Anne Morriss, an executive coach specializing in trust and urgency, joins forces with economist Juliet Schor, a pioneer of the four-day work week. They discuss the transformative power of reducing work hours for well-being and productivity. Psychologist Azim Shariff explores how our moral perceptions of work shape culture, while political scientist Margaret Levi examines the resurgence of labor unions and their impact on workers' rights. Howie Kiebel shares insights from implementing a four-day work week at his restaurant, highlighting its success in boosting employee morale.

Leadership coach Anne Morriss, economist Juliet Schor, social psychologist Azim Shariff, and political scientist Margaret Levi discuss the value of curiosity and trust-building in problem-solving, the feasibility and impact of a four-day workweek on employee well-being and productivity, effort moralization and its impact on perceptions of hard work, and the role and challenges of unions in the modern world.

4 Day Week Global is a nonprofit organization that recently conducted a trial with 33 companies and 900 workers that replaced the typical five-day week with a four-day work week with no change in pay. After the six-month trial ended, 97 percent of employees who responded said they didn’t want to go back to five days per week, and most employers rated the overall experience 9 out of 10.The pandemic showed us that so much about the way we work is an accident of history, solidified by familiarity and the passage of time. Maybe the office is where we should do all white-collar work. Or maybe that’s wrong. Maybe a two-day weekend is all people need to feel perfectly recharged. Or maybe that’s wrong. Maybe, in some cases, four is greater than five.Juliet Schor is an economist at Boston College and a lead researcher on the four-day work week trial. We talked about how work and the economy might be reorganized in her vision of a four-day work week, why even employers might appreciate an extra day off, and why Americans’ relationship to work, time, and well-being needs some kind of revolution.If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com. You can find us on TikTok at www.tiktok.com/@plainenglish_Host: Derek Thompson Guest: Juliet SchorProducer: Devon Manze Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices