Co-Hosts Gregg & Gabriela quiz people on the street about their jobs and about the meaning of Labor Day. Topical tunes and fan requests from Pete Seeger, Tim O’Brien, Steve Earle, Rose Royce and Todd Rundgren. Then in Hour 2, the focus shifts to the end of Summer with vox clips and plenty of fitting music from the likes of the Little Stevies, Parkington Sisters, Front Country, The Motels, Beats Antique and more…

Host: Ann Heppermann and Kara Oehler of Mapping Main Street

For Labor Day, the work we do, from Wall Street traders to taxi cab drivers. People who work with brassieres, dead bodies, lost golf balls, and off-the-books in an underground economy:

The Ramones obviously believe "It's Not My Place (In the 9 to 5 World)" (1980 Pleasant Dreams).

Meryn Cadell fills out a "Job Application" (1992 Angel Food for Thought).

In the 1950s Tony Schwartz conversed with The New York Taxi Driver about "A Temporary Job." (This 1959 LP is on The Library of Congress National Recording Registry).

Steve Fisk recites some "Government Figures" (1980 Over and Thru the Night).

Grief and guts fill the work day of Aftermath,® Inc: Specialists in Crime Scene and Tragedy Cleanup, Trauma Cleanup, Accidental Death Cleanup. Interview with Tim Reifsteck by Laura Kwerel, produced by Nick van der Kolk; an excerpt from "Aftermath," a Love and Radio podcast. (L & R's slogan: "What Ira Glass might make if he showed up to work drunk.")

Cilla Black's boyfriend believes "Work is a Four Letter Word" (1968 The Best of Cilla Black).

Break music: Leroy Anderson "Plink, Plank, Plunk!" (1951 Leroy Anderson Favorites). Part two…

Retired school teacher Paul Neibuhr dons a full wet suit with air tank and transforms into a professional "Golfball Diver." Produced by Jeff Rice, with music by Leroy Anderson ("Plink, Plank, Plunk!" 1951; theme for the TV game Show I've Got a Secret for 24 years; CD: Leroy Anderson Favorites).

Ken Nordine wants to be "The Bullfighter" (2001 A Transparent Mask). A Radio Diary from "Selma Koch, Bra Saleswoman." Sez Selma: "Nobody says the retail business was gonna be easy." Produced by Emily Botein and Joe Richman with help from Ben Shapiro and Deborah George (2002 New York Works). Tony Schwartz talks with The New York Taxi Driver about "Females" as fares. "Open Outcry" is the trading technique heard on the floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange. This sound-portrait by composer Ben Rubin is a 2002 commissioned by Creative Time for Sonic Garden, World Financial Center, NYC. Features the voices of Madeline Boyd, J. Robert Collins, Jr., David Greenberg, John Hanneman, Vincent Viola, Elisa Zuritsky, and others. John, the Medicine Man does the "Chicago Hustles." An excerpt from the documentary on the city's underground economy by our hosts Ann Heppermann and Kara Oehler for the 2005 series Chicago Matters: Money Talks. Reinhardt "Buck" Buchli makes a "Fortunate Decision" (2005). A story told and production by David Greenberger of Duplex Planet. Music performed by Bangalore, composed by Phil Kaplan. The New York Taxi Driver waxes work philosophies with Tony Schwartz in "...The Way It Has to Be." Depeche Mode clocks out with Work Hard (1984 Singles Box 2). And mixed in there is "Toner" by Cornelius (2006 Sensuous). A "collaboration with Takagi Masakatsu produced for Japan's Sound & Recording magazine... inspired by inkjet printers!" Cornelius "Toner":

In this special report, twelve workers who might otherwise go unnoticed – including a stripper, deli waitress, bus driver, metal scrapper and bathroom attendant – take us inside their places of work to show us what they do, why they do it and what it takes.

On this Labor Day, WFUV news catches up with local night shift workers to get their perspective on life after dark, balancing family obligations and the big question -- when do they sleep? This sound-rich hour introduces listeners to a colorful cast of night shift workers, from police officers to firefighters to a singing sanitation worker. The show also features interviews with a sociologist concerned that the needs of night shift workers are not being appropriately addressed and a sleep expert.

For many years, Transom editor, Sydney Lewis, worked side by side with Studs on his radio show and his books. For this remembrance, told in a seamless blend of doumentary and reminiscence, she brings together of crew of Stud's co-workers with their great stories along with wonderful previously-unheard tape of Studs himself. 

Note: Studs would have been 98 on May 16, 2010.  

Work songs gave laborers a way of transforming their toil into something more meaningful, of enriching their everyday lives through music.  How did the influence of the work song emerge in the recordings of artists such as Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Nat Adderley, Dave Brubeck and other musicians?  Jazz historian Ted Gioia, author of Work Songs, joins Night Lights for a Labor Day look at the work song's relationship to jazz and popular music.  Other featured artists include Louis Armstrong (his ode to Pullman porters, "Red Cap"), Cassandra Wilson (her cover of Jimmy Webb's "Wichita Lineman") and Sting (with saxophonist Branford Marsalis joining him for the tribute to English coal-miners, "We Work the Black Seam").

Hear the The Seldom Scene, Tom Paxton, Barbra Streisand, Christopher Cross, Crystal Gayle, The Front Porch String Band, Kathy Mattea, Simon & Garfunkel, and tons more, including music from TV, movies, and Broadway.

Immigrant protests are nothing new in America. Eighty years ago, in 1926, 16,000 wool workers in Passaic, New Jersey, went on strike when they meager wages were cut 10 percent. It was the first major strike by the Communist Party U.S.A. This the latest program written and produced by Marty Goldensohn and David S. Cohen. It features re-enactments by Broadway actors Phil Bosco and Alison Fraser and interviews with historians Jim Shenton of Columbia University, Dee Garrison of Rutgers, and Paul Buhle of Brown University. It is a coproduction of NJN Public Radio and the New Jersey Historical Commission. Photo credit: The Botto House/National Labor Museum.

On July 17, 1944, two Liberty ships anchored at the Port Chicago Munitions Case near San Francisco exploded, killing 320 men and injuring 390. It was the worst homefront disaster of World War II. A majority of the casualties were African-American sailors who loaded ammunition onto the ships at Port Chicago. Shortly after the explosion, the African-American munitions loaders who survived were transferred to a nearby base and ordered back to work. Shaken by the death of their workmates and afraid that another explosion might occur, 50 men refused. In the largest courtmartial in Navy history, they were all convicted of mutiny and sentenced to up to fifteen years of hard labor. In January 1946, only months after the war ended, all convicted men's sentences were suspended as part of a general amnesty. While these men were allowed to return to civilian life, they were left angry, ashamed, and afraid they would be fired from their jobs or worried that they would be seen as unpatriotic. As a result, some did not discuss the case, even with family members, for more than 50 years. Originally broadcast on This American Life in 1996.

For over a hundred years the Mohawks of Akwesasne, a reservation on the New York-Canada border, pursued the occupation of ironworkers, one of the most dangerous jobs in construction. Mohawks were on the high steel crews of every bridge and skyscraper in Manhattan, commuting between job and their 12-hour-distant home every weekend, and became famous for their skill, daring and major contribution to the skyline of New York. This is the story of men plying a difficult craft in the modern world while cleaving to tribal customs in an ancient world -- a balancing act that has taken its toll in lives and relationships. An honest, intimate and informative portrait of an unusual occupation and the Native Americans who made it their own.

In Pennsylvania farmland that was the first stop on the Underground Railroad, a strike by Mexican mushroom pickers polarizes a Quaker community. From historical chronicles of escaped slaves to the present-day inequalities of immigrants who also followed the North Star,this program traces the journey and ordeals of two groups who arrived at the same place,separated in time but connected by their hopes for a better life. One :30 Promo (click "listen" page, promo labeled "Segment 2")

It began as a protest by a few students and teaching assistants over deep budget cuts, but quickly turned into a history making movement of working people in Wisconsin.   Was the occupation of the state capital in Madison, Wisconsin a resurgence of organized labor in the United States?  Or the last gasp for unionized workers, as they face continual erosion of their rights.  Over the next two weeks, we’ll hear a retrospective documentary on the 2011 Wisconsin uprising, produced by Workers Independent News.

In the early 1970s, radio host and oral historian Studs Terkel went around the country interviewing people about their jobs. Studs recorded more than 130 interviews, and the end-result was a book called “Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do.” And — something very rare for an oral history collection — it became a bestseller. “Working” struck a nerve because it elevated the stories of ordinary people – and the most ordinary parts of their daily lives.

After the book came out, the cassettes were packed away in boxes and stored in Studs’ home office. This year Radio Diaries and Project& have been given access to the original raw field interviews, many of which have not been heard in 40 years. This story features Helen Moog, a taxi driver in Youngstown, Ohio and grandmother of five, and Lovin’ Al Pommier, a car hiker in Chicago, Illinois.

This is a pilot for a national initiative from Project& that includes a week-long public radio series that we’re co-producing. Thanks to the Chicago History Museum, WFMT, the Studs Terkel Radio Archive and Studs’ longtime collaborators Sydney Lewis and Lois Baum.

Ms Noel a PhD student and mother of 1, talks about the struggle she faces to juggle roles as wife, mother, and student

Nigeria's "Nollywood" movie industry is less than two decades old, but it's already the third most productive in the world. Nollywood videos have become an entertainment staple – and a source of pride – for Africans everywhere. With little government support, daily power failures, no real studios, and the most rudimentary equipment, Nigerian filmmakers must be artists, entrepreneurs, and masters of making do. That describes Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen. At 37, the man known as "The Governor" has already directed more than 150 films. And every single one has been a struggle. Jon Miller's profile is part of the WORKING series from Homelands Productions. 

Gems of Bluegrass are 5 - 8 minutes drop-in modules that look at bluegrass / old time history, aesthetics and culture. Each Gem consists of multiple song clips with commentary over music beds. For an insightful weekly 1-hour bluegrass show that includes Gems of Bluegrass, see the Bluegrass Review, available from PRX. Contact Phil Nusbaum at pnusbaum@bitstram.net to download the show from www.bluegrassreview.com.

Big low-wage employers are now issuing ATM style "payroll cards" instead of paychecks, costing low wage employees hundreds of dollars a year just to acess their money.

There are many reasons to honor unions on Labor Day. Despite their declining membership and arguments among themselvers over organized labor's future direction, they remain extraordinarily important to all working people, union and non-union members alike. Paid holidays such as Labor Day, paid vacations, the eight-hour workday and 40-hour workweek, overtime pay, empl;oyer-financed pensions, medical care and other fringe benefits, health and safety standards, the right to bargain collectively with employers, a truly effective voice in politics -- working people owe all that, and more, to the labor movement.

I interview Seattle's non-professional musicians about their dayjobs, mixing in music and ambiance from the workplace. The series gets at something universal - how to achieve balance and contentment in life. Jesy Fortino makes burritos at Bimbo's. She also performs indie music under the name Tiny Vipers. Day Job is an ongoing series. New entries will be added to PRX thirty days after episodes debut at Seattleweekly.com.

In his own words, Anthony Mulay explains the technology he uses to rid New York City's sidewalks of gum patches, and where his machine gets the most use.