#96: Alice Driver on Her Lukas Prize-Winning Book

Author and journalist Alice Driver remembers her first time meeting people from other countries as a child in rural Arkansas – they were all workers at meatpacking facilities. Her book, “Life and Death of The American Worker: The Immigrants Taking on America’s Largest Meatpacking Company,” which won the $25,000 J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Prize, focuses on the struggles those immigrant workers face today – specifically those employed by Tyson, America’s largest meatpacking company. In this episode, Alice Driver joins the J School Prizes Department’s Abi Wright and Lisa Cohen to talk about her award-winning book, the impact it’s had on migrant workers and the meat industry, and how young journalists can keep their momentum going if they decide to tackle longform projects of their own. She urges Read more about “Life and Death of The American Worker,” and Driver’s other books, here. Do you, or someone you know, have a non-fiction work-in-progress that is currently under a book contract? If so, enter to win the J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Prize - or other Lukas Book Prizes - before the Dec. 4, 2025 deadline. Go to for more information and to enter.

You can listen to #96: Alice Driver on Her Lukas Prize-Winning Book online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

#96: Alice Driver on Her Lukas Prize-Winning Book is an episode from On Assignment Podcast by On Assignment.

This episode is 00:29:04 long.

This episode was published on Nov 7, 2025.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from On Assignment Podcast when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.