The Responsible Supply Chain Show

Don't kill your millennial dreams of a better world just yet. How did we get from ideas like 'buy a shoe, give a shoe' so popular in the 2010s, to embedding forced labor restrictions into U.S. tariff requirements? Emmy-winning creative director John Matejczyk joins us to discuss virtue signals, grievance marketing, greenwashing, and our innate desire for authenticity from the brands that run our lives.

In this episode, we speak with Professor Bridgette Carr from the University Of Michigan about how courts are ruling around forced labor in supply chains. Her knowledge and humanity have been tapped for some of the largest trafficking cases, including the Epstein Case.

This is a spicy one, so switch on genius mode and get ready to fry some circuits. Alison Taylor from NYU Stern School of Business is here to challenge assumptions about responsible supply chains and perhaps make us all a bit more intellectually honest, or at least curious. She says the quiet part out loud, and asks 'what are you pretending not to know?. 

Geopolitical threats and trade instability are priority one for C-Suites. Alas, most companies have no idea what exposure their supply chain faces. The good doctor Karsten Machholz is here to vaccinate your supply chain and get you back out into the marketplace to play with the other kids.

The World Economic Forum just wrapped up and made one thing clear. The new world order is upon us. And who better to help navigate this new world than a Queen who can quell our worried hearts. This week, we speak with Sheri Hinish (Supply Chain Queen) about the tectonic shifts in both trade and sustainability goals, and dig into whether consultants matter in the world of AI. This pod packs a punch. You don't want to miss one. 

Business and media have always had a complicated and co-dependent relationship. On this episode, we talk with Xanthe Sharff about her work at the Fuller Project, which investigates stories about human rights issues in supply chains, published in outlets like TIME and The New York Times. Her recent work covers child labor in the battery industry.

Yes, but what does a responsible supply chain manager actually do? You ask. We answer. Bada 
Bing Bada Boom. On this week's episode, Melissa Caraher, Senior Supply Chain Responsibility and Human Rights Manager at AMD, discusses her role in managing supply chain responsibility for one of the world's largest semiconductor companies, supporting the AI Boom. Get your ears in here.

The Trump Administration just negotiated reciprocal trade agreements with Malaysia and Cambodia that require the countries to prohibit the import of goods made with forced labor and strengthen enforcement of their own labor laws. This signals a new trend by the United States to offshore its forced labor import bans to other countries. We speak with former International Trade Specialist for 

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Jennifer Jahnke about the implications for business.

Ah Contracts. We love them. We hate them. And yet we begrudgingly face them every day. A well-written contract can provide enormous benefits to the buyer, seller, and the world at large. Sarah Dadush, who teaches contract law at Rutgers University and was just recognized by Vogue Business, is here to teach us how to create supplier contracts that actually work.

What a show! This week's episode features Dr. Laura Murphy, the penultimate subject matter expert regarding import bans on goods made with forced labor. An award-winning researcher and political appointee, Laura T. Murphy led the research project as a professor at Sheffield Hallam University that supported import bans in the United States. She knows a thing or two about responsible supply chains.