About this episode
The episode discusses the film MATEWAN and its historical context regarding labor struggles in America.
Based on the real 1920 labor uprising by West Virginia coal miners, John Sayles’s MATEWAN spends much more time on the place than the battle it’s remembered for. Ten people died, including three private detectives hired to violently repress the ascendant labor unions. Returning guest Louis Gagnon spent part of grad school learning about this period of labor history, so on this episode, we discuss MATEWAN as a movie and as a cultural time capsule, dramatizing a time when there was a more direct, vincible line between federal power, American capital, and the labor that grounded them both. Find Louis… On Letterboxd at https://letterboxd.com/PikedDogfish/ On the Trylove episode about ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968) Give to these causes in need during ICE’s occupation of Minnesota: Support Minnesotans defending their communities from ICE: https://www.standwithminnesota.com/ @sanctuarysupplydepot: Mutual aid group in Mpls getting basic necessities to our houseless neighbors https://linktr.ee/sanctuarysupplydepot @mplsmutualaid: Clearinghouse of mutual aid for our neighbors: https://linktr.ee/mplsmutualaid ISAIAH, an interfaith group fighting for racial and economic justice in MN…
People in this episode
Host: Trylove
Guest: Louis Gagnon
Topics covered
- labor history
- film analysis
- cultural commentary
- union struggles
- American capitalism
Keywords
- MATEWAN
- labor uprising
- John Sayles
- Louis Gagnon
- film analysis
- cultural time capsule
- American labor history
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: ISAIAH, sanctuarysupplydepot, mplsmutualaid
Books & works: MATEWAN, ROSEMARY'S BABY
Places: Minnesota
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- Episode 383: SANSHO THE BAILIFF (1954) · May 19, 2026 · 1h 50m
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