Americans are Obsessed with Working Hard. What is it Getting Us?

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KQED

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 26 March 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We’ve heard the Thomas Edison quote over and over: “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” But how often does the American ideal that we can achieve anything with hard work, actually pan out? In his new book, “99% Perspiration: A New Working History of the American Way of Life” journalist Adam Chandler challenges our myths of meritocracy and self-reliance. As Americans put in grueling work and punishing hours, we’re also experiencing rising levels of income inequality and wages that don’t keep up with cost of living. Chandler joins us to talk about how the nature of work in America is deteriorating and where we can go from here. Guests: Adam Chandler, author, his books include "99% Perspiration: A New Working History of the American Way of Life" out now, and "Drive-Thru Dreams: A Journey Through the Heart of America’s Fast-Food Kingdom"; journalist; former staff writer, The Atlantic; recurring guest, The History Channel’s "The Food That Built America." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Support for Forum comes from Rancho LaPuerta, a health resort with 85 years of wellness experience,
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0:22.7	vegetables daily. Learn more at Ranchoer Tuerta.com. Support for forum comes from Broadway
0:28.3	S.F, presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story. From three-time Tony-winning
0:35.1	composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and Lucille Frank,
0:40.3	a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia. When Leo is accused of an
0:46.0	unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice, and devotion.
1:01.8	The riveting and gloriously hopeful parade plays the Orpheum Theater for three weeks only, May 20th through June 8th.
1:06.1	Tickets on sale now at Broadway, sF.com.
1:08.7	From KQED.
1:24.0	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:27.3	Americans have a unique relationship to work. It's part of our national culture,
1:29.3	maybe even our actual religion. We're told in ways large and small that work is what makes us worthwhile.
1:38.3	A new book from Adam Chandler called 99% Perspiration investigates how this myth got started, how it's been
1:46.5	sustained in our country, and what might exist beyond the old American abracadabra, as he
1:52.9	calls it.
1:53.5	That's all coming up next, right after this news. Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal. You know, who doesn't have a weird relationship with work these days?
2:19.2	I hate to say this, but I learned from Adam Chandler's new book, 99% Perspiration,
2:24.2	a new working history of the American Way of Life, that we've lost even Dolly Parton.
2:29.7	She of the famous movie and song 9 to 5, the anthem of worker resistance. Yes,
	...

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