redundant in 2021. We're joined again by working-class author and one of the main organisers of the festival, Alberto Prunetti, and former GKN worker, Dario Salvetti. We also talk to another two working-c...

First of a double-episode podcast about the Working-Class Literature Festival held every year in Florence, at the former GKN car parts factory, which was taken over by the workers after they were made redundant in 2021. In this episode, we talk to working-class author and one of the main organisers of the festival, Alberto Prunetti, as well as former GKN workers Dario Salvetti and Tiziana De Biasi...

This is a teaser preview of one of our Radical Reads episodes, made exclusively for our supporters on patreon. You can listen to the full 87-minute episode without ads and support our work at https://www.patreon.com/posts/e101-radical-and-120598405 In this episode, we speak to Alex Charnley and Michael Richmond about their excellent book,  Fractured: Race, Class, Gender and the Hatred of Identity...

With the background of the Vietnam war, rising prices and stagnant wages, workers in the US began to ignore calls to support the war effort and keep working, and instead launch a wave of wildcat strikes in key industries, while women homeworkers fought for lower prices. We tell the story of these struggles in this double podcast episode. Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon supporters. Our...

With the background of the Vietnam war, rising prices and stagnant wages, workers in the US began to ignore calls to support the war effort and keep working, and instead launch a wave of wildcat strikes in key industries, while women homeworkers fought for lower prices. We tell the story of these struggles in this double podcast episode. Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon supporters. Our...

This is a teaser preview of one of our Radical Reads episodes, made exclusively for our supporters on patreon. You can listen to the full 85-minute episode without ads and support our work at https://www.patreon.com/posts/e97-radical-10-116392240 In this episode, we talk to Michael Richmond, a Jewish communist author and anti-racist activist, about David Baddiel's ridiculous book,  Jews Don't Coun...

This is a teaser preview of one of our Radical Reads episodes, made exclusively for our supporters on patreon. You can listen to the full 91-minute episode without ads and support our work at https://www.patreon.com/posts/e97-radical-10-116392240 In this episode, we talk to Elia Ayoub, a Lebanese activist and scholar of Palestinian heritage, about his recent article, ' Hezbollah: 10 Things You Nee...

During the Great Depression in the US, facing mass job losses and abject poverty, thousands of coal miners in Pennsylvania took direct action and began digging their own mines on company property. We tell their story in this two-part podcast. Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, ad-free...

During the Great Depression in the US, facing mass job losses and abject poverty, thousands of coal miners in Pennsylvania took direct action and began digging their own mines on company property. We tell their story in this two-part podcast. Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, ad-free...

This is a teaser preview of our first Radical Read, made exclusively for our supporters on patreon. You can listen to the full 68-minute episode without ads and support our work at  https://www.patreon.com/posts/e94-radical-w-if-113750155 First of our new series, Radical Reads , in which we team up with  Jasper Bernes to discuss Vincent Bevins’ 2023 book, If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and th...

The final episode of our three-part series about migrant worker poetry in China. We speak to Maghiel van Crevel, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at Leiden University. Maghiel has travelled extensively in China, meeting with and writing about the work of Chinese migrant worker poets. In this episode, we look at questions of censorship in China and the importance of unofficial publicati...

Part 2 of our three-part series about migrant worker poetry in China. We speak to Maghiel van Crevel, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at Leiden University. Maghiel has travelled extensively in China, meeting with and writing about the work of Chinese migrant worker poets. In this episode, we look at the work of the Migrant Worker Home, a self-organised space run by and for migrant wor...

First of the three-part series on migrant worker poetry in China. In these episodes, we speak to Maghiel van Crevel, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at Leiden University. Maghiel has travelled extensively in China meeting with and writing about the work of Chinese migrant worker poets. In this episode, we discuss the concept of the 'migrant worker' in China, and how it relates to the...

Second of a double podcast episode about the South Korean movements of 1987 which overthrew the US-backed military dictatorship and won big improvements for workers. In these episodes we speak with Kim Jin-sook and Hong Seung Ha about their experiences of the June Democratic Struggle, and the Great Workers’ Struggle which immediately followed it. Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon suppor...

First of a double podcast episode about the South Korean movements of 1987 which overthrew the US-backed military dictatorship and won big improvements for workers. In these episodes we speak with Kim Jin-sook and Hong Seung Ha about their experiences of the June Democratic Struggle, and the Great Workers’ Struggle which immediately followed it. Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon support...

Preview of our first Fireside chat. To celebrate our 10th birthday on 30 July 2024, we launched a new series of discussion podcast episodes exclusively for our supporters on patreon. For the time being, as a trial, we are going to be releasing at least one bonus episode for patreon supporters every month. By doing this, we hope to be able to grow our base of supporters on patreon. If we manage to...

Following on from his excellent book,  500 Years of Indigenous Resistance , Gord Hill of the Kwakwaka’wakw nation gives us an overview of over three decades of Indigenous resistance in the Americas since 1992. A podcast in two parts. Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, ad-free episodes,...

Following on from his excellent book,  500 Years of Indigenous Resistance , Gord Hill of the Kwakwaka’wakw nation gives us an overview of over three decades of Indigenous resistance in the Americas since 1992. A podcast in two parts. Our podcast is brought to you by our patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, ad-free episodes,...

Part 2 of our double-episode podcast about workers' struggles in Palestine during the British Mandate (1920-48). In this episode, we cover the Palestinian labour movement during World War II, new Palestinian workers’ organisations, the split (along national lines) in the Palestine Communist Party, joint struggles by Arab and Jewish workers, war and the Nakba. Our podcast is brought to you by our p...