In this episode, we dig deep into the labor standoffs, service breakdowns, and survival strategies defining this American summer.
🔹 First up: The trash piling up in Boston isn’t just a nuisance—it’s the product of a two-week strike by Teamsters Local 25 against Republic Services. With failed negotiations, accusations flying, and the strike spreading coast to coast, we explore what happens when essential workers walk off the job—and the services we all take for granted suddenly stop.
🔹 Then: A tragic death in California highlights the human cost of the Trump administration’s renewed crackdown on undocumented immigrant workers. Farmworkers are organizing in protest—and demanding to be seen not as threats, but as the backbone of America’s food supply.
🔹 Next: Legal services workers across New York are escalating a coordinated strike campaign, fighting for the resources and respect they need to serve some of the city’s most vulnerable residents.
🔹 Also: Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder brings us to Easthampton, Massachusetts, where a food pantry is buckling under the weight of demand. We talk hunger, dignity, and the real-world consequences of budget cuts to programs like SNAP.
🔹 Finally: Meet the Gen Z workers turning 3-job hustles into TikTok content, not for clout, but out of necessity. From Dunkin’ shifts at dawn to late-night content creation, we look at what it means to survive—let alone thrive—in a system stacked against you.
Takeaway: From the curb to the court, the fields to the food banks, and the TikTok feed to the picket line, this episode asks: What happens when the people who keep everything running start saying no?
📢 Subscribe, leave a review, and share if you believe essential work should come with essential dignity.
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