Best Riley Walz Podcasts (2025)

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Steven Greenhouse talks how Trump's Tariffs may appeal to working-class voters 18:59

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1y ago18:59

18:59

In the latest Payday Report podcast, retired New York Times labor reporter Steven Greenhouse talks about how Clinton pushing NAFTA bred distrust of the Democratic Party in the Rust Belt. He also discussed how Trump's tariffs may appeal to some working-class

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Randi Weingarten Talks How Tim Walz Empowered Teachers Union Activists 9:04

1+ y ago9:04

9:04

By Mike Elk For more than 15 years, I have covered Randi Weingarten, the president of the 1.7 million member American Federation of Teachers union, but I have never seen her as excited as when she got the news that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a social studies teachers and AFT member, had been selected as Vice President. Behind the scenes, Weingart…

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Radio Special on UE defeating McCarthyism in Small Massachusetts Town 1:25:33

1+ y ago1:25:33

1:25:33

In honor of Labor Day, earlier this week, we reaired a New England Public Media special produced by Ian Coss and hosted by local public historian Tom Goldscheider. "This project is every historian's dream," said Goldscheider. "I stumbled onto a cache of union meeting records and newspaper clippings from the 1940s that allowed me to reassemble a pie…

1
Dave Weigel Talks What Summer Lee Can Teach America 28:34

1+ y ago28:34

28:34

Semafor's Dave Weigel talks with Mike Elk about how Congresswoman Summer Lee was able to cruise to a landslide victory against AIPAC will other candidates struggles and were defeated by them.

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Veteran UE Organizer Chris Townsend Talks Organizing Surge in Northern Virginia 28:20

1+ y ago28:20

28:20

Chris Townsend is a veteran union organizer who has lived in Virginia for 20 years. He previously served as the UE's Political action director and the ATU's Organizing Director. Over the past five years, he has seen an upsurge in organizing in Northern Virginia. "I was the organizing director for the Amalgamated Transit Union and in a period of sev…

1
27,000 Virginia Teachers Voting to Unionize 24:47

1+ y ago24:47

24:47

In Virginia, this week, over 27,000 teachers and school staff are expected to vote on unionizing. If they win, it will be the largest union victory in decades. The organizing drives comes after Virginia granted collective bargaining rights to public employees in 2020. Virginia now has become one of the fastest-growing states for unions in the count…

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With 70% UAW Sign Up, 25-Year Mercedes UAW Veteran Talks 10:53

1+ y ago10:53

10:53

With 70% UAW Sign Up, 25-Year Mercedes UAW Veteran Talks By Mike Elk Eleven years ago, I first met Kirk Garner, Vice President of UAW Local 149, the minority union at Mercedes in Vance, Alabama. After the UAW was narrowly defeated in a union drive in 2014, it formed minority unions at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tennessee and Mercedes in Vance, Alab…

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Mercedes Union Leader in Alabama Predicts Landslide Victory 22:20

1+ y ago22:20

22:20

Since the late 1990s, UAW Local 149 Vice President Kirk Garner has been involved in efforts to unionize at Mercedes in Vance, Alabama. Now, after the 73% victory at Volkswagen in April, the union says that it is cruising to victory. "It feels really good. And it's finally coming to fruition. And we're excited, everybody's excited, ready to vote," s…

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After 10 Year Battle, a Younger Generation Leads the Way at Volkswagen 16:07

1+ y ago16:07

16:07

A formerly anti-union Volkswagen worker explains why he now supports the union at Volkswagen.

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After 25 Years, Mercedes Workers Say Union Could Come "Any Day Now" 14:10

2y ago14:10

14:10

For nearly 25 years Mercedes workers in Vance have tried to unionize, but have never gotten so close. Early last month workers at Mercedes reached 50% for the first time in plant history. "I came in '98. And they had a campaign going on, and were gaining momentum. And they just couldn't reach that 50% mark," says Kirk Garner, one of the leaders of …

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Koch Industries Using "Texas Two-Step" to Prevent Asbestos Victims from Going to Court 22:24

2y ago22:24

22:24

This week, as part of our podcast, Payday Report spoke to Lori Knapp and her lawyer, Jon Ruschdeki, who have been involved in a 6-year lawsuit against Koch Industries-owned Georgia Pacific but have yet to see their day in court. The lawsuit stems from her father Ed Chapman's death in 2020 from mesothelioma. Her father contracted the disease as a co…

7y ago0:43

0:43

Today’s facts:- It was discovered on a space mission that a frog can throw up.- If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days, you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.- Mailing an entire building has been illegal in the U.S. since 1916 when a man mailed a 40,000-ton brick house across Utah to avoid high freight rates.…