Second Nature

The Prime Effect: How Amazon Has Us Hooked on Convenience


Listen Later

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, our use of Amazon has skyrockted, making the company the second biggest U.S. parcel carrier after the US Postal Service. 

Amazon has become the poster child for convenience culture, but the time we save for the sake of convenience is putting us in financial and carbon debt. In this episode, we're grappling with our fraught relationship with our Amazon Prime subscriptions and getting practical tips to break free from convenience culture and start shopping more sustainably. 

On this episode, you'll hear:

  • Listeners share their complex, conflicted feelings about using Amazon. 
  • MIT research scientist Erez Yoeli shares how we can have a more sustainable relationship with Amazon and how to close the action vs intent gap.
  • How Amazon gets you to buy so much stuff and how its fast-paced shipping comes at the cost of workers' health and pay.


🌎 For resources, photos of our contributors citations, and further reading, check the full show notes.

📞 We'd love to hear from you! Submit to the show.
📱 To join the Commons community, download the app.

📷 Follow Second Nature on Instagram.



Episode credits

  • Listener contributions: Daria Panova, Diana Holguin, Freya Dumasia, Karen Jean and Rachel  Martinson, Katee Hui, Kimberly Foley, Lawrence Hott, Miriam Jornet, Nicole Collins, Rozalia Agioutanti
    Featuring: Erez Yoeli and Sanchali Seth Pal
    Editing and engineer: Evan Goodchild
    Hosting and production: Katelan Cunningham
  • (00:00) - Tempo: 120.0
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Second NatureBy Commons

  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8

4.8

43 ratings


More shows like Second Nature

View all
On Being with Krista Tippett by On Being Studios

On Being with Krista Tippett

10,242 Listeners

Marketplace by Marketplace

Marketplace

8,595 Listeners

Fresh Air by NPR

Fresh Air

38,176 Listeners

Climate One by Climate One from The Commonwealth Club

Climate One

559 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

111,512 Listeners

Up First from NPR by NPR

Up First from NPR

56,071 Listeners

The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos by Pushkin Industries

The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos

14,520 Listeners

A Matter of Degrees by Dr. Leah Stokes, Dr. Katharine Wilkinson

A Matter of Degrees

482 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

15,329 Listeners

We Can Do Hard Things by Glennon Doyle and Audacy

We Can Do Hard Things

41,097 Listeners

The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart by Comedy Central

The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart

10,248 Listeners

The Interview by The New York Times

The Interview

1,430 Listeners

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus by Lemonada Media

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus

10,791 Listeners

What Now? with Trevor Noah by Spotify Studios

What Now? with Trevor Noah

3,847 Listeners

Letters from an American by Heather Cox Richardson

Letters from an American

5,016 Listeners