Do we really need to work so hard?

Hogging seats on a crowded train, not saying excuse me, watching videos on your phone with no headphones in. Sometimes it feels like we don't know how to act anymore. What we have been seeing, increasingly, is people breaking rules. Why should I play by the rules if nobody else is going to do that for me? This week on Explain It to Me, how to mind your manners.

New episodes Sundays wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Sean. Today we're bringing back a conversation that feels more relevant than when we first aired it. It's with the philosopher Elizabeth Anderson about work, morality, and the strange hold the Protestant work ethic has on American life, that has always had on American life. And the episode really takes ideas that we all think we understand.

Hard work, personal responsibility, earning your keep, that kind of thing, and shows how these concepts have always been contested. And if you think about what's happening right now in the labor market, burnouts, layoffs, all the upheaval caused by AI, this conversation is going to matter even more down the road. All of which is to say this is a terrific, timely episode about both the present and the future of work. I hope you enjoyed.

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