Linda and Mark explore what is collective bargaining and why it important for all of us. James Schumacher, our featured interviewee, talks about his job as a UPS Teamster driver, what's been going on with the union, bargaining with UPS and the likelihood of a strike on August 1st. We also look at the state of rail workers, the new strike by SAG-AFTRA, labor history from Matewan, W. Virginia, and the Federal court injunction against the Biden Admin for censorship on social media.
Our Word of the Week is “Artificial Intelligence Data Centers.” We will take a deep dive into AI, their data centers, the possible impacts on Montana and why it has created so much opposition. Then we will hear the press conference of the Missoula’s Travois Village Tenants Union and why they organized. Lastly we will inspect the saber-rattling and murder by the Trump Administration over Venezuela. Hosts this week are Sue Kirchmyer, Soundman Jim and Mark.
We open and close this show with a reading of just a few dozen of the names of thousands of children killed in Gaza by Israel's genocide. Our Word of the Week is “Platform” and is connected to today’s show which features a press conference by four Western Montana Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) candidates and their platform for the Missoula City Council. We will look at two national polls that show widespread support for democratic socialism in the US. Finally, we look at the latest disturbing step toward authoritarianism of the Trump Administration. Co-hosted by Soundman Jim, Linda Gillison and Mark.
Our Word of the Week is “Police.” The following aretwo lectures on the topic of police and bail abolition sponsored by the Western Montana Democratic Socialists of America. These lectures were presented on September 15, 2025 in Missoula by Kristian Williams and Riley Pavelich.
Today’s show features an interview with Brandon Bryant, Missoula native and resident whom we have featured on this show in the past. He will talk about his recent altercation with the Missoula Police. Our word of the Week is “assassination,” as we discuss the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the responses to it. We then look at the Trump Administration’s DOGE efforts at the Social Security Administration and its results so far. We have a follow-up story about the U.S. Border Patrol agents arresting two firefighters working on the fire line on the Olympic Peninsula. We explore the truly historic events happening around the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s annual meeting in Tianjin, China that has profound implications for the US empire. And finally, we have a follow-up to this spring’s general strike in Panama, where the workers emerged victorious over the Panamanian government and the Chiquita Brands corporation.
With Sue Kirchmyer, Soundman Jim and Mark today’s show features an interview of Lawrence Abbott of Move to Amend about their effort to amend the United States Constitution to end corporate personhood and state that money is not speech. Our word of the Week is “labor.” We look at the Trump Administration’s attack on the workers of the EPA. We look at U.S. Border Patrol agents arresting two firefighters working on the fire line on the Olympic Peninsula. We look at the inhuman prison conditions at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, suffered by a farmworker union organizer. And finally, we look at how the flight attendants at Canada Air defied both the company and the government – and won.
Mark hosts today’s show which features interviews of 8 participants in the 2025 Democratic Socialists of America biennial national convention held in Chicago on August 8th through the 10th. The Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA, is the largest socialist organization in the US for over 100 years with nearly 100,000 members in over 200 chapters in 48 states.
Sue Kirchmyer, Soundman Jim and Mark take a dive into our word of the week: “immigration.” We will hear from immigration attorney Randal Caudle about the state of legal affairs around immigration and how it is affecting immigrant communities. We will explore some history of US policy on immigration. We will also look at the current Trump efforts and how his budget bill greatly expands the reach of ICE. And we will conclude with some things that citizens can do.
On this week's Voice of the People our featured presentation is a speech given by Montana House Representative Zooey Zephyr titled “Building Socialism at the State Level.” Our word of the week is “gerrymandering" and we will hear an exclusive report of a trial in North Carolina challenging the state’s voting districts by our own Linda Gillison. We will then look at two ICE arrests in Montana and what people might want to do to oppose ICE activity in Montana.
Hosted by Soundman Jim and Mark, our word of the week is “Pay Attention,” because very major historical events are happening right now that working class Montanans need to be paying attention to. One major event is the Democratic primary election victory of a Muslim immigrant democratic socialist for mayor of New York City. Another major event is the US and Israeli attack on Iran, which we will explore with Professor Richard Drake. Then we will look at President Trump’s Big Budget Bill now before Congress, that has profound implications for the working class in Montana and the US. Finally, we remember US Representative Pat Williams and how he stood up for the working class.
Soundman Jim, Linda Gillison and Mark explore our word of the week: ICE, as in the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. We will look closely at the recent events in Los Angeles surrounding ICE, as well as the event in Spokane, Washington. We will also hear from several of the participants of the Spokane ICE protest. And then we hear from Robbie Liben who reads his opinion piece on “The Lessons of Vietnam at 50.”
Our word of the week is “General Strike,” which we describe and pull up stories on some general strikes from this year. We then hear from Rose, a leader of Missoula Resists, who are organizing to oppose some of the Trump agenda. We then discuss an opinion piece I wrote on how to organize a general strike here in Montana. We finish with discussing a horrifying practice by the nation’s largest health insurance company, United Health. Co-hosted by Sue Kirchmyer, Soundman Jim and Mark.
Our word of the week is “Missoula Unions,” in reference to the panel discussion of union members held on May Day, sponsored by the Western Montana chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, that we will play in its entirety. We will follow up the panel discussion recording with the thoughts and analysis of our Voice of the People hosts, Linda Gillison, Soundman Jim and Mark.
Sue Kirchmyer, Soundman Jim and Mark host this week's show. Our word of the week is “Oligarchy,” in reference to the recent speaking tour of Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, and Sara Nelson called “Fighting the Oligarchy.” We will listen to all three speeches given In Missoula at the end of that tour for most of our show today. We will follow up those speeches with thoughts and analysis of our Voice of the People hosts, all of whom attended.
Soundman Jim and Mark host this show where our word of the week is “Hands Off,” in regard to the massive nationwide protests on April 5th. We will hear from speakers and participants of the Missoula event held at the Missoula County Courthouse. We will also hear from the Montanans for Palestine rally that immediately followed the rally at the Courthouse.
Our word of the week is “Medicaid,” the publicly funded heathcare insurance. We will hear from a rally in Missoula on March 18th in front of US Senator Steve Daine’s office called “No Medicaid Cuts.” Then we hear from our intrepid Soundman Jim who will share some of what he learned in Japan. Then we continue our series of roundtable discussions about the prospects of revolution in this time of the failing empire and oligarchy with Celia Winkler and Sarah McClain.
The word of the Week is Affordable Housing. And so we listen in on the Maple Street Flats Tenants Association as they outline their struggles in their affordable housing. Then we hear from the Executive Director of the Missoula Housing Authority, the landlord of the Maple Street Flats, who responds to the tenants concerns. The last half of the show is a new feature of Voice of the People. Featuring Dave Jones and John Wolverton, it is the first of a series of discussions on our current situation and how we can respond meaningfully and effectively to it.
Linda Gillison and Mark host today's show. Our word of the week is “Missoula City Council.” After providing some introduction about Missoula, for the rest of the show we will listen to a panel presentation from January 30th by Missoula City Councillors Kristen Jordan and Daniel Carlino, entitled “Socialism in Missoula,” sponsored by the Western Montana Democratic Socialists of America.
Our word of the week is “Empire” and in the last half of the show we will hear University of Montana history professor Richard Drake share his views on the current state of the US Empire. Before that, we will look at organized workers taking strike action at Starbucks, Amazon, and the healthcare workers at the Providence hospitals in Oregon. Plus, we look at the actions of the Swedish Dockworkers Union voting to block Israeli military shipments at their docks. And we hear from Western Montana DSA organizer Robbie Liben and his opinion piece on the healthcare insurance system in the US.
Linda Gillison, Soundman Jim and Mark host the show this week. Our word of the week is “H-1B Visa” and how they are affecting workers in the computer and software industries. We will then take a look at the war of words in the Trump camp over these same H-1B visas. Then we turn to H-2B visas, what the outgoing Biden Administration is doing with them and how it affects US truckers. Next, we hear DSA organizer Robbie Liben read his opinion piece on the assassination of the United Healthcare CEO and the health insurance industry. Then we look at the recent massive increase in the number of unhoused. We look at the late Jimmy Carter’s record on labor issues in his one-term as President. Finally, we discuss the failed mega-merger of grocery giants Albertsons and Kroger.