The Bethlehem Project: Steel’s legacy looms large
FT News Briefing
Forhecz Topher
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 28 June 2026
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Bethlehem Steel was the lifeblood of Pennsylvanian town's economy, and a major contributor to American manufacturing during the 20th century. But when the local plant closed in the 1990s and the company went bankrupt in the early 2000s, Bethlehem’s economy didn’t crater. It pivoted to other industries such as transportation and healthcare.
Host Sonja Hutson takes us through the rise and fall of Bethlehem Steel and introduces us to steelworker-turned-nurse, Bill Leiner. He’s a living example of how an economy can adapt and rebuild after a major disruption.
Listen to all episodes of The Bethlehem Project here.
The Bethlehem Project is hosted and produced by Sonja Hutson and edited by Marc Filippino. This episode was mixed by Breen Turner. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. The FT’s global head of audio is Flo Phillips. Special thanks to Pierre Nicholson.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's hard to miss the legacy of steel when you come to Bethlehem. The rusted out former mill looms over the city. The 200-plus foot-tall blast furnaces are long out of commission, and they make their own unique skyline that's kind of like a memorial to a bygone industrial economy. |
| 0:28.7 | When this plant was running, it was like a city unto itself. They had traffic lights, guards, security. They had a bus system to drive around. |
| 0:38.5 | 72-year-old Bill Liner and I are standing just across the street from those giant towers. |
| 0:44.9 | Bill's wearing a blue fleece jacket and scratches his salt and pepper stubble as we crane our necks |
| 0:50.9 | up to look at an old industrial brick building. |
| 0:57.3 | And this is the machine shop. This is where I basically worked in it. I worked there first. All in all, Bill spent more than 20 years working for Bethlehem Steel in some capacity. |
| 1:03.1 | I worked in first, second, and third floor over my career. It was old when I hired in in 1973. |
| 1:09.6 | Of course, it's older down. Some of the windows have been knocked out, and others are yellowed with age. I just wish we could get in there, just to walk around a seat. Well, now there's nothing. It was all, last time I was in there was a few years ago. It was all cleaned out. And it was really it was eerie because you walk into it and all your memories are there. |
| 1:31.4 | And you can picture all these different machines where they were, walked upstairs. |
| 1:34.3 | Bill helped make wheels for the cranes throughout the plants. |
| 1:37.6 | It was hard work and it could be dangerous too. |
| 1:43.7 | Myself had an accident. I had eight stitches in my index finger and five on my thumb. It wrapped around a string, piece of string stick. |
| 1:46.7 | I'm looking, and I said, whoa. |
| 1:48.3 | And I just right to the bone. |
| 1:50.5 | Ugh. |
| 1:51.4 | Well, Bill's thumb is okay now. |
| 1:54.3 | But workplace accidents aside, Bethlehem Steel was so significant to the national economy in the 20th century that it was one of 30 blue chip companies that made up the Dow Jones Industrial Average. |
| 2:07.8 | It was important locally here, too. It was the area's largest employer. |
| 2:12.8 | My dad worked here, my brother worked here in the summer. My brother-in-law worked here. And we talk about |
| 2:18.2 | this all the time and we get together. But the U.S. economy changed a lot in the 1970s and 80s, |
| 2:24.6 | and it hit the company hard. They kept the buildings in good shape when they were making money. |
| 2:30.1 | As a company slowly went down, you could notice they weren't painting as much. They weren't |
... |
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