Labor Day Songs, Cartoons (and New Nazis?)

With music from Leonard Cohen, Marianne Faithfull, The Band, Paul Robeson, The Kinks, Woody Guthrie,

Sep 07, 2026

Still free to subscribe to this nearly daily newsletter! Greg Mitchell is author of fourteen books and director of five films for PBS since 2022. His latest film “Woody Guthrie and The Ghost of Tom Joad Today” is now streaming via PBS.

NY Times:

Germany’s Far Right Just Misses Majority in Crucial State Election

The Alternative for Germany, or AfD, trounced its rivals but was left unsure if it will be able to govern in Saxony-Anhalt. The result shocked Germany….Rarely has the result of a regional election been viewed with such portent for the fate of democracy in Europe.
This wasn’t just any European country; it was Germany, a country that has relentlessly isolated far-right political parties since the calamity of Nazism. And it wasn’t just a strange outlier, but rather the latest step in a steady, decade-long march that has brought the far right ever closer to the fulcrum of power in Europe.

Paul Krugman:

Neo-Nazis — no point in euphemisms — just won big in the rough equivalent of a state-level election in Germany. America’s leading neo-Nazi — again, no point in euphemisms — congratulated the AfD (in German) on the result, and in return received “thanks for your support” from the AfD’s lead candidate.

Elon Musk’s message was: “Well done!”

At least one bit of good news: Trump's approval rating has fallen to record low of 33% in new Financial Times poll. Per new NBC polling, Trump's approval rating with independents has dropped to 24% and approval on Iran War Approve: 31%.

Today’s fun quip from the inter-tubes: RFK Jr.’s actress wife Cheryl Hines labeled “The Marvelous Mrs. Measles.”

For Labor Day: A “Massacre” of Workers

Just briefly for the holiday: The award-winning 2024 film that I wrote and directed, “Memorial Day Massacre: Workers Die, Film Buried,” which aired over hundreds of PBS stations across the country, is no longer streaming but you can watch the preview here or the trailer below. Or you can go to the main site for the film, where you can also read background and see responses from notables. It is also available for schools, community groups and libraries and via DVD here at The Video Project.

It runs 27 minutes and is introduced by Studs Terkel, narrated by actor Josh Charles, produced by Lyn Goldfarb.

The companion book for “Massacre,” with same title has now been published as both paperback ($12.95) and e-book ($3.99). It’s the first oral history and features everyone from wounded strikers to observers Studs Terkel, Gore Vidal, Howard Zinn, Dorothy Day, John Hope Franklin, even Ayn Rand, and more.

Briefly: Chicago police shot 40 steel strikers and supporters (mainly in the back) and killed ten in 1937—and then the only footage of it, from Paramount News, was suppressed until a famed investigative reporter and crusading U.S. senator brought it to light. Still, no police were punished. The lessons and effects remain strong today as union activity surges again.

Here’s my piece at Mother Jones. My segment on Democracy Now! here. My piece on Studs Terkel’s role. Here’s that trailer: