The history of working-class America wasn’t just built with hammers and handshakes—it was written in novels, strummed in folk songs, and whispered in poetry. But many of the artists who spoke up for labor, poverty, and justice were silenced, smeared, or simply left out of the canon. In this episode, we trace the lives and legacies of writers like John Steinbeck, Upton Sinclair, Jack London, and others who dared to tell the truth about exploitation—and paid the price in bans, blacklists, and burnings. We also examine how the voices of women, immigrants, and people of color were systematically excluded from mainstream literary memory. These weren’t just authors—they were witnesses. And their stories still echo today.
Further Reading:
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. Viking Press, 1939.
A defining novel of the Dust Bowl and the plight of migrant laborers—banned in several states upon release.
Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. Doubleday, Page & Company, 1906.
A fictional exposé of the meatpacking industry that led to federal reform—but not before Sinclair was smeared as a radical.
London, Jack. The Iron Heel. Macmillan, 1908.
A dystopian warning about oligarchy and class warfare—less remembered than his adventure stories, but chillingly prescient.
Denning, Michael. The Cultural Front: The Laboring of American Culture in the Twentieth Century. Verso, 1996.
An essential guide to the intersection of working-class struggle and the arts during the 1930s and ’40s.
Nelson, Cary. Repression and Recovery: Modern American Poetry and the Politics of Cultural Memory, 1910–1945. University of Wisconsin Press, 1989.
Chronicles the sidelining of progressive poets and labor-friendly writers from mainstream literary anthologies.
Kazin, Alfred. On Native Grounds: An Interpretation of Modern American Prose Literature. Reynal & Hitchcock, 1942.
Offers insight into how American prose evolved alongside working-class movements.
Roy, Gabrielle. The Tin Flute. Reynal & Hitchcock, 1947.
A French Canadian novel that captures urban poverty, often overlooked in U.S.-centric literary discussions.
Guthrie, Woody. Bound for Glory. E. P. Dutton, 1943.
An autobiographical account of folk music and labor organizing through song.
