The Importance of Maintenance in Society

We revisit an episode from 2016 that asks: Has our culture’s obsession with innovation led us to neglect the fact that things also need to be taken care of? 

• SOURCES:
  • Martin Casado, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz.
  • Ruth Schwartz Cowan, professor emerita of history and sociology of science at University of Pennsylvania.
  • Edward Glaeser, professor of economics at Harvard University.
  • Chris Lacinak, founder and president of AVPreserve.
  • Andrew Russell, provost of SUNY Polytechnic Institute.
  • Lawrence Summers, professor and president emeritus of Harvard University; former Secretary of the Treasury and former director of the National Economic Council.
  • Lee Vinsel, professor of science, technology, and society at Virginia Tech.

• RESOURCES:
  • “Hail the Maintainers," by Andrew Russell and Lee Vinsel (Aeon, 2016).
  • “A Lesson on Infrastructure From the Anderson Bridge Fiasco,” by Lawrence Summers and Rachel Lipson (The Boston Globe, 2016).
  • Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier, by Edward Glaeser (2008).
  • More Work for Mother: The Ironies of Household Technology from the Open Hearth to the Microwave, by Ruth Schwartz Cowan (1983).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Freakonomics Radio Takes to the Skies," series by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
  • "Edward Glaeser Explains Why Some Cities Thrive While Others Fade Away," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2021).
  • "Why Larry Summers Is the Economist Everyone Hates to Love," by Freakonomics Radio (2017).