Membership in the Middle Class has plummeted over the past 40 years, making the American Dream out-of-reach for a great many Americans. Thom Hartmann addresses the history, present, & possible future of this saga in his book, The Hidden History of The American Dream: The Demise of the Middle Class – And How to Rescue Our Future.

Part 2 of a birthday celebration for Si Kahn on his 80th birthday, this week with John McCutcheon and Cathy Fink, sharing streams of music and meaning that flow from Si Kahn.

As a happy birthday to Si Kahn for his 80th birthday, this week and next week we are sharing songs and stories by & about Si as performed by the hand-chosen successors to Si's work and music. Today that means we are joined by Phoebe Rees & Joe Jencks.

Part 2 of a visit with Si Kahn, Vivian Nesbitt, John Dillon, and a special guest, Joe Jencks, where we will looking at the musical written by Si Kahn cal

Si Kahn is joining us today for Spirit In Action along with two other folks, Vivian Nesbitt and John Dillon, and this week's show is part one where we will looking at the musical written by Si Kahn called Mother Jones in Heaven.

Brad Laird is a Wobbly Quaker, official member of the Michiana IWW and a Quaker in good standing. That’s not all he is, by any means - he’s a Girl Scout Troop Leader, passionate husband, father, and grandfather, Chair of the board of directors of South Bend, Indiana’s Community for Peace & Nonviolence.

One of the most informative & persuasive writers ever, Gordon Lafer is author of The One Percent Solution: How Corporations are Remaking America One State At A Time. Both empowering & maddening, the piercing exposé of the destruction of labor & the middle class by moneyed interests is essential to mounting an effective reply. Gordon Lafer is a political economist and Associate Professor at the Labor Education and Research Center of the University of Oregon in Eugene.

A vital part of improving the world is organizing people by getting the word out, which is the work of The Progressive Populist and its editor/founder, Jim Cullen. The populist movement and it's message prioritizing people over corporations has be transforming this country since the 1880's, and continues to do so today.

The music of Joe Jencks burns in the heart of the listener, both with his lyrics and his powerful voice. The stories and poetry of his songs lift up a vision of love, compassion and solidarity without preaching or posturing - just solid, inspirational music. In addition to a wealth of solo performing, he's now part of a trio called Brother Sun. As Joe says in one of his songs, "You may hold the candle but you cannot hold the flame".

In Incident at the Bruce Mine Shaft, Stephen Ivancic uses historical fiction to highlight the real life issues around workers, unions, and opportunistic capitalists. Set in the iron mines of Northern Minnesota in the 1920s and focusing on the Finnish workers, some communist, some not, Stephen helps us to understand the dynamics of individualism, community, and power.