Ep. 18: American Dream

When Hormel cut wages like a buzz saw on a pork shoulder, unionized workers rebelled.

Director Barbara Kopple traveled to Austin, Minnesota to document the 1984-85 meatpackers strike. In this episode, Kopple reveals how she gained behind-the-scenes access to key strategy sessions, how she struggled to tell a complex story involving many factions, and just how darn cold it was when workers took to the picket lines.

The result was American Dream, an Oscar-winning documentary that has just received a 4K digital restoration by Criterion.

We also talked to Kopple in Episode 2 for another union story: Harlan County, USA.