Who's Afraid of a Four-Day Work Week?

Who's Afraid of a Four-Day Work Week?

4 Day Week Global is a nonprofit organization that recently conducted a trial with 33 companies and 900 workers that replaced the typical five-day week with a four-day work week with no change in pay. After the six-month trial ended, 97 percent of employees who responded said they didn’t want to go back to five days per week, and most employers rated the overall experience 9 out of 10. The pandemic showed us that so much about the way we work is an accident of history, solidified by familiarity and the passage of time. Maybe the office is where we should do all white-collar work. Or maybe that’s wrong. Maybe a two-day weekend is all people need to feel perfectly recharged. Or maybe that’s wrong. Maybe, in some cases, four is greater than five. Juliet Schor is an economist at Boston College and a lead researcher on the four-day work week trial. We talked about how work and the economy might be reorganized in her vision of a four-day work week, why even employers might appreciate an extra day off, and why Americans’ relationship to work, time, and well-being needs some kind of revolution. If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com. You can find us on TikTok at www.tiktok.com/@plainenglish_ Host: Derek Thompson Guest: Juliet Schor Producer: Devon Manze Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Why Are Americans So Unhealthy? Part I: Is Ultra-Processed Food Killing Us?

Why Are Americans So Unhealthy? Part I: Is Ultra-Processed Food Killing Us?

Americans die younger and faster than the residents of almost every other rich country. Why? There's gun violence, drug overdoses, and car crashes. Young people are much more likely to die from these ...

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What Experts Really Think About Smartphones and Mental Health

What Experts Really Think About Smartphones and Mental Health

I'm very concerned about the relationship between smartphone use and America's mental health crisis. But many researchers don't see things my way. They insist that there is little to no empirical data...

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Plain History: How Adolf Hitler Destroyed German Democracy in Six Months

Plain History: How Adolf Hitler Destroyed German Democracy in Six Months

In November 1932, Germany was a republic. By the spring of 1933, it was a dictatorship. How did it all happen so quickly? Fascination with Adolf Hitler requires no news peg, but I’ve been particularl...

30 Touko 20251h 2min

Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill Is Great for the "Stealthy Wealthy"

Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill Is Great for the "Stealthy Wealthy"

The tax and spending bill passed by House Republicans last week is the sort of bill that does so many different things that even budget experts could be forgiven for not realizing just how many differ...

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The Gene-Editing Breakthrough That Saved a Baby’s Life

The Gene-Editing Breakthrough That Saved a Baby’s Life

Last year, Kyle and Nicole Muldoon welcomed their baby KJ into the world. Almost immediately, doctors realized something was wrong. KJ had been born with a genetic mutation that made it impossible to ...

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The Rules of Attraction and the Psychology of Romance

The Rules of Attraction and the Psychology of Romance

Psychology is hard, even when you’re just trying to understand what’s going on with one impossibly complex person. Romance psychology is particularly hard because you’re trying to understand what’s go...

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Plain History: How Norman Borlaug Stopped the Apocalypse

Plain History: How Norman Borlaug Stopped the Apocalypse

In every generation, important people predict that the end is near and the apocalypse is coming. In the 1960s, the fear was that population growth would destroy the planet—that fertility would outrun ...

16 Touko 20251h 8min

Why Do Americans Pay So Much for Drugs?

Why Do Americans Pay So Much for Drugs?

On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order telling drugmakers to slash the prices of their medicines. Once again, the president showed an amazing nose for interesting questions. Stati...

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