People's Republic

In the weeks after COVID-19, a couple in Del Valle, TX struggled to pay rent. They were both employed in carpentry, worked at the same business, and were tenants on the same lease. A reporter for the Austin American-Statesman implied the man was the sole breadwinner and leaseholder, while mentioning the woman only once: as a "live-in girlfriend." This reinforces sexist stereotypes about societal roles and completely erases the role of women in blue-collar professions. We speak with Sage Westbrook, a carpenter and one of the tenants in the story, to correct the record about her work. We also talk about the struggles women face in male-dominated blue-collar professions.Later, we speak with Walter Smolarek, an editor of Liberation News. We discuss the geopolitical realities obscured by U.S. fearmongering and posit a different thesis: that the United States, not China, is the primary threat to global stability.