Portside

Reader Comments: Trump Indictment; Killing Blacks a Growth Industry; David Byrne Relents-Musical to Have Live Orchestra; Readers Respond: “People’s Media” Network; Crypto Currency; 10 Years of Fight for $15; Eddie Kay Way-Street Naming Ceremony; more

The former Talking Heads front man is battling Broadway musicians, the concept of musical theatrical productions on Broadway, and the local musicians’ union over a production that relies on prerecorded music. No live music, Not a musical.

If making a fortune is your goal, a career in music will take you a long way—in the wrong direction. Working in the music industry today is attempting to thrive in a hostile environment. Only the very lucky, well-connected, or well-funded survive.

Reader Comments: Biden Administration; Georgia Runoffs; Election Analysis; COVID; Vaccine; Immigrant Teen Nightshift Workers; A Call to Jewish Organizations; Rethinking “Thanksgiving” Toolkit; Lots of Resources and Announcements; more....

More than 120 multiemployer pension funds—plans that cover workers who regularly work for different employers, largely in trucking, mining, construction, and entertainment—are considered in danger of insolvency. They cover about 1.3 million workers.

A wave of workers-first rhetoric is sweeping through pop. Can SAG-AFTRA and the AFM capitalize on it? This clearly poses a challenge to these unions. It’s crucial for these organizations to exploit the growing militancy of their potential membership.

Classical musicians aren’t associated with picket lines, but the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is now on strike. We spoke to three strikers about their grueling work, recent attacks on orchestra members’ pensions and salaries, classical music and labor.

Reader Comments - We need a special prosecutor ((Cornell William Brooks, NAACP); Ferguson, Racism, Economic Inequality, Michael Brown, Police Militarization; Racism and Misuse of Genetics; Rosetta Comet; Jewish Resources for Resisting Nationalism; Robin Williams; Israel, Gaza and Hamas; NFL's New Low - Asks Performers to Pay to Play at Super Bowl; Today in History - Nat Turner's Rebellion; Tomorrow - Fannie Lou Hamer & the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party