Welcome to Grit Nation. 

In this episode I have the pleasure of speaking with journalist, professor of sociology and author Eyal Press.

Eyal’s latest book titled Dirty Work – Essential Jobs and the Hidden Toll of Inequality in America, addresses the morally troubling work that society silently condones and the hidden class of workers who do it. 

 Eyal and I begin our conversation by discussing the origins of the term Dirty Work and how the unconscious mandate it reveals is as prevalent today in contemporary American life as it was in Nazi occupied World War 2 Germany. 

 Eyal will then explain the physical and mental toll dirty work jobs take on the people who perform them as he shares the many personal stories he encountered while doing research for his book. 

From mental health care professionals working in state and federal penal systems, to aerial drone pilots conducting remote air strikes and workers on the kill floors of industrial slaughterhouses, Eyal unfolds a tale that is simultaneously gut-wrenching, powerful, and provocative. 

Later we’ll discuss the roll organized labor unions can play in de-stigmatizing dirty work, by challenging the systemic socio-economic and moral inequality structure that so strongly divides our nation. 

And we’ll end our conversation by exploring the nature of the implicit social contract around dirty work; so we can better understand who does the work, why it is done how we can re-shape the story it tells about us as a society.

The Show Notes

Eyal Press
https://www.eyalpress.com/

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