Episode · Freakonomics Radio · 2024-10-03
Books mentioned on 605. What Do People Do All Day?
Sixty percent of the jobs that Americans do today didn’t exist in 1940. What happens as our labor becomes more technical and less physical?
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Work
Discussed“The anthropologist James Suzman, in his book 'Work,' tells a story about Kellogg’s, the cereal company, during the Great Depression. The company cut their workers’ hours to create an additional shift, which let them hire more people. The workday went from 8 hours to 6.”
Where to get it
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Working
Discussed“Fifty years ago, the Chicago writer and radio host Studs Terkel published a book called 'Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do.' Terkel interviewed dozens of people about their jobs: a cab driver, waitress, bookbinder, factory owner, industrial designer, a gravedigger, a carpenter; the book became a classic. It was”
Where to get it
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What Do People Do All Day?
Discussed“This title was stolen from a children's book by the beloved author and illustrator Richard Scarry. Here is his son, Huck Scarry. When I was growing up, my father worked at home.”
Where to get it
