Is America Ready for a Four-Day Work Week?
The American workweek is shorter than it used to be. During the Industrial Revolution, six-day weeks and grueling hours were commonplace. After Henry Ford helped popularize a radical alternative when the Ford Motor Company adopted a five-day, 40-hour week without reducing workers’ pay. A century later, amid burnout, changing expectations about work, and rapid advances in AI and automation, a growing movement is asking whether the next major reduction is overdue: Could Americans work 32 hours over four days without taking a pay cut, and are they ready for that change?
Those saying it’s time point to evidence that shorter workweeks have improved well-being without sacrificing productivity. As technology makes workers more efficient, some of those gains should translate into more leisure. Those saying America’s not ready yet argue the model may work for offices but prove harder for hospitals, banks, factories, and other industries requiring continuous staffing, potentially raising costs or intensifying workloads. In addition, applying it would require a substantial change in our society – schools, healthcare, public services, retail hours, and even expectations about around-the-clock access to email make a significant reduction in hours difficult to fathom.
As we clock in, we debate the question: Is America Ready for the Four-Day Work Week?
AVAILABLE NOW on PRX, Available 9/4 on Content Depot and Audioport.
Award-Winning Conversations, Diverse Topics.
Each week on With Good Reason scholars explore the worlds of literature, science, the arts, politics, history, and business through lively discussion with Host Sarah McConnell.
Join WAMU, WAMC, Kansas Public Radio, Utah Public Radio, and the 150+ stations across the country that are engaging their listeners with With Good Reason.
With Good Reason (weekly program, 1 hour or 30 minutes)
Top scholars explore the worlds of literature, science, the arts, politics, history, and business with Host Sarah McConnell guiding the lively conversation. From reparations and global warming, to the unique worlds of comic books and wine-making, With Good Reason is always surprising, challenging and fun.
LENGTH: 1 hour or 30 minutes COST: Free AVAILABLE: Content Depot, PRX, Download, AudioPort WEBSITE: withgoodreasonradio.org
America 250: Is it Time to Stop Idolizing the Founders?
As the United States marks 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, Americans are reconsidering not only what the Founders created, but how they should be remembered. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, and their contemporaries articulated revolutionary ideals of liberty, equality, representative government, and individual rights. Yet the execution of those ideals initially excluded women and minorities from political power and designed institutions whose compromises continue to shape modern conflicts.
Should they continue to be revered as visionary architects of the American experiment, or has reverence for them prevented a more honest understanding of the country they established? Supporters argue that the Founders created an extraordinary system that allowed the nation to expand freedom over time and should be judged by the standards of their era. Critics contend that idolizing them sanitizes the past and discourages Americans from questioning institutions designed for the 18th century and whether we can have a “better” democracy.
During America’s semiquincentennial, we debate: Is It Time to Stop Idolizing the Founders?
AVAILABLE on PRX, Content Depot, and AudioPort
This Summer, Dive into the history of recorded sound!
Sound Beat is a daily, 90-second public radio show that showcases recordings from Syracuse University Libraries’ Belfer Audio Archive, one of the nation’s largest sound archives.
Episodes feature a wide range of recordings from all musical genres, film scores, and great thinkers and political figures such as Albert Einstein and Teddy Roosevelt, and more. Listeners will hear fascinating rare gems, old favorites, and some never heard before recordings.
For more information about Sound Beat, check out our Program Listing
The Best of Broadway and Hollywood
Footlight Parade: Sounds of the American Musical
Public Radio’s Most Popular and Longest Running Broadway and Hollywood Musical Program
Since 1998, Footlight Parade: Sounds of the American Musical has been presenting the best of Broadway and Hollywood, from the early 20th century to current hits: from Gershwin, Berlin and Rodgers & Hammerstein to Lin-Manuel Miranda.
The best of Broadway and Hollywood music including rarely heard recordings.
“Bill Rudman brings musical theater history to life with charm, wit, insight, warmth, convivial chat and a wealth of knowledge”.
Entertaining and insightful backstage stories, anecdotes, and historical perspectives from Host and Producer Bill Rudman, a nationally recognized authority on musical theatre.
“I don’t know which I prefer: the music or your informative and entertaining commentary. BOTH are excellent!”
Exclusive archival interviews with, and in-depth interviews with of such acclaimed artists as lyricist Sheldon Harnick (Fiddler on the Roof and She Loves Me), composer John Kander (Cabaret and Chicago) and singers Mandy Patinkin and the late Barbara Cook, and many more!
“Bill’s in-depth interviews with all manner of artists provide a permanent, irreplaceable archive.”
Cost: FREE
Length: 56:50
Available: PRX Automated Delivery, Downloads