The real horror of ‘Alien’ and how it explains why we’re not paid enough

Sometimes about really big things, but most times, the little mysteries are the best.

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“We begin today with, I think, truly one of the most chilling earnings calls I have ever heard.”

Really disturbing. And people should know earnings calls generally, they're very welcome to Q3. Yeah, profitability, costs, stuff like that. But in this call, they throw to the CEO and it is very different here. You want to hear it. Bringing us to the earnings report on our deep space initiatives. Every corporation has a space fleet. Space fleet, of course, every corporation has a space

fleet. You know, space fleet is a weird way to put the pivot to space, I suppose.

But like, yeah, I kind of follow. But because we were there first, our profits have grown exponentially

in less than a decade. I'm not a CEO coach, but like, I'd sound less cartoonishly evil. Yeah, it's super filling. This year, the first of our research vessels are scheduled to return and with it, they'll bring back something that will keep our profits well ahead of everyone. Sounds like maybe a good investment. I'm not sure. Are you by? I'm by the Wailing, Utahny company, Greg.

“I think so. Wailing, Utahny is a fictional company from the film franchise, Alien, Alien.”

Great. In case people don't know, the thing they have found in outer space that will bring great profitability could it be a killer alien? Yes, double mouth acid-blooded xenomorph. You want to make a xenomorph sound? Can you do xenomorph? Excellent. Excellent. All right. So we've been talking about a fake company this whole time. The Wailing, Utahny corporation runs through the Alien franchise and it is certainly a caricature of a futuristic conglomerate. But what Greg and I will propose today is that

it is in fact the perfect vehicle to look at how we are living our lives today as workers and laborers in the modern economy. Hello and welcome to Planet Money. I'm Kenny Malone. And I'm Greg Rosalsky. The movie Alien is set 96 years in a future where a single gargantuan

company controls basically everything and employs seemingly everyone. This proves to be bad

“for workers because they have no other options, of course. But then even worse for workers”

when they are forced to onboard their company's newest team member/profit center, which then you know, basically eats all of them except for one. It's pretty scary sci-fi stuff, but you know, what's scarier, Kenny? What's that, Greg Rosalsky? More and more research suggests our site non-fi world. That's a lot more in common with the labor dynamics of Alien than you might think. It's true. And look, we have Planet Money. See economics in everything.

But on this one with Alien, we are not alone. Today on the show, you don't need a textbook to learn labor economics. You just need some clips from Alien and one of our leading labor economists to watch them with. This week on the MPR Politics podcast, new polling shows President Trump is more unpopular than ever. Trump turned 80 this week, one voter who voted for him in 2024 had this message.

I would have said I would have bought you a cake, but I can't afford one, but happy birthday. The signals are getting louder for this year's midterms. Voters aren't happy. We'll talk about it on the MPR Politics podcast. Listen on the MPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Every episode of It's Venom in It, MPR's What's Happening in Culture Podcast starts

by asking three questions. Who? How? Why now? If the culture is asking it, we're talking about it. At MPR, we stand for your right to be curious and indulge your cultural curiosity. All it's been a minute wherever you get your podcasts. We'll break down the zeitgeistie topics that are filling your feed. Hi, it's Terry Gross, host of Fresh Air. Hey, take a break from the 24 hour news cycle

with us and listen to long-form interviews with your favorite authors, actors, filmmakers, comedians and musicians. The people making the art that nourishes us and speaks to our times. So listen to the Fresh Air podcast from NPR and W. H. Why? Okay. So today, we are going

We will also be spoiling some parts of the brand new book. The wage standard subtitle

“what's wrong in the labor market and how to fix it by economist Aaron Dubay. And if you”

haven't read that, also, come on. What's wrong with you people? Spoilers all around. So we emailed Aaron to say, you know what? We love your book, but you know what? Be cool. We mostly

interviewed about the movie alien. It's true. And then Aaron wrote back to us and said basically,

heck yeah, pretty sure I watched the alien for the first time when I was in middle school. That's like very young. Yeah, it was very edgy. It's our rated Aaron. Aaron is one of the most prominent labor economists working right now. He's at UMass Amherst. And he's probably best known for his research on the minimum wage. Aaron's been contributing to this growing body of work that shows higher minimum wages do not kill jobs the way economists

used to think. But you could read all about that in Aaron's book. Yeah. Back to alien. Let's get back to alien. Yes. Do you remember feeling like they were worker rights issues at play? That was like the

“first thing I thought of. I was like, oh my gosh, oh my friends, I think I was just like, oh my god,”

I can't believe I'm watching this. Yeah. If it just so happened that this is why you got into labor economics. That would have been a wonderful answer. But that's okay. You know, we can go with that because for now is, yeah, who knows? Because there is genuinely a surprising amount of labor economics baked into the very core of this movie. So if you haven't seen it, it allows to briefly explain the setup, the basic setup of the film alien. 20th Century Fox Presents exterior shot,

space ship from a company called the Wayland Utani Corporation. This is a space truck, essentially. It's hauling a bunch of ore from a mining planet back to earth. But interior shots, computer screen. The space trucks computer picks up a mysterious signal. Then wakes the entire crew from cryosally. Now this crew, they're rough, they're tumble, they're blue collar space truckers, they wear tattered clothes and headbands, they work for Wayland Utani, and clearly would rather

still be a cryosally. So, yeah, that's the basic setup. Yeah, yeah, that's right. What about that

setup gets your labor economist senses tingling? So, first of all, these are not great jobs.

“Is there tough chops? Yeah. There's some serious negative amenities, as we say. Is that the term?”

That's the term. Yeah, that's the term. When you watch alien with air into bay, it's like the nerdyest DVD commentary ever, he spots all of these hugely important real world ideas from labor economics. And so, we are going to watch alien with air into bay and learn about our world from his commentary. So, negative amenities, those are things that make a job less desirable. An emergency room job, it may require overnight shifts, a construction job,

it may come with the risk of injury. A space trucker job on a beat up old mining ship? Yeah, air in immediately sees some likely negative amenities here. And there's a few, but risk of death is probably like a pretty big one. Yes. I think that's true. I think that's fair. It'll be fun though, if life threatening, but definitely not good. I mean, they have to go into cryogenic sleep for many years. So, you know, they're away from home for a long time. So,

negative away from home for a long time, positive, get to sleep on the job for a lot of the job. Yeah, a job with lots of negative amenities is what Aaron calls a bad job. Like, that's a real term. And being a space trucker for the company whale in Jutani, bad job, high risk. When you have a job where there's a big risk, you get something that's called compensating differential, and you get paid more because to compensate for the risk. Now, that's if the labor market's

working pretty well. Yeah, Aaron has some questions about how well the labor market is functioning

in the year 21, 22. You don't have to watch for very long to see the problems. Basically,

the first scene of the movie Alien is all about work and pay and contracts. And we cue that scene up to watch with Aaron. All right, everyone ready? Yeah. Okay. Sounds good. Here we go. Okay, so in the scene, the crew, they gather around this table. They're captain tells them about this mysterious transmission. And they've been woken up because their company, whale in Jutani, it needs them to go investigate that transmission. A transmission out here? Yeah. I saw this.

ship, not a rescue ship. Right. It's not my contract to do this kind of duty. Oh,

“no, give me some water to go. Yeah, let me pause there. Not in the contract. What's your reaction”

to that line? Well, you know, it's not in the contract. So, if they are told they have to do something, it's not their contract. But you just quit and get another job. You're being facetious because they're on a spaceship. Oh, no. I was not going to learn. Yes, here is a giant clue that the true monster of alien may be hiding in the labor dynamics, Greg. Yes. Yeah. I mean, okay. So, our crew, they live on a company ship. They sleep in a company cryo sleep chamber.

They eat company cornbread apparently. Functionally, our space truckers live in a company town. Now, what makes alien a smarter econ movie than it needs to be? Is it a ghost further than just saying like, oh, the cruise trapped? Therefore, they must do what their company says.

“Instead, this scene keeps going and the crew is like, well, if we do this little side mission,”

we better get over time or something. There is a clause in the contract. Okay. So, that person who is well, actually, there's a clause in the contract. He's an android. He represents the company, William Dutani. He's a management chill. Big Narc Energy. There is a clause in the contract which specifically states any system-atized transmission indicating a possible intelligent origin must be investigated. I don't want to hear it. Buckle, are you just listening to the man?

That sounds bad. You got that? No money, he said. No money. I was going in. Yeah, going in. And that shut him up. They're kind of forced into doing this mission because surprise, the company, William Dutani, has hidden a clause in everyone's contract. So, just walk us through what a labor economist thinks, watching that scene. Yeah. So, if the labor market's really competitive, the ability for companies to

write contracts where there's sort of hidden risks, right? Like hidden risk, alien calls,

“do you have to go pick up? Those would get priced out properly. And so, you would get a bonus”

of some sort or get a higher pay. Yeah. But if the market's not particularly competitive, then that could easily be that these shrouded attributes, people have the unpleasant finding out actually your contract has things that you didn't fully factor in. And you're kind of stuck with it. I mean, they don't know they're about to go be infected by a man-eating superkiller. Yeah, I think the technical term is your kind of screen. Now, I just want to say

how wonderful it is that the inciting incident of alien is a shrouded attribute. It's this little clause about a wildly risky job responsibility that William Dutani did not need to price into its worker pay because they could just bury it in the contract. And the fact that

William Dutani could get away with this? That is the second big clue that are poor space truckers,

they are not just dealing with a bad labor market. No, no, no. They're dealing with an infamous economic concept. A concept that could keep some labor economists up at night. A concept that we are actively avoiding saying, because yeah, we wanted Aaron to say it. Yeah, he says it well. Would you say that the thing we have not yet said is scarier or less scary than the Xenomorph, the alien? You know, in eighth grade, not so much, but today, yeah, you know, like Xenomorphs are

not great, but monopsony. Oh, monopsony, it's coming to get me. Now, it bursted out of Kenny's chest, help us. Well, I will say we are bursting with enthusiasm to talk about the monopsony. Yes, because planet money stands will know that we love talking monopsony when we can. So, of course, monopoly is where there's one big company selling in a market. Monopsony is when there is one company buying in a market. And, you know, the version we probably hear most often

is about one company buying labor hiring people. So, only one company that people can go work for. And it certainly seems as if the corporation wail in Dutani is operating with the power of a monopsony in the dystopian sci-fi future of alien. Now, obviously, this is a crazy, fantastical world far off in space with aliens and Xenomorphs and whatever, but these sort of

all powerful monopsonies have existed in the real world, like mining towns that were owned and run

by one company. And when there's only one, how did Aaron put it again, kind of screwed? Yes,

going to be monopsony power wail in Dutani, but this is really a much more endemic feature of

“the labor market than people have really understood. As in monopsony power is sneakily hiding”

all over our current labor market, even when there is more than one company to go work for. And this, this actually is the part that should land like the economic version of a surprise alien bursting out of your colleagues' chest, Craig. You want to go with that again? Ah, wait, am I the alien or the person? Ah, ah, ah, ah, I guess, like the monopsony was hiding within us all along. That's the takeaway here. Yes. For decades, economists assume that labor markets

were mostly competitive. And that monopsonies, they could be treated like unicorns, you know, only found in rare circumstances, but Aaron and a growing number of economists, they're finding monopsonies more kind of like a regular horse. Monopsony power, it's just like much more pervasive than previously thought. Yes, sure, pervasive, but the key here is that monopsony power that Aaron and other researchers are finding, it's not obvious, like in old mining towns or

future space mining companies. It's kind of with us now sneakily. So, Aaron walks us through how to

“spot what today's monopsony power looks like for us. I think that the key thing is to start with the,”

like, what is monopsony power? Monopsony power means that workers can't easily switch jobs and employers have some degree of choice of what kind of wages or what kind of working

conditions to provide. Now, why do they have this choice? Why don't you have, basically,

I pay a little bit lower than the market. Wait, everyone bulls and is gone to the next bet's alternative. Why does that not happen? So, it's not because we're stuck on space ships. That's not the reason. That's not the reason. That's like the fifth reason. But first, because there may be concentrated markets, concentrated markets. So, maybe we don't yet have one giant way than you, honey corporation running the world, but when you look at specific industries within

specific geographies, some of those have been consolidating, offering fewer and fewer employers for people to work for. As industries consolidate, employers tend to be able to reduce pay for workers. And one example Aaron points to in his book, somebody who is working in the skiing industry. ski industry, you know, like 25 years ago, well, there was a lot of small family on hills, but over the last 25, 30 years, it's become very consolidated. Like, for example, in Vermont,

you could maybe go to the next one over and hey, that's also owned by the same employer. But, you know, that right there is sort of a classic source of monopsity power that there may be less employers around than you may think for the kinds of work that you're doing. This seems to be true more broadly. Aaron points to one study that found typical America workers only have about three equal sized employers within driving distance for their particular employment field. But even when

you move to big cities where people have way more job options, Aaron's work has found that people simply do not quit a job for better paying jobs in the way that classic labor market theories would predict. Yeah, maybe they kind of like their commute or they're like, oh, I love my co-workers. I'll miss them if I leave or, you know, whatever. And then there's the fact that changing jobs is just a huge pain. Would we call an economic search frictions? That employees actually

have difficulty finding out about applying for quitting and taking a new job. These are costly. It can be slow. It can be exhausting. And it can take a lot of effort, especially when you already have another job. And it's not just that changing jobs is annoying, which it is. Aaron says companies intentionally also make it harder for workers to jump ship and change jobs. It's not about this monopsony by artifacts. Here's an example, non-competitive grievance.

So a third or more of American workers end up citing these a third. Yeah. Wow. And by the way,

sometimes it's argued that it's because to protect trade secrets. But then like Jimmy John Sandwich chain, summer camp in Massachusetts, the examples go on, but it's basically a way to reduce competition for workers. What you're saying about the ways in which monopsony shows up, like, surely we're not all stuck on a spaceship with a single employer controlling our entire life.

“And what your research has shown is like, aren't we, though, in just little or ways?”

So jobs are sticky. Quitting is harder. And as a result, our working conditions and job quality are only partially determined by a well-functioning market force. So yes, there's aspects of exactly

And the good news is we have ways of fixing or improving those more so than in the movie, perhaps.

“Yeah, Aaron says in the real world, we have ways to push back against monopsony power.”

Things like minimum wage laws and a trust enforcement and labor unions that fight for worker interests.

And this is basically what Aaron's book is about. He says the erosion of those counterforces.

Is a big reason we've seen a stagnation of worker pay and arise in inequality. That's in the real world, of course. But Aaron says he supposes those things would have helped in the movie Alien too. Yeah, like imagine if in the movie, the employees of Whalen, Utahny were like in a really strong labor union or something. Like one that we see in a lot of other countries were the hammer out worker protections for a whole sector of the economy.

So if we had, for example, the sectoral spaced fuckers association, the STA, yep, the STA. And so when they start having these debates about what they should do, there's a big volume of STA, you know, contract that lays out our collective bargaining. And in fact, if they found out something that didn't really like, they would say, you know what, let me talk to my shops to work. That scene would probably play out a little different,

wouldn't it? It would serve me a really boring scene and then they would say, "Oh, get fine. We're not going to do it." And then they're just going to go back to earth the end.

“I don't know that that would be a boring scene. So it's riveting to me, honestly.”

Agreed. And so, planet money is proud to present the world premiere of Alien 1979,

the labor economists cut. And we hear from someone with first-hand knowledge of what it takes to

make an actual alien movie and how to nail the perfect balance of labor economics and killer aliens, all of that after the break. This week on Consider This, the global race to dominate AI has made a handful of people incredibly rich. Senator Bernie Sanders wants to spread that money around. AI is based on human knowledge and human labor. They deserve the benefits of that.

Bernie Sanders on his idea for an AI sovereign wealth fund. This week on Consider This, listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, take a break from the 24-hour news cycle with us and listen to long-form interviews with your favorite authors, actors, filmmakers, comedians and musicians, the people making the art that nourishes us and speaks to our times.

So listen to the fresh air podcast from NPR and WHYY. The labor economist, Aaron Dubes, cut of Alien 1979. It starts the same way. Space ship, computer, space shockers wake up, but we asked Aaron Dubes to tweak the labor conditions for a better worker outcome in Alien. Aaron imagined, instead, a future where these space truckers were part of some sectoral bargaining agreement where there was a strong union

and here he thinks is how the opening of Alien would have played out instead. Some of you may have figured out when I'd home yet, intercepted a transmission of unknown origin. A transmission? Out here? Yeah. You got to accept a check it out. This is a commercial ship, not a rest of the ship. Right. And it's not my contractor to do this kind of duty.

All right, can I say something? There is a close in the contract which specifically states any system-atized transmission indicating a possible intelligent origin.

“No, no, hold on. I think somebody's trying to say something in the back.”

Yeah, remember our Vrigen's procedure. So I'm going to file that and while it's being investigated, we actually can't go. That's part of the rule. So the end. Back to the cryosleep. Back to cryosleep. Back to cryosleep. It's a YouTube short.

Okay. Okay. Yes. Ultimately, you cannot have Alien without all these labor dynamics.

The negative amenities shrouded attributes, the monopsony. And I would contend that all of that rich texture is what makes this movie special. And a huge part of what makes Alien more than just another good horror movie. Yeah. There are now a bunch of Alien movies and the best of those.

And we were unbelievably excited to get to talk to someone who has actually had to walk that Econ horror tightrope. I'm going to put you on the spot a little bit. Do you remember off the

top of your head? The first words that are spoken in your film, Alien Romulus. First word that's

spoken. What is this? Let me remember. This is Fede Alvarez. He co-wrote and directed the newest film in Alien franchise. I can give you the answer. Attention all workers. Attention all workers. Attention all workers. Attention starting team minus 15 minutes. We have plenty of money. We bring our economics lens to everything. But surely, we are not hallucinating that you also have chosen

“to put labor dynamics to some degree front and center, yes? I mean, I think when you're going to”

make an Alien movie, the first thing you do is trying to study what make the best iterations of this franchise. And I think if you look at the first one, you look given a second one. And the third

one, they're always talking about that. Anyway, the how powerless the individual can be, you know,

in front of the machine. This is kind of a big deal for us. Fede Alvarez. He's a very accomplished horror thriller director. He made his first films in Uruguay. He co-wrote and directed a huge hit in United States called Don't Breathe. He also directed a reboot of the evil dead, which was freaking awesome and supposedly set a record for gallons of fake blood used in a movie. You did. Rains fake blood. Lots of fake blood. And yeah, Greg and I, big Fede Alvarez fans. And clearly,

Fede knows that great Alien movies need smart ideas about labor and work. He's not a labor economist though. So we wanted to talk to Fede about how he went about finding and building those smart ideas into his movie. And Fede told us he admittedly did not notice the icon in

Alien at first. But later when he was around age 20, he started to understand that this movie,

it's saying something much bigger. You know, the movie stars and as soon as they're at the table, they'd talk about the bonus situation and it's like right away. It's like, yeah, yeah, first. And we're in a contract. It's wild. It's the first thing they do and talk about the rights as workers. And but also they're not just talking about that. They talk about inequality as well. They talk about why am I getting, you know, less money than you guys. And you know, and the

capitol goes like, you know, you're going to get what you deserve. And obviously talking about when the monster comes, we're going to be the same. We're going to be equal to actually the capitol and stuff. I mean, it was one of the first ones today. And that shows how death is that big equalizer. So I'm curious. We're going to get a little economics here with your permission. Yes.

“Of course. Okay. Great. Have you ever heard the term "monopsony"? Is this come across your radar?”

Oh, no. Okay. Because you a thousand percent nail this perfectly in your movie. Okay. What has set this up for you if you haven't seen Feday's movie, alien, Romulus, in his alien, we actually start on a mining and farming planet, a colony entirely controlled by the corporation, Wailing to Utah. And it is, you know, bad. Workers are living some version of indentured servitude in a company town. And just like in the original alien, one of Feday's first

scenes is simple yet stuffed with all kinds of huge labor economics. Right. Our protagonist, a young woman named Rain, she goes into Whalen, Utahny's office of colony affairs, and she tries to submit some paperwork to get off this planet. You know, basically, she's trying to quit her job. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But you're not identical for contract release yet. What? No. I reached the required hours.

Unfortunately, quotas have been raised to 24,000 hours, so you'll be released from contract

“in another five to six years. Like you and remember the company is really great for your own”

going service. This is a depiction of monopsony that could be taught in economics classes. The way that remote towns historically created this kind of trapped labor force, the way company towns, infamously, had so much control that workers had to use fake company money to buy things from their company stores using company script. We asked Feday if he and his co-writer, Rolo Sayagese, had researched like case studies to get this right. And he was like, yeah,

but also, it's a bit more intuitive than that. And it's also about early on in the movie,

And in the case of alienizzo is the Whalen, Utahny represents the government. It's can be literally

that in the stories, but it's also you know, how you feel powerless versus something that can now be the story that seems to you cannot negotiate with that seems that is relentless. So

“I think that's why I think the best ones they always start there, they get the audience,”

they draw them in from a perspective of, you know, everybody knows how it feels to be in that place and be a feel of powerless. I've read a few quotes from you about this as an Uruguayan. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. You said things like growing up under a dictatorship and a developing country that there is a feeling that may seem specific, but is universal about sort of a lack of options for you as a young person. Yeah. I mean, ironically, at the same time, yes, Uruguay

by being born in a dictatorship, like my parents had a system mentality in a way of survival instinct that came from being born in that environment where you did it have a lot of choices and if you grew a beard, you'll get arrested. But at the same time that being said, there's also the other

side of it is when I moved to the United States when when I made people dead in my first film and

I moved here. I was like, wait a second, you guys don't have like vacation a salary, like you don't have like guarantee 30 days of vacation every year. And it'd be like, what are you talking about?

“You have to work. And I was like, what is this dystopian? So, you know, Uruguay, we have health”

gears where you health care. And you know, particularly on the employer dynamics, if you get higher by a company and they want to fire you, it's okay, they can fire you, but they all have to pay their soldiers, they have to pay at least a month of salary for each year that you work at the company. So, the more you work, the harder it is to fire. And I took for granted all my life living there. And then when I came here and every people laughing at the oldest nonsense. So for me,

that that also made me understand why in Alien, it was important if I wasn't going to make one

to really bring some of the subjects, you know, it's a forefront. A rumor on the street is that you and Roto have already written the sequel to Alien Romulus, is that correct? We did, we did. I didn't want to write another one. No, no, no questions about whether you're going to direct. I don't need spoilers, you don't need to spoil any plot, but can you exclusively for our planet money audience?

“Tell us, will we get more labor economics? That's what they're all about. Yeah, that's what they're all”

about. It's not a good idea of the movie, if you do, you know, deal with that's true. Can we expect now that I've taught you the term "manopsyny"? Is it too late to change your next script and throw a little "manopsyny"? I don't want you to see it, guys. This is everyone asking. They'll see it as guys. Yeah, that's right. They're going to know. They'll know. Don't know. I'm glad I thank you so much. This was awesome. I hope you enjoyed talking some of this.

Not my pleasure. In my pleasure. Don't fast forward. We've got a special event to tell you about that it's just going to be for our NPR+ supporters. If you couldn't make one of our book tour events back in April, we've got great news for you. We're doing one more. One more book tour event. This time it's a live virtual event. It's on Thursday, June 25th at 3 p.m. Eastern. My colleague Jeff Guel will be there. The main author of our book, Alex Mayasi, he will be there.

We'll also have some special guests, TPD. If you've already joined NPR+, thank you and listen to our most recent bonus episode to find out how to register for the event. And if you have not joined NPR+ yet, well, make sure you're signed up by June 24th to get our invite. Just go to plus.npr.org again that is plus.npr.org signing up is a great way to support the show, NPR and independent non-profit journalism. We'll see you there.

Today's episode of Planet Money was produced by the wonderful, the incomparable James Sneade GoNix. It was edited by Jess J. fact check by Sierra Huades and engineered by Robert Rodriguez. Our executive producer is Alex Goldmark. Special thanks this week to Taylor Haber and to you Greg Rosalski. You will see a more few. Greg, if you are not familiar, is our newsletter writer and wrote two excellent newsletters

about Manopcini, about the movie Alien, about Aaron Dubé, and those inspired this show. So you can find those. We're going to link to them in our show notes. You know, thanks Kenny. We appreciate that. Yeah. I'm Kenny Malone. And I'm Greg Rosalski. This is MPR. Thanks for listening. The keys. This week on here and now any time. President Trump appears to be ending his war

with Iran. But the global economy might not recover right away. What the potential peace deal means for you. Also, some Democrats fear Trump's new acting director of National Intelligence will try to interfere in this year's election. Listen to here and now

Hey, take a break from the 24 hour news cycle with us and listen to long-form interviews

“with your favorite authors, actors, filmmakers, comedians, and musicians.”

The people making the art that nourishes us and speaks to our times.

So listen to the fresh air podcasts from NPR and WHY.