Good news, everybody! The completed manuscript for "So Long Dental Plan" has been submitted to the editors at @sunypress.bsky.social. Here are our chapter titles and authors.

I'm working on a book called @solongdentalplan.com. solongdentalplan.com

Were SpongeBob & Squidward in a union for their strike? It is your first amendment right to strike or protest against your oppressors. I hope you grow up and realize you have a boot in your mouth.

how the fuck were we watching SpongeBob as kids and not more union minded as a nation?

Miles O'Brien fan club assemble.

love this from @jennyhunter.bsky.social! excited to both be contributing to @solongdentalplan.com, a forthcoming book about depictions of unions and class struggle on television! (I had the pleasure of peer reviewing Jenny’s chapter and y’all are in for a treat!)

Hey, are you a freelance writer with a fairly comprehensive knowledge of #SouthPark (including the more recent seasons)? I'm searching for someone atm, so if that describes you, please email me at lizmiller at consequence dot net with three links to samples and a little info about yourself. Thanks!

Did not know there was a strike episode of the "Mary Tyler Moore Show!" Disappointing that nobody proposed a chapter on it. Maybe next book?

Oof. My youth mourns the loss of Hulk Hogan. He’s on the Mt. Rushmore of 1980s pop culture iconography (in between Mr. T and Pee Wee Herman). Unlike Pee Wee, whose memory is pure joy, Terry Bollea was obviously more complicated. @solongdentalplan.com will have a chapter in wrestling.

This will be a chapter in @solongdentalplan.com!

TFW Microsoft's non-consensual A.I. thinks your editorial meeting is a dental appointment.

ding ding ding! I don't think there's a conspiracy necessarily but I also think the execs with decision-making power don't wanna give everyday folks any big ideas!

I'm now editing So Long, Dental Plan." I love this section, which inadvertently explains exactly why there are no stories like this now.

Cannot wait for this—both as a researcher and as the partner of an organizer whom I lure into watching things by saying “There are labor/union themes…”

The 1934 hotel strike that was championed by LaGuardia was technically a failure, with the workers’ loyalties spread out across three unions — one Communist; one, an alliance of the democratic Left; and one mobbed up by the Dutch Schultz gang. "We Always Had a Union" in @nydailynews.com.

This is my annual roundup of labor data on union membership, elections and strikes. How is the U.S. labor movement doing? What should it do in this new political era? #UnionYes #UnionStrong ericdirnbach.medium.com/state-of-the...

Also, for those of you who like your TV with a dose of labor (I'm talking about you, @solongdentalplan.com)

who do I know that has pitched 33.3 successfully (or not) and might be considering pitching? I'd love to talk out some ideas and learn from you.

And, yes, my participation in "This Hard Land" inspired @solongdentalplan.com

Please ask for it from your library. rowman.com/ISBN/9781666...

Got my copy of "Scenes from the American Working Class: This Hard Land."

Consider the book a pilot with series potential.

CC: @solongdentalplan.com It’s kinda wild that such a popular show aired a strike episode only about a week after the proposals for SO LONG, DENTAL PLAN closed!

I know I’m not the only labor union person whose partner snickered and went, “that’s you” during this Abbott Elementary strike episode

Me last week: I wanna write about class struggle on Mars in For All Mankind for @solongdentalplan.com, that’ll be fun, there’s some good stuff to talk about Trump this week with Elon Musk right behind him, beaming: I’m gonna colonize Mars

I'm very excited that I will be contributing a chapter to the book So Long, Dental Plan, which will be about how unions, organizing, and strikes are portrayed on TV! I'll be writing about the teachers strike in Chapter 1 of House of Cards. @solongdentalplan.com go.bsky.app/QTKZJa6

What I’m hearing is some people submit things *before* the deadline? Fascinating 🤔

Submitted today ☺️

Wow! I never thought I'd be asked to write about The Nanny, crossing picket lines, and the tradition of strong Jewish union women, so I'm indebted to @solongdentalplan.com for making it happen. If you like TV and labor culture, look for solongdentalplan.com in 2026!

Last minute proposals have us looking at the word length we promised @sunypress.bsky.social like

I don’t have the words for how excited I am to be contributing to @solongdentalplan.com, an amazing project about unions & class struggle as seen on TV! I’ll be writing about the ONE TREE HILL organizing plotline and what it says about millennials’ relationship to work & unions🫡 go.bsky.app/QTKZJa6

lol it is crazy that I'm a contributor to @solongdentalplan.com look at these names! (other than my own) solongdentalplan.com/about/

Our call for proposals is still open for a few more weeks.

I’m excited to be contributing to this wonderful edited volume on labor in pop culture. Gonna write about the Federation and Starfleet as a flawed workers’ state. go.bsky.app/QTKZJa6

God damnit, how the hell did I forget about this instant classic from our second-favorite Detroiter, Jeremy Milloy? Check out his books, including “Blood, Sweat, and Fear.” www.ubcpress.ca/blood-sweat-...

We are still accepting proposals, at solongdentalplan.com, but we're also starting to commit to some of the best pitches. Say hello to the "Song Long, Dental Plan" Contributors Starter Pack (list in formation).

Reminder: Our call for proposals is still open. “So Long, Dental Plan!” Unions, Labor Relations and Class Struggle…As Seen On TV Visit solongdentalplan.com for more info, or HMU.

Actually fun fact: @sunypress.bsky.social has extended its 50% off--yes FIFTY PER CENT OFF--holiday sale through Dec 22. Half off all books with code HOLIDAY24, including preorders. Shop to you and your loved ones' hearts' content! sunypress.edu

Omg I know exactly what I’m gonna propose hell yes

We have a contract with SUNY Press, and aim to publish in 2026. We’re looking for 10-15 articles, drawing on a number of academic disciplines, to focus on less obvious episodes and programs to critique and, most importantly, to have some fun with the project.

We're already getting great proposals for “So Long, Dental Plan!” Unions, Labor Relations and Class Struggle…As Seen On TV. E-mail us with your interest before it's too late. Operators are standing by. solongdentalplan.com

Folks coming to Bluesky, hello! This is maybe the most fun thing I've ever written, and some of you may enjoy it. An analysis of the union story in Bon Jovi's classic song "Livin' on a Prayer." https://medium.com/p/2d35ba74e1a2

There's a good article to be written about the "Dad's on strike" trope, usually a one-off, w/ no context on the bargaining issues where the whole upside to the strike is that Dad gets on everyone's nerves finding home improvement projects while he's idled. David is often an airline pilot.

I have a Superstore article that Labor Notes ran a few years ago. There was a lot more I could have put into it but they had word limits. If I expanded it, would that work?

Call for Proposals: For a collection from SUNY Press, coming in 2026, to explore how labor unions, union organizing, and strikes and job actions have been portrayed in mainstream, scripted episodic television shows. More info: solongdentalplan.com