The coronavirus crisis is upending the way we work, live, connect with one another. THis week, we look at how the coronavirus pandemic is straining an already fragile child care system. The crisis is showing clearly how central child care is to our economy and society. How are parents coping? How are early care educators, providers and care workers surviving? How do we build a better child care system for the future? We’ll hear from care workers, providers, parents and Lillian Mongeau, west coas...
May 02, 2020•19 min•Season 3Ep. 6
As crisis has become the "new normal," there are new rules for so many things we took for granted just a few weeks ago. Some of the biggest changes have to do with work: How can people work remotely, flexibly — and effectively — in a crisis like this? Host Brigid Schulte is joined this week by guests including Cali Yost, workplace strategist with the Flex Strategy Group. She’s worked with companies for more than 25 years to create flexible work environments. And ... if you'd like to be a part of...
Apr 25, 2020•23 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Many front-line healthcare workers are routinely exposed to the deadly coronavirus, and many of them have made the difficult choice to live away from their families in an effort to keep them safe. Congress voted to exclude healthcare workers from emergency paid sick and family leave, so these workers are themselves forced to choose between coming to work sick, or using personal time or unpaid time, to stay home. Front-line healthcare workers are also witnessing first hand as the country’s troubl...
Apr 19, 2020•26 min•Season 3Ep. 4
The coronavirus pandemic is completely disrupting the way we work, and the way we live, That’s why the Better Life Lab is offering Crisis Conversations - Live from Better Life Lab . With host Brigid Schulte working from her home office — recording into the cheap mic built into the cord of her earbuds — we're recording live Zoom sessions on Fridays. Our lead guest for this episode is Rachel Deutsch , supervising attorney for worker justice at the Center for Popular Democracy. We'll also hear fron...
Apr 11, 2020•27 min•Season 3Ep. 3
The coronavirus pandemic is completely disrupting the way we work, and the way we live, care and relate to one another. So much is changing, and so fast, it’s hard to keep up with it all, That’s why the Better Life Lab is offering Crisis Conversations - Live from Better Life Lab . With host Brigid Schulte working from home — recording into the cheap mic built into the cord of her earbuds — we're recording live Zoom sessions on Fridays. We want these sessions to be an intimate, interactive space ...
Apr 04, 2020•29 min•Season 3Ep. 2
The coronavirus pandemic is completely disrupting the way we work, and the way we live, care and relate to one another. The novel virus that threatens public health and is sending stress and anxiety levels soaring is also reshaping public policies for families and workers for the first time in decades. So much is changing, and so fast, that it’s hard to keep up with it all, much less figure out what it means, and where it might lead us once we emerge out of the crisis, whenever that will be. Tha...
Mar 28, 2020•30 min•Season 3Ep. 1
In Japan, workers are so used to working punishingly long hours that dying from overwork is a common phenomenon: so common, in fact, that victim families can and do routinely apply for worker compensation benefits. We hear the stories of Japanese workers caught up in a system of overwork, young activists trying to change things on the ground, and a professor trying to make sense of it all. Is it just a Japanese phenomenon? What can Americans learn from a culture of overwork? This episode is brou...
Apr 19, 2019•29 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Research shows that egalitarian couples who fairly share work and home responsibilities are happier, healthier and have better sex. But are egalitarian partnerships really possible, especially when U.S. work cultures demand all-out devotion and women still carry the load as primary caregivers and household managers? We hear stories from workers striving for that egalitarian ideal: An Ethiopian immigrant nurse and Uber driver, A military “trailing spouse” with big dreams. And Amy Nelson, founder ...
Apr 12, 2019•37 min•Season 2Ep. 5
While an unpredictable schedule has always been a part of a restaurant worker’s experience, the advent of scheduling technology and the pressure to keep labor costs low has turned the schedules - and lives - of restaurant and retail workers upside down. We hear stories of waitstaff and big box retail workers from around the country. Joan Williams, Director of the Center for WorkLife Law at UC Hastings, shares research on how predictable schedules not only make life better and healthier for worke...
Apr 05, 2019•37 min•Season 2Ep. 4
In a famous 2007 talk at Google, productivity guru Merlin Mann introduced the world to Inbox Zero, his idea of managing the raging river of digital overload. But is such a high standard even possible today? In this episode, we explore Email Mindset, and how to think about your inbox. And we compare Mann’s Inbox Zero approach with writer Amy Westervelt’s Inbox 100,000.
Mar 29, 2019•31 min•Season 2Ep. 3
You’ve heard of work-life conflict, but when one Stanford researcher looked into how doctors managed it, she discovered another complicating factor: work-work conflict. It's having so many different tasks and responsibilities at work that you can quite literally feel pulled in a hundred different directions at once. We hear the stories of a doctor, a nonprofit executive and a home health aide, and how real solutions will require systems change.
Mar 22, 2019•30 min•Season 2Ep. 2
When Jason Fried founded Basecamp, he and his partner decided not to focus on growth, but on sustainability, and healthy work-life balance. While Fried’s stance is unorthodox in an economy where success is literally measured by growth, economist and bestselling author Juliet Schor says Fried is onto something.
Mar 15, 2019•35 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Better Life Lab is back! In Season 2, join host Brigid Schulte as she explores the torture of "Inbox Zero", work schedule chaos, and the Japanese idea of "karoshi" — a sadly common phenomenon where people work so hard they die — and much more. The Better Life Lab podcast from Slate and New America will show you why work-life balance seems so unattainable for so many people—and what we as individuals, as organizations, and as policy makers can do about it. New episodes drop March 15, 2019....
Mar 05, 2019•3 min
It gets more intense every year — the drive to work longer and longer hours. And there’s striking new research that shows that women, who already get paid less than men, are put at a distinct disadvantage by an American job market that rewards overwork rather than performance. In the final episode of season one of Better Life Lab, we hear from Youngjoo Cha, a sociologist at Indiana University and an expert on overwork and gender. Her research shows that, while the education gap is closing betwee...
Jul 19, 2018•32 min•Season 1Ep. 6
What happens when you can’t stop working? In this episode, the Better Life Lab podcast goes to a workaholics anonymous meeting to find out. We also here from Malissa Clark, a professor of psychology at the University of Indiana and an expert in workaholism. She discusses the science and research behind workaholism, and how we can change.
Jul 12, 2018•23 min•Season 1Ep. 5
No meeting Wednesdays and work from home Fridays are not enough. In this episode, you'll find out how employers can really create a healthier and more productive workplace. Tara Oakman, a former Obama White House official who is currently working as a senior program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and David Waldman, vice president human resources and administration at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, weigh in.
Jul 05, 2018•26 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Email inboxes and push notifications were designed to keep us busy. But when we break it all down and how we think about busyness, we should be paying attention to the way our environment is designed — both at work and at home. Behavioral economist Dan Ariely explains how we can change our surroundings and our actions to fight our addiction to being busy. Ariely is an author of The New York Times best-selling book “Predictably Irrational,” a popular TED speaker, and professor and director of the...
Jun 28, 2018•32 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Michelle Hickox took summers off and still got promoted. First, she had to believe that she could, then she had to prove to others it was possible. Now she wants everyone to know how she did it. She tells her story to Better Life Lab.
Jun 21, 2018•30 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Bragging about being overworked is not badge of honor. Economists say the way we work has become so stressful it’s now the fifth leading cause of death. That’s according to Jeff Pfeffer, a Stanford business professor and author of some of the first meta-analyses of the health costs of the modern workplace. What will it take for us to transform the way we work and live — as individuals, as organizations, and as a culture — in order to make time for both meaningful work and fuller, healthier lives...
Jun 15, 2018•28 min•Season 1Ep. 1
On Better Life Lab, we explore the art and science of living a full and healthy life. The podcast combines the power of storytelling - people sharing their own very real struggles, failings and triumphs with work-life balance – or work-life harmony as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos now calls it - with the behavioral and social science research and data that can help us better understand what drives our human experiences, and how to change. There are real costs with our current driven, harried, work-identif...
May 18, 2018•3 min
