A Conversation with Congressman Tim Kennedy

On this episode of The Voice Podcast, host Fred Kowal talks with Congressman Tim Kennedy about his work in Washington, D.C. and what it's like to be in the minority of a Republican-led Congress. 

Kennedy, a longtime friend to UUP, and Kowal discuss several bills Kennedy has sponsored, including the  DHS Release Transparency Act—a strong response to the death of Nurul Amin Shah Alam. 

Alam, a blind, disabled Burmese refugee, was left by Customs and Border Patrol agents at a closed Buffalo coffee without shoes on a frigid February night after being detained. He died of hypothermia and dehydration days later.

In May, Kennedy joined Congressmember Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Buffalo to call for passage of three bills that would provide more funding for cancer research, screening, education and prevention. 

Kennedy was outspoken in calling for the removal of ousted Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem for the cruel, violent and often unconstitutional immigration sweeps that took place across the country under her watch. Kennedy was one of Noem’s most vocal critics on the House Committee on Homeland Security.

He also took aim at ousted Attorney General Pam Bondi, leading a coalition of Democrats to stop Bondi and DOGE from weakening the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and loosen crucial federal gun regulations. 

In Labor Lookback, Mike Lisi chronicle the history of Chicago's WCFL-AM radio station, the first and longest-running union-owned and union-operated station in the country. The station, owned by the Chicago Federation of Labor, debuted in 1926 and was sold in 1978. 

In Kowal's Coda, Fred spotlights three books he's reading. They are:

• "Razorblade Tears" by S.A. Cosby; 
• "Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution" by Mike Duncan; and 
• "Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy" by Congressman Jamie Raskin. 

Transcript

Unknown: 0:00

Hello, I'm Fred Kowall, President of United University Professions, and this is The Voice, I am a the voice podcast is a production of United University Professions, the nation's largest higher education union, representing more than 42,000 academic and professional faculty and retirees at state-operated SUNY campuses across New York State, UUP also represents employees at SUNY System Administration and SUNY Public Teaching Hospitals in Brooklyn, Stony Brook, and Syracuse. I'm Mike Lisi. Our guest on The Voice is Congressman Tim Kennedy. I first met Tim when he was serving as a New York state senator, a position he held for seven terms. Since 2024 he's been in his present role as a member of the House of Representatives in Washington, DC. Congressman Kennedy comes from a blue-collar background. With this working-class background, it's no surprise that he has introduced nearly 40 pieces of legislation since arriving in DC, including the DHS Release Transparency Act, a strong response to the death of Nurul Amin Shah Alam. Alam, a blind, disabled Burmese refugee, was left by Customs and Border Patrol agents at a closed Buffalo coffee shop without shoes on a frigid February night after being detained. He died of hypothermia and dehydration days later. In May, Kennedy joined Congress member Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Buffalo to call for passage of three bills that would provide more funding for cancer research, screening, education, and prevention. He's also introduced legislation to provide Medicare beneficiaries access to occupational therapy for mental health and substance abuse, and to protect federal health benefits for transgendered veterans. He was outspoken in calling for the removal of ousted Secretary of Homeland Security Christie Nome for the cruel, violent, and often unconstitutional immigration sweeps that took place across the country under her watch. Kennedy was one of Nome's most vocal critics on the House Committee on Homeland Security. He also took aim at ousted Attorney General Pam Bondi leading a coalition of Democrats to stop Bondi and Doge from weakening the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and loosen crucial federal gun regulations. I'm proud to say that UUP was there to help elect him as a state senator and as a congressman, and we'll be there to help him in November when he runs for re-election as the US representative for New York's 26th congressional district. So, congressman, we're, we're presently about a year and a half into President Trump's second term. What's it like being in Congress during this time period of all the chaos, and the way I would describe it as I'm just opening the door for you to describe your experience as a public servant and politician, and I mean that in a positive way, that's a positive term in my book, as a public servant in an era where you know daily we are seeing such bizarre instances of presidential action, and then also some very dangerous and destructive things, so I'd like to just get your take on what it's like serving in the House of Representatives at this time with this second Trump term, which I would argue is far more dangerous and tumultuous than the first time around. Well, thanks, Fred. First of all, let me just say I love to serve. Calling of mine, it is a passion of mine. I love being in the fight. This is what it's all about. We are standing up and we're fighting for our democracy, we're fighting for the future of our country, we're fighting for working men and women. I mean, this is why I do what I do. I'm in the fight every single day. We're reminded sadly with the failure of this administration of historic proportions why we do what we do every day. It's an attack on the people of this country, on our democracy, on the rights of individuals. Individuals on working families and this administration under Donald Trump and his failed leadership and congressional Republicans that have enabled him to run roughshod over the Constitution has been a full blown attack on our democracy, and so each and every day I wake up, I get ready to go to battle, and you know we do what we need to do to stand up for the American people, and we've done just that with the pivotal election coming up in November. It's essential that we're organizing and we're mobilizing to take back the gavels this November to win at the ballot box on november 3 to win a majority in the House of Representatives, God willing, the Senate as well, and hold this administration accountable. And so I love being here in Congress. It is awe inspiring, and it is a privilege of a lifetime, and something that I never take for granted, the trust that's been put in me from the people of the 26th congressional district in the Buffalo Niagara region of New York, and every day I have to prove myself, and I try to do just that, and make sure that I'm doing what's right and standing up and and fighting for the values that make the people of not only Western New York but New York and our entire country who we are. I really welcome the passion that you approach your work with as a member of the House and as as a public servant, as I said, and you know, as you do this in a situation where it's very close, but you still are in the minority party, do you feel like you have to set aside what your goals might be in policy areas, or are you working even in these terribly divided times, and the Republican party being what it is right now. Unfortunately, do you feel like you can still get- pardon my French - you can still get shit done? Do you find yourself having to say, "Okay, well, I've got these big ambitions, but here's what I can do today in terms of legislation, in terms of specifically helping the people of of the 26th or in New York in the country, as he said, with the minority, everything's more difficult, you know, when you don't have the gavels in your hands and you can't control what comes to the floor of the house for a vote, and you are constantly playing defense on your heels with these ridiculous manipulative messaging bills coming out of the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives, driven by an extreme president and his administration. We are constantly on the defense, but that doesn't mean that we're not able to drive our agenda forward. As a matter of fact, what it does ultimately is it causes us to unify around a common goal, and in this case, pushing back against these policies that are hurtful and detrimental to the American people, and so we have been able to use the levers of power that are available to us via the discharge petition, we were able, for example, to get the Epstein files released. That was done because the Democrats drove the message forward, and ultimately a policy with a discharge petition necessitating all of the Democrats to sign on to that petition, and just a handful, yeah, just a handful of Republicans that were willing to do so, but ultimately we got the vote on the floor and passed nearly unanimously. We also did that with the War Powers Resolution, another discharge petition, and most recently we passed a very labor-friendly bill, the Faster Labor Contracts Act. Yes, that was driven by organized labor that will necessitate employers to negotiate in good faith within 10 days of workers voting to unionize, we passed that through a discharge petition in the last two weeks that was driven by the Democratic minority and driven by organized labor, because simply to get an employer to the negotiating table after a vote to organize is the right thing to do, but we know that employers use oftentimes whatever levers they have left over to push back against the organizing of working men and women in many ways illegally. This would push them to do it in a very expeditious fashion, so. We've been able to have a number of victories, and there's more as well, but you know, with the power of the gavel in our hands, and being able to put in place policies that are reflective of the needs of the American people, and restoring the civility to the House of Representatives, and restoring faith and trust back in our government, and ensuring that we're making life more affordable for the American people, and protecting their healthcare, and investing in education in the workforce, and ensuring that people are able to live the American dream. These are values that we espouse to as Democrats, and with victory in November, and the gavels in our hands, we'll put policy in place that's reflective of that. Those are amazing successes, and really important ones. I mean, we just wrapped up about a month now. We wrapped up negotiations with the Governor and the Office of Employee Relations. We got a new tentative agreement, great agreement, and it was has not always been as productive a relationship with, I'll just say, past administrations in New York State, but with Governor Hochul this time around, we got to the table early, along the lines of how you're describing the necessity of the legislation you all have gotten done. Yeah, I mean, and the reason we were able to get a good, very good deal is because we were ready, so was the governor. We sat down, we hammered out a really good deal, and it's in the interest of both sides to do that. And great to hear that unions are working with you nationally to accomplish what needs to be done. I've seen you work when you were in the state senate for all those years, and in the state senate you were a friend of labor, a voice of labor. How do you feel it's different? Do you see things moving? I mean, in New York state, we're the most unionized state in the country, and a very powerful union presence nationally. It seems like unions are on the way back. Are you seeing that as well, in your work in the house now. Yeah, well, first of all, Fred, it's been a real honor to work with you over many years. You know, my work with you and UUP began before I got to the New York State Senate, when I was in the Erie County Legislature for six years back in the early 2000s and then nearly 14 years in the New York State Senate, you know, you and I were in the foxhole together, and there is one person that we knew we could always count on, and it was Fred Kowal, and UUP and NYSIT, just working with us to drive the agenda forward, really being the tip of the spear when it came to fighting for working men and women in organized labor in the public sector and in the private sector. I mean, we, the victories that we were able to accomplish are too many to name right now, but I can tell you, whether it be the minimum wage being increased and setting a precedent for the rest of the nation out of New York State, whether it was the striking workers bill that I championed in New York to make sure that workers that went out on strike were able to get their unemployment within a week of going out on strike rather than being bled financially by their employer for eight weeks, 56 days, until they got paid unemployment, and then they would come to the table and settle the contract. Yeah, so it leveled the playing field, among many, many, many other accomplishments that we had with organized labor, you and UUP were the driving force, and I think at the national level it continues. I think educators play a pivotal role in the organized labor movement on a national level. I think the ability for working men and women to be recognized in policy is driven in many ways by the educators across the board and organized labor that really gets the message out that this economy in our country is made up of working people that fight every day to take care of themselves and their families, and they want to make sure that they're paid a fair day's wage for a fair day's work, and are able to get good healthcare, and able to afford to pay the bills at home, that the housing costs, and grocery bills, and the cost of fuel, all of which is skyrocketing under Donald Trump and congressional Republicans in their failed policies, and they're driving inflation to a president who says he doesn't care, literally quoted, is it that he doesn't care about the finances of the American people, and that he loves inflation, like what is. World coming to that, this president can be even allowed to get away with this, and congressional Republicans continue to fall in line. I mean, it's really out of control, and so in that regard, it's a constant reminder of why we do what we do, but organized labor has been a consistent, focused power in driving forward an agenda for working families in this country, and really keeping democracy on a path forward as we move toward this November in protecting people's rights and ensuring that we have access to the ballot box, and our voting rights are protected, and yes, labor rights, but all around that, the civil rights and LGBTQ plus rights, and you know, just worker rights across the board. Organized labor is on the move. My seat, in whether it was the county legislature, Fred. You know this from me to my work in the Senate to now my work in the House of Representatives. I've always said this seat, as long as I sit in it, is a labor seat. I will always fight for working men and women. That's where I come from. The son of a nurse, my mother worked three jobs to put food on the table, my father took a civil service test to become a Buffalo City assessor, part of AFSCME 1095 My mother, member of CWA, so I come from organized labor. I was a part of a tradition of organized labor with SEIU Local 200 United as a usher and ticket taker back for the Buffalo Bills and Savers, go Bills, go Sabers, and you can never forget, you can never forget where you come from, right? No, no, to represent, but you know that that's true, both in, you know, fighting for our community in Western New York, and also standing up and fighting for working men and women, that's who I am, is where I come from, and I'll never forget it, and I'll always fight for those that are working so hard to make our economy and our country what it is, and how extraordinary as it is. Absolutely, I mean, we've, we have gone through a number of fights over the years together, it was always the case, I remember, you know, when we would talk here in the office with my legislative staff, it was always a case of Kennedy. Yeah, he's he's pro labor, he's true blue, and it's funny, was as you were speaking, I've always noticed that it's like we all know our parents, we don't just know they were what the job was, but that they were unionized, what union they were in, and their local.. it's like, you know, my old man, yeah, IBEW Local Seven, you know? I mean, it's.. it's like it's like on her sleeve, right? Yeah, it was.. it was like, you know, you know, I was baptized in Saint Stans, you know, it was the same thing, right? You knew your, your parish church, you knew your.. your.. your dad's union, I mean, it's that.. that's that's part of who we are as we're doing research, and I've seen it in the news, and you know, referenced this earlier in my introduction, the horrific death of Ural Amen Shah Alam, and your response to that, Congressman, you know, and I'm not, I'm not blowing smoke saying this, but sometimes people will issue statements, condemnation, whatever, and you, of course, did that, but you went further. You introduced the DHS Release Transparency Act. You went to work on the legislative side to ensure that something like this would not happen, because now we're seeing that other instances like this have occurred because of the tactics and the brutality of ice it's disgraceful. Look, Nurul Amin Shah Lam left his home in search of a better future for himself and his family, and he came to the United States, and he came to the great city of Buffalo, but that promise of the American dream was stolen from mr. Shah Lahmann and his family and our community is still suffering and reeling in the wake of this totally preventable death that made national and international headlines when the Department of Homeland Security left him in a cold, dark parking lot in the back of a closed coffee shop in the middle of winter without proper clothing on the streets of Buffalo, and he was found five days later, miles from his home, dead. Ruled a homicide. And what does the Department of Homeland Security do? They start telling lies immediately, attacking his character, saying that he was left in a warm, safe place. He wasn't. He was abandoned. He was abandoned at night in a cold, dark parking lot, miles from his family, and they were never notified, nor was his lawyer, all of which were looking for him. And so, no one should go through this any. Where ever, particularly and especially here in the United States, and so this legislation that would create transparency in the Department of Homeland Security and ensure that there's communication between anyone that is held by the Department of Homeland Security and their loved ones or their lawyer. It's about empathy, it's about decency, it's about ensuring that our government treats people with the dignity and respect that they deserve as fellow human beings. It's just heartbreaking to see his family, as you were saying, totally uninformed. They did know where he was, and then to, to have him found in this way, you know, it is just.. it's brutal. It is not what this, in my humble opinion, what this country aspires to be. To me, it is so frustrating, because Trump and his minions are always saying, well, we're going after all of these brutal immigrants, these - they're all criminals. And first of all, the data shows that immigrants as a population commit fewer crimes as a percentage than those of us who've been here for a while. Okay, that's starters. But second, I think back, my grandmother, when she came over to this country, she couldn't speak English. I mean, all my grandparents, when they came over, and she went to Buffalo. Okay, and you know, like a lot of folks from Eastern Europe, and, and all I can imagine is, if my grandparents were coming over in the same kind of setting as what's happening now, what would have happened to my family members. I mean, I bring it back to that level, because we're all a nation of immigrants, unless we're indigenous folks, and that's what we're proud of, or at least I thought we were. Yeah, and look at this administration continues to tell lie upon lie upon lie, especially when it comes to immigration. They attacked mr. Shah Alam's character, just like they attacked the character of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Preddy when they were murdered in cold blood in the streets of Minneapolis by the same department, and other deaths have occurred under the same apartment. It is a pattern. It is a pattern of disgrace and a lack of transparency and a lack of accountability, and it has to change. So we are holding them accountable, we're calling them out. We had Secretary Christie Nome before my committee, we called her out, we called for her resignation before she resigned. Now her replacement in the as a secretary, Mark Wayne Mullen, he's not much better. No, he lies. The cover up, the disgrace continues again when we have the gavels in our hands. It's a whole other ball game, and that election is fast approaching. And so I know UUP knows how to do it. I know educators know how to do it. I know organized labor knows how to do it. I know the American people know how to do it, organizing, mobilizing, getting the vote out, getting the gavels in our hands, saying that we are better than this as a country, whether it deals with immigration, whether it deals with the catastrophic cuts to health care, whether it deals to money out of the nutritional assistance, taking food off the table of millions of Americans, while the cost of living skyrockets, we are better than this as a country, and it's imperative that we win the day in November, so that we can create that more accountable government of the people, for and by the people, as we've been promised. Yeah, you're right. And as I think about where we are as a country, and how things have gotten worse economically in terms of the behavior of our national government, one of the things that obviously we're a higher ed union, a lot of the folks that we have in our membership do groundbreaking life-saving research developments in healthcare, and so forth, and you know in your region of the state, University of Buffalo, Buffalo State, just on the SUNY side, you've got tremendous research going on out there. I want to ask you about recently in May, you and Congress member Debbie Wasserman Schultz, you were in Buffalo together to call for a passage of bills that would provide more funding for cancer research, screening, education, prevention. On personal note, about an hour ago, I got off the phone with a good friend of mine, he's been fighting cancer for almost 20 years, off and on, he just got the word that he's probably only got a couple months left to live, and this country is abandoning research in the Trump administration. How are you fighting for this legislation? And again, looking forward to when y'all got the gavels in your hands when you can get this done, but go ahead, tell us a little bit about. That, because it's welcome news, and my thoughts and prayers are with your friend and anyone else that's out there that's suffering through the very difficult fight of cancer. We believe that a cure is possible. We believe a cure is possible in our lifetime. Yes, but it's only going to happen with investment in research and development at places like Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and the other 57 cancer research institutes across the nation, and Who's doing that, but those within higher ed, the scientists, the researchers, the developers, the educators, all of which are using that extraordinary education to invest into a different vision for the future in trials that result in progress in finding that cure. Cancer research was developed in Buffalo, New York, by Dr. Roswell Park, founded in 1898 We are so proud of our history in Buffalo, Western New York, and as a nation in leading the global community in cancer research and trying to find a cure. And we all have been touched by cancer. I've lost a first cousin to a tumor. My grandmother had a double mastectomy while she was still alive back in the 80s. We all know someone in our family or in our friends or general community that's been touched by cancer or taken by cancer. So we have to invest in what this administration has done is they have cut billions of dollars from cancer research, from healthcare across the board. They've cut trillions of dollars in investment in this country that goes to healthcare, that goes to nutrition, that goes to education, that goes to transportation development, investment workforce training, all of these things across our nation that help to invest in a better future for our country. They've cut to the two to five and a half trillion dollars, but why? You ask yourself, how could they do this to our people? They did it to give a tax break to the wealthiest Americans, the billionaires and the ultra wealthy millionaires in our country, instead of investing in the working men and women that make our country tick and make our economy go round and round and make research and development in a cure for things like cancer and development and research that will help our nation grow. They pulled the rug out from underneath us. So, what do we need to do? We need to get those gavels back. We need to cancel the cuts that they have in such a manipulative way put in place after the November elections, mind you. So, all of these hospitals that are on the verge of closing the nursing homes that have already closed, the health clinics that have already closed. There's more to come because of Congressional Republicans and Donald Trump. Unless we do something about it, so we've got to win in November. We've got to make sure that we're holding them accountable, canceling the outrageous cuts that they've put in place to health care, restoring health care for millions of Americans, ending the corruption, making life more affordable for working families in this country, and allowing people to live the American dream. But we have to invest in our future and not make these outrageous cuts. Absolutely, and it terrifies me in terms of what's going to transpire potentially after november 3 with the cuts, you know, you know all your years in state politics. How New York State has led the nation in health care, and here we are looking at a situation where you know potentially upwards of half of the hospitals in New York State are in danger financially as the cuts go through. What are people going to do? We have to get this message out that the corruption in the Trump regime is costing people their lives, and it's only going to get worse. That's where we are. Those words are 100% true. This is life and death. When you take health care away from people, they get sicker faster, and they die quicker, because they don't have the resources to take care of themselves to get preventable treatment, and they end up back at the.. doesn't mean they're not going to get sick if they don't have health care insurance. It means they're going to end up right back at the hospital in the emergency room, clogging up those emergency rooms, and at the end of the day, we still all pay, and so it goes back to the bad old days when they rip away the Affordable Care Act that was fought so long and hard for by organized labor, by Democrats, by the Obama administration. Those victories that were won, we still had work. To do to fix our broken health care system, but what Republicans and Donald Trump have done is they've made our broken healthcare system worse. I'm an occupational therapist, I come from health care. I got my management degree back in 1999 and worked with kids with disabilities and worked with older adults in sub acute rehab, so that's where I come from. I come from health care. I understand it on a very personal level, the importance of funding Medicaid and Medicare. This administration has ripped away by the hundreds of billions from millions of Americans and have hurt millions of Americans in the process, so we've got to get it back, got to get it back on track, and I know you're going to help me get there. Absolutely, we're up against the clock, unfortunately, because we could talk all day. So, so let me ask you this. This is a question I tend to close with all the time, and that is, How do you maintain your hope, and what's the message you would share with people, because I gotta tell you, there's times when I'm in a real dark place, it's tough, and so how do you deal with it, and how do you maintain hope, and what's the message of hope that you would want to leave our listeners with? Yeah, thanks again, Fred, it's great to be with you, and I really appreciate you taking the time with me, and everything that you and your membership at UUP, and all of educators and organized labor is doing across this great nation to make us the greatest country in the history of the world. And as we mark the 200 and 50th anniversary of our country, we're reminded that our nation's story has never been one of perfection. No, it's been one of people refusing to give up on the promise of a more perfect union, and that's what we're fighting for every single day. And every generation's been called to defend our democracy, to expand opportunity, to strengthen the institutions that protect our freedoms. And now it's our turn. This is our moment, and we have to stand up. We have to fight together. We have to stay in that foxhole, Fred, that you and I and UUP have been in for many years. And so my message is simple: stay engaged, stay organized, and keep fighting for the country we know America can be, because our greatest chapters have always been written by those who choose courage over complacency and get into the fight, be a part of the change, be a part of the movement, and I love being a part of this with you. I love being in the fight with you all each and every day, and I thank you for your support of me and standing with me and with organized labor and with Democrats, as we work to take back our country at the ballot box this november 3. Great message. Absolutely, it's our turn. Just like you know, my parents, my dad, my aunt, my uncles, all fought in the war, right? You're a certain age, it's the war, World War Two, and others who fought in Korea and Vietnam, and it is a case where it's our turn to fight for the country that we could have, we could build, and that's what it's all about. Well stated, as always. It has been a pleasure and an honor. Congressman Tim Kennedy, thank you for joining us on The Voice. I look forward to seeing you on the road. Thank you. Thanks everybody. Take care. Bye. welcome to Labor Look Back, where we take a look back at Labor's storied past, from strikes and uprisings to dynamic union leaders and huge union wins, we'll cover it all. Here's a look back at labor history from the month of July. A number to call is Andover 32020 that's AM 32020 Get going. going on, this is WCFL, the Voice of Labor. Right now it's 4o'clock Chicago, this is WCFL news. The Chicago Federation of Labor had big plans in 1924 plans that involved a new technology called Radio Federation leaders, especially Secretary Edward Knuckles, loved the idea of owning and operating a radio station, which they believed would be an incredibly effective way to spread their message of unionism and organized labor, and that's exactly what they did. WCFL, the voice of labor, hit the airwaves as a non-commercial 1000 watt station 100 years ago this month, on july 27 1926 In doing so, it became the first union-owned, union-operated station in the US. It. Also, the country's longest running union owned station, that streak ending when it was sold in 1978 What federation leaders didn't know at the time was that their foray into radio would one day connect them with the Beatles and land them in the middle of a fierce radio war with Chicago powerhouse WLS, but more about that in a minute, getting approval for America's first labor-owned station was a struggle in 1925 The US Department of Commerce, the Federal Communications Commission would be formed two years later, refused to grant WCFL a wavelength. Despite that, the Federation decided to build the station anyway, placing its transmitter on Chicago's Navy Pier, that also became a problem. The Illinois Manufacturers Association protested WCFL's use of public property for its transmitter and station site. So, the Federation purchased 100 acres of land in Downers Grove, a Chicago suburb, and built the station there, but not all the land was for the radio station. The plan was WCFL Park, an 80 lot subdivision where more than 250 homes and over 70 businesses would be built. Knuckles envisioned a union strong community with a station at its core, but the timing was bad. The Great Depression hit, and the federation put WCFL Park on hold. It never came to fruition. On the air, WCFL, which relied on donations and federation funds for its finances, wanted to be a labor-friendly alternative to commercial stations of the day. Noggles knew that listeners weren't going to tune in for a steady stream of union and labor programming, instead he shrewdly mixed music, entertainment, drama productions, and sports with his union message, and strived to make working-class listeners believe that WCFL was their station. Knuckles believed WCFL should provide quote not only entertainment but information, not only music, but science, history, economics, and all the other things that make for human welfare. End quote. In the station's early years, WCFL served up shows such as Biographies in Bronze, Radio Study Club, and Own Your Own Home Hour, which, according to Nathan Godfrey, author of WCFL, Chicago's Voice of Labor, 1926 to 1978 combined music with talk about home financing, construction, and decorating. It offered Labor News Flashes, a 15 minute news program featuring labor-related stories, and striking unions were provided free airtime to tell their stories to the public. The AM station also opened its airwaves to a host of progressive politicians, academics, and community and political activists, a practice that continued well into the 1940s Knuckles, known as Father of Labor Radio, was the pilot of the station's first and most militant decade. Things were never the same after his sudden death in February 1937 without Knuckles at the helm, and spurred by Depression era financial problems, ever increasing competition, and pressure from the American Federation of Labor, WCFL went commercial in the early 1940s While light on labor programming, the station aired everything from weekly broadcasts of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and quiz shows, such as 30 Seconds to Go to live broadcasts of the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Blackhawks, and other sports. A 50,000 watt clear channel station by the 1960s WCFL gambled and switched to top 40 in 1966 Swinging Herman at WCFL, and his brand new and out of that motion picture called Hold On, it's called Leaning on the Lamppost. We got about 15 minutes past 5o'clock at WCFL. Yeah, I've often said nothing else comes near when you're out of slits, not me, you're out of beer. The new Big 10 WCFL was a direct challenge to top 40 powerhouse WLS, itself a clear channel station. The competition, while fierce, was profitable for a while. For nearly 10 years, WCFL was neck and neck with WLS in what's known as the Chicago Radio Wars, so how do the Beatles fit into all of this? Well, Jim Stagg, a popular WCFL disc jockey, traveled with the Beatles on the group's 1966 American tour. He taped several interviews with the group for his show, and even flew from London to Chicago with the Fab Four for a pair of sold-out Chicago shows on august 12, 1966 The concerts, which kicked off the Beatles' final tour, came a day after the famous august 11 press conference in Chicago, where John Lennon apologized for stating that the Beatles had become more popular than Jesus double. CFL's pop experiment ended in 1976 after racking up huge financial losses. The station shifted to an automated beautiful music format, and the Federation put it up for sale, ultimately selling to the Mutual Broadcasting System for $12 million in April 1978 The voice of labor was finally silenced. The station lived on for a while. Mutual sold WCFL in 1983 and it became a Christian station before Heftel Broadcasting dropped WCFL's classic call letters in 1987 and renamed the station W L U P. For Labor Look Back, I'm Mike Lisi. Now, here's Fred with calls. Coda, thanks, Mike, for this coda. I would like to go back and do something that I did in the earliest editions of The Voice, and that is to talk about, in this case, three books that I'm reading. I do actually sometimes, and I'm in one of those time periods where I'll read three books at the same time. Sometimes it works well, sometimes it doesn't. This time it is for no particular reason that I can explain. The first book I'll mention is Razor Blade Tears, and these are all books that have been out for a little while. Razor Blade Tears, written by S A Crosby, who has three books that I'm aware of that are out, and he writes about law and life and race relations and the social realities of our modern world within a crime context, all based in southeastern Virginia. Phenomenal writer, I recommend Razor Blade Tears at this time in our nation's situation, it's about two men who couldn't be more different. One is an African American ex-con and a dirt-poor, pardon the expression, white trash guy, both from Southeast Virginia. They both actually are ex-cons, their sons are were gay and were married and were horribly murdered, and the two main characters spend the novel trying to track down who committed the murder, but it is this is not a whodunit, this is the two of them dealing with their homophobia that they directed at their own sons, and dealing with the guilt, the pain, the angst, while also dealing with the racism that continues phenomenal work. I recommend anything that Crosby has written, but Razor Blade Tears is not only unput downable, it will sear your soul as you are reading it. Second, is in a amazingly a lighter work, is Mike Duncan's Hero of Two Worlds, been out for a little while. It's a biography of Lafayette, and two things that strike me as unbelievable is how young Lafayette was when he came over from France, and how unconnected he was to what was happening here in his late teens and early 20s. He becomes almost a surrogate son to George Washington and is instrumental in our fight for independence in a couple different ways, but most importantly, how then he evolves as a very wealthy part of the nobility in France to become very revolutionary in his thinking, to the extent of going back to France and rejecting what his life has been as part of the nobility and rejecting the nobility and the monarchy that leads him to be a major figure in the French Revolution, and afterwards phenomenal in this 250th year of our republic's history, a good work to understand the chaos of our struggle for independence and how miraculous it was that we got it, and what needs to be understood is more than anything else, we became independent because Great Britain just got exhausted by the war and figured, screw it, we'll let them go, let them be their own country. So, Hero of Two Words by Mike Duncan. Third, another book that I would recommend that will also, much like Crosby's, except it's not fiction, unfortunately, will also tear your heart out is Jamie Raskin. Congressman Jamie Raskin from Maryland wrote a book called Unthinkable a few years back, and the book is about two unthinkable events. One is the suicide of his son that took place just days before the attack on the Capitol on january 6 of 2021 He's a witness to that and also was the lead prosecutor in the second Trump impeachment. Obviously, the circumstances around the loss of his son and the impact it has on him and his family are vital and central, but at the same time points to the mental health crisis facing our country that is a reality for so many, but then also to relive the moments, the hours of january 6 through the eyes of someone who was terrified by what was happening, and to also have him describe how Republicans were terrified, angry by what was happening, and the fact that Trump did nothing to stop it, and yet within hours they were rising in defense of the myth that Trump somehow was cheated out of the election in 2020 and the myth remains as we experience what I consider to be one of the most dangerous periods in our history right now, because we have a president who is amoral, is malevolently narcissistic, but in the last analysis must be treated as one who is suffering from dementia. This is an individual who has the nuclear codes and could unleash nuclear war. Just over the last 48 hours, he has made statements, and that if Joe Biden had made Republicans would have raised alarm bells, would have called for the 25th amendment to be used, Donald Trump referred to the Islamic Republic of Iran as the Islamic Republic of Japan, and never corrected himself. He called Zelensky Putin, and on his flight home he talked about ending a war in Africa, where 15 million people were beheaded. That's a myth, along with his claim that he should have gotten several Nobel Peace prizes for all the peace work that he has done in the middle of unleashing another wave of attacks on Iran. He has lost the capability of doing this job, and if there was ever a time for the 25th amendment to be utilized, this is it. But it's all part of one kaleidoscope, going back to January 6, and what he created on that day, and the events that followed, leading up to now, where we have a president who is out of control and unlimited in terms of his exercise of power, not limited by Congress, not limited by his staff, no one is there to tell him of the limits he needs to exercise in the use of his power, and I fear for where we are right now, and what could come next. Read Duncan's book on a time when we are trying to protect our democracy, and how it was back 250 years ago, fighting for it, S.A. Crosby's work that will really, I think, be a good distraction, but at the same time entertain you and force you to think about things you might not have ever thought about, and then finally Jamie Raskins, unthinkable, and at present that perhaps is the best word for describing our present circumstances, I wish you good night and good luck. The Voice Podcast is a production of United University Professions. You can find UUP on Facebook, Instagram, X, and Blue Sky at UUP Info. UUP is on the web at UUP info.org This episode was produced by Mike Lisi, Communications Director for UUP. UUP Director of Administration Lynn Alderman is Associate Producer. The host of The Voice, is UUP President Fred Kowal. You can download the Voice podcast theme for free by going to United University professions.bandcamp.com We are United. All we are united, there ain't no one who can make us fall. I am a voice.