Sociologist Matthew Desmond won a Pulitzer Prize in 2017 for his book “Evicted,” and he joins us to discuss his follow-up investigation, which centers on the idea that affluent Americans keep poor people poor.
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The jobs used to deny disability benefits are stuck in 1977
Lisa Rein from The Washington Post details how the Biden administration has spent $250 million to modernize its vocational services but still uses outdated market data to determine benefits for 15 million people.
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Why an online community for exchanging free stuff became controversial
Wired contributing writer Vauhini Vara talks about The Buy Nothing Project, Inc, a movement with fervent followers who were mad when the platform went to an app backed by investors.
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The big business of blood: Exploitation in the plasma industry
Journalist Kathleen McLaughlin shares her research into where blood plasma really comes from – a journey through the for-profit blood industry that stretches all the way to China.
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It’s hard finding after-school care for your kids
Vox reporter Rachel Cohen joins us to discuss the crisis working parents face as they try to bridge the gap between the end of the school day and the end of the workday.
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Why governments have such a hard time hiring
Daphne Duret, a staff writer for The Marshall Project, joins guest host Courtney Collins to discuss why jobs from garbage collectors to first responders are falling out of favor, and what’s being done to boost numbers.
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Layoffs may not save companies money
Anne Helen Petersen, Substack newsletter writer, explains why older generations have grown used to layoffs and the case against layoffs as a cost-saving measure in the first place.
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Supporting your parents financially
Mike Dang, a personal finance editor from The New York Times, discusses the struggle of young adults to care for aging parents while finding ways to save enough money for their own futures.
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The U.S. wasn’t founded on free markets
Harvard professor and author Naomi Oreskes joins us to talk about the public relations campaigns designed to crush regulations and unions.
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The new Gold Rush? Prospecting solar power
Harper’s contributor Hillary Angelo talks about solar-farm construction in Nye County, Nevada—a potential weapon against climate change that also threatens the local ecology, and angers neighbors.
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The jobs used to deny disability benefits are stuck in 1977
Lisa Rein from The Washington Post details how the Biden administration has spent $250 million to modernize its vocational services but still uses outdated market data to determine benefits for 15 million people.
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What’s in store for the world in 2023?
Tom Standage, an editor at The Economist, discusses the top 10 issues the magazine predicts will make the biggest headlines this year.
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