Hardly Working with Brent Orrell
by AEI PodcastsWhether you are working hard or hardly working, join AEI Resident Fellow Brent Orrell as he explores national trends and public policies affecting the vitality of the American workforce and how to prepare yourself for success in our rapidly-changing economy. And whatever else happens, we promise it will take your mind off of your job.
Copyright: Copyright © American Enterprise Institute
Episodes
John Tamny on the End of Work
46m · PublishedIn a world where the traditional boundaries of work are being redrawn, the interplay between work and personal satisfaction, a sense of purpose, and meaning is rapidly evolving. This week on Hardly Working, Brent sits down with John Tamny, editor of RealClearMarkets and president of the Parkview Institute. They discuss Tamny’s 2018 book The End of Work: Why Your Passion Can Become Your Job, which envisions a world where material abundance frees all of us up to pursue our passions at work.
Carol Graham on the Power of Hope
1h 33m · PublishedContemporary differences between rural and urban areas in America have their roots in long-term demographic, economic, technological, and social factors. Brent and the Brookings Institution’s Tony Pipa are hosting conversations “On the Front Porch” with authors of recent research on issues facing rural America. These discussions explore the unique challenges and opportunities facing rural America and consider policy options to promote development and opportunity.
Today, we bring you a recent conversation with economist Carol Graham. Graham’s recent book The Power of Hope: How the Science of Well-Being Can Save Us from Despair discusses the role that hope plays in supporting the development of individuals and communities in America.
Jim Pethokoukis on Conservative Futurism
56m · PublishedAs technology marches on, what kind of world are we moving towards? According to AEI senior fellow Jim Pethokoukis, it’s an abundant and prosperous one, at least potentially. So long as we play our cards right–and embrace what he calls an “UpWing” technology and growth policies we will reap the benefits of what many find to be destabilizing, disorienting change.
This week on Hardly Working, Brent speaks with Pethokoukis about his book The Conservative Futurist: How to Create the Sci-Fi World We Were Promised and how we can best manage the steps toward the UpWing future.
Mentioned in this episode
The Third Century: America's Resurgence in the Asian Era
Nouriel Roubini
For All Mankind
Faster, Please!
Extrapolations
Derek Thompson
Ezra Klein
Lost in Space
The Martian
Interstellar
Prophet of Innovation
Vikram Mansharamani on Why to Be a Generalist
47m · PublishedIn a world of specialists, generalists sometimes seem like people without a country. That may be changing. In an age of specialized–and increasingly powerful– AI tools, going broad rather than narrow may increasingly be valuable. Today on Hardly Working, Vikram Mansharamani returns to the podcast to discuss his personal and professional journey as a self-described generalist. His recent memoir The Making of a Generalist narrates his journey from a kid curious about everything to one of the nation’s most sought-after thinkers and advisors on questions of calling and career. We hope you enjoy this conversation.
What Rural Voters Think: A Conversation with Nick Jacobs
1h 30m · PublishedDivides between rural and urban America have their roots in longstanding demographic, economic, technological, and social factors. In a new event series, AEI’s Brent Orrell and the Brookings Institution’s Tony Pipa are hosting a series of conversations “On the Front Porch” with authors of recent research on issues facing rural America.
These discussions explore the unique challenges and opportunities facing rural America and consider policy options to promote development and opportunity. Today on Hardly Working, we bring you the first of these events, a conversation with Nicholas F. Jacobs, the author of the recent book The Rural Voter: The Politics of Place and the Disuniting of America, which examines the state of politics in rural America.
Orrell, Pipa, and Jacobs consider the book’s central claim that rural Americans have in recent years combined a deep sense of connection to place with increasingly nationalized policy and political concerns to form a distinct voting bloc. They also discuss the history of rural America; the social, cultural, and economic forces that have affected it in recent years; and the popular notion of a stark rural-urban divide. Overall, they emphasize the importance of dispelling myths about rural America to overcome distrust and disunity.
Mentioned in this Episode
Reimagining Rural Policy Initiative
General Social Survey
Omaha Platform of 1892
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
Federalism
American Exchange Project
Robert Schwartz and Rachel Lipson on Community Colleges and Economic Mobility
57m · PublishedIn recent years, confidence in higher education has plummeted. This decline has prompted a vigorous debate on the role of all types of post-secondary education.
In their recent book America’s Hidden Economic Engines: How Community Colleges Can Drive Shared Prosperity, Robert B. Schwartz and Rachel Lipson make the case for the value of community colleges. Surveying five case studies across the US–in Ohio, Virginia, Arizona, Texas, and Mississippi–they argue that community colleges serve as “engines” of social mobility for individuals and communities. Their research shows that community colleges have proven remarkably effective at mitigating economic inequality and promoting social engagement and economic development.
Today, Brent sits down with Lipson and Schwartz to discuss what their research means for students and policymakers.
Mentioned in this episode
Year Up
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
Pathways to Prosperity Network
Lorain County Community College
Pima Community College
Lightcast
The Coleman Report
Raj Chetty
Opportunity Insights
Keith Sonderling on AI and the Workforce
49m · PublishedAs artificial intelligence (AI) bounds ahead, many are rightfully concerned about the risks and ethical issues it raises. Perhaps some of the most practical of these is the potential that AI will be biased against minority populations because of deficiencies in the data used to build it. If true, this would have serious implications for human resources and hiring.
Today, Brent sits down with Keith Sonderling, a commissioner on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC. Sonderling delves into the challenges and opportunities presented by the integration of AI into the workplace, particularly in hiring and employment decisions. And he emphasizes the complexity of AI and the difficulty – yet necessity – of regulating it so that it can benefit everyone.
We hope you enjoy this conversation.
Mentioned in this Episode
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Fair Labor Standards Act
Family Medical Leave Act
Goldman Sachs on AI’s Impact on the Labor Market
World Economic Forum on AI’s Impact on the Labor Market
New York Local Law 144
European Union AI Act
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
Elizabeth Currid-Halkett on Rural America
53m · PublishedMany urban Americans have come to believe that there’s a growing chasm separating urban and rural America. While urban America bounds ahead, rural America, many assume, is being left behind, struggling with material and spiritual impoverishment, and cultural confusion.
This week on Hardly Working, Brent talks with University of Southern California professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, who dispels some of the myths about the so-called urban-rural divide. Currid-Halkett and Brent discuss her fantastic book The Overlooked Americans: The Resilience of Our Rural Towns and What it Means For Our Country, which Brent reviewed for the Dispatch in September. As you’ll hear, rural America is doing a lot better than you might think.
Mentioned in this episode
Jane Jacobs
University of Chicago General Social Survey
Raj Chetty
Posse Foundation
American Exchange Project
Times/Siena Poll on Trump's advantage in battleground states
Ben Wildavsky on the Career Arts
58m · PublishedRegrettably, the debate about post-secondary education has devolved into just another culture war issue with one camp saying “everyone go to college” and another saying “skip college learn a trade.”
Today, Brent sits down with Ben Wildavsky, a visiting scholar at the University of Virginia’s School of Education and Human Development, who challenges this false dichotomy. In his recent book “The Career Arts,” Wildavsky argues that education, job, and career success require integrating broad-based skills (such as those acquired through a liberal arts and social science education) with more narrow, technical skills (such as those acquired through credential programs). Such integration, Wildavsky contends, supports well-rounded and resilient workers who can more easily adapt to an unpredictable and rapidly changing economy.
Mentioned in this Episode
Strada Education Foundation
College wage premium
Larry Katz
Tony Carnevale
Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce
Project Basta
Climb Higher
Western Governors University
Point Loma Nazarene University
Seth Bodnar, president, University of Montana
Society for Human Research Management
Skills-based hiring
Michael Chui on Generative AI
42m · PublishedArtificial intelligence (AI) is advancing at breakneck speed. Michael Chui, a partner at the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), leads research on how this technology is reshaping business, the economy, and society more broadly. According to MGI, the next wave of AI-generated productivity improvements will send shockwaves through the labor market as it reaches–and surpasses–human-level ability across a wide range of skills but ultimately make the entire world wealthier and healthier. We hope you enjoy this conversation.
Mentioned in this Episode
McKinsey Global Institute (MGI)
MGI report: The Economic Potential of Generative AI
Accenture report: Strategy at the Pace of Technology
Study on AI's capacity for theory of mind
John Maynard Keynes
Hardly Working with Brent Orrell has 125 episodes in total of non- explicit content. Total playtime is 106:39:43. The language of the podcast is English. This podcast has been added on October 25th 2022. It might contain more episodes than the ones shown here. It was last updated on May 24th, 2024 22:40.