Aug 5, 2020

America’s ‘caste system’

"When people live in an old house, they come to adjust to [its] idiosyncrasies and outright dangers," Isabel Wilkerson writes in "Caste." Lee Celano/AFP via Getty Images

Plus: The market for caregivers who have survived COVID-19, the ongoing legal battle over gig worker classification and how "creative accounting" works.

Segments From this episode

COVID-19

Accounting in the COVID era is more subjective than ever

by Marielle Segarra

Aug 5, 2020

Companies are finding ways to soften the pandemic's blow to their bottom lines.

An empty Wrigley Field in Chicago on what would have been Major League Baseball's opening day. Since Disney didn't air MLB games, it didn't have to count the licensing cost in its financial results.

Scott Olson/Getty Images

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COVID & Unemployment

California court to rule on gig worker classification

by Meghan McCarty Carino

Aug 5, 2020

The issue has big implications for workers' access to safety net benefits that have become crucial during the pandemic.

For many ride-hailing drivers, unemployment insurance and other benefits are major issues.

Mario Tama/Getty Images

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What’s CFIUS and what does it have to do with TikTok?

by Nancy Marshall-Genzer

Aug 5, 2020

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States screens deals for national security risks.

As the future of TikTok in the United States is in limbo, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's statement on removing untrusted Chinese apps makes it more confusing for Chinese technology companies operating in the U.S, like Lenovo.

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COVID-19

For some caregiver positions, only coronavirus survivors need apply

by Stephanie Hughes

Aug 5, 2020

As families turn to nannies for child care, some are screening candidates by whether they've had COVID-19, hoping they won't bring the virus into the home.

More parents are turning to child care providers who have had the coronavirus. Survivors may be immune to new infection, the thinking goes.

Cindy Ord/Getty Images

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Shelf Life

'America is an old house': Isabel Wilkerson on race and caste in America

by Isabel Wilkerson

Aug 5, 2020

In her new book, “Caste,” Pulitzer-Prize-winning writer Isabel Wilkerson compares America to an “old house” where “the work is never done, and you don’t expect it to be.”

"When people live in an old house, they come to adjust to [its] idiosyncrasies and outright dangers," Isabel Wilkerson writes in "Caste."

Lee Celano/AFP via Getty Images

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Music from the episode

Goat Head Brittany Howard

Brisk Freddie Joachim

Cómo Me Quieres Khruangbin

Shells Teebs

Eple Röyksopp

The team

Nancy Farghalli Executive Producer

Daisy Palacios Senior Producer

Maria Hollenhorst Producer

Sean McHenry Associate Producer

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