Bill and Rachel explore the settler-colonial origins and influences of American lotteries and discuss why they were eventually banned and then brought back.
Links and notes for ep. 433 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/AFD-Ep-433-Links-and-Notes-State-Lotteries.pdf
Theme music by Stunt Bird.
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Bill and Rachel look at the development of the modern elevator from the 1850s onward and debate its effects on the American city in comparison to streetcars, electrification, and automobiles.
Links and notes for ep. 431 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/AFD-Ep-431-Links-and-Notes-Modern-Elevators.pdf
Theme music by Stunt Bird.
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On June 15, 1990, the LAPD violently smashed up a peaceful march by SEIU janitors in Los Angeles who were trying to grow their membership via new contracts with outsource cleaning service companies. Bill and Rachel discuss.
Links and notes for ep. 430 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/AFD-Ep-430-Links-and-Notes-Justice-for-Janitors-LA-1990.pdf
Theme music by Stunt Bird.
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Bill and Rachel managed to add a third fascinating hour-plus of material on containerization, looking at present-day supply chain vulnerabilities, the rise of container freeports, product waste, and Soviet container history.
Links and notes for ep. 428 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/AFD-Ep-428-Links-and-Notes-Containerization-Part-3-Bonus-on-Shipping-Containers.pdf
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Bill and Rachel continue the history of containerization with a look at the mature industry that emerged out of the 1970s and soon revolutionized global manufacturing supply chains, with sweeping and ruinous effects.
Links and notes for ep. 427 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/AFD-Ep-427-Links-and-Notes-Containerization-Part-2-Shipping-Containers.pdf
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Originally seen as a marginal innovation on existing shipping, containerization ended up revolutionizing the global economy and destroying many local economies. This resulted directly from (and enabled) the US war in Vietnam. (Bill and Rachel.)
Links and notes for ep. 426 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/AFD-Ep-426-Links-and-Notes-Containerization-Part-1-Shipping-Containers.pdf
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A quick episode on hard hats from Bill and Rachel: It wasn’t until after World War I that standardized, tactical equipment for the prevention of workplace noggin bonking came into existence and use.
Links and notes for ep. 425 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/AFD-Ep-425-Links-and-Notes-Hard-Hats.pdf
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