Episodios

  • E11: Florence Working-Class Literature Festival

    E11: Florence Working-Class Literature Festival
    Mar 12 2025
    Part 2 of our double-episode about the Working-Class Literature Festival held every year in Florence, at the former GKN car parts factory, which was taken over by the workers after they were made redundant in 2021.

    We're joined again by working-class author and one of the main organisers of the festival, Alberto Prunetti, and former GKN worker, Dario Salvetti. We also talk to another two working-class writers who have participated in the festival: Claudia Durastanti, who helps organise the festivals, and Anthony Cartwright, who has attended the last two.

    In this episode, we discuss what went on at the last two festivals and what made them different from conventional literary events: from the attendees and various events and presentations to the participation of GKN workers not just in logistics but in readings and performances. We also discuss the possibilities for the future of the festival - and for the GKN struggle itself.

    Full show notes including further reading, photos, a documentary about the GKN struggle, and a full transcript are available on our website: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/wcl10-11-florence-working-class-literature-festival/

    Acknowledgements
    • Many thanks also to Alberto Prunetti and Edizioni Alegre for giving us permission to reproduce photos from previous years' festivals
    • Thanks to all our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jamison D. Saltsman, Jazz Hands, Fernando Lopez Ojeda and Jeremy Cusimano
    • Our theme tune for these episodes is ‘Occupiamola’ (or ‘Let’s Occupy It’) as sung on a GKN workers’ demonstration in 2024. Many thanks to Reel News London for letting us use their recording. Watch the documentary it's taken from here
    • This episode was edited by Tyler Hill


    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-literature--5711491/support.
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    50 m
  • E10: Florence Working-Class Literature Festival

    E10: Florence Working-Class Literature Festival
    Mar 5 2025
    First of a double-episode podcast about the Working-Class Literature Festival held every year in Florence, at the former GKN car parts factory, which was taken over by the workers after they were made redundant in 2021.

    In this episode, we talk to working-class author and one of the main organisers of the festival, Alberto Prunetti, as well as former GKN workers Dario Salvetti and Tiziana De Biasio. We discuss the history of the struggle at GKN from the redundancies to the workers' takeover and 'permanent union assembly' at the factory.

    We also dive into how the idea for the Working-Class Literature Festival at the factory began, and how the first two events were organised (despite repeated attempts at sabotage).

    Full show notes including further reading, photos, a documentary about the GKN struggle, and a full transcript are available on our website: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/wcl10-11-florence-working-class-literature-festival/

    Acknowledgements
    • Many thanks to Antonella Bundu for doing the voiceover for Tiziana's audio
    • Many thanks also to Alberto Prunetti and Edizioni Alegre for giving us permission to reproduce photos from previous years' festivals
    • Thanks to all our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jamison D. Saltsman, Jazz Hands, Fernando Lopez Ojeda and Jeremy Cusimano
    • Our theme tune for these episodes is ‘Occupiamola’ (or ‘Let’s Occupy It’) as sung on a GKN workers’ demonstration in 2024. Many thanks to Reel News London for letting us use their recording. Watch the documentary it's taken from here
    • This episode was edited by Tyler Hill


    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-literature--5711491/support.
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    51 m
  • E9: Chinese migrant worker poetry, part 3

    E9: Chinese migrant worker poetry, part 3
    Oct 24 2024
    The final episode of our three-part series about migrant worker poetry in China. We speak to Maghiel van Crevel, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at Leiden University. Maghiel has travelled extensively in China, meeting with and writing about the work of Chinese migrant worker poets.

    In this episode, we look at questions of censorship in China and the importance of unofficial publications for the spread of migrant worker poetry (not to mention the wider Chinese poetry scene as well). We also discuss how some working-class writers come to be left out of what is considered 'working-class writing' with a specific look at the work of gay migrant worker poet, Mu Cao.

    Full show notes including sources, further reading, photos, films and eventually a transcript are here on our website: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/wcl-7-9-chinese-migrant-worker-poetry/

    Acknowledgements
    • As always, huge thanks to our patreon supporters who make this podcast possible. A special thanks to Jamison D. Saltsman, Jazz Hands, Fernando Lopez Ojeda and Jeremy Cusimano.
    • Our theme tune for these episodes is ‘A Young Man from the Village’ by the New Labour Art Troupe, from the Migrant Worker Home. Stream it here.
    • This episode was produced by Jack Franco and edited by Jesse French.


    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-literature--5711491/support.
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    36 m
  • E8: Chinese migrant worker poetry, part 2

    E8: Chinese migrant worker poetry, part 2
    Oct 17 2024
    Part 2 of our three-part series about migrant worker poetry in China. We speak to Maghiel van Crevel, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at Leiden University. Maghiel has travelled extensively in China, meeting with and writing about the work of Chinese migrant worker poets.

    In this episode, we look at the work of the Migrant Worker Home, a self-organised space run by and for migrant workers on the outskirts of Beijing, which taught migrant workers about their rights, hosted a museum, and ran literary and cultural groups, until they were evicted last year. We also look at two more migrant worker poets, including Xu Lizhi, whose suicide in 2014 propelled him to global fame.

    Full show notes including sources, further reading, photos, films and eventually a transcript are here on our website: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/wcl-7-9-chinese-migrant-worker-poetry/

    Acknowledgements
    • As always, huge thanks to our patreon supporters who make this podcast possible. A special thanks to Jamison D. Saltsman, Jazz Hands, Fernando Lopez Ojeda and Jeremy Cusimano.
    • Our theme tune for these episodes is ‘A Young Man from the Village’ by the New Labour Art Troupe, from the Migrant Worker Home. Stream it here.
    • This episode was produced by Jack Franco and edited by Jesse French.


    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-literature--5711491/support.
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    35 m
  • E7: Chinese migrant worker poetry, part 1

    E7: Chinese migrant worker poetry, part 1
    Oct 10 2024
    First of the three-part series on migrant worker poetry in China. In these episodes, we speak to Maghiel van Crevel, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at Leiden University. Maghiel has travelled extensively in China meeting with and writing about the work of Chinese migrant worker poets.

    In this episode, we discuss the concept of the 'migrant worker' in China, and how it relates to the internal hukou system and China's relationship to global capitalism. We also discuss what we mean by 'migrant worker/migrant worker poetry' in relation to the Chinese words dagong and dagong shige. We also look at two migrant worker poets, Wu Xia and Zheng Xiaoqiong.

    Full show notes including sources, further reading, photos, films and eventually a transcript are here on our website: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/wcl-7-9-chinese-migrant-worker-poetry/

    Acknowledgements
    • As always, huge thanks to our patreon supporters who make this podcast possible. A special thanks to Jamison D. Saltsman, Jazz Hands, Fernando Lopez Ojeda and Jeremy Cusimano.
    • Our theme tune for these episodes is ‘A Young Man from the Village’ by the New Labour Art Troupe, from the Migrant Worker Home. Stream it here.
    • This episode was produced by Jack Franco and edited by Jesse French.


    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-literature--5711491/support.
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    46 m
  • E6: DD Johnston's proletarian apocalypse, part 2

    E6: DD Johnston's proletarian apocalypse, part 2
    Dec 13 2022
    Concluding part of our double-episode in conversation with author, DD Johnston, about his new novel, Disnaeland.

    In this part, Darren discusses the novel’s relationship to the Scots language, the apocalyptic prophecies of radical, pre-Enlightenment Christianity, and his focus on mutual aid as a response to disaster. Darren also performs two further readings from the novel.

    Full information, sources, further reading, acknowledgements and eventually a transcript on the webpage for this episode: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/wcl-5-6-dd-johnstons-proletarian-apocalypse/

    Get books mentioned in this episode

    Peace, Love and Petrol Bombs: https://bookshop.org/a/80203/9781849350617

    Disnaeland: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/disnaeland/9781909954533

    Acknowledgements
    Our theme tune is Bella Ciao, thanks for permission to use it from Dischi del Sole. You can purchase it here: http://www.alabianca.it/en/store/bravo-records-en/le-canzoni-di-bella-ciao-aa-vv/

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-literature--5711491/support.
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    33 m
  • E5: DD Johnston's proletarian apocalypse, part 1

    E5: DD Johnston's proletarian apocalypse, part 1
    Dec 6 2022
    The first of a two-part episode, Working Class Literature speak to DD Johnston about his new novel, Disnaeland, about a working-class Scottish community's response to societal collapse. We also discuss his previous novels and his participation in McDonald's Workers' Resistance, a radical collective of angry employees at the world's biggest fast food chain.

    Darren also reads passages from Disnaeland and his first novel, Peace, Love and Petrol Bombs.

    Full information, sources, further reading, acknowledgements and eventually a transcript on the webpage for this episode: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/wcl-5-6-dd-johnstons-proletarian-apocalypse/

    Our theme tune is Bella Ciao, thanks for permission to use it from Dischi del Sole. You can purchase it here: http://www.alabianca.it/en/store/bravo-records-en/le-canzoni-di-bella-ciao-aa-vv/

    Get books mentioned in this episode

    Peace, Love and Petrol Bombs: https://bookshop.org/a/80203/9781849350617

    Disnaeland: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/disnaeland/9781909954533

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-literature--5711491/support.
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    48 m
  • E4 Michael Rosen's socialist fairy tales, part 2

    E4 Michael Rosen's socialist fairy tales, part 2
    Mar 30 2022
    Part 2 of our double-episode in which we talk to acclaimed author, poet and Professor of Children’s Literature, Michael Rosen, about his anthology, Workers’ Tales: Socialist Fairy Tales, Fables, and Allegories from Great Britain, which gathers together short stories from the labour and socialist press between 1880 and 1920.
    In this episode, Michael shows how popular children’s stories (like Wind in the Willows and Alice in Wonderland) are shot through with the political content of their adult authors. He also reads a story from his anthology by William Morris and explains how all culture, including children’s writing, contains within it elements of social contest.
    You can buy a copy of Michael's anthology here.
    More info on the webpage for this episode: https://workingclasshistory.com/blog/wcl-e3-4-michael-rosens-socialist-fairy-tales/

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-literature--5711491/support.
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    30 m
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