Susan Simensky Bietila

Holy cow, this is Working People's 200th episode! Thank you to everyone who has listened to and supported us over the past five seasons—and, of course, thank you to every guest who has ever come on the show to share their story. To commemorate our 200th regular-season episode, we have a special installment of our series of conversations with teachers, organizers, scholars, and activists in Wisconsin that Max, Cameron Granadino (TRNN), and Hannah Faris (In These Times) recorded in the summer of 2021 as part of a special collaboration between The Real News Network and In These Times magazine. In this episode, we talk with longtime artist, activist, and registered nurse Susan Simensky Bietila in Milwaukee. Hearkening back to the episodes we published in the first season of Working People, this is an extended conversation that traces the incredible, winding path that Sue has taken in life, from growing up in the projects in New York to drawing and collaging for The Guardian, the radical US newsweekly, during the height of the Vietnam War, to protesting at the Wisconsin State Capitol in 2011 during the Wisconsin Uprising.

Additional links/info below...

Susan Simensky Bietila's website and art archives
Susan Simensky Bietila, "Wisconsin: Walk Like an Egyptian"
Susan Simensky Bietila's Facebook page
Paul Buhle & Nicole Schulman (eds.), Verso, Wobblies!: A Graphic History of the Industrial Workers of the World
Maximillian Alvarez, Current Affairs, "Can the Working Class Speak?"
In These Times investigative series: The Wisconsin Idea
The Jacobin Show, "The Democratic Coalition after Trump and the Fall of Wisconsin"
Dan Kaufman, Norton Books, The Fall of Wisconsin: The Conservative Conquest of a Progressive Bastion and the Future of American Politics
Michael D. Yates, Monthly Review Press, Wisconsin Uprising: Labor Fights Back
John Nichols, Bold Type Books, Uprising: How Scott Walker Betrayed Wisconsin and Inspired a New Politics of Protest
Permanent links below...

Working People Patreon page
Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"