Episode
Episode 375: MATEWAN (1987) with Louis Gagnon
- Podcast
- Trylove
- Published
- Mar 24, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 5776
- Processing state
not_requested
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/trylove-241033/episodes/episode-375-matewan-1987-with-louis-gagnon/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/trylove-241033/episode-375-matewan-1987-with-louis-gagnon.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
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: https://secure.everyaction.com/G8TCnxFlE0qd9zlUEYjjeg2 Show love to North Minneapolis families in crisis: https://www.gofundme.com/f/show-love-to-north-minneapolis-families-in-crisis References: “On the Road to Matewan” by Nate Logsdon for Perisphere, the Trylon blog Check the calendar, preview upcoming series, and buy tickets Contribute to Perisphere, the Trylon blog #BadCompany19FilmsFeaturingEvilCorporations #35mm Follow us on Twitter at @trylovepodcast , Bluesky at @trylovepodca.st , and email us at [email protected] to get in touch! Show art by Emily Csuy . Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Hu…