EconomyBeat Podcast #14: Shifting Gears
April 27, 2010roman Comments Off
The blog ends, but the podcast continues! For a short while, anyway. Thanks Jon, for doing such an awesome job.
I love this (most likely, apocryphal) story: So, Henry Ford one day was taking Walter Reuther, the United Auto Workers president, on a tour of a newly automated Ford plant that had replaced many of the workers with mechanical robots. And as he’s showing off, Ford says to Reuther, “Well Walter, how are you going to collect union dues from these robots?” And Reuther laughs and says, “Well Henry, how are you going to get these robots to buy Fords?”
When it comes to the U.S. auto industry, I don’t think robots even rate in the top 10 concerns of either the manufacturers or workers. There have been so many problems and ground shaking changes over the years that it’s almost impossible for any one radio piece or producer to take it all on, so PRX, WDET in Detroit and a whole consortium of editorial partners at stations around the country collaborated on two remarkable one-hour specials that try to break it all down for us. Shifting Gears lead producers are Kate Hinds from WNYC, and Ron Jones and primary host Craig Fahle, who are both from WDET in Detroit. This is hour #2 of the special—Shifting Gears: The Retooling of the U.S. Auto Industry. You can (and should!) listen to hour #1 at PRX.
Podcast: Download (Duration: 55:49 — 38.4MB)
Do you have a piece you think should be considered for the EconomyBeat Podcast? Put it on PRX, and add the tag ‘ebpodcast’.
