Working in the 21st Century: An Oral History of American Work in a Time of Social and Economic Transformation

The American workplace reels from the Covid pandemic, climate change, bigotry, and more in this spirited interview collection inspired by Studs Terkel’s Working on its 50th anniversary. Historian Larson (Ensemble) features 101 conversations with “the people who are not often handed a microphone nor called into the spotlight” to get a sense of “what it is like to be you doing this work in these times.” A wildland firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service describes the “massive, mega blazes” increasing in frequency because of climate change; a former Wisconsin dairy farmer recounts the economic hardship that led him to sell his cows; an ob-gyn in Illinois details the effects on her practice of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade; a Covid contact tracer in New York notes that she had to cut her “35-minute interview to a 15-minute interview because of the volume of cases”; and a teacher turned short-haul truck driver in South Carolina contends that “the worst day in trucking is better than the best day teaching.” Larson covers an impressive range of workers with oft-fascinating anecdotes. Taken all together, however, the voices tend to blend together. Best suited to being leafed through a few sections at a time, this is a comprehensive look at the challenges faced by today’s workers. (Feb.)