How labor unions shaped America

Part 4 of the TED Radio Hour episode Monday-Friday

Labor unions brought us the weekend, social security and health insurance. Political scientist Margaret Levi explains the history of unions and calls for a 21st-century revival of the labor movement.

About Margaret Levi

Margaret Levi is a professor of Political Science at Stanford University, where she studies and writes on comparative political economy, labor politics, and the origins and effects of trustworthy government. She is the co-director of the Stanford Hub on Ethics, Society, and Technology and the co-general editor of the Annual Review of Political Science. Levi is the author or coauthor of numerous articles and six books, including Of Rule and Revenue and Consent, Dissent, and Patriotism. She is the winner of the 2019 Johan Skytte Prize and 2020 Falling Walls Prize for Breakthrough of the Year in Social Sciences and Humanities.

This segment of TED Radio Hour was produced by Chloee Weiner and Laine Kaplan-Levenson and edited by Rachel Faulkner White and Sanaz Meshkinpour. You can follow us on Facebook @TEDRadioHour and email us at TEDRadioHour@npr.org. [Copyright 2023 NPR]