Episode Details

With the passage of the Republicans’ “Big Beautiful Bill” and NATO allies pledging to more than double their spending on defense as a portion of all economic output, military spending around the world is soaring, while spending on meeting social needs and the climate crisis is on the chopping block. Governments often justify spending public money this way by saying it will create good jobs, but what if the workers themselves had a say? Fifty years ago, employees at Lucas Aerospace, a huge military contractor in the United Kingdom came up with an alternative plan. Their approach, known as the Lucas Plan, used the workers’ same expertise, but directed production away from bombs, towards goods that actually help society. In this special episode, Laura heads to the UK to interview some of the original workers involved in the Lucas Plan and investigates what one senior government minister at the time called "one of the most remarkable exercises in all of British industrial history.” As she says, it’s as relevant now as the day it was conceived.

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