1
00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:07,480
Speaker 1: Hey, this is Anny and Samantha and welcome to stuff.

2
00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:19,120
Speaker 1: I've never told you a protection of iHeartRadio. Oh no,

3
00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:21,720
Speaker 1: I wrote the date wrong. Already off to a terrible

4
00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:26,880
Speaker 1: start as we record this. Tomorrow is May one, twenty

5
00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:27,600
Speaker 1: twenty four.

6
00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:30,280
Speaker 2: It's gonna be May and welcome.

7
00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:35,120
Speaker 1: Oh yes, Oh, Star Wars month is upon as memes

8
00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:38,600
Speaker 1: like that. Yes, but May first is also otherwise known

9
00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:44,479
Speaker 1: as May Day and or International Workers Day. And we

10
00:00:44,479 --> 00:00:48,120
Speaker 1: were at the beginning of every month we try to

11
00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:51,920
Speaker 1: put together our calendar, and I was like, I'm sure

12
00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:56,120
Speaker 1: there's something with May Day, and there is. However, I

13
00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:58,000
Speaker 1: will say we have talked about some of this before.

14
00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:02,080
Speaker 1: We've never specifically folks on it, but we do have

15
00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:05,000
Speaker 1: past episodes on Labor Day. Although I think it was

16
00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:08,399
Speaker 1: fashion related if I'm remembering correctly. This was way back in,

17
00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:09,679
Speaker 1: Like Kristen, I.

18
00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:11,679
Speaker 2: Was like, I don't know, but I don't remember this

19
00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:12,720
Speaker 2: conversation at all.

20
00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:16,200
Speaker 1: Oh no, it was it was before us, But there

21
00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:19,000
Speaker 1: was one we did that was related to Labor Day.

22
00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:23,840
Speaker 1: But anyway, we also did When Women Organize, which was

23
00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:26,520
Speaker 1: something that we're going to touch on in here, and

24
00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:28,680
Speaker 1: also we did women in Unions and We've done a

25
00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:32,640
Speaker 1: couple of like women powerful women in unions, so I've

26
00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:34,120
Speaker 1: got a lot of stuff around this. This is going

27
00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:37,360
Speaker 1: to be a bit of a shorter episode, but it's twisty.

28
00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:41,760
Speaker 1: I wasn't expecting this because it actually is related to

29
00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:46,679
Speaker 1: the holiday May Day, which I have never celebrated. Have

30
00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:47,440
Speaker 1: you celebrated?

31
00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:51,720
Speaker 2: Absolutely not. That's such a foreign idea to me. Again, I,

32
00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:53,240
Speaker 2: like I said, I told you earlier. I was like,

33
00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,920
Speaker 2: isn't that just more a European thing? Like I don't

34
00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:59,160
Speaker 2: know much about it, and I really didn't associate that

35
00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:02,600
Speaker 2: too labor or like any of those international labor days.

36
00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:05,200
Speaker 2: So also go, okay, well.

37
00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:08,680
Speaker 1: A very interesting story as to how they are related.

38
00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:14,200
Speaker 1: I never have celebrated it. I think of Midsimar of

39
00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:16,840
Speaker 1: the movie when I think of May Day, which I'm

40
00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:20,799
Speaker 1: sure is not what many people who celebrate it would like,

41
00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:25,320
Speaker 1: because that is a horror movie. What we should talk

42
00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:29,359
Speaker 1: about on this show, have we not. I don't think

43
00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:31,760
Speaker 1: we've we've done a specific episode on it. I think

44
00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:36,360
Speaker 1: we've mentioned it. But I do find the different takes

45
00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:43,480
Speaker 1: generally men and women have on that movie fascinating because

46
00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:46,160
Speaker 1: I've been so like, wow, all this gas lighting. And

47
00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:53,360
Speaker 1: I've had many male friends like gaslighting. What oh in yes,

48
00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:59,840
Speaker 1: but okay, so yeah, let's let's get this festival out

49
00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:03,239
Speaker 1: of away. For a long time, may Day has referred

50
00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:06,520
Speaker 1: to a spring festival involving flowers in a maypole that

51
00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,679
Speaker 1: herald's the coming of spring. Going back to ancient Rome,

52
00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:13,320
Speaker 1: may Day fell in the middle of a festival called Feralia,

53
00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:16,919
Speaker 1: celebrating Flora, who was the goddess of flowers, spring and youth.

54
00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:20,640
Speaker 1: When the Romans arrived in the British Isles, they brought

55
00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:23,160
Speaker 1: this festival with them, where it lined up with the

56
00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:27,160
Speaker 1: Celtic holiday Bill ten. I hope I didn't butcher that

57
00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:32,120
Speaker 1: they combined similar elements to create may Day, celebrated on

58
00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:35,920
Speaker 1: May first, and by medieval times may Day was a

59
00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:38,000
Speaker 1: popular holiday throughout Europe.

60
00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:41,280
Speaker 2: Is that the way at the beginning of this Scottish

61
00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:44,800
Speaker 2: festival for the Outlander where she gets sucked into time?

62
00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:45,600
Speaker 2: Do you know what I'm talking about?

63
00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:46,280
Speaker 1: Have you ever seen this?

64
00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:49,000
Speaker 2: If I say this and I'm wrong, people are gonna

65
00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:52,560
Speaker 2: be really pissed because people love that movie. I like

66
00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:54,560
Speaker 2: or Nut Show and I like it too. But they

67
00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:56,440
Speaker 2: have this whole festival where it's just supposed to be

68
00:03:56,480 --> 00:03:59,680
Speaker 2: like witches. They come together and go into the island

69
00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:03,600
Speaker 2: around this one rock and can but they dance very

70
00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:06,120
Speaker 2: like they have like crowns. I believe in white dresses

71
00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:09,000
Speaker 2: and enchant. It sounds like that, but I could be

72
00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:09,960
Speaker 2: very damn wrong.

73
00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:14,680
Speaker 1: It's very similar, as I haven't seen either this or

74
00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:18,040
Speaker 1: a May Day celebration, but to me it sounds right

75
00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:22,920
Speaker 1: because this holiday and listeners please write in if you

76
00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,279
Speaker 1: celebrate it, because people do celebrate. It still involves people

77
00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:29,440
Speaker 1: going out a Maying in the early morning to gather

78
00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:32,800
Speaker 1: flowers and decorate for the celebration, and there were games, dances,

79
00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:36,479
Speaker 1: and many held pageants to crown a may queen, a

80
00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:39,760
Speaker 1: woman who is basically the overseer of all of the festivities.

81
00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:43,680
Speaker 1: The may pole was often the centerpiece of these festivals.

82
00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:46,400
Speaker 1: It was a birch pole that was brought in by

83
00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:49,960
Speaker 1: an ox that had flowers decorated with flowers, and it

84
00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:53,200
Speaker 1: was adorned with streamers for dancers to hold on to

85
00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:56,239
Speaker 1: as they made their way around the pole.

86
00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:58,599
Speaker 2: Okay, yes, the sam Hayne.

87
00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:03,080
Speaker 1: Oh they are related though.

88
00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,600
Speaker 2: Are they Okay? So that is how happens in October.

89
00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:10,040
Speaker 1: Apparently, Yes, but so sam Hayne and may Day are

90
00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:16,560
Speaker 1: like the opposite. So sam Hayn is Halloween is fall, okay,

91
00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:20,599
Speaker 1: and then may Day is like when sam Hayne is over,

92
00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:23,039
Speaker 1: the spring is coming. But they're supposed to compliment each other.

93
00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:25,320
Speaker 2: So don't get me. I just knew it was very

94
00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:28,239
Speaker 2: pretty festival that happened in light dresses, and they seem

95
00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:29,120
Speaker 2: to dance with flowers.

96
00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:32,560
Speaker 1: Let me know if I'm incorrect, because that's just from

97
00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:34,760
Speaker 1: the articles that I've read, but again, this has not

98
00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:48,880
Speaker 1: been my experience growing up. Apparently, another tradition was to

99
00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:52,080
Speaker 1: make people give baskets with flowers and treats, leave them

100
00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:55,880
Speaker 1: at the doorstep, knock or otherwise alert the person inside

101
00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:58,280
Speaker 1: to their presence, and then run and if the receiver

102
00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:01,600
Speaker 1: of the basket caught the giver, they owed them a kiss,

103
00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:04,159
Speaker 1: which I'm assuming could be very platonic because the story

104
00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:07,720
Speaker 1: I read, the anecdotal story I read, was like a

105
00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:10,479
Speaker 1: young girl and her best friend, so like, I don't

106
00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:12,279
Speaker 1: think it had to be romantic, although there were plenty

107
00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:15,279
Speaker 1: of accounts of it being sort of a young people

108
00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:19,719
Speaker 1: disappearing in the woods type of festival. I know, and

109
00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:21,920
Speaker 1: I read in some places that the basket is meant

110
00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:25,039
Speaker 1: to represent women's fertility, and the poll is meant to

111
00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:29,159
Speaker 1: represent male fertility. And the taller the pole the better,

112
00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:32,240
Speaker 1: which did give me a chuckle.

113
00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:34,960
Speaker 2: Is that why just the girls wrapping around it?

114
00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:41,360
Speaker 1: I believe. So Samantha, just check it, just check in, yeah,

115
00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,880
Speaker 1: and then you get your may Queen. It's very interesting. Also,

116
00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:46,720
Speaker 1: I would love if someone would write in about this.

117
00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:50,280
Speaker 1: I read in Hawaii lay Day, which is kind of

118
00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:53,320
Speaker 1: something that came around this. The celebration focused on making

119
00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:57,720
Speaker 1: and giving ways started in nineteen twenty nine, so write

120
00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:02,560
Speaker 1: in let us know. All right. So at first, colonial

121
00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:05,799
Speaker 1: Americans were very wary of may Day, allegedly even breaking

122
00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:08,560
Speaker 1: up a May Day celebration and sending the person who

123
00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:10,880
Speaker 1: threw it back to England. There's like a poem about it,

124
00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:13,480
Speaker 1: and I think it's re enacted at May Day celebrations,

125
00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:18,080
Speaker 1: so it would it left an impression just because they

126
00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:20,640
Speaker 1: kind of associated it, sort of like you, Samantha's a

127
00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:24,600
Speaker 1: very European thing, like we don't do that. But may

128
00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:27,440
Speaker 1: Day did eventually gain traction in the US in the

129
00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:31,760
Speaker 1: late eighteen hundreds, but in two very different ways, though

130
00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:35,320
Speaker 1: they both revolved around the rights of workers. One of

131
00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:37,960
Speaker 1: these movements was composed of people from well off and

132
00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,160
Speaker 1: influential families, and at the time, this group of well

133
00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:44,800
Speaker 1: off folks were looking at the migrants and immigrants coming

134
00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:48,880
Speaker 1: into US cities with concern. They were worried that the

135
00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:51,920
Speaker 1: work would exhaust them and that they would spend their

136
00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:55,960
Speaker 1: free time on what they viewed as things that were

137
00:07:56,080 --> 00:08:00,640
Speaker 1: void of educational value and empty of American values and

138
00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:05,600
Speaker 1: heavy quotes, things like amusement parks are carnivals. Considered this

139
00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:09,680
Speaker 1: a waste, so they thought they'd bring something back that

140
00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:16,600
Speaker 1: they associated with white Anglo Saxon values, May Day, the holiday.

141
00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:20,280
Speaker 1: So in the eighteen seventies, May Day celebrations started taking

142
00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:25,360
Speaker 1: place on campuses of women's colleges. Primarily, at first, the

143
00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:28,640
Speaker 1: women would do the traditional dances while wearing the traditional

144
00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:32,440
Speaker 1: white They might reenact this play I mentioned. To spread

145
00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:36,040
Speaker 1: the practice, the well off introduced a Maying Again and

146
00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:38,560
Speaker 1: May Day festivals to American elementary schools.

147
00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:41,200
Speaker 2: The other group set about making May Day a day

148
00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:46,320
Speaker 2: reserve for laborers. After industrialization and the Civil War, workers

149
00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:50,960
Speaker 2: started organizing into unions. Hey the connotation of May Day

150
00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:54,840
Speaker 2: took on a new meaning in eighteen eighty six when

151
00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:58,600
Speaker 2: on May first, two hundred thousand workers in Chicago and

152
00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:02,319
Speaker 2: other cities went on strike while pushing for an eight

153
00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:07,040
Speaker 2: hour day. The strikes became violent and yes, eventually earned

154
00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:11,440
Speaker 2: the name Haymarket Affair. Many were wounded and several died.

155
00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:13,360
Speaker 2: And yes, we do talk about it a little bit

156
00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:16,520
Speaker 2: in this in the book with a hay Market Who

157
00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:21,160
Speaker 2: did this? And yes, there are actual Haymarket organizations today

158
00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:22,280
Speaker 2: they named after this.

159
00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:26,280
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, and we did talk about it in When

160
00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:28,959
Speaker 1: One More Women Women Organized that episode two, which is

161
00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:31,439
Speaker 1: a two parter if I'm remembering correctly, But it was

162
00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:33,400
Speaker 1: a whole. It was a big deal. It was a

163
00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:35,440
Speaker 1: big deal and there was a lot of moving pieces

164
00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:38,480
Speaker 1: in it. So definitely go check those things out with

165
00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:41,920
Speaker 1: Lucy Parsons. That's the name that we know with this,

166
00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:47,560
Speaker 1: so yes, hey, Lucy Parsons. So to commemorate what happened

167
00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:51,040
Speaker 1: on this state, the International Socialist Conference declared May first

168
00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:54,720
Speaker 1: as an international holiday highlighting labor, now known as International

169
00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:58,200
Speaker 1: Workers Day in eighteen eighty nine. That was officially signed

170
00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:01,280
Speaker 1: into US law in eighteen ninety five, or the eight

171
00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:03,679
Speaker 1: hour workday itself went into effect in the US in

172
00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:05,800
Speaker 1: nineteen sixteen, although I read in other places it was

173
00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:07,360
Speaker 1: way earlier than that. I wonder if that was just

174
00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:10,360
Speaker 1: kind of the federal level.

175
00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:11,760
Speaker 2: Right it intervened.

176
00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:16,280
Speaker 1: Yes, However, during the Red Scare and the Cold War

177
00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:21,160
Speaker 1: in the US, this made a celebration International Workers Day,

178
00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:24,079
Speaker 1: I should say, drew a lot of ire and suspicion.

179
00:10:24,559 --> 00:10:28,120
Speaker 1: And in nineteen fifty eight, President Eisenhower signed a resolution

180
00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:32,319
Speaker 1: that labeled May First as Loyalty Day, claiming that it

181
00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:35,800
Speaker 1: would be quote a special day for the reaffirmation of

182
00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:38,480
Speaker 1: loyalty to the United States of America and for the

183
00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:41,280
Speaker 1: recognition of the heritage of American freedom.

184
00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:46,960
Speaker 2: Why is this a constant where I swear they take

185
00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:51,040
Speaker 2: something and redo it for their own sake. It's a

186
00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:55,480
Speaker 2: smart play, but it's really flipping annoying, like taking words

187
00:10:55,559 --> 00:11:02,760
Speaker 2: that were about racial equality or you know, like equity

188
00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:05,320
Speaker 2: and then they like, no, that means they're trying to

189
00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:07,880
Speaker 2: be too liberal. And then they take this whole like

190
00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:10,200
Speaker 2: if they do social like they do the Social Scare,

191
00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:14,000
Speaker 2: the Red Scare in a different format, just what is

192
00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:17,640
Speaker 2: the conversation is, like what's happening? But they're really good

193
00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:19,400
Speaker 2: at it. It's really annoying too.

194
00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:23,960
Speaker 1: It is, it is, and it's really it's so many

195
00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:25,679
Speaker 1: times I'll read things like this and I get why

196
00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:30,240
Speaker 1: they worked, but I'm also like, it's so silly and transparent.

197
00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:32,079
Speaker 1: It's a loyalty Day.

198
00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:34,520
Speaker 2: Yes, it's a little lazy work though that ends up

199
00:11:34,559 --> 00:11:38,000
Speaker 2: overtaking that conversation. It's literally nothing original about it. They

200
00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:40,840
Speaker 2: just retake it and rebranded. It's the whole I'm rubber,

201
00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:41,520
Speaker 2: you're glue.

202
00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:47,120
Speaker 1: Yeah. With terminology yeah, and definitely like those kind of

203
00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:52,000
Speaker 1: hard term those words that get thrown about with patriotism

204
00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:56,160
Speaker 1: or well, if you don't support Loyalty Day, then you

205
00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:59,840
Speaker 1: terrible communists. Get out, get out right. Yeah.

206
00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:03,360
Speaker 2: So other countries had groups and organizations that adopted International

207
00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:06,640
Speaker 2: Workers Day, such as the International Socialist Congress in France,

208
00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:10,280
Speaker 2: who resolved to mark May first, eighteen ninety with quote

209
00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:15,480
Speaker 2: great International Demonstration. Other European entities followed suit, later combining

210
00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:19,080
Speaker 2: the demonstrations with festival like elements, to the point that

211
00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:22,280
Speaker 2: within a decade, so many Europeans had adopted the holiday

212
00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:27,000
Speaker 2: that Americans started to associate with European socialism as opposed

213
00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:31,480
Speaker 2: to American unionism. Some unions wanted to avoid any association

214
00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:35,880
Speaker 2: with radicalism, stopped celebrating May Day and pivoted to Labor

215
00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:39,760
Speaker 2: Day in September instead. Again the seventh A lot is

216
00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:41,240
Speaker 2: such an interesting tactic.

217
00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:44,800
Speaker 1: It's kind of it's sad, but it's kind of comical

218
00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:49,360
Speaker 1: to me that Americans were suspicious of May Day the

219
00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:55,040
Speaker 1: festival because it was too European, and then they were like, well,

220
00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:57,360
Speaker 1: maybe we'll go back to that. But then they were

221
00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:00,880
Speaker 1: like unions and fight for work and rights and all this,

222
00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:03,600
Speaker 1: and then Europeans started doing doing it. They were like,

223
00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:07,240
Speaker 1: oh no, let's pulled back here.

224
00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:10,280
Speaker 2: We can't be seen that that's too much.

225
00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:12,439
Speaker 1: It became too European. It's just.

226
00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:17,400
Speaker 2: I mean it kind of there's so many things that

227
00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:20,319
Speaker 2: I'm like, yeah, it makes sense to this mind frame

228
00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:24,200
Speaker 2: of like we need equality. Oh no, other people to

229
00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:25,880
Speaker 2: get We don't want to be anything like them, like

230
00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:29,199
Speaker 2: we want to be like wait what.

231
00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:34,600
Speaker 1: It's just like strange today. I didn't know this. I

232
00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:38,240
Speaker 1: didn't know May Day started in the US. I associated

233
00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:43,440
Speaker 1: with Europe right, right, I associate International Workers Day outside

234
00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:44,040
Speaker 1: of the US.

235
00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:47,480
Speaker 2: Right. No, no, no, we don't want to associate with you.

236
00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:49,960
Speaker 2: We want our own things, so we'll give this to you.

237
00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:51,800
Speaker 2: Scraze that from history, please.

238
00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:57,800
Speaker 1: Right, Oh my gosh. Well, in Europe, especially beginning in

239
00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:00,200
Speaker 1: the run up to World War One, May Day, our

240
00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:03,240
Speaker 1: International Worker's Day, became a place of anti war protest

241
00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:07,960
Speaker 1: and general political upheaval. The history gets pretty messy. I

242
00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:10,400
Speaker 1: think that would be a whole podcast separately if we

243
00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:12,440
Speaker 1: wanted to do that, in probably a different podcast than

244
00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:16,800
Speaker 1: this one. But during World War two, for instance, the

245
00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:20,320
Speaker 1: Nazis tried to co opt it in Germany, calling it

246
00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:23,200
Speaker 1: like National Worker's Day or something, leading to folks starting

247
00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:28,920
Speaker 1: and uprising some countries outright bandit. Other countries have also

248
00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:34,680
Speaker 1: used Mayday for political protest. As of today, International Workers

249
00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:37,920
Speaker 1: Day is an officially recognized holiday in sixty six countries

250
00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:40,520
Speaker 1: and unofficially in a bunch more so you can look

251
00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:43,720
Speaker 1: it up. A lot of amazing things have happened, a

252
00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:46,160
Speaker 1: lot of devastating things have happened on Mayday, but a

253
00:14:46,200 --> 00:15:01,520
Speaker 1: lot of countries have adopted it all right, fitting back, okay.

254
00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:05,480
Speaker 1: In the nineteen hundreds, European style May Day celebrations, as

255
00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:07,920
Speaker 1: in the festival, were still popular in the US, but

256
00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:12,720
Speaker 1: they never achieved displacing entertainment like arcades and amusement parks,

257
00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:17,760
Speaker 1: oh as that it was intended, and eventually these celebrations faded,

258
00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:21,240
Speaker 1: although I did read people do still celebrate in the US,

259
00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:24,880
Speaker 1: so again, listeners, let us know, but millions around the

260
00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:31,120
Speaker 1: world do still mark International Workers Day. So while women

261
00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:33,440
Speaker 1: were involved in these strikes, and we've spoken about some

262
00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:37,760
Speaker 1: specific powerful examples as mentioned, a lot of the coverage

263
00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:41,160
Speaker 1: was on men. Since women are white, women particularly were

264
00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:44,240
Speaker 1: confined to the domestic sphere, which is something we always

265
00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:46,720
Speaker 1: have to keep in mind around this conversation about women

266
00:15:46,760 --> 00:15:50,800
Speaker 1: in work. But several instances did bring women to the forefront,

267
00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:54,720
Speaker 1: including New York City's nineteen eleven Triangle shirtwaist factory incident

268
00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:57,480
Speaker 1: that resulted in one hundred and forty six deaths, mostly

269
00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:00,800
Speaker 1: of women and girls. This is one example in the US,

270
00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:04,640
Speaker 1: and there are numerous, numerous, numerous ones in this country

271
00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:09,880
Speaker 1: and around the world. So all of this is important

272
00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:12,479
Speaker 1: for a number of reasons. When it comes to intersectional feminism.

273
00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:16,080
Speaker 1: The gender pay gap still exist is worse for women

274
00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:21,680
Speaker 1: of color, sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination, racial discrimination, LGBTQ plus

275
00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:26,240
Speaker 1: discrimination discrimination against disabled folks. Similar things exist around the

276
00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:30,360
Speaker 1: world in various forms. And to various extents, we saw

277
00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:34,920
Speaker 1: these things get worse during the pandemic. We've seen the

278
00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:37,840
Speaker 1: numbers go the wrong way in a lot of instances.

279
00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:41,560
Speaker 1: And remember the US currently doesn't really have maternity or

280
00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:45,000
Speaker 1: paternity to leave, like, we don't have great healthcare that

281
00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:48,960
Speaker 1: many of us have to get through our work. Accessible

282
00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:52,080
Speaker 1: childcare is still out of reach for a lot of people.

283
00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:57,480
Speaker 1: So it's important. And this all did start. This May

284
00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:01,160
Speaker 1: Day International Workers Day thing started with a push for

285
00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:04,640
Speaker 1: an eight hour work day, but recent surveys have found

286
00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:08,199
Speaker 1: women routinely work longer than eight hours, and much of

287
00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:11,800
Speaker 1: it is unpaid, unrecognized labor. And that's like at work,

288
00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:15,760
Speaker 1: that doesn't even count at home all of that other stuff.

289
00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:20,480
Speaker 1: And as we mentioned in previous episodes, two women in

290
00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:23,399
Speaker 1: marginalized folks are and have been at the forefront of

291
00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:27,520
Speaker 1: movements to change things. Even as we're seeing rollbacks of

292
00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:30,040
Speaker 1: things put in place around child labor, which we were

293
00:17:30,119 --> 00:17:33,960
Speaker 1: just talking about for instance, Samantha, or huge companies leveraging

294
00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:38,280
Speaker 1: their massive sources to squash attempts at unionizing. There are

295
00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:43,960
Speaker 1: people still fighting and these things are important, and we

296
00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:46,320
Speaker 1: have in our own company, we've been working towards the

297
00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:50,280
Speaker 1: union for over two years, two years I think, and

298
00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:56,879
Speaker 1: it's just been really a lot of pushback, but a

299
00:17:56,960 --> 00:18:01,879
Speaker 1: huge shout out to our bargaining committee who has really

300
00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:07,040
Speaker 1: been fighting even when they meet so much resistance and

301
00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:10,520
Speaker 1: wrangling all of us because we're all over the place,

302
00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:12,240
Speaker 1: we do all kinds of different things, and.

303
00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:18,520
Speaker 2: Right, it's been interesting because the shift in constant rotation,

304
00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:24,040
Speaker 2: because of the way that people, the higher ups in

305
00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:30,000
Speaker 2: execs and sides are stretching this out, and it's causing

306
00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:33,120
Speaker 2: people like I can't imagine. I actually I can't imagine

307
00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:35,280
Speaker 2: because I think I stepped foot in it for like

308
00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:36,720
Speaker 2: a split second. I was like, oh, this is a

309
00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:38,520
Speaker 2: lot of work, and it is a lot a lot

310
00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:40,760
Speaker 2: of work, and so we definitely want to shut out

311
00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:43,840
Speaker 2: to those who are fighting that fight, and we do

312
00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:44,399
Speaker 2: support you.

313
00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:47,280
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, it's.

314
00:18:47,119 --> 00:18:50,440
Speaker 2: Been interesting, and yeah, just unions are not a bad thing,

315
00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:52,639
Speaker 2: and the fact that people are trying to squash it

316
00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:53,320
Speaker 2: says a lot.

317
00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:58,760
Speaker 1: It does. It does, And just like with anything, of course,

318
00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:01,679
Speaker 1: there's been examples of like, oh that wasn't great, that

319
00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:03,639
Speaker 1: one person wasn't great, but that doesn't mean like the

320
00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:05,399
Speaker 1: whole thing is bad.

321
00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:09,440
Speaker 2: There's this whole level of who are the players and

322
00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:11,639
Speaker 2: when it comes when may come back to find it,

323
00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:15,280
Speaker 2: there's a lot that are bad players because they're planted there.

324
00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:19,520
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know those things get so much attention,

325
00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:22,520
Speaker 1: but again, these are there's so many people who've been

326
00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:24,879
Speaker 1: doing this work who are not getting any attention, who

327
00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:28,719
Speaker 1: have been doing it, And personally, it just frustrates me

328
00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:31,000
Speaker 1: so much when I'll hear someone who's anti union be

329
00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:33,200
Speaker 1: so excited about the weekend are being done with work,

330
00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:36,720
Speaker 1: and I'm like, you know that was like unions that

331
00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:41,200
Speaker 1: did that right, right, We didn't used to have those

332
00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:42,960
Speaker 1: things right And.

333
00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:44,960
Speaker 2: Just as a reminder, this was all Like we've talked

334
00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:47,320
Speaker 2: about this. I think it's just a constant conversation, especially

335
00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:53,360
Speaker 2: when you work in intersectionality, that rhetoric and media has

336
00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:58,320
Speaker 2: really really made people scared of things because it is

337
00:19:58,359 --> 00:20:01,040
Speaker 2: not beneficial to those who were already power. Like that's

338
00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:04,080
Speaker 2: the constant reminder of like, when the bad things happen,

339
00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:07,280
Speaker 2: it wasn't what you thought, and when you uncovered who

340
00:20:07,359 --> 00:20:08,919
Speaker 2: was at the root of it and why it was there,

341
00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:13,240
Speaker 2: it is because people who are in power were scared

342
00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:16,960
Speaker 2: of losing something because they wanted to keep that power.

343
00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:19,359
Speaker 2: And honestly, it's all this level of like it's not

344
00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:22,639
Speaker 2: that people are asking not to work as much or

345
00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:27,159
Speaker 2: whatever whatnot, it's just being fairly compensated or treated fairly

346
00:20:27,359 --> 00:20:30,879
Speaker 2: or able to actually afford uh And being told that

347
00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:33,639
Speaker 2: when you're family, which is a conversation we hear a

348
00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:36,200
Speaker 2: lot for a lot of business practices, especially in the US,

349
00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:39,199
Speaker 2: which is a fun rhetoric. And then being told but

350
00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:43,200
Speaker 2: you are really expendable and easily replaceable, just like you're

351
00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:45,239
Speaker 2: supposed to treat them like the family, but you are

352
00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:46,440
Speaker 2: not going to be treated as such.

353
00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:48,760
Speaker 1: Yes, you should be grateful that you're.

354
00:20:48,680 --> 00:20:51,399
Speaker 2: Yes here, yes, which I was actually told that. In

355
00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:54,960
Speaker 2: my government job. We were like, hey, we get pay

356
00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:57,720
Speaker 2: almost minimum wage and we would like to help these kids,

357
00:20:57,760 --> 00:20:59,919
Speaker 2: and part of these kids maybe buying them a lunch

358
00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:02,760
Speaker 2: while having conversation, and you're telling us that you are

359
00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:05,040
Speaker 2: not going to compensate us, and then also you should

360
00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:06,960
Speaker 2: we should be grateful for having a job. If we

361
00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:09,560
Speaker 2: don't want that to get out. We're like when we

362
00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:11,159
Speaker 2: were told at a conference and we were.

363
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:16,919
Speaker 1: Like, oh, okay, okay, cool.

364
00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:19,880
Speaker 2: That was my government job, So then we absolutely could

365
00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:23,520
Speaker 2: not unionize, and especially in the state of Georgia.

366
00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:31,400
Speaker 1: Yep, I laugh because it's scary. Yeah, yeah, So if

367
00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:34,720
Speaker 1: anyone has any thoughts about this, if you've worked on

368
00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:39,439
Speaker 1: a bargaining committee, if anyone's planning on protesting, please be safe.

369
00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:42,160
Speaker 1: We're thinking of you because it is a big lot

370
00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:43,720
Speaker 1: of things usually happen on May Day.

371
00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:44,600
Speaker 2: And thank you.

372
00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:48,000
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, and thanks to the people who've done this

373
00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:51,600
Speaker 1: work and at our own company, to the people who

374
00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:56,439
Speaker 1: are doing this work. But yes, all right, here we go,

375
00:21:56,560 --> 00:22:00,639
Speaker 1: may here we go. Yes. If you were to contact

376
00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:03,439
Speaker 1: those listeners, you can our emails Stephania mom Stuff at

377
00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:05,960
Speaker 1: iHeartMedia dot com. You can find us on Twitter, mom

378
00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:08,280
Speaker 1: Stuff podcast, or on Instagram and TikTok at stuff We'll

379
00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:10,000
Speaker 1: Never Told You, or on YouTube. We also have a

380
00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:11,879
Speaker 1: tea public store and a book you can get wherever

381
00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:14,520
Speaker 1: you get your books. Thanks as always too, our super

382
00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:17,200
Speaker 1: producer Christina are executive pducer My and your contributor Joey.

383
00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:19,639
Speaker 1: Thank you and thanks to you for listening. Stuff Never

384
00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:21,520
Speaker 1: Told You is production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from

385
00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:23,080
Speaker 1: my Heart Radio, you can check out the heart Radio app,

386
00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:25,480
Speaker 1: Apple podcast or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,