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Author and Labor Attorney Thomas Geoghegan

Author and labor attorney Thomas Geoghegan (GAY-GUN). He was an observer for the dissident faction in a United Mine Workers election in the 1970s and he defended steelworkers stripped of their pension rights in the 1980s. He's written a new book, "Which Side Are You On?: Trying to be for Labor When it's Flat on its Back," which looks at the decline of the labor unions in the 1980s from the view of someone who came to join the union staff as a young idealistic lawyer hoping to use the law as an instrument for social change. (published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux).

21:56
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Fresh Air with Terry Gross, August 20, 1991: Interview with Thomas Geoghegan; Review of Willie Nelson's album "Who'll Buy My Memories, Vol. 1 : The IRS Tapes"; Interview with Joel Hodgson and Mike…
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One of the Most Interesting Country Albums of the Year.

Critic Ken Tucker reviews the new album from country singer Willie Nelson. The album's called "Who'll Buy My Memories," and it's subtitled "The IRS Tapes" since Nelson made the album to pay off back taxes. Tucker says the album's much better that you'd expect.

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"Book Wars."

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "The Book Wars" by James Atlas. It's the latest book in the growing debate over whether or not students should be required to read a set curriculum of "great books." Maureen says the more interesting thing about the book is that it's filled with ads for Federal Express.

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An Angry, Witty and Trenchant Memoir.

Book critic John Leonard reviews a new book about the decline of the labor movement, "Which Side are you on: Trying to be for Labor When its flat on its back," by Thomas Geoghegan.

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