Unproductive Labor

Non-compete Agreements and Corporate Subsidies with Pat Garofalo

This episode I'm pleased to be speaking with Pat Garofalo. Pat is the director of state and local policy at the American Economic Liberties Project and author of 'The Billionaire Boondoggle: How Our Politicians Let Corporations and Bigwigs Steal Our Money and Jobs." He also writes the Boondoggle substack. We'll be talking about a grab bag of topics including noncompete agreements and corporate subsidies. Contact US Twitter: @PublicSeminar, @lmergner, @pete_sinnott Email: unproductivelabor@gmail.com Credits Producer: Daniel Fermín Music: Composed and performed by Samuel Haines. Artwork: Daniel Fermín

The Problems and Possibilities of Graeber's BS Jobs with Matteo Tiratelli

In this episode, I talk to Matteo Tiratelli about bullshit jobs. Tiratelli recently published an article in the journal Catalyst exploring the problems and insights of David Graeber's well known theory Tiratelli is a lecturer at UCL's Social Research Institute where he teaches historical and political sociology. His previous research has focussed on the ideological transformation of European socialism, the history of rioting in Britain, and the political economy of crime. He is currently starting a project examining the evolution of the British prison system over the twentieth century. He has an article just out in Political Quarterly which critiques the widely held belief that most people have moderate political opinions with a few extremists at either end. He occasionally tweets @MatteoTiratelli. Contact US Twitter: @PublicSeminar, @pete_sinnott Email: unproductivelabor@gmail.com Credits Producer: Daniel Fermín Music: Composed and performed by Samuel Haines. Artwork: Daniel Fermín

Essential Workers and Labor Activism During the Pandemic: An Interview with Jamie McCallum

This episode, I talk to sociologist Jamie McCallum about his new book, Essential: How the Pandemic Transformed the Long Fight for Worker Justice. We talk about working conditions and unemployment during the pandemic, labor activism, and glimpses of working class unity. McCallum is a professor of sociology at Middlebury College. His writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Mother Jones, Dissent, and Jacobin, and his last book Worked Over looked at the quantity and quality of time we spend on and off the clock. You can get in touch with him through his website: https://www.jamiekmccallum.com/ [https://www.jamiekmccallum.com/]. Contact US Twitter: @PublicSeminar, @lmergner, @pete_sinnott Email: unproductivelabor@gmail.com Credits Producer: Daniel Fermín Music: Composed and performed by Samuel Haines. Artwork: Daniel Fermín

We'll Always Need to Work: An Interview with Alex Gourevitch

In this episode, my erstwhile cohost, Luke Mergner, and I talk to Alex Gourevitch who published a piece last year in Catalyst that levied a critique of anti-work discourse and universal basic income. We talk to Alex about what the anti-work and post-work crowd get wrong in their thinking about work and the future. Alex is an associate professor of political science at Brown University. He is currently writing a book on the political ethics of strikes and a book on shared labor socialism. He has written for Jacobin, Dissent, and other publications.

Inflation, the Labor Market, and Inequality: Two Interviews

This week a double episode, first a discussion about inflation and the labor market with Brian Callaci, chief economist at the Open Market Institute. Then an interview with political scientist David Lay Williamas about the inequality today and its place in the history of western political thought. Brian Callaci is the Chief Economist at the Open Markets Institute, a Washington DC-based think tank focused on antimonopoly policy. He co-authored an article in Dissent in July titled "Inflation is No Excuse for Squeezing Workers." [https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/inflation-is-no-excuse-for-squeezing-workers] David Lay WIlliams is Professor of Political Science at DePaul University and author of a forthcoming book on economic inequality in Western political thought. He wrote a recent essay in Public Seminar, "The Wall Street Journal Resurrects Mandeville." [https://publicseminar.org/essays/the-wall-street-journal-resurrects-mandeville/]