What Does It Profit Podcast

This episode we take listeners back to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911. This was one of the deadliest industrial tragedies in U.S. history, claiming 147 lives due to locked exit doors and inadequate safety measures. This tragedy sparked significant reforms, including the establishment of OSHA and mandatory safety regulations. Historian Hasia Diner shares that the fire changed public perception about workers' rights, leading to increased support for unions. Journalist Kim Kelly emphasizes that the fire's legacy continues to inspire workers to organize and advocate for safer working conditions. The event remains a powerful reminder of the importance of worker safety.

In the Season 5 premiere of What Does It Profit, we explore the pressing issue of worker safety at Dollar General. Our journey begins with a bus trip to Nashville, where employees from nine states rally for fair pay and improved safety conditions. The episode highlights alarming safety violations, including blocked fire exits and inadequate staffing, which have led to numerous injuries and fatalities. We hear from workers and experts advocating for change, emphasizing the need for accountability in a company that continues to expand despite these issues. Join us as we uncover the realities of workplace safety in retail.  

To our long-time listeners... welcome back. To those who have just found us, we are the podcast that examines the social and moral value of business. In the 5th season of What Does It Profit, we grapple with what it means to feel safe at work. We talk to historians and workforce safety experts, but most importantly we talk to workers themselves. From the surviving family members of those who died in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire in NYC to the brave Thomas Cook Airlines pilot who refused to fly fatigued... we learn what it means to be safe at work. Subscribe now so you don't miss what we learn from sex workers, costumed theme park characters, mine workers, retail sales workers and warehouse workers at some of the country's most well-known companies.   

In the final episode of the fourth season of the What Does It Profit? Podcast, Dr. Dawn explores the impacts of artificial intelligence on religion .    Dr. Dawn speaks to Josh Franklin, a rabbi at the Jewish Center of the Hamptons in New York, who used the chatbot ChatGPT to help write one of his sermons. Rabbi Franklin tells us his thoughts on how he hopes AI can be used as a tool for people to become more spiritual.   We also hear from Mark Graves, a researcher and director with the organization AI and Faith, and Dr. Damien Patrick Williams, an assistant professor of philosophy and data science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Both Graves and Williams see AI as a tool that can alter the way people engage with faith.    As we navigate this new frontier brought on by the rise of AI, we should continue to ask: In the work that we do, and the investments that we make, what does it profit?   WDIP is powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Engage with us on LinkedIn. We'd love to get to know you. Thanks for listening!  

On this episode of the What Does It Profit? podcast, hitch a ride along with Dr. Dawn as she explores the potential impacts of artificial intelligence on public transportation in the U.S.    In this episode, we hear first from Bill Domanico, a retired New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) driver, who talks about the ways technology changed during his career.    We then turn to Barry Wilson and Anthony Garland with the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689, which represents DC’s Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) employees. Wilson and Garland explain how the union is trying to rein in AI and protect jobs.    WDIP is powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Engage with us on LinkedIn. We'd love to get to know you. Thanks for listening!  

In this unexpected mini-episode, Dr. Dawn pivots from our regular programming to reflect on President Biden’s sweeping executive order on AI. The executive order, passed on October 30, 2023, is the Biden Administration’s attempt to reconcile tech companies’ demand for profit and unchecked innovation while ensuring the public trust of Americans given the rapid rise of AI in just the past year.   To better understand the executive order, Dr. Dawn speaks to Ben Winters, the Electronic Privacy Information Center’s (EPIC) Senior Counsel, who also leads EPIC’s AI and Human Rights Project. Winters delves into the details of the executive order, ultimately reaching the conclusion that while the order is overall promising, its effectiveness depends on how well it will be enforced by individual government agencies.   Dr. Dawn then turns to former Congressman Jerry McNerney, who guided several congressional actions that brought to bear the rising importance of AI. With regard to Biden’s executive order, McNerney believes that the executive order’s emphasis on establishing standards on the use of AI will encourage good behavior in the tech industry. McNerney then discusses some of his work after leaving Congress, work which is primarily focused on understanding the challenges AI could pose in next year’s presidential election.    While the Biden Administration has begun to set precedents on AI regulation, the government alone cannot do all of this work. As you listen along to what this executive order means for the future, we encourage you to ask yourself: In the work we do, in the things we buy, in the investments we make, what does it profit?     WDIP is powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Engage with us on LinkedIn. We'd love to get to know you. Thanks for listening!  

In this episode, Dr. Dawn examines the newest addition to the construction industry’s toolbox: AI technology. In this episode, we learn that AI is like a double-edged sword: While AI technology certainly threatens jobs in the construction industry, it’s also ushering in a new era of efficiency and safety.   We begin this episode in conversation with Bella McCann, the president of the woman-owned and Washington, D.C.-based construction company, Cann Construction. McCann takes us to a renovation site to provide a look at how new technologies make on-site work more efficient and safer for workers.   We also hear from Jim Urtz, the national apprenticeship director with the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA), on what the adoption of AI means for the future of jobs in construction. While Urtz has concerns about the potential of technology to replace people, he also details how AI technology can improve working conditions in a high-risk industry and widen the scope of employment opportunities for younger generations in an industry traditionally viewed as one only for the strongest of men.   The adoption of AI technology in the construction industry encourages us to ask the question: In the work we do, in the things we buy, in the investments we make, what does it profit?     WDIP is powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Engage with us on LinkedIn. We'd love to get to know you. Thanks for listening!  

In this episode, Dr. Dawn heads straight into the scene of the action, Paramount Studios in Hollywood, where writers and actors are fighting an existential battle that stems in large part from AI. We look beyond the glitzy Hollywood sets to learn more about how AI threatens the livelihoods of creatives in an industry where most struggle to even make ends meet.    We set the stage for what feels like a David and Goliath story as we spotlight the battles writers and actors have been fighting against studio executives and producers in conjunction with the rise of disruptive technologies, like AI. We spotlight what those battles are as we delve into the fears various members of the entertainment industry have about AI, and why those fears helped catalyze a historic Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) double strike.   We begin this episode with the WGA. After nearly 150 days of striking, some writers have returned to work. In late September, the WGA reached a tentative deal with studio executives, a deal which imposes guardrails on AI’s ability to create written content and be used as source material.    Actors, though, haven’t had the same success yet. We speak to Towanda Underdue, an actor, writer, and producer, as well as a lead negotiator for SAG-AFTRA, to learn why. Underdue details the myriad of ways AI can further disrupt the art of acting in light of the role streaming services have had undervaluing actors. We also hear from set designer Blair Barnet who shares her concerns about how AI will alter the fabric of what entertainment is built on: the creative human experience.    While we outline these various battles, these battles are inextricably intertwined. This episode brings to light how creatives are fighting to protect the humans who work in entertainment, and the humanity of the entertainment industry itself.   WDIP is powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Engage with us on LinkedIn. We'd love to get to know you. Thanks for listening!

Welcome to Season 4. In this kick-off episode, we travel with Dr. Dawn to the hometown of tech, San Francisco. We start the season this way because we feel that it's important to start in the real world before we venture into the virtual one. Dr. Dawn shares her observations of fear, hope, and heart.  Special thanks in this episode to the Faithful Fools, the quirky souls in the Tenderloin who remind us all to keep it real. WDIP is powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Engage with us on LinkedIn. We'd love to get to know you. Thanks for listening!

Welcome to Season 4 of What Does It Profit. In this season, we're bringing you six stories about the hottest topic on the planet-- artificial intelligence (AI).  Wanting to see firsthand what all the hype is about, Dr. Dawn packs up the WDIP production team and heads to Silicon Valley. In Season 4, we connect the dots between AI and the social and moral value of economic life. We dive into the impacts of AI in the entertainment industry, corporate management, public transportation, engineering, financial services, and religion.  And in classic WDIP style, we are always asking the question-- in the work that we do, the things that we buy, and the investments that we make… What Does It Profit? >> Subscribe on your favorite app and follow and engage with us on LinkedIn.  What Does It Profit is powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University.  

In this episode, Dr. Dawn wraps up Season 3 by sliding into home plate. She takes us on a journey inside professional baseball. We hear the incredible story of how an inspiring group of athletes, allied with social justice advocates, finally took a stand to demand that the work of minor league baseball players was worth a living wage.    Remarkably, and without much fanfare outside the world of baseball, a collective bargaining agreement was reached between the minor leaguers and Major League Baseball this Spring. As a service to those who have not heard the story, we bring you three of the key players that made it all happen.    We meet Garrett Broshuis, the San Francisco minor league pitcher who later went on to become the leading trial lawyer guiding the campaign for justice for the players. We then are introduced the legendary activist Bill Fletcher, Jr. who could sniff out injustice with his eyes closed.   As the story progresses, we also meet Harry Marino. Harry is a former minor leaguer who went on to later become not only a high-powered attorney but also the Executive Director of the organizing campaign set up by Bill. Where did Harry go after that-- to the Major League Baseball Players Association to become the Assistant General Counsel responsible for leading the bargaining unit set up for the minor leaguers.   There a many stories in this story, and we urge you to read more. We think a few of the best stories about all of this can be found in the Nation and the Athletic. Our hats go off to those amazing journalists.  We also want to applaud the bravery of Tony Clark of the Major League Baseball Players Association who stepped up when the time was right. Respect.  What a beautiful story of solidarity.   This episode marks the end of Season 3. If you have been listening, this season was all about “place” and the idea that you can make change right where you are.   Next up, WDIP Summer School. We will be releasing mini-episodes throughout the summer introducing some of the ideas behind the stories we tell.  Stay tuned for Season 4 coming this Fall where we will explore the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in the worlds of work and wealth.   __________   What Does It Profit is powered by the Solidary Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Our host and executive producer is Dr. Dawn Carpenter. Our senior producer is Jordan Gass-Poore’, and our engineer and sound designer is Mark Bush. Music for WDIP was composed by Nick Pennington.  Season 3 researchers and assistant producers are Sofia Chen, Hannah Woodford, Andy Feng, and JasperAI. Our intern is Abby Trepacz. Special thanks on this episode goes to guest researcher Jim Humphreys who knows more about baseball than anyone on the WDIP production team.

In this episode, Dr. Dawn takes us on a trip to find her roots in rural North Carolina. She is the granddaughter of an orphan who worked in the NC textile mills in the 1940s. Without much to go on, Dr. Dawn leans on insights from James Benton, author of Fraying Fabric, and Jimmy Warlick, historian and documentarian of the Workers’ Legacy Project to fill in the gaps.   Dr. Dawn gives us the context of the industrial past only to introduce us to the inspiring efforts of a new generation of North Carolinians. In this episode, we meet Material Return, a worker co-op that has created a profitable and sustainable way to deal with textile waste. We visit the factory and learn all about the concept of circularity.   Material Return is powered by the Industrial Commons, a nonprofit organization working to incubate and support co-ops like this in Morganton, North Carolina. These tireless entrepreneurs are using the lessons of the time-tested co-op ecosystems of Europe to imagine a way to develop working-class wealth right here at home.    Dr. Dawn leaves us with her reflection on the past and hopes for the future as she drives back north to the studio in Washington, DC. The first exit on the way is the Henry River Mill Village, the location where Hollywood filmmakers crafted the dystopian community featured in the Hunger Games. A warning.  In the rearview– Morganton, an inspiration.  __________ Check out Project Repat to learn more about the cool things you can do with your old t-shirts while helping Material Return.   What Does It Profit is powered by the Solidary Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Our host and executive producer is Dr. Dawn Carpenter. Our senior producer is Jordan Gass-Poore’, and our engineer and sound designer is Mark Bush. Music for WDIP was composed by Nick Pennington. Season 3 researchers and assistant producers are Sofia Chen, Hannah Woodford, Andy Feng, and JasperAI. Our intern is Abby Trepacz.  

In this episode, we are headed to West Virginia to flip the script on what we know about the energy business in the heart of coal country.  We introduce you to a new type of energy and a new type of business.  Meet Solar Holler, the “benefit corporation” that addresses some of the toughest economic issues in West Virginia.    Joseph “Joe” and Elizabeth Opoke are father-and-daughter descendants of miners who came to Marion County, WV in the turn of the 20th century. Their immigrant kin came from Hungary to work in the West Virginia coal mines. Family is important in a place like West Virginia. Joe and Elizabeth tell us about what the coal industry has meant to West Virginia and what headwinds are faced when trying to imagine a new kind of economy and a safer and healthier way of life.   One of those creative West Virginia dreamers facing these challenges is Dan Conant, the founder and CEO of Solar Holler. Dan uses the tool of a benefit corporation to create a business that seeks profit while at its core focusing on its social purpose.  Dan’s vision for the social purpose of Solar Holler is creating (1) affordable energy and (2) facilitating good-paying career jobs that are safe for workers and protect West Virginia’s natural environment.   Dan tells the rough and rocky story of how Solar Holler made this happen.  This episode will inspire us all to find new ways to “power our lives.”   Learn more about benefit corporations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benefit_corporations and about Solar Holler: https://www.solarholler.com/   What Does It Profit is powered by the Solidary Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Our host and executive producer is Dr. Dawn Carpenter. Our senior producer is Jordan Gass-Poore’, and our engineer and sound designer is Mark Bush. Music for WDIP was composed by Nick Pennington. Season 3 researchers and assistant producers are Sofia Chen, Hannah Woodford, and Andy Feng. Our intern is Abby Trepacz.   Special thanks on this episode to our friends at Heartland Capital Strategies: https://www.heartlandnetwork.org/  

In this episode, we head to Crete, Nebraska, America's heartland, in our quest to gain insight into the human cost of the meat we eat. We tell the extraordinary story of the "Children of Smithfield," the adult children of meatpacking workers at Smithfield Foods who stood up to Big Meat, the governor, and others in positions of power and authority to proclaim that their parents were not "expendable." These brave children stood up to meat producers whose callus and irresponsible response to COVID-19 was unacceptable. We then introduce you to the exploitive use of child labor in these same plants.    This is a story that at first is sad, but then it is a source of frustration and anger. The meat industry in the US and around the world is extremely powerful and stands to continue to profit from the labor of some of the most vulnerable. Meatpacking is one of the most dangerous jobs in our economy, and the true cost of meat is not the price printed on the label.   What Does It Profit is powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University.   

In this episode, we tell an almost surreal story. It is the origin story of “union busting” at Starbucks, one of the country’s best-known progressive and socially-conscious companies, and the highest ranking food service company on the list of  Fortune’s Most Admired Companies.   Our host Dr. Dawn Carpenter, a Starbucks shareholder, is encouraged by activist shareholder efforts to seek intervention at the board-level to remedy what a New York administrative law judge recently ruled to be “egregious and widespread misconduct” in the union organizing campaign that started in 2019.   Wanting to get to the root of things, we take you to Buffalo, New York to introduce you to Michelle Eisen, a Starbucks barista, and Will Westlake, a former barista with the company. We learn why they embarked on the epic journey to unionize their stores.    We hear support from folk singer-songwriter Billy Bragg who played for the campaigners in the first elections. We also get insight from Lynne Fox, the international president of Workers United, the group helping Starbucks stores unionize. And, of course, we bring you some of the misguided musings of Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz, whose own words galvanized the campaigners in the first election.   At the release date of this episode, we learn that there are over 270 unionized Starbucks locations – but not one contract. This is a long, challenging process. To assist the efforts of the baristas and activist shareholders, on March 29, 2023, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will question Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz, hoping for a commitment for free and fair elections that comply with the law.   Should listeners want to engage, you can (1) offer your support for the Starbucks Worker United campaign, and/or (2) join the Twitter support network using #NoContractNoCoffee, #DearHoward, and #wdip.    Take a listen and subscribe. Don't miss the rest of Season 3 – now powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Visit our website to learn more.  

In our Season 3 kickoff, we celebrate the resiliency of the human spirit. We step into the psyche of Gina Schaefer, the founder and CEO of A Few Cool Hardware Stores in-and-around Washington, DC.  Gina combined her entrepreneurial spirit and love of community into a space for people recovering from substance use disorder to rebuild their lives.  One of Gina’s former employees, Shane, shares a deeply personal story of being the gay son of a Pentecostal minister with broken dreams and a heart full of grief. For years, Shane used drugs and alcohol to mask the pain. He had a difficult time finding a job, until one of his friends suggested he talk to Gina about working at her hardware store down the street from the clinic where he was getting treatment for his substance use disorder. That experience changed both of their lives.  By hiring Shane, Gina’s employment practices changed for the better. She hopes her stores can be used as a model for small businesses everywhere.   And 20 years after Shane was hired by Gina, he is now the owner of Crazy Aunt Helen's, a hip restaurant in Washington, DC, where all are welcome and community is served up, one dish at a time.   Gina says, "You can make an impact on one person's life and maybe not even know about it, and it doesn't take a lot to make that impact."   Enjoy the episode and check out Gina's book Recovery Hardware for more inspiring stories. Spoiler: Gina sells her stores to her employees. Take a listen and subscribe. Don't miss Season 3 – now powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Visit our website to learn more.

To the loyal WDIP tribe, welcome back! We've missed you. Thanks for your patience as we re-vamped the show. We hope you like the changes. For those who are just finding us, thanks for giving us a listen. We're the podcast for those who think that there is a social and moral value in economic life. We believe in the power of the human spirit. Ultimately, we believe that each of us has choices to make. And we think one question can help. In the work we do, in the things we buy, in the investments that we make... What Does It Profit? (Spoiler Alert: You decide.) Powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop, WDIP brings the stories of those who believe that conscious economic activity can lift us up. To learn more, check out our website and subscribe to the show!     

We’ve reached the end of our second season.  This is the time when we take a pause and look back. In today’s episode, it means looking back to our pilot episode about shareholder activism and our Season 1 bonus episode called The Price of the Ecuadorian Chernobyl. This is the story of Chevron and the decades of oil dumping in the Ecuadorian Amazon. In this episode, we jump back into this epic David and Goliath story and get to know Steven Donziger, the human rights lawyer at the center of all of it. Why are we having this conversation now?  After losing its case, Chevron is seeking to hinder the collection of the judgment by filing a retaliatory lawsuit meant to silence and bankrupt the lawyer representing the Ecuadorians. It’s almost unbelievable.  Do the math. Chevron owes the Ecuadorians $9.5 billion, and it’s now demanding $60 billion from Steven. As bankers, we are trained to follow the money. And we suspect that there’s more to the story.  We have a lot we could talk to Steven about. But in this episode, we’ll try to get to know Steven and find out how he managed to turn the tables and use the tools of capitalism in service to human rights. Maybe this is what’s really spooking Chevron, and dare we suggest might be spooking the entire petrochemical industry.

We’ve reached the last regular episode of Season 2. Hold on to your passport. We’re still travelling.  We start in New York and then head to India with Megha Desai. Megha is the former ad agency protégé, who after a decade in the business, answered the call of the ancient Indian philosophy of Dharma. She has energized a newly transformed family foundation into a leading voice for economically and socially marginalized women in India.  Megha’s amazing work has empowered women in ways that break through centuries of marginalization.  NOTE: Next week, we’re off to finish production on our not-to-be-missed Season 2 Bonus episode. Available on April 28.  Season 3 will launch September 8 after a 4-month show and social media upgrade to improve the listener experience. During this time, we will bring you bi-weekly mini-episodes drawing insights and updates from conversations in our back catalog. Subscribe now, and we’ll see you in September!

Despite being in the midst of a global pandemic, we’re going to take a trip around the world. We're talking about the Economy of Francesco (EoF) with Paulo Santori, an economic historian in Rome and with Myrian Castello, a “human-right-to-dream” activist and facilitator in Brazil. EoF is a global youth movement inspired by Pope Francis and Saint Francis of Assisi whose members and their co-operators believe that now is the time to be bold and build an economic future worthy of our humanity.