In the early days of the COVID pandemic, retail clerks, day-care staff, public-transportation employees, and many other workers learned what coal miners have known for a very long time: that the authorities who deem their labor essential don’t necessarily feel the same way about their lives. Freakwater and the Mekons have each sung folk ballads […]
Tag: coal mining
Posted inMusic
Steve Earle examines a mining tragedy to engage listeners across the political spectrum on Ghosts of West Virginia
On April 5, 2010, a coal-dust explosion at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mine in Raleigh County, West Virginia, killed 29 miners. Though subsequent investigations found that a pervasive pattern of negligence and safety violations had led to the entirely preventable tragedy, in 2015 Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship got off with a slap on […]
Posted inFilm
In Zhao Liang’s ecological documentary Behemoth, we’re the monster
Eye-popping images dominate this film about the ecological ravages of Chinese coal-mining.
Posted inNews & Politics
A Mining Tragedy
Miners from around the country come to Chicago doctor Bob Cohen for help getting coal companies to pay black lung benefits. And though the disease is preventable, he can only expect to get busier.