The right-wing talks a big economic populist game, claiming that the working class is their chief concern. But their pro-worker words don’t translate into pro-worker actions. During the first Trump administration, for instance, Republicans killed raising the minimum wage and created a higher threshold for workers to be eligible for overtime pay. Plus, Trump’s Supreme Court justice selections represent the most anti-worker judges in a century. This week, we’re joined by Steven Greenhouse, the labor and workplace reporter at the New York Times for 19 years, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, and author of the book, Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor, as well as Heather Cox Richardson, author of Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America. Together, they examine the history of labor in the US and explore what populist rhetoric offers Americans when it's accompanied by policies that undermine workers.

Follow The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart on social media for more: 

 > YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@weeklyshowpodcast

> Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weeklyshowpodcast

> TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@weeklyshowpodcast 

> X: https://x.com/weeklyshowpod

Host/Executive Producer – Jon Stewart

Executive Producer – James Dixon

Executive Producer – Chris McShane

Executive Producer – Caity Gray

Lead Producer – Lauren Walker

Producer – Brittany Mehmedovic

Video Editor & Engineer – Rob Vitolo

Audio Editor & Engineer – Nicole Boyce

Researcher/AP – Gillian Spear

Music by Hansdle Hsu

—

This podcast is brought to you by:

ZipRecruiter

Try it for free at this exclusive web address: ziprecruiter.com/ZipWeekly

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices