From 30 Rock to Capitol Hill: On “Al Franken, Giant of the Senate”
From 30 Rock to Capitol Hill: On “Al Franken, Giant of the Senate” Book Review by Darryl Holter Darryl Holter | Los Angeles Review of Books I NEVER READ BOOKS written by politicians. No, let me take that back. I read Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy in junior high. And in 1987 I met with Illinois Senator Paul Simon, an early candidate for the 1988 presidential race, and he gave me a very readable yet wonky little book called Let’s Put America Back to Work, chock-full of good ideas that, like Simon’s campaign, never saw the light of ... [Read More]
Loyalty Down: Rick Wartzman Interviewed by Darryl Holter
Loyalty Down: Rick Wartzman Discusses How Business Leaders Betrayed the American Workforce Rick Wartzman Interviewed by Darryl Holter Darryl Holter | Capital & Main The premise of Rick Wartzman’s new book is a provocative one—that the long, painful decline of the American middle class can be traced in large part to business leaders’ betrayal of their own workers. In The End of Loyalty: The Rise and Fall of Good Jobs in America, Wartzman explores his thesis through the lens of four iconic U.S. companies: General Motors, General Electric, Kodak and Coca-Cola. But Wartzman, a contributor to Fortune, the former business ... [Read More]
A Test of American Traditions: Timothy Snyder’s “On Tyranny”
A Test of American Traditions: Timothy Snyder’s “On Tyranny” Book Review by Darryl Holter Darryl Holter | Los Angeles Review of Books AS AN OWNER of an independent bookstore, I have noticed the increased interest in books about Donald Trump and the rest of us. The first wave arrived during the course of the campaign — mostly satirical broadsides written and purchased by people who never believed Trump would be elected. After the election, a new group of books arrived that sought to explain what most of us never thought would happen and offered sobering assessments of what might be ... [Read More]
The Collapse of the Postwar Compact: On Rick Wartzman’s The End of Loyalty
The Collapse of the Postwar Compact: On Rick Wartzman’s “The End of Loyalty” Book Review by Darryl Holter Los Angeles Review of Books SINCE THE NOVEMBER ELECTIONS, millions of Americans have been asking how it happened that Donald Trump became president. But perhaps we should be asking another question: what ever happened to good jobs in the United States? Today, almost half of the workforce earns less than $15 per hour. About a third of working-age men are either unemployed or unable to keep a family of four out of poverty. Median pay for women has not improved since the ... [Read More]
Woody Guthrie L.A. 1937 – 1941: Book of the Year Award Winner
LOS ANGELES (June 26, 2017) Angel City Press announces that Woody Guthrie L.A. 1937 to 1941 by Darryl Holter and William Deverell has earned a gold medal in the category of Performing Arts and Music (Adult Nonfiction) in the 19th annual Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Awards. The announcement was made during the American Library Association’s Annual Conference in Chicago June 24. The awards recognize the best books published in 2016 from small, independent, and university presses. The first book to thoroughly explore the legendary folk singer’s time in Los Angeles, Woody Guthrie L.A. 1937 to 1941 argues that ... [Read More]
Darryl Does Guthrie in Seattle
Darryl heads to Seattle this week to give a presentation on Woody Guthrie at the University of Washington. The panel, “Hard-Hitting Songs by Hard-Hit People: The Music of Woody Guthrie and John Handcox, 1936-1941”, takes place at the annual meeting of the Labor and Working Class History Association. Darryl will be joined by his friend and fellow musician, Michael Honey, a professor of History. Darryl’s talk will focus on how Guthrie’s attitudes toward race evolved during his time in Los Angeles. He plans to perform several songs including “Big City Ways”, “Hooversville”, “Oklahoma Hills” and “Los Angeles New Year’s Flood.”
Podcast Interview on The Trump Survival Guide
Podcast Interview on The Trump Survival Guide Hosts Howard Jacobson and Gene Stone With guest Darryl Holter Resisting Trump in the Tradition of Woody Guthrie with Darryl Holter Listen to it here. Darryl Holter grew up playing the guitar and singing country and rock and roll songs in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His current brand of Americana music draws from country, blues and folk traditions and often tells stories about people, places and events. Besides his music, Holter has worked as an academic, a labor leader, an urban revitalization planner, and an entrepreneur. Most recently he has done archival research and written ... [Read More]
Dodger Stadium and Downtown Los Angeles
Can the Center Hold? Dodger Stadium and Downtown Los Angeles Book Review by Darryl Holter Los Angeles Review of Books BRINGING THE RAMS BACK to Los Angeles took decades, but I had no idea about the bruising five-year battle waged by Walter O’Malley to build a new home for the Dodgers in 1962. Jerald Podair’s new book arrived just as the Dodgers opened their new season at the stadium that engendered such controversy. I didn’t grow up in Los Angeles, but there were a few things I knew about the Dodgers. I knew they moved to the city from Brooklyn ... [Read More]
Swing Left Party on March 4th at 4pm in Los Angeles
To Friends Appalled by the Trump Presidency I'm hosting a Swing Left organizing event on Saturday, March 04, 2017 at 4:00 PM at my home in Los Angeles. Have you heard about Swing Left? Swing Left is an online network that helps people find their closest Swing District (Congressional districts in the US that elected Republicans by slim margins in 2016) and connects them with progressive candidates and campaigns that can move the district into the Democratic column. Our goal is simple: to flip the House of Representatives in the 2018 midterm elections and put a check on the Trump ... [Read More]
The Battle for Coal: Miners and the Politics of Nationalization in France, 1940–1950
The Battle for Coal: Miners and the Politics of Nationalization in France, 1940–1950 Author: Darryl Holter Northern Illinois University Press, Publication Date: June 1992 - Business & Economics - 264 pages As World War II came to a close, economic recovery in France hinged on coal. With nearly 90 percent of French energy dependent on coal and imported coal unavailable, France, traditionally the world's largest importer, was forced to rely on its own troubled coal-mining industry. The Battle for Coal is the first full study to address the history and politics of coal production in post-World War II France. Holter ... [Read More]
Darryl Holter grew up playing the guitar and singing country and rock and roll songs in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His current brand of Americana music draws from country, blues and folk traditions and often tells stories about people, places and events.