Wanna honor Labor Day but not work at it? Check out any of these pop culture expressions from the last year. Just in time for your nod to Labor Day, lets give props to those who have amplified workers’ voices in one form or another this year.
THE LIST (* indicates best in category)
Television (Reality)
*Undercover Boss
Ice Road Truckers
30 Days
Dirty Jobs
America’s Toughest Jobs
Television (Comedy)
*The Office
The Simpsons
30 Rock
Parks and Recreation
Television (Drama)
*Nurse Jackie
The Closer
United States of Tara
Rescue Me
Music (For Listening)
*”Even If Its So” – Q Tip
“Two Step Blues” – Little Brother
“21st Century Breakdown” – Green Day
“Hope” – Rahel
Music (For Rallying)
*”Fight Smash Win” – Street Sweeper Social Club
“Drop It (Like a Hot Muppet)” – Magic Drum Orchestra
Art Shows
*”Myth and Manpower” – Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles
“Closed Mondays” – grayDUCK Gallery, Austin
“Today I Made Nothing” – Elizabeth Dee Gallery, New York
“Small Trades (Irving Penn)” – Getty Center
Books
*”Shopclass as Soulcraft” – Matthew Crawford
“Border Songs” – Jim Lynch
“Wherever There is a Fight” – Elaine Elinson
“The Legend of Colton Bryant” – Alexandra Fuller
Film (Feature)
*Up In the Air
The Maid
Humble Pie
Adventureland
Extract
Film (Documentary)
*Yes Men Fix The World
Capitalism: A Love Story
Floored
The Philosopher Kings
Parking Lot Movie
For detailed commentary on each of these categories, check out the whole series of blogs on workers voices in arts and entertainment (all freshly posted in last two weeks) at http://www.startalkfm.com/wyatt-closs or click right here.
Special thanks to those who served on a loose-knit jury of artists, entertainment professionals, and economic justice activists to help make these selections.
Hopefully, this list inspires many in the arts, letters, and entertainment worlds to take on more stories and expressions about work, workers, and working family issues. As said at the outset of this series, there are so many rich stories out there about America’s workers and a tremendous market for those stories as well.
Maybe at some point we’ll get a Downtown LA hotel ballroom, a red carpet, the obligatory step-and-repeat wall, starlets pumping their fists in the air going “Woo, workers rock!” Yeah. Until then, there’s this.
Read more: Ceos, Immigration, Service Economy, Donna Summer, Matt Damon, The Chemical Brothers, Movies, Mtv, Bailout, Unions, Workplace, Up in the Air, Austin, The Yes Men, JJ Abrams, John Steinbeck, Sundance Film Festival, Protest, Jobs, Michael Moore Capitalism: A Love Story, Economic Crisis, Folk Art, Film, Labor Unions, Elvis Presley, Tyler Perry, Seth MacFarlane, Adventureland, Awards Season, Entertainment, Work, Jason Reitman, Diego Rivera, Working Women, March on Washington, Books, Janitor, Elaine Elinson, Norman Lear, Economy, Reality Television, Chile, Getty Center, Reality TV, Motorcycles, Bbc, Workers, Martin Starr, Music, Undercover Boss, Arts, Musicians, Television, Nurses, Labor Day, Michael Moore, Edie Falco, Elizabeth Dee, Entertainment News, MTV Video Music Awards, Humble-Pie, Arts News, James Brown, Tom Morello, Politics, Matthew Crawford, Judd Apatow, George Clooney, Hip-Hop, Emmy Awards, Big Banks, Wall Street, Howard Zinn, Boycott, Art, Nurse Jackie, Entertainment News
