Hey y'all, this is Sam's Aunt Betty. This week are those diversity trainings actually working

and what the heck is an NFT. All right, let's start the show.

You're listening to It's Been a Minute from NPR. I'm Sam Sanders. So the last year or so has been

full of headlines about racial reconates. Corporations and entire industries

happen to deal very publicly with racism and sexual harassment. It's led to a lot of staff

shakeups, a lot of stories of pretty bad behavior, and a lot of growth in one particular industry.

My next guest has worked for a few years in a field with which many of you likely have had

firsthand experience. I call it affectionately or ineffectionately, I guess, the DEI industry,

and I capitalize all those letters. DEI, it stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Part of that work is those diversity trainings you sometimes have to go to at your job.

That industry, DEI, it makes billions of dollars. It's a collection of folks who are in various

different industries. They work in HR, they work in the legal profession, some of them are like

myself, they're academics, and they're all kind of under this umbrella of working toward

organizational equity. It is an incredibly nebulous definition.

That is a voice of Kim Tran. She is an author and consultant, and she recently wrote an article

for Harper's Bazaar, all about the DEI industry. In that piece, she noted that since the death of

George Floyd last summer, in the protest and racial reckonings, it started, interest in DEI jobs

has surged 30%. I mean, I'd agree. You know, after that bombshell interview with Megan Markle

and Prince Harry and Oprah, even the royal family said it's going to hire its own DEI consultant.

But here's the thing, Kim Tran's article about DEI, it is called,

the diversity and inclusion industry has lost its way. In the article, Kim writes about how anyone,

literally anyone can call themselves the DEI consultant. Many universities offer expensive

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