What Does It Profit Podcast: Recent Episodes
Dr. Dawn Carpenter
What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? Spoiler alert: Nothing.
This bible verse has endured over the centuries as a reminder that we can't put our price tag on what matters most. Yet, time and again, businesses have put profits above all -- leading our world to the brink of a climate catastrophe, an inequality crisis, and the greatest extinction of other creatures since the dinosaurs (except this time, the meteor is us).
Can we align growing returns with the greater good? Former investment banker turned business ethicist Dr. Dawn Carpenter believes we can -- and that figuring out how just might save the world.
In What Does It Profit, Dawn talks with the world's leading thinkers and researchers, entrepreneurs and executives, exploring the most innovative ways we can reconcile capitalism's demand for profit with the long term well-being of people and the planet. From socially responsible investing to conscious consumerism to business ethics in this age of extremes, Dawn is your guide to the cutting-edge ideas and experiments driving the purpose-driven business revolution. What Does It Profit?
In this episode, we delve into the challenges faced by airline pilots and flight attendants, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. With a national pilot shortage and increased workloads, safety is at risk as pilots and cabin crew work longer hours without adequate rest. Former airline captain Mike Simkins shares his experiences with fatigue and the pressures of the industry, highlighting the misconception that safety is the top priority for airlines. Flight attendant Sybil Bryant discusses the struggles of being underpaid and overworked, emphasizing the need for fair compensation for all tasks performed. The episode sheds light on the importance of mental and physical well-being for those in the aviation industry, urging listeners to consider the implications of their travel choices on worker safety.
In this episode, we delve into the harrowing experiences of Amazon warehouse worker Wendy Taylor, who suffered a serious injury while under immense pressure to meet unrealistic productivity quotas. Despite her injuries, Taylor was denied proper medical care and forced to return to work, highlighting the grueling conditions faced by Amazon employees. The episode also discusses the Warehouse Protection Act, aimed at improving workplace safety and workers' rights. As workers advocate for dignity and respect, the episode underscores the human cost of fast shipping and the urgent need for better protections in the workplace.
This episode explores the resurgence of black lung disease among coal miners, particularly due to toxic silica dust exposure. We revisit the Season 3 story of Joe and Elizabeth Opyoke, highlighting the dangers miners face. Cecil Roberts, President of the United Mine Workers of America, discusses the preventability of black lung disease and the need for stricter regulations on silica dust. Recent federal regulations aim to limit silica exposure, but enforcement remains a challenge. The episode emphasizes the importance of prioritizing miners' health over profit and the ongoing fight for their safety in the coal mining industry.
This episode we take listeners back to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911. This was one of the deadliest industrial tragedies in U.S. history, claiming 147 lives due to locked exit doors and inadequate safety measures. This tragedy sparked significant reforms, including the establishment of OSHA and mandatory safety regulations. Historian Hasia Diner shares that the fire changed public perception about workers' rights, leading to increased support for unions. Journalist Kim Kelly emphasizes that the fire's legacy continues to inspire workers to organize and advocate for safer working conditions. The event remains a powerful reminder of the importance of worker safety.
In the Season 5 premiere of What Does It Profit, we explore the pressing issue of worker safety at Dollar General. Our journey begins with a bus trip to Nashville, where employees from nine states rally for fair pay and improved safety conditions. The episode highlights alarming safety violations, including blocked fire exits and inadequate staffing, which have led to numerous injuries and fatalities. We hear from workers and experts advocating for change, emphasizing the need for accountability in a company that continues to expand despite these issues. Join us as we uncover the realities of workplace safety in retail.
To our long-time listeners... welcome back. To those who have just found us, we are the podcast that examines the social and moral value of business.
In the 5th season of What Does It Profit, we grapple with what it means to feel safe at work. We talk to historians and workforce safety experts, but most importantly we talk to workers themselves. From the surviving family members of those who died in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire in NYC to the brave Thomas Cook Airlines pilot who refused to fly fatigued... we learn what it means to be safe at work. Subscribe now so you don't miss what we learn from sex workers, costumed theme park characters, mine workers, retail sales workers and warehouse workers at some of the country's most well-known companies.
In the final episode of the fourth season of the What Does It Profit? Podcast, Dr. Dawn explores the impacts of artificial intelligence on religion .
Dr. Dawn speaks to Josh Franklin, a rabbi at the Jewish Center of the Hamptons in New York, who used the chatbot ChatGPT to help write one of his sermons. Rabbi Franklin tells us his thoughts on how he hopes AI can be used as a tool for people to become more spiritual.
We also hear from Mark Graves, a researcher and director with the organization AI and Faith, and Dr. Damien Patrick Williams, an assistant professor of philosophy and data science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Both Graves and Williams see AI as a tool that can alter the way people engage with faith.
As we navigate this new frontier brought on by the rise of AI, we should continue to ask: In the work that we do, and the investments that we make, what does it profit?
WDIP is powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Engage with us on LinkedIn. We'd love to get to know you. Thanks for listening!
On this episode of the What Does It Profit? podcast, hitch a ride along with Dr. Dawn as she explores the potential impacts of artificial intelligence on public transportation in the U.S.
In this episode, we hear first from Bill Domanico, a retired New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) driver, who talks about the ways technology changed during his career.
We then turn to Barry Wilson and Anthony Garland with the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689, which represents DC’s Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) employees. Wilson and Garland explain how the union is trying to rein in AI and protect jobs.
WDIP is powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Engage with us on LinkedIn. We'd love to get to know you. Thanks for listening!
This Thanksgiving week on the What Does It Profit? podcast we’re taking a break from this season’s AI theme to extend some thank you-s. Listen in for a re-air of our award-winning Season 3 episode, “Brewing Change: Labor Organizing at Starbucks.”
Loyal listeners know that in this episode we left off with the story of the triumph of unionizing efforts in Buffalo, New York, which is where Starbucks Workers United got started. We also left off anticipating the annual shareholder meeting where concerned shareholders were seeking an independent analysis of the company’s labor practices. Then just two weeks later, we were anticipating a U.S. Senate hearing to call to task the ex-CEO Howard Shultz for the company’s alleged labor law violations.
Eight months later, this story isn’t over. Since the original release of this episode, the Starbucks labor campaign has gained strength. Now, over 360 Starbucks locations have voted for a union and Starbucks Workers United claims over 9,000 union partners. But, even still, there is no contract. But that’s not stopping the baristas. As of last Friday, we saw the Red Cup Rebellion -- a strike on the company’s biggest sales event of the season.
So now, we want to say thank you to all those brave baristas who have inspired striking workers from a variety of industries this year.
We also want to thank those concerned investors who value the socially-conscious Starbucks brand.
And we want to thank those in the U.S. Senate working on labor policy oversight and for holding corporations accountable.
Should listeners want to engage, you can (1) offer your support for the Starbucks Worker United campaign, and/or (2) join the Twitter (X) support network using #NoContractNoCoffee, #StarbucksSolidarity, #WorkersUnited, and #wdip.”
WDIP is powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Engage with us on LinkedIn. We'd love to get to know you. Thanks for listening!
In this unexpected mini-episode, Dr. Dawn pivots from our regular programming to reflect on President Biden’s sweeping executive order on AI. The executive order, passed on October 30, 2023, is the Biden Administration’s attempt to reconcile tech companies’ demand for profit and unchecked innovation while ensuring the public trust of Americans given the rapid rise of AI in just the past year.
To better understand the executive order, Dr. Dawn speaks to Ben Winters, the Electronic Privacy Information Center’s (EPIC) Senior Counsel, who also leads EPIC’s AI and Human Rights Project. Winters delves into the details of the executive order, ultimately reaching the conclusion that while the order is overall promising, its effectiveness depends on how well it will be enforced by individual government agencies.
Dr. Dawn then turns to former Congressman Jerry McNerney, who guided several congressional actions that brought to bear the rising importance of AI. With regard to Biden’s executive order, McNerney believes that the executive order’s emphasis on establishing standards on the use of AI will encourage good behavior in the tech industry. McNerney then discusses some of his work after leaving Congress, work which is primarily focused on understanding the challenges AI could pose in next year’s presidential election.
While the Biden Administration has begun to set precedents on AI regulation, the government alone cannot do all of this work. As you listen along to what this executive order means for the future, we encourage you to ask yourself: In the work we do, in the things we buy, in the investments we make, what does it profit?
WDIP is powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Engage with us on LinkedIn. We'd love to get to know you. Thanks for listening!
In this episode, Dr. Dawn examines the newest addition to the construction industry’s toolbox: AI technology. In this episode, we learn that AI is like a double-edged sword: While AI technology certainly threatens jobs in the construction industry, it’s also ushering in a new era of efficiency and safety.
We begin this episode in conversation with Bella McCann, the president of the woman-owned and Washington, D.C.-based construction company, Cann Construction. McCann takes us to a renovation site to provide a look at how new technologies make on-site work more efficient and safer for workers.
We also hear from Jim Urtz, the national apprenticeship director with the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA), on what the adoption of AI means for the future of jobs in construction. While Urtz has concerns about the potential of technology to replace people, he also details how AI technology can improve working conditions in a high-risk industry and widen the scope of employment opportunities for younger generations in an industry traditionally viewed as one only for the strongest of men.
The adoption of AI technology in the construction industry encourages us to ask the question: In the work we do, in the things we buy, in the investments we make, what does it profit?
WDIP is powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Engage with us on LinkedIn. We'd love to get to know you. Thanks for listening!
In this episode, Dr. Dawn heads straight into the scene of the action, Paramount Studios in Hollywood, where writers and actors are fighting an existential battle that stems in large part from AI. We look beyond the glitzy Hollywood sets to learn more about how AI threatens the livelihoods of creatives in an industry where most struggle to even make ends meet.
We set the stage for what feels like a David and Goliath story as we spotlight the battles writers and actors have been fighting against studio executives and producers in conjunction with the rise of disruptive technologies, like AI. We spotlight what those battles are as we delve into the fears various members of the entertainment industry have about AI, and why those fears helped catalyze a historic Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) double strike.
We begin this episode with the WGA. After nearly 150 days of striking, some writers have returned to work. In late September, the WGA reached a tentative deal with studio executives, a deal which imposes guardrails on AI’s ability to create written content and be used as source material.
Actors, though, haven’t had the same success yet. We speak to Towanda Underdue, an actor, writer, and producer, as well as a lead negotiator for SAG-AFTRA, to learn why. Underdue details the myriad of ways AI can further disrupt the art of acting in light of the role streaming services have had undervaluing actors. We also hear from set designer Blair Barnet who shares her concerns about how AI will alter the fabric of what entertainment is built on: the creative human experience.
While we outline these various battles, these battles are inextricably intertwined. This episode brings to light how creatives are fighting to protect the humans who work in entertainment, and the humanity of the entertainment industry itself.
WDIP is powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Engage with us on LinkedIn. We'd love to get to know you. Thanks for listening!
Welcome to Season 4. In this kick-off episode, we travel with Dr. Dawn to the hometown of tech, San Francisco. We start the season this way because we feel that it's important to start in the real world before we venture into the virtual one. Dr. Dawn shares her observations of fear, hope, and heart.
Special thanks in this episode to the Faithful Fools, the quirky souls in the Tenderloin who remind us all to keep it real.
WDIP is powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Engage with us on LinkedIn. We'd love to get to know you. Thanks for listening!
Welcome to Season 4 of What Does It Profit. In this season, we're bringing you six stories about the hottest topic on the planet-- artificial intelligence (AI).
Wanting to see firsthand what all the hype is about, Dr. Dawn packs up the WDIP production team and heads to Silicon Valley. In Season 4, we connect the dots between AI and the social and moral value of economic life. We dive into the impacts of AI in the entertainment industry, corporate management, public transportation, engineering, financial services, and religion.
And in classic WDIP style, we are always asking the question-- in the work that we do, the things that we buy, and the investments that we make… What Does It Profit?
Subscribe on your favorite app and follow and engage with us on LinkedIn.
What Does It Profit is powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University.
We've reached WDIP Summer School 2023. Our final lesson might seem a bit technical, but attention to this detail can make all the difference to the success of a social purpose enterprise.
In class today, we learn that how a business is incorporated has a real impact on how a business venture can manage a social mission. Benefit Corporations provide entrepreneurs with a tool to change the culture of business investment and operations.
We urge you to rewind to Season 3, Episode 4 (April 13): Sollar Holler: Miing the Sun in West Virginia to reconnect with the behind-the-scenes story. When you are there, take a listen and subscribe.
Dr. Dawn also shares about her adventures this summer at the University of San Francisco working with a team of students to create a teaching/discussion guide for Season 3 so that WDIP can be used to encourage future listeners of the show to find the rich lessons embedded in each episode.
Finally, Dr. Dawn leaves us with a bit of a teaser about Season 4 coming in September. Spoiler: it's all about Ai.
HOMEWORK: Subscribe, share, and connect with us on LinkedIn. We'll be back soon.
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WDIP Summer School is powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Visit our website to learn more.
Welcome to WDIP Summer School. It’s not summer school for those who have failed. It’s summer school for those who want to catch up, and for those who want to get ahead.
Every two weeks throughout the summer, we’ll look back on lessons learned from Season 3 which was all about making change… right where you are.
In class today, we explain the circular economy– a vision for a more sustainable, stable, and resilient economic system. As it gains steam in cities and towns across America, we will explore its foundations and benefits.
We urge you to rewind to Season 3, Episode 5 (April 26): Industrial Roots: Designing a Circular Economy and Creating Homespun Wealth to reconnect with the behind-the-scenes story. Take a listen and subscribe.
WDIP Summer School is powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Visit our website to learn more.
Welcome to WDIP Summer School. It’s not summer school for those who have failed. It’s summer school for those who want to catch up, and for those who want to get ahead.
Every two weeks throughout the summer, we’ll look back on lessons learned from Season 3 which was all about making change… right where you are.
In class today, we explain modern child labor. We are not talking about cutting the lawn or doing the dishes, or even the retail or food service work we associate with first-time jobs. We are talking about the hard-core stuff.
We urge you to rewind to Season 3, Episode 3 (March 29): Dangerous Business: Human Cost of the Meat We Eat to reconnect with the behind-the-scenes story. Take a listen and subscribe.
WDIP Summer School is powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Visit our website to learn more.
Welcome to WDIP Summer School. It’s not summer school for those who have failed. It’s summer school for those who want to catch up, and for those who want to get ahead.
Every two weeks throughout the summer, we’ll look back on lessons learned from Season 3 which was all about making change right where you are.
In class today, we explain “Greenwashing” and “Social Washing”– two ethically similar ideas that are important to understand for anyone who believes that there is a social and moral value in economic life.
We urge you to rewind to Season 3, Episode 2 (March 14): Brewing Change: Labor Organizing at Starbucks to reconnect with the behind-the-scenes story. Take a listen and subscribe.
WDIP Summer School is powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Visit our website to learn more.
Welcome to WDIP Summer School. It’s not summer school for those who have failed. It’s summer school for those who want to catch up, and for those who want to get ahead.
Every two weeks throughout the summer, we’ll look back on lessons learned from Season 3 which was all about making change right where you are.
In class today, we explain the ESOP– the employee stock ownership plan and how it is an important tool for creating community wealth.
We urge you to rewind to Season 3, Episode 1: Recovery Hardware: Re-tooling the Human Spirit to reconnect with this incredible story. Take a listen and subscribe.
WDIP Summer School is powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Visit our website to learn more.
In this episode, Dr. Dawn wraps up Season 3 by sliding into home plate. She takes us on a journey inside professional baseball. We hear the incredible story of how an inspiring group of athletes, allied with social justice advocates, finally took a stand to demand that the work of minor league baseball players was worth a living wage.
Remarkably, and without much fanfare outside the world of baseball, a collective bargaining agreement was reached between the minor leaguers and Major League Baseball this Spring. As a service to those who have not heard the story, we bring you three of the key players that made it all happen.
We meet Garrett Broshuis, the San Francisco minor league pitcher who later went on to become the leading trial lawyer guiding the campaign for justice for the players. We then are introduced the legendary activist Bill Fletcher, Jr. who could sniff out injustice with his eyes closed.
As the story progresses, we also meet Harry Marino. Harry is a former minor leaguer who went on to later become not only a high-powered attorney but also the Executive Director of the organizing campaign set up by Bill. Where did Harry go after that-- to the Major League Baseball Players Association to become the Assistant General Counsel responsible for leading the bargaining unit set up for the minor leaguers.
There a many stories in this story, and we urge you to read more. We think a few of the best stories about all of this can be found in the Nation and the Athletic. Our hats go off to those amazing journalists. We also want to applaud the bravery of Tony Clark of the Major League Baseball Players Association who stepped up when the time was right. Respect. What a beautiful story of solidarity.
This episode marks the end of Season 3. If you have been listening, this season was all about “place” and the idea that you can make change right where you are.
Next up, WDIP Summer School. We will be releasing mini-episodes throughout the summer introducing some of the ideas behind the stories we tell. Stay tuned for Season 4 coming this Fall where we will explore the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in the worlds of work and wealth.
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What Does It Profit is powered by the Solidary Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Our host and executive producer is Dr. Dawn Carpenter. Our senior producer is Jordan Gass-Poore’, and our engineer and sound designer is Mark Bush. Music for WDIP was composed by Nick Pennington.
Season 3 researchers and assistant producers are Sofia Chen, Hannah Woodford, Andy Feng, and JasperAI. Our intern is Abby Trepacz. Special thanks on this episode goes to guest researcher Jim Humphreys who knows more about baseball than anyone on the WDIP production team.
In this episode, Dr. Dawn takes us on a trip to find her roots in rural North Carolina. She is the granddaughter of an orphan who worked in the NC textile mills in the 1940s. Without much to go on, Dr. Dawn leans on insights from James Benton, author of Fraying Fabric, and Jimmy Warlick, historian and documentarian of the Workers’ Legacy Project to fill in the gaps.
Dr. Dawn gives us the context of the industrial past only to introduce us to the inspiring efforts of a new generation of North Carolinians. In this episode, we meet Material Return, a worker co-op that has created a profitable and sustainable way to deal with textile waste. We visit the factory and learn all about the concept of circularity.
Material Return is powered by the Industrial Commons, a nonprofit organization working to incubate and support co-ops like this in Morganton, North Carolina. These tireless entrepreneurs are using the lessons of the time-tested co-op ecosystems of Europe to imagine a way to develop working-class wealth right here at home.
Dr. Dawn leaves us with her reflection on the past and hopes for the future as she drives back north to the studio in Washington, DC. The first exit on the way is the Henry River Mill Village, the location where Hollywood filmmakers crafted the dystopian community featured in the Hunger Games. A warning. In the rearview– Morganton, an inspiration.
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Check out Project Repat to learn more about the cool things you can do with your old t-shirts while helping Material Return.
What Does It Profit is powered by the Solidary Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Our host and executive producer is Dr. Dawn Carpenter. Our senior producer is Jordan Gass-Poore’, and our engineer and sound designer is Mark Bush. Music for WDIP was composed by Nick Pennington. Season 3 researchers and assistant producers are Sofia Chen, Hannah Woodford, Andy Feng, and JasperAI. Our intern is Abby Trepacz.
In this episode, we are headed to West Virginia to flip the script on what we know about the energy business in the heart of coal country. We introduce you to a new type of energy and a new type of business. Meet Solar Holler, the “benefit corporation” that addresses some of the toughest economic issues in West Virginia.
Joseph “Joe” and Elizabeth Opoke are father-and-daughter descendants of miners who came to Marion County, WV in the turn of the 20th century. Their immigrant kin came from Hungary to work in the West Virginia coal mines. Family is important in a place like West Virginia. Joe and Elizabeth tell us about what the coal industry has meant to West Virginia and what headwinds are faced when trying to imagine a new kind of economy and a safer and healthier way of life.
One of those creative West Virginia dreamers facing these challenges is Dan Conant, the founder and CEO of Solar Holler. Dan uses the tool of a benefit corporation to create a business that seeks profit while at its core focusing on its social purpose. Dan’s vision for the social purpose of Solar Holler is creating (1) affordable energy and (2) facilitating good-paying career jobs that are safe for workers and protect West Virginia’s natural environment.
Dan tells the rough and rocky story of how Solar Holler made this happen. This episode will inspire us all to find new ways to “power our lives.”
Learn more about benefit corporations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benefit_corporations and about Solar Holler: https://www.solarholler.com/
What Does It Profit is powered by the Solidary Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Our host and executive producer is Dr. Dawn Carpenter. Our senior producer is Jordan Gass-Poore’, and our engineer and sound designer is Mark Bush. Music for WDIP was composed by Nick Pennington. Season 3 researchers and assistant producers are Sofia Chen, Hannah Woodford, and Andy Feng. Our intern is Abby Trepacz.
Special thanks on this episode to our friends at Heartland Capital Strategies: https://www.heartlandnetwork.org/
In this episode, we head to Crete, Nebraska, America's heartland, in our quest to gain insight into the human cost of the meat we eat. We tell the extraordinary story of the "Children of Smithfield," the adult children of meatpacking workers at Smithfield Foods who stood up to Big Meat, the governor, and others in positions of power and authority to proclaim that their parents were not "expendable." These brave children stood up to meat producers whose callus and irresponsible response to COVID-19 was unacceptable. We then introduce you to the exploitive use of child labor in these same plants.
This is a story that at first is sad, but then it is a source of frustration and anger. The meat industry in the US and around the world is extremely powerful and stands to continue to profit from the labor of some of the most vulnerable. Meatpacking is one of the most dangerous jobs in our economy, and the true cost of meat is not the price printed on the label.
What Does It Profit is powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University.
In this episode, we tell an almost surreal story. It is the origin story of “union busting” at Starbucks, one of the country’s best-known progressive and socially-conscious companies, and the highest ranking food service company on the list of Fortune’s Most Admired Companies.
Our host Dr. Dawn Carpenter, a Starbucks shareholder, is encouraged by activist shareholder efforts to seek intervention at the board-level to remedy what a New York administrative law judge recently ruled to be “egregious and widespread misconduct” in the union organizing campaign that started in 2019.
Wanting to get to the root of things, we take you to Buffalo, New York to introduce you to Michelle Eisen, a Starbucks barista, and Will Westlake, a former barista with the company. We learn why they embarked on the epic journey to unionize their stores.
We hear support from folk singer-songwriter Billy Bragg who played for the campaigners in the first elections. We also get insight from Lynne Fox, the international president of Workers United, the group helping Starbucks stores unionize. And, of course, we bring you some of the misguided musings of Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz, whose own words galvanized the campaigners in the first election.
At the release date of this episode, we learn that there are over 270 unionized Starbucks locations – but not one contract. This is a long, challenging process. To assist the efforts of the baristas and activist shareholders, on March 29, 2023, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will question Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz, hoping for a commitment for free and fair elections that comply with the law.
Should listeners want to engage, you can (1) offer your support for the Starbucks Worker United campaign, and/or (2) join the Twitter support network using #NoContractNoCoffee, #DearHoward, and #wdip.
Take a listen and subscribe. Don't miss the rest of Season 3 – now powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Visit our website to learn more.
In our Season 3 kickoff, we celebrate the resiliency of the human spirit. We step into the psyche of Gina Schaefer, the founder and CEO of A Few Cool Hardware Stores in-and-around Washington, DC.
Gina combined her entrepreneurial spirit and love of community into a space for people recovering from substance use disorder to rebuild their lives.
One of Gina’s former employees, Shane, shares a deeply personal story of being the gay son of a Pentecostal minister with broken dreams and a heart full of grief. For years, Shane used drugs and alcohol to mask the pain. He had a difficult time finding a job, until one of his friends suggested he talk to Gina about working at her hardware store down the street from the clinic where he was getting treatment for his substance use disorder. That experience changed both of their lives.
By hiring Shane, Gina’s employment practices changed for the better. She hopes her stores can be used as a model for small businesses everywhere.
And 20 years after Shane was hired by Gina, he is now the owner of Crazy Aunt Helen's, a hip restaurant in Washington, DC, where all are welcome and community is served up, one dish at a time.
Gina says, "You can make an impact on one person's life and maybe not even know about it, and it doesn't take a lot to make that impact."
Enjoy the episode and check out Gina's book Recovery Hardware for more inspiring stories. Spoiler: Gina sells her stores to her employees. Take a listen and subscribe. Don't miss Season 3 – now powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Visit our website to learn more.
To the loyal WDIP tribe, welcome back! We've missed you. Thanks for your patience as we re-vamped the show. We hope you like the changes. For those who are just finding us, thanks for giving us a listen. We're the podcast for those who think that there is a social and moral value in economic life. We believe in the power of the human spirit. Ultimately, we believe that each of us has choices to make. And we think one question can help. In the work we do, in the things we buy, in the investments that we make... What Does It Profit? (Spoiler Alert: You decide.)
Powered by the Solidarity Economy Workshop, WDIP brings the stories of those who believe that conscious economic activity can lift us up. To learn more, check out our website and subscribe to the show!
In this episode, Dr. Dawn is in conversation with Dr. Elisabeth Bik and Dr. Ivan Oransky. Dr. Elisabeth Bik is a microbiologist and scientific integrity consultant who has worked to call out fraudulent scientific papers. She became renowned in her fight against the bad science behind hydroxychloroquine as an effective therapy against COVID-19 that resulted in a global Twitter assault.
Dr. Ivan Oransky is an accomplished journalist, editor, and educator who founded Retraction Watch, the world’s only aggregated database of scientific retraction. In this episode, our guests take a moral stance on science - and tell us… What Does It Profit?
This episode has been produced as part of "Whistling at the Fake: The Crucial Role of Whistleblowers in Countering Disinformation," a global business ethics research project funded by NATO's Public Diplomacy Division as part of its resilience projects. The project aims at addressing the gap of citizen comprehension of the forms, means, and impacts of misinformation and disinformation, and empowering the general public with the tools through which to identify fake news, including appropriate responses to such behaviors. The project focuses on the crucial role whistleblowers and other knowledgeable insiders play in exposing misleading and hostile information activities and increasing public resilience to acts of this nature. The project is managed by Manchester Metropolitan University and coordinated by the Principal Investigator Dr. Costantino Grasso, who serves as Associate Professor in Business and Law at Manchester Law School.
As we head into the 4th of July holiday weekend, we dig into the WDIP back catalog to revisit a conversation from October 2020 with The Assassin, famed short-seller Fahmi Quadir.
Now that meme stocks are a thing and short-selling and hedge funds have made their way into social media lexicon, we thought it was time to take another listen.
We'll be back in two weeks to share with you a conversation with Dr. Dawn and the folks at Hustlers for a Cause-- talking entrepreneurship and the soul of What Does It Profit, contributive justice. In the meantime, Happy Birthday, America, from all of us at What Does It Profit!
In this off-season episode, we dig into the WDIP back catalog to revisit a conversation with Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) CEO, Lisa Mensah where we talked about the idea of "finance justice." The original conversation was released in December 2020. The work keeps pressing forward as OFN seeks to build coalitions of investors that believe that investing in people pays rich dividends by building lives of greater economic success.
Special thanks to Peter Collins for sharing his soulful rendition of the Gospel classic "I Don't Feel Noways Tired" that provides a special kind of mojo for this episode.
For those interested in joining this movement, OFN invites WDIP listeners to join them virtually at their annual conference in October 2021.
Stay tuned. We will be back with you in two week when we talk about the big, bad "H" word: "hedge" funds and revisit a conversation with the "Assassin," famed short-seller Fahmi Quadir. Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss a thing.
This weekend is Memorial Day weekend-- the unofficial start of summer... at last! At What Does It Profit, we are officially in the "Off-Season" and busy cleaning house, tuning up, and otherwise getting ready for Season 3.
During the off-season, we wanted you to get to know more about our host and the ethics work behind the show. We also want to introduce new listeners to insights from our back catalog in mini-episodes beginning in June.
This week, we introduce you to our friends, Adaam and Vanessa of Uncertain Things. Their social-commentary podcast is what our friends in Boston call "wicked-awesome." Our host, Dr. Dawn, sat down during Season 2 to talk all things WDIP and the work of storytelling in finance and investment. We hope you enjoy the conversation.
We’ve reached the end of our second season. This is the time when we take a pause and look back. In today’s episode, it means looking back to our pilot episode about shareholder activism and our Season 1 bonus episode called The Price of the Ecuadorian Chernobyl. This is the story of Chevron and the decades of oil dumping in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
In this episode, we jump back into this epic David and Goliath story and get to know Steven Donziger, the human rights lawyer at the center of all of it.
Why are we having this conversation now? After losing its case, Chevron is seeking to hinder the collection of the judgment by filing a retaliatory lawsuit meant to silence and bankrupt the lawyer representing the Ecuadorians. It’s almost unbelievable. Do the math. Chevron owes the Ecuadorians $9.5 billion, and it’s now demanding $60 billion from Steven.
As bankers, we are trained to follow the money. And we suspect that there’s more to the story. We have a lot we could talk to Steven about. But in this episode, we’ll try to get to know Steven and find out how he managed to turn the tables and use the tools of capitalism in service to human rights. Maybe this is what’s really spooking Chevron, and dare we suggest might be spooking the entire petrochemical industry.
We’ve reached the last regular episode of Season 2. Hold on to your passport. We’re still travelling. We start in New York and then head to India with Megha Desai. Megha is the former ad agency protégé, who after a decade in the business, answered the call of the ancient Indian philosophy of Dharma. She has energized a newly transformed family foundation into a leading voice for economically and socially marginalized women in India. Megha’s amazing work has empowered women in ways that break through centuries of marginalization.
NOTE: Next week, we’re off to finish production on our not-to-be-missed Season 2 Bonus episode. Available on April 28.
Season 3 will launch September 8 after a 4-month show and social media upgrade to improve the listener experience. During this time, we will bring you bi-weekly mini-episodes drawing insights and updates from conversations in our back catalog. Subscribe now, and we’ll see you in September!
Despite being in the midst of a global pandemic, we’re going to take a trip around the world. We're talking about the Economy of Francesco (EoF) with Paulo Santori, an economic historian in Rome and with Myrian Castello, a “human-right-to-dream” activist and facilitator in Brazil. EoF is a global youth movement inspired by Pope Francis and Saint Francis of Assisi whose members and their co-operators believe that now is the time to be bold and build an economic future worthy of our humanity.
This week we stay in the co-op space a little longer and get a two-for-one. As an homage to Women’s History Month, we talk with one of the most celebrated marketer of co-ops-- and one of less than a handful of women responsible for driving the development of the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial in Washington, DC. We talk with Roberta MacDonald, Senior Vice President for Brand Strategy at the Cabot Creamery Cooperative about life and the story behind of one of America’s most beloved agricultural co-ops.
This week, we’re going to switch things up a bit. We are going to talk about the idea of inclusion, but from a slightly different perspective. We are going to learn all about economic structure called a co-op. Sure you likely have heard of housing co-ops, maybe even grocery co-ops… but do you know just how common they are? Let’s talk co-ops with Casey Fannon, President of the National Cooperative Bank.
Meet the WDIP Team at www.whatdoesitprofitpodcast.com, and meet our host at www.dawncarpenter.com. Subscribe wherever you listen. Welcome to WDIP. We’re glad you're here.
This week, we talk with Logan Scott, Manager for Diversity and Inclusion at The Walt Disney Company. Logan's work during Black History Month on the New York Times' 1619 Project inspired us. Logan talks about superheroes, diversity, equity, inclusion, and what it all means for business.
This week, we take storytelling to a whole new level. We learn that each of us is a “superhero” at something. We talk to the man whose Instagram feed has selfies with the Hollywood Superhero A-LIST. In some ways, we think of our guest today as a kind of superhero himself, building community where it's needed. Today, we talk with the legendary Gareb Shamus, former Chairman and CEO of Wizard Entertainment, and the Co-Founder and CEO of Ace Comic Con.
#KamalaHarris #ReadAloud
The winds of change are blowing in corporate governance. Where will they take us? Time will tell. This week we have a shareholder perspective from a man whose name is well-known in the investor relations offices of many of the most well-known corporations in America. We like to call him a dean of the Shareholder Rights Movement, others like to call him a corporate gadfly. You decide: corporate gadfly or an inside progenitor of the next generation of capitalism. Shareholder Activist, James McRitchie.
In 2020, JP Morgan CEO, Jamie Dimon’s tenure at the helm of the Business Roundtable expired. But what about this whole new way of doing business? In 2021, shareholder activists put the stakeholder governance paradigm to the test, and JP Morgan said, no. The whole issue got us thinking. It’s time for an update on this new vision for a stakeholder approach to corporate governance. We talk with someone very familiar with what’s been going on, Reuter’s corporate governance reporter, Jessica DiNapoli.
In this episode, we're not talking about bulls or bears. We're talking about the big, fat elephant in the room. The finance industry is ethically-conflicted. We talk with JC de Swaan, hedge fund investor and Princeton finance ethicist, about Robinhood, Wirecard and a few other notable companies-- as a way to frame how to do finance better. The hope is to inspire the idea that finance can be a force for good.
In this episode, we explore the idea that everyone who has retirement assets should have the ability to know where their money is invested and how it has an impact in the world. With knowledge comes power-- the power to make sound economic and moral decisions. Our guest is Congressman Andy Levin, Vice Chair of the House Education and Labor Committee and author of legislation that could make that happen.
In this episode, we’re going to a difficult place. How do we as a society express-- or dare we say-- determine the value of a human life? The question itself forces us to make an important distinction between economic value and moral value. And to help us sort through this, we couldn’t think of anyone better than the Special Master of the 9/11 Victim’s Compensation Fund-- Ken Feinberg. He is arguably the world’s leading expert mediator between the bank and the tragedy.
We start our second season with one of the most notorious narco money men in US history, Jorge Valdes. We hear the story of how a 10-year old Cuban refugee becomes the youngest person to work at the Federal Reserve Bank in Miami and who then goes on in the '70s and '80s to run the international operations of the Medellin drug cartel. Jorge is one of only a handful of the leadership from that era who is still alive to tell the tale-- and Jorge's story has lessons for all of us.
In this special bonus episode, we revisit an issue we explored in the first episode of the season and talk with Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams about her work to engage with Chevron at its 2020 annual shareholder meeting, using her activist shareholder voice to urge for Chevron shareholders to be able to call special meetings to discuss significant issues affecting shareholder value. In this case, it happens to be the over $3 billion the company has spent evading is over $9 billion obligation for its role in perpetrating what is described as the Ecuadorian Chernobyl and going after the human rights lawyer, Steven Donziger, who was brave enough to take on the case.
Welcome to those who have just found us... and welcome back to our loyal WDIP listeners. This three minute trailer takes a tour through some of what we learned in Season 1 on our quest to explore the moral and social value of business. Season 2 promises introductions to voices you might never imagine on a business show. Think of it as Business Talk 2.0-- listen with your conscience. Join us for new episodes on Wednesdays. Season 2 launches January 20 2021.
In this episode, we rewind the clock to pre-COVID days and take an "audio" vacation to the Amalfi Coast of Italy. We talk with culinary entrepreneur Chiara Lima of the famed Mamma Agata Cooking School in Ravello. Family businesses can be found all over the world, and here in Italy the "happy hands" of the entire family are involved. Buon Natale... Saluti!
In this episode, we talk with CSR and sustainability legend, John Elkington. John takes us beyond his "people, planet, and profit" to the "U-bend" and on to the green swans that bring us regenerative capitalism. John is one of the world's leading futurists and is here with us to share his hopeful vision for the future.
In this episode, we talk with Lisa Mensah, President and CEO of the Opportunity Finance Network about "finance justice." We talk about how the struggle for justice in our country has much to do with money. We talk about the work of CDFIs (Community Develop Financial Institutions) and the role that they play in fostering economic justice in some of our nation's most challenged and disinvested communities. She offers a vision for a path forward and celebrates and encourages participation with some unlikely partners. (Special music credit in this episode goes to Peter Collins. Listen to more on Spotify.)
In this episode, we talk with Cat Berman, CEO and co-founder of CNote, a specialty investment firm that seeks to turn idle savings into resources for change. Cat left her role at Charles Schwab to use her finance and investment skills to bring high-quality financial products to underserved markets. Cat discusses the transformative power of finance and the multiplier affect of strategic investments.
In this episode, we talk with former BlackRock executive, Morris Pearl, about his crusade to enlist his fellow millionaires to support the idea that even the rich see it in their interest to pay more taxes. Capitalist to the core, Pearl warns critics not to conflate paying taxes and civic duty with the naughty scare-word: socialism.
In this episode, we talk with business ethicist Kirk O. Hanson about corporate misbehavior. He and co-author Marc Epstein posit a theory that not only are there bad apples, but there are also bad barrels-- and some industries are just ripe with bad orchards. In their book, Rotten: Why Corporate Misconduct Continues and What to Do about It, they tell the tales that end up inspiring corporate scandal documentaries on Netflix. But what they do that the documentaries don't is give a prescription for how to clean it all up.
In this episode, we talk with one of the world’s leading lawyers for whistleblowers, Mary Inman of Constantine Cannon. Mary tells us the story behind the famous whistleblowers at Theranos and Boeing and offers insight on the often-heroic sacrifices of those who see it as their duty to the common good to stand up for better behavior in business. Mary challenges us to rethink how we view whistleblowers and inspires us to see them as she does—forward indicators of risk.
In this episode, we talk with UCLA corporate law historian Adam Winkler about that other civil rights movement-- the corporate civil rights movement. Its seems like an apt conversation to have on a business show amidst these dynamic times and this generation's civil rights movement. Move over Pete Seeger, Beyonce, and Z-Ro and make room for Roy Zimmerman. Corporations as people... corporations with civil rights? It is an old story. In fact, you might be surprised just how old.
In this episode, our guests talk corporate politics—but not the back-biting, ladder-climbing politics kind. We talk with Dan Ekstein, a leading corporate political strategist and muse about Levi's and Patagonia's call to political action. We also talk with Gabe Rissman, co-Founder of yourstake.org—a data management company that works with investment advisors to help them identify the ESG metrics of portfolios—including the political dimensions. Big surprises when Gabe takes a look at our host’s portfolio.
In this episode, we talk with shareholder activism pioneer, Bruce Herbert of Newground Social Investment. Bruce recently brought together an A-list celebrity team from Alec Baldwin, Roger Waters, and Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams to make the case that there are Chevron shareholders who believe it is both in the company's interest and the interest of the common good to honor its obligations of restitution for perpetrating decades of environmental degradation in the Ecuadorian Amazon on a scale never seen in human history.
In this episode, we talk with the Father of the Conscious Capitalism Movement, Raj Sisodia. We explore the idea that business has the capacity to be the engine for tremendous positive change on both a personal and societal level. He also reminds us that business, if not practiced in a conscious way, can also be the source of marginalization and exploitation. We are inspired by his stories of how some companies have cracked the code.
In this episode, we talk with Fahmi Quadir, known as the assassin of Wall Street to some, but a hero to us. Fahmi is one of the world's leading short-selling hedge fund managers who looks to use a short investing strategy to achieve alpha... and to focus the world on companies whose demise makes the world a better place. In our conversation, we hear about two of her iconic trades-- one in pharmaceuticals and one in fintech, but both capturing the attention of the industry and those who hold hope that Wall Street can be a force for good.
What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? Spoiler alert: Nothing.
This bible verse has endured as a reminder that we can't put our price tag on what matters most. Yet, time and again, businesses have put profits above all. Can we align growing returns with the greater good? Former investment banker turned business ethicist Dawn Carpenter believes we can -- and that figuring out how just might save the world.