Working Class History

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History isn't made by kings and politicians, it's made by all of us. This podcast is about how we, together, have fought for a better world.
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Top 10 Working Class History Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Working Class History episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Working Class History for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Working Class History episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

E8: Available on patreon only for the time being

Working Class History

07/28/18 • 0 min

This episode about the strike wave in the US during the Vietnam War was one of our earliest episodes, which wasn't great quality. So for the moment it has been taken off-line while we work on improving it and rereleasing it.
The original, old episode, is available exclusively for our patreon supporters, here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/wch-e8-vietnam-19994520
You can join us and help fund our work improving our old episodes and producing new ones on patreon at https://patreon.com/workingclasshistory
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-history--5711490/support.

WCL11: Florence Working-Class Literature Festival, part 2

Working Class History

03/12/25 • 49 min

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-class writers who have participated in the festival: Claudia Durastanti, who helps organise the festivals, and Anthony Cartwright, who has attended the last two.
In this episode, we discuss what went on at the last two festivals and what made them different from conventional literary events: from the attendees and various events and presentations to the participation of GKN workers not just in logistics but in readings and performances. We also discuss the possibilities for the future of the festival - and for the GKN struggle itself.
Full show notes including further reading, photos, a documentary about the GKN struggle, and a full transcript are available on our website: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/wcl10-11-florence-working-class-literature-festival/
Acknowledgements

Many thanks also to Alberto Prunetti and Edizioni Alegre for giving us permission to reproduce photos from previous years' festivals
Thanks to all our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jamison D. Saltsman, Jazz Hands, Fernando Lopez Ojeda and Jeremy Cusimano
Our theme tune for these episodes is ‘Occupiamola’ (or ‘Let’s Occupy It’) as sung on a GKN workers’ demonstration in 2024. Many thanks to Reel News London for letting us use their recording. Watch the documentary it's taken from here
This episode was edited by Tyler Hill

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-history--5711490/support.

E84: Angry Brigade, part 2

Working Class History

01/18/24 • 44 min

Second in a double podcast about the Angry Brigade, Britain’s first home-grown urban guerrilla group, in the 1960s and 70s, in conversation with John Barker, who was put on trial as part of the group.
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
Continuing our recent series of episodes about the UK in the 1970s, this is a re-edited, improved and re-released version of our episodes 2-3. It contains numerous additional audio clips, and written narrative to provide context and more information.
More information

Gordon Carr, The Angry Brigade: A History Of Britain’s First Urban Guerilla Group (PM Press, 2010) – a detailed history of the Angry Brigade.
The Angry Brigade 1967-1984: Documents And Chronology (Active Distribution) – a pamphlet containing a detailed chronology of the organisation and the scene of which it was a part, as well as documents produced by the group
The Angry Brigade: The Spectacular Rise And Fall Of Britain’s First Urban Guerilla Group – a DVD documentary by Gordon Carr on the history of the group.
John Barker, Futures (PM Press, 2014) – novel by John Barker set in Thatcher’s Britain.
Timeline of Stories about the Angry Brigade
TheHarrier.net – John Barker’s website including his other books and writings.
Anselm Jappe, Guy Debord (PM Press, 2018) – the best biography of Situationist intellectual Guy Debord.
Red Army Faction books – a collection of books about the German RAF.
John Barker’s radical London playlist – a collection of tracks which Brigaders were listening to at the time.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Jamison D. Saltsman and Fernando López Ojeda.
Edited by Tyler Hill
Theme tune is ‘Bella Ciao’, thanks for permission to use it from Dischi del Sole. You can purchase it here or stream it here.

More information, sources, and eventually a transcript on the webpage for this episode: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e83-4-angry-brigade/
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-history--5711490/support.

E11: The GI resistance in Vietnam, part 2

Working Class History

08/13/18 • 52 min

Concluding part of our two-part episode on the GI resistance to the Vietnam war, in conversation with Jerry Lembcke, a Vietnam army veteran, now sociologist and author. Most further reading is linked to in the show notes of part 1.
Support our work by backing us on patreon and get exclusive audio and other benefits: https://patreon.com/workingclasshistory
This article gives a good general overview of the GI resistance movement: https://libcom.org/history/1961-1973-gi-resistance-in-the-vietnam-war
This is our GI resistance merchandise in our online store: https://working-class-history.myshopify.com/collections/vietnam-gi-resistance
This is our short video history of the movement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzhM9eDoM80
This is our playlist of Vietnam war protest music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Pj9AucSc9Y&list=PL71HxBMvC6bxaaxqKun66juixXqPZFjCN
You can get Jerry Lembcke's books here: https://www.amazon.com/Jerry-Lembcke/e/B001HCZKCS/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1533499864&sr=1-1
FOOTNOTES
– Here you can get the excellent documentary, Sir, No Sir!: https://www.amazon.com/Sir-No-Suppressed-Movement-Vietnam/dp/B000IB0DE4
– This is an article Jerry wrote on the "spitting" myth: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/13/opinion/myth-spitting-vietnam-protester.html
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
– This episode was edited by Stephanie Hydal: http://www.stephaniehydal.com/portfolio/
– Music used this episode was "Ain't Going to Study War no more" by Leon Lishner and Friends – http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Leon_Lishner_and_Friends/Songs_For_The_Dawn_Of_Peace/26_-_Aint_Gonna_Study_War_No_More_Down_by_the_Riverside_USA – licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License – https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-history--5711490/support.

E101: [TEASER] Radical Reads – ‘Fractured: Race, Class, Gender and the Hatred of Identity Politics’

Working Class History

02/12/25 • 27 min

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 Politics. The book pushes back against the idea of 'identity politics' as a vaguely defined and universal bogeyman for both left and right-wing politics.
Instead, they show how 'identity' is not just a ‘subjective’ idea in people’s heads, but the result of real, material ways the working class is structured according to race, gender, nationality etc by the various divisions of labour, immigration laws, etc. And, as we discuss in the episode, what often gets called ‘identity politics’ is actually an attempt to think through how class functions, and is acted upon, in the reality through which it’s lived.
Listen to the full episode here:

E101: Radical Reads – ‘Fractured: Race, Class, Gender and the Hatred of Identity Politics’

More information:

Buy Fractured: Race, Class, Gender and the Hatred of Identity Politics from an independent bookshop
'Aliens at the Border' – a lightly edited version of Chapter Four from Fractured, looking at Jewish immigration to Britain from Eastern Europe in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century
'Fascism and the Women's Cause: Gender Critical Feminism, Suffragettes and the Women's KKK' – piece by Alex and Michael looking at the link between contemporary transphobic feminists and the far-right by placing it against reactionary elements within the women's suffrage movement, and trajectories which led some into the Ku Klux Klan and British Union of Fascists
Listen to an earlier Radical Reads episode with Michael, discussing David Baddiel's hilariously terrible book, Jews Don't Count
Books and merch related to Black history and struggle
Books and merch related to women's history and struggle
Books and merch related to LGBTQ history and struggle
Webpage for the episode is available here: https://workingclasshistory.com/blog/e101-radical-reads-fractured-race-class-gender-and-the-hatred-of-identity-politics/

Acknowledgements

Thanks to our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Jamison D. Saltsman, Fernando López Ojeda, Jeremy Cusimano, and Nick Williams.
The episode image of a London Black Lives Matter protest, 2020. Credit: Katie Crampton, Wikimedia UK (with additional design by WCH). CC BY-SA 4.0.
Edited by Louise Barry
Our theme tune is Montaigne’s version of the classic labour movement anthem, ‘Bread and Roses’, performed by Montaigne and Nick Harriott, and mixed by Wave Racer. Download the song here, with all proceeds going to Medical Aid for Palestinians. More from Montaigne: website, Instagram, YouTube

Become a supporter of this podcast:

E87: Class struggle in Palestine, part 2

Working Class History

06/12/24 • 48 min

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 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.
In this episode, we spoke to Palestinian scholar and activist, Leena Dallasheh. Her research focuses on the history of Palestine/Israel, with a particular interest in Palestinians who became citizens of Israel in 1948. For more info on Leena and her research, you can check her website.
Be sure to also check out 'Falastin: A Digital Monument' by Collecteurs, of which these episodes are a part.
More information, including sources, further reading, images and eventually a transcript are on the webpage for this episode: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e86-87-class-struggle-in-palestine/
Acknowledgements

Thanks to our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Jamison D. Saltsman, Fernando López Ojeda and Jeremy Cusimano.
Edited by Tyler Hill
Episode graphic: public domain/Library of Congress.
Our theme tune is Bella Ciao, thanks for permission to use it from Dischi del Sole. You can purchase it here or stream it here

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-history--5711490/support.

E1: This episode has now moved to episodes 67-68

Working Class History

02/28/18 • 0 min

This episode has been significantly reworked and improved, and has been rereleased as episodes 67-68.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-history--5711490/support.

E103: Pirates, part 1

Working Class History

04/16/25 • 36 min

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 people everywhere.
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 1 covers the historical and economic background, the different eras of piracy in the golden age, about life at sea, how people became pirates.
Our patreon supporters can listen to part 2 now early, covering the extent of piracy, how pirates organise themselves, how colonial powers fought them, the decline of pirates, and their legacy today: available here for early listening for our patreon supporters.
More information, and eventually a transcript on the webpage for this episode here: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e103-pirates/
Get Marcus's Books:

Acknowledgements

Thanks to our Patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Jamison D. Saltsman, Fernando López Ojeda, Nick Williams and Old Norm.
Written by Audrey Kemp and Tyler Hill
Produced by Tyler Hill
Episode graphic: Painting depicting the capture of Blackbeard, by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, 1920. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons
Our theme tune is Bella Ciao, thanks for permission to use it from Dischi del Sole. You can purchase it here or stream it here.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-history--5711490/support.

E98: [TEASER] Radical Reads – ‘Jews Don’t Count’ by David Baddiel

Working Class History

01/01/25 • 20 min

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 Count. In this book, Baddiel claims that the key thing about contemporary antisemitism is the left's confusion over it, and how this confusion means that Jews are uniquely excluded from left-wing political discourse and activism.
We discuss (and make fun of) Baddiel's book for about an hour and a half covering every aspect of his shallow understanding of racism, whiteness, Jewishness and antisemitism, and why Baddiel should probably get new friends.
Listen to the full episode here:

E98: Radical Reads – ‘Jews Don’t Count’ by David Baddiel

More information:

Read Michael's excellent book (co-authored with Alex Charnley), Fractured: Race, Class, Gender and the Hatred of Identity Politics
A number of Michael's articles can be found here and here. Some which are particularly relevant to this discussion are:
Timeline of people's history stories about radical Jewish history
The webpage for this episode is available here: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e98-radical-reads-jews-dont-count-by-david-baddiel/

Acknowledgements

Thanks to our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Jamison D. Saltsman, Fernando López Ojeda, Jeremy Cusimano, and Nick Williams.
The episode image of David Baddiel at Soho Theatre, 2020. Credit: Raph PH (with additional design by WCH). CC 2.0.
Edited by Jesse French
Our theme tune is Montaigne’s version of the classic labour movement anthem, ‘Bread and Roses’, performed by Montaigne and Nick Harriott, and mixed by Wave Racer. Download the song here, with all proceeds going to Medical Aid for Palestinians. More from Montaigne: website, Instagram, YouTube.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-history--5711490/support.

E5: This episode has now moved to episode 82

Working Class History

04/25/18 • 0 min

This episode has been significantly reworked and improved, and has been rereleased as episode 82.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-history--5711490/support.

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FAQ

How many episodes does Working Class History have?

Working Class History currently has 120 episodes available.

What topics does Working Class History cover?

The podcast is about History, Podcasts and Education.

What is the most popular episode on Working Class History?

The episode title 'WCL E01: T-Bone Slim – the laureate of the logging camps' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Working Class History?

The average episode length on Working Class History is 38 minutes.

How often are episodes of Working Class History released?

Episodes of Working Class History are typically released every 14 days, 2 hours.

When was the first episode of Working Class History?

The first episode of Working Class History was released on Feb 28, 2018.

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Working Class History