Shows
It's a ContinentCocoa: a Bitter RealityChocolate is something we all know and love to consume. However, it’s no secret that cocoa as a commodity has its roots in something a lot more sinister. Human rights campaigners continue calling on global chocolate companies to recognise the role the cocoa trade has played in enabling poverty and child labour, particularly in countries such as Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana - West Africa's top cocoa producers. Does the continent remain, in the words of Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, locked in a colonial-style relationship with the world’s chocolate manufacturers?Follow us on IG: itsacontinentpod and Tw...2023-03-0732 min
Social Impact Design for BusinessAI and the Gig Economy in the Global SouthIn this episode of Social Impact Design for Business, Jerry Davis of Michigan Ross' +Impact Studio interviews Bama Athreya, Deputy Assistant Administrator with the Bureau for Development, Democracy and Innovation at USAID. Ms. Athreya discusses how the Global South has technologically leapfrogged past the expected little steps toward automation and straight to a gig economy where AI tracks employees, for good or for bad.2022-06-0910 min
Empathy Media LabWho’s the Fairest - The Gig Podcast - Season 2 Episode 6The surprise ending to this season was a wave of protests by India’s beauty care platform workers. How did they find each other? Why did they organize? And can they hold up in the face of the company’s intimidation tactics? The season concludes with a look at what we all can do to create a fair care economy.
Guests: Soumyarendra Barik, Indian journalist; Palak Shah, NDWA Labs
About
The Gig is about the women and men who work in the so-called 'gig economy' worldwide. They find work through online platforms, and will tell...2022-02-2228 min
The GigSeason 2 Ep 6 Who's the FairestWho's the Fairest documents the surprise ending to this season: the wave of protests by beauty care workers in India in late December 2021. We talk to a journalist who covered the protests about how the women found each other, why they organized, and how they are facing unprecedented company intimidation. We also continue our interview with Palak Shah of the National Domestic Workers' Alliance about new strategies for collective action in the US. The season closer also asks what we all can do to support these workers, and a more fair care economy.
Guests: Soumyarendra Barik, Indian Jour...2022-02-1828 minEmpathy Media LabWho’s the Fairest? - The Gig Podcast - Season 2 Episode 6The surprise ending to this season was a wave of protests by India’s beauty care platform workers. How did they find each other? Why did they organize? And can they hold up in the face of the company’s intimidation tactics? The season concludes with a look at what we all can do to create a fair care economy.
Guests: Soumyarendra Barik, Indian journalist; Palak Shah, NDWA Labs
About
The Gig is about the women and men who work in the so-called 'gig economy' worldwide. They find work through online platforms, and will tell...2022-02-1628 minEmpathy Media LabTurning the Tables - The Gig Podcast - Season 2 Episode 5We continue to explore ways in which if advocates and workers themselves are part of the design and control of platforms, big data may open up new opportunities for vulnerable workers who have long been isolated and exploited.
Guests: Palak Shah, NDWA Labs; Fairuz Mullagee, University of Western Cape/Social Law Project; Abigail Hunt, Overseas Development Institute
About
The Gig is about the women and men who work in the so-called 'gig economy' worldwide. They find work through online platforms, and will tell us why we all need to be concerned about the r...2022-01-2423 minEmpathy Media LabThe Company You Keep - The Gig Podcast - Season 2 Episode 4An ethical businessperson helps us understand alternatives to the exploitative gig model. We ask: if we keep humans in the loop, can tech in the domestic and care sector be an opportunity rather than a curse?
Guests: Aaron Seyedian, Well-Paid Maids; Sayem, domestic worker
About
The Gig is about the women and men who work in the so-called 'gig economy' worldwide. They find work through online platforms, and will tell us why we all need to be concerned about the real future of work.
Following The Gig Podcast’s successful launch of S...2022-01-2421 min
The GigSeason 2 Ep 5 Turning the TablesWe've learned that platforms have lots of data about workers, and use it to squeeze out more and more work. But what if all that data was put to use on behalf of workers instead? In Turning the Tables we continue to explore what happens when you make advocates, and workers themselves, part of the design of platforms. We learn more about how for isolated and historically vulnerable workers, big data can actually open up new possibilities for rights and social protections.
Guests: Palak Shah, National Domestic Workers Alliance; Fairuz Mullagee, University of Western Cape Social Law Proje...2022-01-2423 minEmpathy Media LabPermanent Wave - The Gig Podcast - Season 2 Episode 3We go to India and Thailand to talk about intimate personal care services that take place in people's homes. Advocates and researchers explain how technology is affecting personal care workers who are already low wage, precarious and exploited. Clients expect 'emotional labor' from these women but there are big risks of gender-based violence that platforms may exacerbate.
Guests: Kriangsak Teerawitkajorn, Just Economy and Labour Institute (JELI); Khawla Zainab, IT for Change
About
The Gig is about the women and men who work in the so-called 'gig economy' worldwide. They find work through online p...2022-01-1821 min
The GigSeason 2 Ep 4 The Company You KeepGiven all we had heard about the gig economy we were skeptical there could be an ethical business model. In The Company You Keep, one businessperson set out to convince us that better alternatives are possible. We explore how, if we keep humans in the loop, it's possible platforms for domestic and care work can be an opportunity, not a curse.
Guests: Aaron Seyedian, CEO, Well-Paid Maids and Sayem, a cleaner working with Well-Paid Maids
Resources: Well-Paid Maids
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Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegig-podcast/support2022-01-1821 min
The GigSeason 2 Ep 3: Permanent WaveIn Permanent Wave, we go to India and Thailand to talk about all the forms of intimate personal care services that take place in people's homes. Our guests Khawla Zainab from IT for Change (India) and Kriangsak Teerakowitkajorn from JELI (Thailand) explain how technology is affecting personal care workers who are already low wage, precarious and exploited. Platforms and clients expect 'emotional labor' from these women but there are big risks of gender-based violence. We discuss how algorithms may actually increase these risks.
Resources:
Just Economy Labour Institute
IT for Change
Khaw...2022-01-1721 minEmpathy Media LabServants to Technology - The Gig Podcast - Season 2 Episode 2We fast forward from past to future, speaking with two technologists, one based in New York and the other in Barcelona, Spain about how new technologies are affecting the future of work in the care sector.
About
The Gig is about the women and men who work in the so-called 'gig economy' worldwide. They find work through online platforms, and will tell us why we all need to be concerned about the real future of work.
Following The Gig Podcast’s successful launch of Season 1, host and executive producer Bama Athreya is back wi...2022-01-1324 min
The GigSeason 2 Ep 2: Servants to TechnologyIn Servants to Technology we fast forward from past to future, speaking with two technologists, one based in New York and the other in Barcelona, Spain about how new technologies are affecting the future of work in the care sector. We ask: are platforms and digital technology really doing anything new to address our societies' growing care needs? Or is it just putting band aids on broken systems?
Guests:
Alexandra Mateesceu, Data and Society and Olivia Blanchard, Digital Future Society
Resources:
Alexandra's report, The Weight of Surveillance and the Fracturing of Care...2022-01-1224 minEmpathy Media LabThe World’s Oldest Profession - The Gig Podcast - Season 2 Episode 1In this episode, we learn more about what domestic and care work is, and its roots in exploitation and slavery. We meet organizers in South Africa and Hong Kong and speak with an expert on modern day slavery to understand the power dynamics underlying care.
About
The Gig is about the women and men who work in the so-called 'gig economy' worldwide. They find work through online platforms, and will tell us why we all need to be concerned about the real future of work.
Following The Gig Podcast’s successful launch of Sea...2022-01-1124 min
The GigSeason 2 Episode 1: The World's Oldest ProfessionIn The World’s Oldest Profession, we learn more about what domestic and care work is, and its roots in exploitation and slavery. We meet organizers in South Africa and Hong Kong and we talk to the former US Ambassador to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons to understand more about the origins of domestic servitude and when and how we stopped seeing care workers as disposable.
Guests: Myrtle Witbooi, International Domestic Workers' Federation; Elizabeth Tang, International Domestic Workers' Federation; Tembi, South African domestic worker; Amb. Luis CdeBaca, former Ambassador-at-Large
Resources:
International Domestic Worke...2022-01-1024 min
The GigSeason 2: Who Cares? TeaserThe Gig: Who Cares? connects the future of work to the world's oldest jobs: domestic and care work. It’s work that has been necessary ever since the rise of complex societies - but that has a long history of being performed by slaves. What can the future of work possibly hold for this sector? Can you "Uberize" care work? And is technology a curse or an opportunity? In this season we hear from technologists, researchers, even an ethical businessman, and, of course, organizers and workers with unexpected answers to these questions.
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Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify...2022-01-0801 minEmpathy Media Lab128. Uber vs. Aslam, California’s Prop 22, & Fighting for the Global Rights of Gig Workers - LRPN LivestreamLabor Radio Podcast Network’s Weekly Wednesday Livestream interviews labor leaders about current labor issues with rotating hosts made up of network members.
Guests for March 10th, 2021 of LRPN Livestream included Yaseen Aslam (Uber BV v Aslam and President of the App Drivers & Couriers Union), Willy Solis (Gig Worker Collective), and Maria C. Figueroa (Cornell University-School of Industrial and Labor Relations).
LRPN Co-Hosts: Bama Athreya (The Gig Podcast) and Maximilian Alvarez (Working People Podcast and The Real News Network).
Topics Discussed:
The UK Uber vs. Aslam;
Organizing against Prop 22; and
How to buil...2021-03-1158 minEmpathy Media Lab127. EXCERPT Uber vs. Aslam, CA’s Prop 22, & Fighting for the Global Rights of Gig Workers - LRPN LivestreamLabor Radio Podcast Network’s Weekly Wednesday Livestream interviews labor leaders about current labor issues with rotating hosts made up of network members.
Guests for March 10th, 2021 of LRPN Livestream included Yaseen Aslam (Uber BV v Aslam and President of the App Drivers & Couriers Union), Willy Solis (Gig Worker Collective), and Maria C. Figueroa (Cornell University-School of Industrial and Labor Relations).
LRPN Co-Hosts: Bama Athreya (The Gig Podcast) and Maximilian Alvarez (Working People Podcast and The Real News Network).
Topics Discussed:
The UK Uber vs. Aslam;
Organizing against Prop 22; and
How to buil...2021-03-1122 min
FAIRKimberly Inez McGuire on Abortion Realities, Bama Athreya on Defending Gig WorkersFor many women, overturning Roe v. Wade would not suddenly shut down access to abortion, simply because many women already lack that access.2021-01-2927 minEmpathy Media Lab92. LRPN Live (Shortened) - What is a progressive, internationalist, pro-labor migration policy? w/ JJ Rosenbaum, Neha Misra, & Shannon LedererLabor Radio Podcast Network’s Weekly Wednesday Livestream interviews labor leaders about current labor issues with rotating hosts made up of network members.
Guests for January 27, 2021 of LRPN Livestream included JJ Rosenbaum (Global Labor Justice/International Labor Rights Forum), Neha Misra (Solidarity Center), and
Shannon Lederer (AFL-CIO).
LRPN Hosts: Bama Athreya (The Gig Podcast) and Evan Papp (Empathy Media Lab)
Additional Guest information:
Neha Misra is the Senior Specialist for Migration and Human Trafficking at the Solidarity Center. Neha serves on the executive board of the International Labor Recruitment Wor...2021-01-2812 minEmpathy Media Lab91. What is a progressive, pro-labor migration policy? w/ JJ Rosenbaum, Neha Misra, & Shannon LedererLabor Radio Podcast Network’s Weekly Wednesday Livestream interviews labor leaders about current labor issues with rotating hosts made up of network members.
Guests for January 27, 2021 of LRPN Livestream included JJ Rosenbaum (Global Labor Justice/International Labor Rights Forum), Neha Misra (Solidarity Center), and
Shannon Lederer (AFL-CIO).
LRPN Hosts: Bama Athreya (The Gig Podcast) and Evan Papp (Empathy Media Lab)
Additional Guest information:
Neha Misra is the Senior Specialist for Migration and Human Trafficking at the Solidarity Center. Neha serves on the executive board of the International Labor Recruitment Wor...2021-01-281h 01Empathy Media Lab47. Bama Athreya host of The Gig Podcast: Labor Radio Podcast Member Spotlight SeriesLabor Radio Podcast Network’s Member Spotlight Series pays homage to radio and podcast producers who are focusing on working class issues.
Bama Athreya is host of The Gig Podcast, which is about the women and men who work in the so-called 'gig economy' worldwide. They find work through online platforms, and will tell us why we all need to be concerned about the real future of work.
My takeaway
I first met Bama during my midwest labor documentary road trip in February 2020. She was giving a lecture at the University of Mich...2020-11-2230 min
The GigFlash Pod: Desperate Measures on Prop 22For this flash pod we have two special guests, Ayoade Ibrahim from Nigeria's Union of App Based Workers, and Rey Fuentes from Partnership on Working Families, talking about the corporate dirty tricks around the Proposition 22 ballot initiative on gig work in California, and why even in Nigeria drivers and gig workers support California's Assembly Bill 5.
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Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegig-podcast/support2020-10-2708 min
The GigEpisode 6: The End of the Road?We've followed the stories of several drivers throughout this season. It's been incredible to track the progress they have made standing up for their rights in the face of one of the world's biggest platform companies. In this final episode we reflect with them on what it all means, not just for them but for all of us. Our collective actions are going to shape the future of work- but how? We consider the fact that this conversation has never been just about Uber. It's about the platform economy and gig work generally, and making sure the future doesn't just...2020-09-0330 min
The GigEpisode 5: The Gig Is UpIt was hard enough for app-based drivers to find one another and organize even without a global pandemic. Gig workers are inherently isolated and yet they were finding each other not only in their cities but around the world. How were they doing it? And how were they keeping it up even in the face of the increased isolation brought on by a pandemic? I got to join drivers from around the world when they met for the first time in January 2020 and launched a new network. Now those organizers are rising to new challenges, but the momentum continues.2020-08-3030 min
The GigEpisode 4 Driven to OrganizeWhen I started this project, I thought I would just be collecting stories of what it was like to work in the gig economy. I had no idea so much organizing was going on. I kept hearing about protests in so many cities. Nairobi. Jakarta. Sao Paolo. Paris. Toronto. And other places. And I started asking drivers why they felt driven to organize? This episode features inspiring stories of drivers on four continents who took on Uber and other ride-hailing companies. They share a vision of how gig workers can organize everywhere.
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Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com...2020-08-2830 min
The GigEpisode 3: Judgement Day*This episode was updated on August 27
Uber has been ignoring the law with impunity around the world. But is the tide turning against Uber and other ride-hailing apps? Pushed to the brink, drivers around the world have started using the law to fight back. In this episode we speak with drivers in the UK whose precedent-setting case is moving to the Supreme Court. In California, we talk to organizers who decided not to wait for the courts but to change the laws. We find out why California's AB5 matters more than ever now that we are facing recor...2020-08-2732 min
The GigEpisode 2: Taxi WarsIn this episode you’ll hear a tale of two cities: Cape Town and New York. In Episode 1 we learned that the Uber business model was control over drivers. In Taxi Wars we learn that it’s also about controlling the regulators. You’ll hear how when the ride-hailing app companies came to new cities they didn’t just try to disrupt markets but to dismantle them. Through the story of Derick, a driver in Cape Town we hear how the company operates in places where laws are weak. And then we meet NYC’s former Taxi and Limousine Commissione...2020-08-2036 min
The GigEpisode 1: HookedI wanted to understand why people would drive for Uber. In this episode you'll meet some of the drivers I met and interviewed: Tess from South Africa, Rebecca from California and Yaseen from London, UK. They were lured onto the platform by the promise of partnership but they found it was a bait and switch game. As more drivers crowded onto the platform, and fares went down, they learned something else too: that the company wasn't just making money off the rides. It was harvesting their data.
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Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegig-podcast/suppor2020-08-1939 min
The GigFlash Pod: Big Tech on its Heels This Week (ICYMI)There was so much going on this week we decided to do this special 6 minute flash pod to keep our listeners up to date! We've been tracking gig workers' legal battles around the world and this week's Supreme Court ruling in Canada was a great excuse- and important update to Episode 3, Judgement Day. But there were so many more actions against Big Tech this week including an Amazon workers' strike in Germany, the #StopHateForProfit campaign against Facebook, an important data sovereignty ruling in India and more driver actions in France, Brazil, Argentina and California. Catch up on the news as...2020-07-0206 min
The GigThe Gig Presents En Masse PodcastWe love hearing stories about working people. While The Gig focuses on the future of work, it's important to remember the past too. That's why we love Liz Medina's En Masse Podcast, featuring oral histories of workers past and present. En Masse is centered around the town of Barre, Vermont but it becomes a microcosm for the world in these stories exploring experiences of class and capitalism. Listen to this trailer and find En Masse wherever you get your podcasts.
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Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegig-podcast/support2020-06-1708 min
RNN ArchivesWORKING LIFE PODCAST: NATIONALIZE PAYROLLS NOW; GIG WORK IS A FANCY NAME FOR EXPLOITATIONCalling people “gig” workers is a subtle trap. “Gig” can sound anywhere from upbeat to just a mundane description. The truth is the “gig” economy is just another way of exploiting people and it’s a dream for all capitalists to have a pool of workers who can be used and abused at the beckon call of a supply chain or a big tech company, at the lowest cost possible. And not a surprise—lots of gig workers are at great risk during the pandemic. I explore the lives of “gig” workers in a conversation with Bama Athreya, an economic policy fellow at the...2020-05-2050 min
The Real News Daily PodcastWORKING LIFE PODCAST: NATIONALIZE PAYROLLS NOW; GIG WORK IS A FANCY NAME FOR EXPLOITATIONCalling people “gig” workers is a subtle trap. “Gig” can sound anywhere from upbeat to just a mundane description. The truth is the “gig” economy is just another way of exploiting people and it’s a dream for all capitalists to have a pool of workers who can be used and abused at the beckon call of a supply chain or a big tech company, at the lowest cost possible. And not a surprise—lots of gig workers are at great risk during the pandemic. I explore the lives of “gig” workers in a conversation with Bama Athreya, an economic policy fellow at the...2020-05-2000 min
Working Life PodcastEp 182: Nationalize Payrolls Now; Gig Work Is Exploitation; Domestic Workers In The PandemicEpisode 182:
Calling people “gig” workers is a subtle trap. “Gig” can sound anywhere from upbeat to just a mundane description. The truth is the “gig” economy is just another way of exploiting people and it’s a dream for all capitalists to have a pool of workers who can be used and abused at the beckon call of a supply chain or a big tech company, at the lowest cost possible. And not a surprise—lots of gig workers are at great risk during the pandemic. I explore the lives of “gig” workers in a conversation with Bama Athreya, an economic policy fell...2020-05-2000 min
The GigThe Gig TrailerMeet drivers around the world who have been taking action to take control of their lives back from Uber and other ride-hailing apps in Season 1 of The Gig.
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Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thegig-podcast/support2020-04-2001 min
WTUL News & ViewsCourts, Jail, and Police Response to COVID-19 and Bama Athreya on Gig Economy & COVID-19Today's show kicks off with a conversation hosted by the Blue House as part of their weekly coffee and conversation hours called fika.
Leading the discussion last Thursday was Aaron Zagory, who is a staff attorney at Orleans Public Defenders. He'll share some information about how the courts, the jail, and the police are responding during the COVID-19 crisis. Thanks to the Blue House for hosting, recording, and sharing this conversation.
To learn more about the Blue House or tune into their weekly Fika hours, go to thebluehousenola.com or follow them on social media...2020-04-0655 min
Inside Social InnovationEnding Slavery and Child Labor in Global Supply ChainsIn the mid-1990s, NGO activists began shining a spotlight on the concentrated use of slave child labor in Pakistan to produce soccer balls for the global market. The attention prompted the industry to make deep changes in its supply chain to eliminate the problem. Today, the campaign is viewed as a model for improving labor standards, with the gains a result of government, NGO, and donor involvement. And yet human trafficking, modern slavery, and child labor remain pressing concerns in many industries’ global supply chains. At SSIR’s recent Frontiers of Social Innovation conference, Siddharth Kara, who directs the prog...2018-07-031h 05