This is Jacobin Radio. I'm Susie Wiseman. Today we look at political turmoil in France with Sebastian

Budgeon and Labor and the Teamsters at home with Joe Allen. We begin in France with Sebastian Budgen, and Laborer and the Teamsters at home were Joe Allen.

We begin in France, where Prime Minister Francois-Ber-Rue's government has collapsed after losing a vote of confidence.

President Emmanuel Macron's relentless drive to impose austerity has sparked yet another wave of resistance, the block

Everything mobilization on September 10th, which brought unions, students, and grassroots activists

into the streets with another national strike set for September 18. To help us understand this

moment, I'm joined by Sebastian Budgen, longtime analyst of French politics.

Over the years, I've spoken with him about explosive social movements that have stopped governments in their tracks.

Today, we ask, what makes this mobilization different?

And what does this crisis mean for the left, the far right, Macron's presidency, and the future of the 5th Republic?

And then Joe Allen joins me to talk about his new book, Teamsterland, a story of the union's power, myths, and contradictions.

In 2023, after a year-long contract campaign and practice pickets, the Teamsters came close to launching one of the largest strikes in U.S. history before reaching a last-minute agreement with UPS covering 340,000 workers.

Leaders hailed it as game-changing, but some Teamsters worried about what was left on the table. And just months later,

Teamster President Sean O'Brien stunned many by speaking at the Republican National Convention.

From the near strike at UPS to O'Brien's embrace of Donald Trump, Alan shows how the

teamsters' fate mirrors the challenges facing American working class.

That's all coming up when our program returns in just a moment.

This is Jacobin Radio. I'm Susie Wiseman.

France is once again in turmoil.

Prime Minister Francois-Beroux's government has collapsed after a no-confidence vote,

exposing the fragility of Emmanuel Macron's neoliberal project and indeed the depth of the crisis of legitimacy for his government. Mayuruch has tried to push through sweeping austerity measures, cutting pensions, public services, even holidays, in line with EU fiscal rules and Macron's austerity agenda. But mounting resistance and the rise of a new wave of protest, the Block Everything movement, forced his fall.

The new wave of protests, the mobilization for September 10th, brought unions, students, and grassroots activists into the streets under the Block Everything banner,

...