It's an EmMajority Report Thursday! She speaks with Hamilton Nolan, labor writer at In These Times and author of the How Things Work newsletter on SubStack, to discuss his recent book The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor.

First, Emma runs through updates on Harris’ recent sit-down on Fox, Lina Khan’s role at the FTC under Biden, polling, Israel’s ongoing offensives and genocide in Gaza, US aid to Israel, Biden’s EPA, Georgia’s election shenanigans, Jimmy Carter’s age 100 ballot, DeSantis’ war on Florida’s abortion ballot measure, and a landmark settlement over the LA Catholic Church’s systemic sexual abuse, before diving a little deeper into assessments of Harris’ antagonistic interview on Fox. Hamilton Nolan then joins, diving right into the tight-knit and interdependent relationship between social movements and the institutions that cement the progress these movements seek, unpacking the central role labor unions have played as a ground zero for channeling the energy of social unrest into concrete political progress. After expanding on the disintegration of the state of labor in the US over the last 70 years, with even Biden – perhaps the most pro-union president over that time – overseeing a one-point drop in union rates, and the factors that drove that drop (namely staunch anti-union, anti-organizing, and pro-corporation legislation), Nolan steps back to explore how the environment that this dearth of union power has created makes it exceedingly difficult to push back against it, creating a completely asymmetrical battle between workers and corporations, and why the recent renaissance of labor consciousness – bolstered by folks like Sarah Nelson, Shawn Fian, and Felix Allen – must be capitalized on not just through legislation, by but widening and organizing the millions of Americans that still exist outside of these institutions, something essential to maintaining the progress that these unions can cement. Hamilton and Emma also touch on the major role labor is playing in pushing back against the anti-democratic (and anti-labor) urges of US imperialism, wrapping up the interview by exploring the changing image of the American worker (and the American union member), and why that must be embraced. Emma also touches on Trump’s egotistic and anti-social musings about the state of immigration under Biden-Harris.

And in the Fun Half: Emma is joined by Matt Binder and Brandon Sutton as they talk with El Connipción from San Antonio about Ethan Klein and the conflation of Zionism and Judaism, watch Ezra Klein respond truly horrendously to Ta-Nehisi Coates challenging his inherent biases, and discuss the hypocrisy of White Supremacist rhetoric with Todd from Raleigh. Elon and Tucker bond over being complete and utter charlatans, while Krystal Ball does her best to unpack exactly Saager Enjeti is an idiot, plus, your calls and IMs!

Check out Hamilton's book here: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/hamilton-nolan/the-hammer/9781668637517/?lens=hachette-books

Check out Hamilton's writing at In These Times here: https://inthesetimes.com/authors/hamilton-nolan

Check out the "How Things Work" newsletter here: https://www.hamiltonnolan.com/

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