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Sunday

Albanese elected Australia's leader in complex poll result

Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese speaks to supporters at a Labor Party event in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, May 22, 2022, after Prime Minister Scott Morrison conceding defeat to Albanese in a federal election. Rick Rycroft/AP hide caption

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Rick Rycroft/AP

World

Albanese elected Australia's leader in complex poll result

Australians awoke on Sunday to a new prime minister in Anthony Albanese, the center-left Labor Party leader, though it remains unclear whether his party can form a majority government.

Tuesday

Raising kids is hard work. The way we think about it can shift how we value mothering
Simone Martin-Newberry for NPR

Life Kit

Raising kids is hard work. The way we think about it can shift how we value mothering

Raising kids is among the most essential work humans do, and yet it's rarely valued as skilled labor. Angela Garbes, author of Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change, guides us through a shift in mindset to help give mothering the value it deserves.

Raising kids is hard work. The way we think about it can shift how we value mothering

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Thursday

There Are No Utopias

Robin D. G. Kelley Simon & Schuster hide caption

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Simon & Schuster

Perspective

Throughline

There Are No Utopias

It may seem bleak, but Robin D.G Kelley's view of the world says there is no promise of liberation, only struggle. Kelley has spent his career bringing to life the stories of the Black labor organizers and anti-capitalists who are often left out of history books, from radical farmers in the South to Black unions during the Gilded Age. And he's come to a provocative conclusion: that the secret to capitalism's survival is racism. His scholarship uses historical connections between race and labor to directly challenge the premise that there can be any justice within America's current economic system — and to ask what that means for the people who seek it. This week on Throughline, a view of Black history you don't often hear in February.

There Are No Utopias

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Wednesday

Wages Are Going Up — And So Is Inflation. Consumer Prices Have Hit A 13-Year High

A server delivers food to customers dining at a restaurant in Los Angeles on Aug. 7. Restaurants are boosting pay to attract workers, and that could have an impact on already-high inflation. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

Help Wanted: Where Are The Workers?

Wages Are Going Up — And So Is Inflation. Consumer Prices Have Hit A 13-Year High

Consumer prices rose 5.4% in July, compared to a year ago. Here's one thing to watch going forward: How rising wages impacts inflation.

Wages Are Going Up — And So Is Inflation. Consumer Prices Have Hit A 13-Year High

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Friday

Restaurants Are Dangling Vacation And Matching 401(k), But Many Workers Aren't Biting

Restaurants in Miami and across the country are seeing surging demand from customers, but they are still struggling to recruit staff. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption

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Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The Coronavirus Crisis

Restaurants Are Dangling Vacation And Matching 401(k), But Many Workers Aren't Biting

As the U.S. economy continues to rebound from the pandemic recession, lots of people are going back to work — but not as quickly as many employers would like. Employers added 943,00 jobs in June.

Restaurants Are Dangling Vacation And Matching 401(k), But Many Workers Aren't Biting

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Thursday

Desperately Seeking Construction Workers
Darian Woods/Darian Woods

The Indicator from Planet Money

Desperately Seeking Construction Workers

Demand for homes has increased dramatically this year and supply can't keep up. One of the biggest issues is a labor shortage in the construction industry. So employers are increasing wages and getting creative to entice people into the trades.

Desperately Seeking Construction Workers

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Thursday

Thursday

Monday

Biden Backs Amazon Warehouse Workers' Union Drive

More than 5,800 warehouse workers at the Bessemer, Ala., Amazon facility are voting this month on whether to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. Supporters are protesting in solidarity with those workers. Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images

National

Biden Backs Amazon Warehouse Workers' Union Drive

More than 5,800 warehouse workers at the Bessemer, Ala., Amazon facility are voting this month on whether to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.

Friday

U.S. Adds Just 49,000 Jobs In January, 'Not Anywhere Close' To Recovering Those Lost

Construction workers are on the job in Simi Valley, Calif., earlier this week. Nationally, hiring resumed in January although the labor market still has a big hole to climb out of. Mark J. Terrill/AP hide caption

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Mark J. Terrill/AP

The Coronavirus Crisis

U.S. Adds Just 49,000 Jobs In January, 'Not Anywhere Close' To Recovering Those Lost

U.S. employers added 49,000 jobs last month, after a pandemic-driven slump in December. Unemployment fell to 6.3%.

U.S. Adds Just 49,000 Jobs In January, 'Not Anywhere Close' To Recovering Those Lost

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Wednesday

Power Of The Petition: Nonprofit Helps Front-Line Workers Fight For Their Rights

Tekiah Elzey is using Coworker.org to petition for hazard pay to be restored at the New Seasons Market where she works in Portland, Ore. Chloe Meeske hide caption

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Chloe Meeske

The Coronavirus Crisis

Power Of The Petition: Nonprofit Helps Front-Line Workers Fight For Their Rights

Eight out of every nine American workers don't have a union to represent them in workplace disputes. A nonprofit website is helping push for better wages and working conditions amid the pandemic.

Power Of The Petition: Nonprofit Helps Front-Line Workers Fight For Their Rights

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Monday

Tuesday

As Japan Tries Out Immigration, Migrant Workers Complain Of Exploitation

An employee of Tokyo Electric Power Co. works at Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant to decontaminate the area after the 2011 nuclear meltdown. A Vietnamese laborer in Japan on a training program says he was also put to work cleaning up the site, but with inadequate gear. Christopher Furlong/Getty Images hide caption

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Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Asia

As Japan Tries Out Immigration, Migrant Workers Complain Of Exploitation

A Vietnamese laborer tells NPR he was led to believe he would learn construction work but ended up cleaning up the Fukushima nuclear site. Migrant advocates say Japan needs to overhaul the program.

As Japan Tries Out Immigration, Migrant Workers Complain Of Exploitation

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Saturday

Thursday

South Korea Shortens 'Inhumanely Long' Workweek

South Korea's parliament has shortened the maximum workweek amid the country's low birth and productivity rates. Workers are seen here at a factory in Ansan, South Korea, in 2015. Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters hide caption

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Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters

The Two-Way

South Korea Shortens 'Inhumanely Long' Workweek

"It is impossible to lead a happy life when long hours and overexertion become routine," President Moon Jae-in said recently. The country has one of the world's lowest birth rates.