THIS WEEK’S LABOR HERITAGE POWER HOUR: Big Tops & Big Struggles: Labor, Art, and the Circus World
Chris Garlock | Published on 9/15/2025
On this week’s Labor Heritage Power Hour: former circus hand Chris Bricker talks with historian Andrea Ringer
about her new book, Circus World: Roustabouts, Animals, and the Work of Putting on The Big Show—a deep dive into the hidden labor that built 14-acre tent cities, from riggers and animal trainers to strikes that shaped the spectacle. Then organizer and cultural strategist Ken Grossinger returns with updates on Art Works: How organizers and artists are creating a better world together and how artists and organizers are joining forces, why authoritarians target culture first, and what it takes to scale creative power across unions and communities.
PLUS, on Labor History in 2:00: The Lattimer Massacre and Chicago Teachers Say, Enough!