Working, Then And Now

Radio Diaries

Radio Diaries & Radiotopia

Documentary, Society & Culture

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 9 September 2022

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the early 1970s, radio host and oral historian Studs Terkel went around the country, tape recorder in hand, interviewing people about their jobs. The interviews were compiled into a 1974 book called “Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do,” which became a bestseller.

This week, we’re revisiting two of those conversations. The first is with Gary Bryner, an auto worker and union leader. The second is with Renault Robinson, a police officer. We spoke with both men four decades after their original interviews.

These stories originally aired on NPR in 2016.

Transcript

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0:00.0	While we've got you, we want to tell you about a radio-topia show with some news to share.
0:04.8	Your hustle is celebrating its 100th episode.
0:08.1	This season, the show will be revisiting its very first episode,
0:12.4	a listener favorite called Sellies, about the relationships formed inside a prison cell.
0:18.2	But this time, there's a twist.
0:20.4	The whole episode takes place inside a women's prison.
0:24.2	And the show checks in on one of its producers, Roshan New York Thomas,
0:28.9	who was recently released from prison for an inside look at life on parole.
0:33.7	And producers spend a marathon 14 hours out on the yard at Sam Quentin,
0:38.8	from dungeons and dragons to dominoes,
0:41.2	gospel, to geese, weightlifting, to just waiting.
0:44.4	They've got the sounds and stories to prove it.
0:51.1	From PRX.
0:52.6	From PRX's radio-topia, this is Radio Diaries. I'm Joe Richmond.
0:56.4	Recently, over Labor Day weekend, I came across a statistic that surprised me.
1:02.1	A recent Gallup poll found that 71% of Americans approve of labor unions.
1:07.5	That's the highest number since 1965.
1:11.3	The stat got me thinking about an interview we did a few years back with Gary Breiner,
1:15.7	a former leader of the United Auto Workers.
1:19.4	Breiner was first interviewed by Studs Terkel for his 1974 book Working,
1:24.1	which chronicled what people do all day and how they feel about what they do.
1:28.8	Boring monotonous work. I don't give a shit what anybody says.
	...

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