Whatever Happened To "Essential" Workers

02/15/23 • 41 min

How did the COVID pandemic affect America’s workers—especially those deemed “essential” who often were poorly paid, nonunionized, lacked meaningful benefits, and were required to continue working while most other workers stayed home? How did these workers respond to the health risks they encountered on the job, and how did their struggle for labor justice transform—at least for a while—political discourse and consciousness in America? Jamie McCallum and Mark Williams explore these and other issues in this episode of New Frontiers.

SHOW NOTES:

For more information on this and other podcasts go to the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs at Middlebury College website https://www.middlebury.edu/office/rohatyn

Essential by Jamie K. McCallum (Basic Books Nov 2022)

Music Credits

Forte by Ketsa - Summer with Sound Album
Soul Zone by Ketsa - Light Rising Album

Produced by Mark Williams and Margaret DeFoor. Edited by Jonah Roberts (Middlebury ’23) and Margaret DeFoor.

SHOW NOTES:

For more information on this and other podcasts go to the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs at Middlebury College website https://www.middlebury.edu/office/rohatyn

Essential by Jamie K. McCallum (Basic Books Nov 2022)

Music Credits

Forte by Ketsa - Summer with Sound Album
Soul Zone by Ketsa - Light Rising Album

Produced by Mark Williams and Margaret DeFoor. Edited by Jonah Roberts (Middlebury ’23) and Margaret DeFoor.

Previous Episode

Understanding Slavery in Medieval China

Slavery lasted for centuries in China, and yet its particulars are not well known. In this episode of New Frontiers, historian Don Wyatt takes us back to help us understand how the institution thrived during imperial times and the roles it played in Chinese culture.

Despite its long pedigree, Chinese slavery during medieval times has failed to attract wide scholarly attention. Hence, questions about it abound. What was slavery like in medieval China? How was it similar to—or different from—the institution of slavery found in other societies and at other times? Who were the enslaved in the Chinese context, why were they enslaved, and what function did slavery serve in Chinese society? In this episode of New Frontiers, historian Don Wyatt sits down with Mark Williams to discuss these and other issues.

SHOW NOTES:
For more information: Cambridge Element Slavery in East Asia
Music Credits

Forte by Kestra - Summer with Sound Album
Soul Zone by Kestra - Light Rising Album

Produced by Margaret DeFoor and Mark Williams.

Next Episode

Why We Need Environmental Justice Part 1 of 2

Part 1 of 2
What is meant by such terms as environmental injustice or environmental racism? What is the environmental justice movement and how is it manifest—in the United States and beyond? In this episode of New Frontiers, political scientist Kemi Fuentes-George discusses these topics and what achieving environmental justice for marginalized populations might actually entail.

SHOW NOTES

For more information on this and other podcasts go to the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs at Middlebury College website https://www.middlebury.edu/office/rohatyn

Between Preservation and Exploitation by Kemi Fuentes-George (MIT Press)

Music Credits