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

Episoder(348)

Why Money Doesn't Buy Happiness in America

Why Money Doesn't Buy Happiness in America

America is rich—richer than ever. Yet Americans are more anxious, lonelier, and less satisfied than people in many poorer nations. The 2025 World Happiness Report ranked the U.S. 24th in life satisfac...

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Is AI Really About to Solve Human Disease?

Is AI Really About to Solve Human Disease?

I’ve had the privilege of talking to many brilliant people about artificial intelligence. And when you ask them to imagine the most beneficial consequences of this technology, they almost always give ...

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How America Became a Nation of "Free Speech Hypocrites"

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The past few weeks have marked a low point for free speech principles in America. The head of the FCC openly threatened ABC for the language of a comedian. The president told a reporter that networks ...

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What’s the Matter With America’s Food?

What’s the Matter With America’s Food?

In the past few weeks, we’ve done several episodes on obesity, GLP-1 drugs, and nutrition science. What we haven’t talked about as much is the politics of food. And today’s guests say: If you really ...

26 Sep 202552min

This Is How the AI Bubble Could Burst

This Is How the AI Bubble Could Burst

This year, American tech companies will spend $300 billion to $400 billion on artificial intelligence, which is in nominal dollars more than any group of companies have ever spent to do anything. Nota...

23 Sep 202559min

The Jimmy Kimmel Saga and America's Free-Speech Crisis

The Jimmy Kimmel Saga and America's Free-Speech Crisis

Matt Belloni, the host of the Town podcast and the author of Puck’s 'What I’m Hearing' newsletter, joins the show to talk about Jimmy Kimmel's punishment, what happened behind the scenes at ABC and Di...

19 Sep 202540min

If GLP-1 Drugs Are Good for Everything, Should We All Be on Them?

If GLP-1 Drugs Are Good for Everything, Should We All Be on Them?

To read more of Derek's reporting on GLP-1 drugs, you can subscribe to his Substack here. GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Zepbound don't just help with Type 2 diabetes and weight loss. They seem to curb...

16 Sep 202554min

Charlie Kirk's Killing and America's Age of "Salad-Bar Extremism"

Charlie Kirk's Killing and America's Age of "Salad-Bar Extremism"

In the past few years, we have witnessed a frightening spiral of political violence. We’ve seen the killing of Charlie Kirk; the killing of Brian Thompson, the health insurance executive; the assassin...

12 Sep 202552min

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