The majority of U.S. workers aren’t compensated anywhere near the value that they actually create for society, while the few who make the most money often work the least and contribute very little. Decades of neoliberal thinking has twisted one of the foundational American beliefs—the idea that hard work eventually reaps great rewards—into a celebration of g ... Show More
Jan 27
Revisiting Reimagining Capitalism (with Rebecca Henderson)
As inequality deepens, democratic institutions strain, and climate risk accelerates, it’s becoming impossible to ignore a basic question: What is capitalism actually for? This week, we revisit our conversation with Harvard Business School professor Rebecca Henderson who argues th ... Show More
31m 11s
Jan 20
Revisiting the Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order (with Gary Gerstle)
Every era runs on an economic story. For the last half-century, ours has been neoliberalism — the belief that if you free markets from constraints, prosperity will follow. This week we revisit a bracing conversation with historian Gary Gerstle about how neoliberalism took hold, w ... Show More
46m 3s
Jan 13
Revisiting How Neoliberalism Turned the Work Ethic Against Workers (with Elizabeth Anserson)
Americans have been told that working harder is the path to dignity, security, and success. But what if that promise was hijacked? This week, we’re revisiting our episode with Professor Elizabeth Anderson, where she exposes how neoliberalism weaponized the “work ethic” — transfor ... Show More
46m 35s
Feb 2022
Elizabeth Anderson, "Private Government: How Employers Rule Our Lives (and Why We Don't Talk about It) (Princeton UP, 2019)
One in four American workers says their workplace is a "dictatorship." Yet that number almost certainly would be higher if we recognized employers for what they are-private governments with sweeping authoritarian power over our lives. Many employers minutely regulate workers' spe ... Show More
50m 1s
Nov 2021
The Case Against Loving Your Job
<p>The compulsion to be happy at work “is always a demand for emotional work from the worker,” <a href="https://www.boldtypebooks.com/titles/sarah-jaffe/work-wont-love-you-back/9781568589398/" target="_blank">writes Sarah Jaffe</a>. “Work, after all, has no feelings. Capitalism c ... Show More
1h 22m