Shifting Terrain is back for a new season to explore the forces both capturing and dividing the working class. Hosted by sociologist Rachel Rybaczuk, she’ll talk with experts and everyday people about everything from the alarming reach of Christian nationalism to the inescapable influence of the manosphere, whether unions are actually the way to build power and if immigrants are really taking your job. Shifting Terrain moves beyond simplistic stereotypes to amplify the cultural, political, and economic issues facing America's working class today.
AI is About to Make The Working Class a Lot Bigger
You’ve probably heard that AI is coming for your job. That it will replace you. And probably ruin a lot of our lives. Or, that it’s going to make life, and especially work, easier. Ushering in a new age of productivity, efficiency, and therefore, leisure. What’s going on beyond the hype cycle? Ava, a worker training AI, shares details from inside an industry shrouded in secrecy - including a very unusual interview process, what happens when you have bots for coworkers, and how to ...
18 Dec 2025
Who Is The Working Class, Actually?
How do you define the working class? Is it based on education, income, job or taste? Is there even a definitive answer? Several guests are on the show to help figure it out. Starting with Rachel Sherman, a professor of Sociology at The New School in New York City, who lays out the many possible ways to define class. We also hear from Joan Williams, Founding Director of the Equality Action Center at UC Law San Francisco and a prominent public intellectual, who returns to talk numbers, a ...
9 Dec 2025
Laughing When You Want to Cry: Comedy for Class Struggle
This season focuses on what’s capturing and dividing the working class. But if we’re interested in more unity, what’s a good way to bring everyone together? How about a joke? Rachel invited Gavin Matts onto this episode after seeing his standup set where he joked about debt, unemployment, and other class issues from a real-world perspective that are rarely seen on stage. She also speaks with Kenice Mobley, another NYC-based stand up, who talks about the realities of having a career in comedy ...
2 Dec 2025
Working Class Voters One Year Later: Was It Economic Policy Or the Culture War?
Shifting Terrain had its finger on the pulse of working class voters in 2024, but a lot of people were shocked by the outcome of the presidential election. A lot of analysis has gone into what exactly moved millions of voters to the right. Was it proposed economic policies or emphasis on the culture wars? Instead of clear answers, even more questions emerged: Will the Democrats forever have a toxic brand? Can the Republicans keep up their glaring contradictions? Is there a trustworthy politic...
25 Nov 2025
Future Hindsight | How Underdogs Build Power: Stephanie Luce
We discuss Practical Radicals: Seven Strategies to Change the World—a guide for a new generation of activists seeking not just to understand power, but to build it. Stephanie's civic action toolkit recommendations are: 1) Learn a new skill, like non cooperation or mutual aid 2) Find organizations that align with your values and check if they offer trainings Stephanie Luce is Professor of Labor Studies at the School of Labor and Urban Studies and Professor of Sociology at the Graduate Center, ...
18 Nov 2025
How Workers Will Win the Class War
Think the recent wave of Starbucks and Amazon unionizing signals a tidal shift in worker power? A new wave of labor movement activity to take down corporations? Our guests have some news for you. While unions have long been considered the best way to build worker power, what’s really happening on the ground right now as the workforce increasingly moves towards a gig economy? And what does this mean for your future? Yes, you. Whether you’re an office worker on a salary, or a delivery dri...
11 Nov 2025
The Policies, Tactics, and Desperation of Immigration Today
What is happening with immigration policy and enforcement? Are we witnessing an unprecedented level of surveillance and violence? Or does social media just make people more aware of what’s always been happening? Sociologist Shannon Gleason helps us untangle the knot of immigration policy and modern day tactics to reveal the bipartisan roots of strategies designed to snarl legal migration; what $40,000 gets if you’re navigating possible deportation; and the unlikely allies in this fight....
4 Nov 2025
The Simplicity of Christian Nationalism in a Complicated Time
There is a noticeable discussion of Christian Nationalism in popular culture. Is its growing influence actually undermining democracy? In this episode, Samuel Perry reveals the surprising relationship between capitalism and Christianity; Jack Delehanty identifies how the church gives working people more than just a sermon on Sundays; and a former Evangelical speaks about the impact of political preaching. You’ll also hear from Jeanné Lewis, a Christian faith leader working to counter th...
28 Oct 2025
What the Manosphere Tells Us About Working Class Politics
What happens when you combine the political opinions of a weightlifting social media star with the analysis of a professor who researches Fox News and political Youtube? A conversation that reveals some uncomfortable truths about the media. Colin Davis and Reece Peck discuss why liberal messaging continues to fail, where to find the Joe Rogan of the left, and how to actually reach working class men. Plus we’ll hear from author Joan Williams about how class cluelessness led to the downfall of ...
15 Oct 2025
Shifting Terrain Season 2 Trailer
10 Dec 2024
Burn Away Billions or Build Real Power Between Elections: Organizing to Win
JaNaé Bates, Co-Executive Director of ISAIAH and Faith In Minnesota, shares the long-term strategy for building power and improving the lives of working people through organizing and grassroots mobilization.
3 Dec 2024
Move From Elitist to Working Class With the Candidates Who’ll Reshape the Democratic Party
Congresswoman Delia Ramirez and Senator Elect Graciela Guzman share their paths to working class leadership, revealing the power of authenticity and grassroots support in reshaping the Democratic Party.
26 Nov 2024
Mega Money, Messy Maps and Our Need For Working Class Candidates
Working class candidates Eric Hansen, Angelina Cruz, and William Walter expose the rarity of working-class politicians and a game-changing solution to shift the electoral landscape.
4 Nov 2024
How Right-Wing Media is Winning the Culture War
There’s a lot of finger pointing about which media outlet is to blame for the rise in political polarization, racism, and the class war. The brash boldness of Fox News is a likely target, but what about the hushed tones of liberal news?
In this episode, researcher Reece Peck reveals what makes some media, like YouTube, a compelling place for news; how we can’t sidestep the culture war with facts; and why we can’t educate disinformation away.
Show Notes:
Find more of Reece Peck’s work at his website (https://reecepeck.com/) along with information about his book Fox Populism: Branding Conservatism As Working Class (https://reecepeck.com/book-2/)
Also mentioned in this episode: Heartland TV: Prime Time Television and the Struggle for U.S. Identity (https://nyupress.org/9780814742938/heartland-tv/) by Victoria E. Johnson
Shifting Terrain Executive Producers: Amanda Cowper and Rachel Rybaczuk; Assistant Producer: Emilce Quiroz; Production Consulting and Audio Mixing: Karen Given; and Music from BlueDot Sessions
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
29 Oct 2024
Coastal Elites & Country Bumpkins: Bridging the Rural-Urban Political Divide
Damaging stereotypes about rural and urban voters abound in politics. What’s really going on in the charged landscape known as the rural-urban divide? Are rural voters actually voting against their interests when they elect a Republican? And are urban voters so immersed in the culture war they’re out of touch with the everyday concerns of working people? Is there any commonality across this geographical chasm?
In today’s episode, Sarah Jaynes of the Rural Democracy Initiative, and Bonnie Dobson from Down Home North Carolina, share insights and anecdotes from long-term organizing with working class voters. Despite how it might feel out here, there is a way to bridge the rural urban divide for a more unified working class electorate.
Down Home North Carolina https://downhomenc.org/ (https://downhomenc.org/)
Rural Democracy Initiative https://ruraldemocracyinitiative.org/ (https://ruraldemocracyinitiative.org/)
Executive Producers: Amanda Cowper and Rachel Rybaczuk
Associate Producer: Emilce Quiroz
Production Consulting and Audio Mixing: Karen Given
Music from Blue Dot Sessions
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
22 Oct 2024
Polls Are %&!* and Working Class Voters Will Decide Elections
Political strategists Jordan Berg Powers and Mike Lux discuss how major political campaigns have abandoned working class voters, the undeserved power of polls, and why you should never play Trump’s voice in a Democratic political ad.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
22 Oct 2024
Shifting Terrain
In Shifting Terrain, we explore race and class in politics, beyond the simplistic stereotypes in the news, and between election cycles.
Voters, political strategists, organizers, and politicians will speak to the ways race and class are playing out in voting patterns, campaigns, the news, and election outcomes. And, ultimately, how we navigate America’s multiracial, cross-class democracy.
We highlight voices across the country to interrupt misconceptions fueling political polarization in American politics.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
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