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 brought to you by Constant Contact. For a free trial, sign up today at constantcontact.com/lifelab.

Better Life Lab | The Art and Science of Living a Full and Healthy Life

Karoshi

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 and CEO of The Riveter. To make sense of why egalitarian relationships can be hard no matter your circumstances, we hear from Jennifer Petriglieri, professor of organizational behavior and author of the forthcoming book, Couples that Work.

Egalitarian Relationships

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 workers, but actually makes businesses more profitable.

Schedule Chaos

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.

Beyond Inbox Zero

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.

Work-Work Conflict

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.

The Calm Company

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.

Introducing Season 2

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 between men and women, overwork has all but cancelled out efforts to equalize the job market. In fact, the gender pay gap would have actually shrunk by 10 percent in recent decades if it wasn’t for this phenomenon. Ciannat Howett, an associate professor at Emory University, shares her own story of job growth and overwork. Podcast production by David Schulman. Better Life Lab is a partnership of Slate and New America.

The Surprising Reason Why the Gender Pay Gap Hasn’t Shrunk

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.

Inside A Workaholics Anonymous Meeting

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.

Even Progressive Offices Fail at Work-Life Balance

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 Center for Advanced Hindsight at Duke University. We also hear from David Sbarra, a professor in the psychology department at the University of Arizona, where he directs the Laboratory for Social Connectedness and Health. And he confesses — he is obsessed with busyness.

Why You’re Addicted to Being Busy

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.

How to Take Summers Off and Still Get Promoted

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? That conversation starts here in the inaugural episode of Better Life Lab, hosted by Brigid Schulte.

Your Work May Be Killing You

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-identified culture. We explore what it will take to transform the way we work and live, as individuals, as organizations, and as a culture, to make time for both meaningful work and fuller, healthier lives. A co-production from New America and Slate.

Introducing Better Life Lab

Economists say the way we work has become so stressful it’s now the fifth leading cause of death. Our mission is to find a better way. Explore the art and science of living a full and healthy life with behavioral and social science researchers who can help us better understand what drives our human experiences, and how to change. Better Life Lab is a co-production from New America and Slate.

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Better Life Lab | The Art and Science of Living a Full and H...

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