Tens of thousands of school teachers across Arizona and Colorado continue statewide walkouts Friday. For years, employees across the public sector — including teachers — have seen a decline in benefits and pay, raising questions about the impact on the larger middle class.

Here & Now's Robin Young speaks with historians Ed Ayers (@edward_l_ayers) and Nathan Connolly (@ndbconnolly) about "the government job" from early America to the New Deal to today.

Ayers and Connolly are co-hosts of the podcast "BackStory," which is produced at Virginia Humanities.