The American Compass Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

For decades, American men have been in crisis. Globalization has caused millions of jobs to disappear, divorce rates have increased, life expectancy has decreased, and deaths of despair have skyrocketed in many working-class communities.

Amber Lapp, research fellow at the Institute for Family Studies and stay-at-home mom, began talking to her neighbors in her working-class community in southwestern Ohio over a decade ago to try to get to the bottom of it. She joins Oren to share the real stories of America’s missing men, and discuss why she felt called to leave Manhattan and move to Ohio to better understand working-class life in America. The two dive into the value of getting to know your neighbors in an atomized age and what can be done to begin to reverse this crisis.

Further reading:

• “America's Missing Men” by Amber Lapp

The “China Shock”—triggered by the country’s entry into the World Trade Organization—devastated America’s heartland, causing a sudden exodus of manufacturing jobs and disrupting the communities that depended on them. Promoters of globalization promised “better” jobs would take their place. Nearly 25 years later, has that happened?

David Autor, professor of economics at MIT and co-author of the famous “China Shock” paper, joins Oren to talk about the effects of free trade on America’s working class. They also examine Autor’s latest paper, which highlights that the new jobs in the hardest-hit communities often don’t provide the pay or stability that the jobs outsourced by globalization did—and, even worse, that many former workers lack access to these jobs altogether. Plus, they explore the rise of automation in manufacturing and the implications of AI for American workers.

Further reading:

• "Places versus People: The Ins and Outs of Labor Market Adjustment to Globalization" by David Autor, David Dorn, et al. 
• "The China Shock: Learning from Labor Market Adjustment to Large Changes in Trade" by David Autor, David Dorn, and Gordon Hanson

On this episode, Ethics and Public Policy Center fellow Patrick T. Brown joins guest host and American Compass managing editor Drew Holden to discuss how COVID's remote-work baptism-by-fire led to a surprising boom in babies born during the pandemic.

The two talk through the lessons that companies should take away from the experience in order to support working parents as well as why these companies, and society more broadly, should be expected to help share the burdens placed on new parents. And as President Trump returns to the White House, they take stock of the GOP's realignment on how best to support families.

Further reading:

• "Remote Work Created a Baby Boom. Can We Keep It Up?" by Patrick T. Brown

 What happens to media as the digital age enhances their ability to engage consumers? As a part of our "Lost in the Super Market: Navigating the Digital Age" collection, American Compass convened contributing writers Matthew Crawford (UVA’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture) and Peter Suderman (Reason) to discuss the ramifications of the "Attention Economy" with Wells King (American Compass). 

What happens to markets as the digital age improves their efficiency and introduces them to new domains? As a part of our "Lost in the Super Market: Navigating the Digital Age" collection, American Compass convened contributing writers Wingham Rowan (Modern Markets for All) and Neil Chilson (Charles Koch Institute) to discuss the advent of frictionless exchanges with Wells King (American Compass).

Leader McCarthy joins American Compass to discuss his efforts to reach out and grow the Republican coalition, what it takes to build a GOP that is better attuned to the concerns of working class Americans, and where he sees the party going in the coming years.

Fulfillment author Alec MacGillis joins American Compass research director Wells King for a conversation exploring what the growth of Amazon means for the future of inequality in the U.S., the pros and cons of “one-click America,” and how policymakers and consumers should respond.

Senator Mitt Romney joins us for a conversation about what draws him to family benefits, why he thinks conservatives should embrace the Family Security Act’s approach, how he sees this debate fitting into the broader one about the right-of-center’s future.

Ambassador Robert E. Lighthizer joins American Compass executive director Oren Cass for a conversation about his work as the U.S. Trade Representative, the overhaul of America's economic relationship with China, successes achieved and lessons learned, and key challenges facing the Biden administration.