Coal Survivor

A labor advocate’s campaign to unseat a corrupt union boss ends in tragedy — and reform.

In the 1960s, United Mine Workers advocate Jock Yablonski bucked his own union for giving into coal companies on critical issues — including cases of black lung disease and mine safety. And when evidence revealed union president Tony Boyle had been making secret deals with the companies to enrich himself at the expense of workers, Yablonski mounted a campaign to unseat the labor boss. But a challenge to Boyle’s iron grip on the UMW was a dangerous proposition. After Jablonski was mysteriously gunned down in his bed, a group of young upstarts discover the only way to get justice and achieve reform is to bring down the untouchable union boss.

In the latest season of the podcast “Shadow Kingdom” from Crooked Media and Campside Media, “Coal Survivor” recounts the deadly struggle for power within the United Coal Miners union. Host Nicolo Majnoni unpacks the plan to silence a reform candidate and the struggle to reorganize organized labor to improve conditions for union members — and not for the comforts of their leaders. 

OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "COAL SURVIVOR" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.