#143. How American Capitalists Harnessed the American Work Ethic

Erik Baker is a historian, writer, and teacher based in Boston, a lecturer in the History of Science department at Harvard University and associate editor of The Drift, a magazine about culture and politics. In addition to articles about labor, politics, and American history, he recently published his first book, Make Your Own Job: How the Entrepreneurial Work Ethic Exhausted America, which explores how social scientists and management intellectuals reshaped the American work ethic during the turbulence of twentieth century U.S. capitalism.

Recorded 1/28//25.