The pandemic and attendant economic crisis have laid bare the enormous power imbalances in contemporary American work life. Today, we speak with sociologist Erin Hatton about her new book Coerced, in which she looks at four distinct groups of workers—from prisoners and welfare workers to graduate students and college athletes—who are not often recognized as […]
Special Rebroadcast: David Graeber on “Bullshit Jobs”
Last week, on September 2, radical anthropologist and Occupy Wall Street organizer David Graeber passed away at a hospital in Venice at the age of 59. In their obituary, the New York Times called him a “caustic critic of inequality.” Today we remember David by re-airing our Labor Day interview with him from two years […]
Masculinity During a Pandemic: How Haircuts and Face Masks Got Politic...
Look at the photos from the recent demonstrations at state capitols protesting stay-at-home orders. Amid all the signs warning against government tyranny or demanding that the economy reopen, you’ll often see another kind of sign: “I want a haircut!” or “I need a haircut!” And we have to ask: What are haircare signs doing at […]
What’s the Word: Unemployment
As the novel coronavirus continues to surge around the country, fears are mounting about just how high unemployment levels will rise. This week on “What’s the Word,” Adam Schuster looks at the history of unemployment in this country, and how today’s ongoing crisis fits within it.
Let’s Talk Black Burnout
The internet has been abuzz about the concept of burnout since the publication of journalist Anne Helen Petersen’s viral article “How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation.” In response, poet Tiana Clark wrote “This is What Black Burnout Feels Like” to highlight the ways in which racism and inherited trauma exacerbate the anxiety of 21st-century life […]
Union Updates from Willy Street Co-op Workers
Following up on our program about Willy Street Co-op workers last month, today Allen checks in with three elected members of the union bargaining committee—Angelica Engel, Holly Schaefer, and David Droster—to get updates on the negotiation process and to discuss the struggle for workers’ rights since the enactment of Act 10. Angelica Engel works in […]
