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.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
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.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
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.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Rachel talks about what the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) achieved and how the United States arrived there in the first place.
Links and notes for ep. 429 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/AFD-Ep-429-Links-and-Notes-Road-to-OSHA.pdf
Theme music by Stunt Bird.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
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
Theme music by Stunt Bird.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
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
Theme music by Stunt Bird.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
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
Theme music by Stunt Bird.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
