E69: Howard Zinn 100, part 1
Working Class History
Working Class History
5.0 • 813 Ratings
🗓️ 17 August 2022
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistoryYou can listen to our podcast on the below links, or on any major podcast app. Links to a few below.
Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States and other texts, was one of the most influential historians in the US in the 20th-century, inspiring a generation to study history from below, including us. Born in New York in August 1922, we are releasing these episodes for the centenary of his birth, as part of a series of Howard Zinn 100 events. In these episodes, Zinn tells the story of his life, his activism, his ideas and his work in his own words, in what was one of his last, if not the last, interview before his sudden death in 2010. This little-known interview was conducted by Sasha Lilley, and excerpts from it are used with permission of Lilley and PM Press.
A DVD video of the full interview is available here in our online store: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/products/theory-and-practice-conversations-with-noam-chomsky-and-howard-zinn-dvd
Get A People's History of the United States from an independent bookstore here: https://bookshop.org/a/80203/9780062397348
Get the rest of the People's History series here from an independent bookstore: https://bookshop.org/lists/people-s-history-series
Full show notes, sources acknowledgements and a transcript on the webpage for this episode here: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e69-70-howard-zinn-100/
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | 100 years ago exactly, Howard Zinn was born in New York. |
| 0:03.2 | A shipyard worker, World War II Bombardier, playwright, academic and historian, |
| 0:08.5 | Zinn took part in workplace organizing, the civil rights movement, the movement against the Vietnam War, |
| 0:13.7 | and countless other campaigns. He was spied on by the FBI and authorities around the world |
| 0:18.5 | tried to ban his books, which have inspired a generation |
| 0:21.3 | of others to take up the task of researching and promoting history from below, including |
| 0:25.6 | us. |
| 0:26.8 | This is working class history. |
| 0:28.4 | To the morning, before alzata Oh, bella, |
| 0:40.9 | Ciao, Bella, Ciao, and in return, |
| 0:44.1 | And in return, get |
| 0:51.3 | started. |
| 0:51.6 | Just a quick reminder that our podcast is brought to you by our Patreon supporters. |
| 0:56.2 | Our supporters fund our work and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. |
| 1:04.7 | For example, our Patreon supporters can listen to both parts of this double episode now. |
| 1:09.4 | Join us or find out more at patreon.com |
| 1:12.2 | slash working class history. Link in the show notes. Howard Zinn was without doubt one of the |
| 1:18.0 | most influential US historians of the last century, particularly his work of a people's history |
| 1:22.8 | of the United States, first published in 1980 and since expanded and republished multiple times. |
| 1:29.0 | A US bestseller, which has sold over 2 million copies and been translated into multiple languages. |
| 1:35.1 | The New York Times in Howard's obituary declared that the book, quote, inspired a generation of high school and college students to rethink American history, end quote. |
| 1:48.0 | We at WCH are some of the many people who were inspired by his work. In fact, we almost named our project People's History in a deliberate homage to Zinn's book, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Working Class History, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Working Class History and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

