The Growing Problem of Work Suicides

Guest: Sarah Waters, Professor of French Studies, University of Leeds, Author of “Suicide Voices: Labor Trauma in France” (forthcoming in 2020)

A large company is bleeding money, so the executives decide to cut thousands of jobs. But the law won’t let them lay off that many people, so they set out to make life so unbearable the workers will just quit on their own. Dozens of those workers end up dying by suicide. It sounds like something out of a grim Victorian novel, but it happened in the late 2000s at the telecommunication giant France Telecom. And now those executives could go to prison. The two-month trial just wrapped up in France. What is a company’s responsibility to look after the well-being of its employees –while also focusing on profits? And to what extent was the situation at France Telecom a result of labor laws that made many of the company’s workers un-fireable? 

 

Teenage Sleep Deprivation Leads to Bad Decisions

Guest: Wendy Troxel, Senior Behavioral and Social Scientist, RAND Corporation

Only one in ten American teens is getting enough sleep. The rest –those getting less than 8 hours a night on a regular basis –are at higher risk for lots of physical and mental health problems. They’re also more likely to make risky decisions.

 

Parents, It’s Ok to Hover –Just Maybe Fly a Little Higher

Guest: Laura Padilla-Walker, Professor of Human Development, School of Family Life, Brigham Young University

Helicopter parenting is a polarizing concept. It’s either the truest way to show your kid you love him. Or the surest way to ruin his life. Neither is really true, according to research coming out of BYU’s Flourishing Families Project, which has been following 500 families for a decade as their children age from pre-teens to young adults.

 

Empowering Religious Voters to Ask for Change Within Their Political Party

Guest: Justin Giboney, Founder and President of AND Campaign

Have you ever felt too progressive for conservatives, but yet too conservative for liberals? The AND Campaign is trying to make sure those of us who feel a little out of place in either political party don’t just drop out of the process entirely. Specifically, the AND Campaign targets Christians who feel pressured to set aside some of what they believe, in order to fit into one or the other political party. 

 

The Changing Styles in Movie Poster Art

Guest: Kevin Burke, Film Director and Editor, Directed “24x36: A Movie about Movie Posters”

Choosing a movie based on the poster for it is like judging a book by its cover. You’re not supposed to do it. But I do –all the time, when I’m scrolling through thumbnail images on Netflix trying to pick something to watch. Even when I’m heading into the movie theater –a poster will catch my eye and I’ll say “Ooh, that looks cool. Let’s be sure to see that.” There’s a renaissance happening right now in hand-illustrated movie posters and collectors willing to pay big money to own them.

 

Helping Tenants Communicate to Avoid Eviction

Guest: Kimball Parker, Director of Law, BYU Law School, President of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati’s SixFifty; Mike Alder, BYU Technology Transfer Office

Princeton’s Eviction Lab estimates more than 2 million renters are evicted in the US every year. Which equates to more than six-thousand people evicted everyday –many of them children. The legal design labs at BYU and the University of Arizona have just launched a free online tool to help tenants communicate with their landlord before an eviction happens –maybe even avoid the eviction all together. It’s called HelloLandlord.org and we’re joined in studio by Kimball Parker who heads the LawX lab at BYU. Welcome back, Professor Parker.