Hardly Working with Brent Orrell

Robert Lerman is a research fellow at the Urban Institute and the co-founder of Apprenticeships for America, where he is dedicated to expanding opportunities for lifelong learning and ensuring that apprenticeships are a cornerstone of America’s educational landscape. Through his prolific research and advocacy, we examine the role of apprenticeships in our economy, successful policy examples in Europe, and the impact of AI and techn...

Stuart Andreason is the Executive Director of Programs at the Burning Glass Institute where he leads efforts in research and engagement on workforce innovation, higher education, and economic mobility. Through his personal experience and his work in skills-based hiring, we look at vocation in career, skills signals, and role of technology in the hiring process.

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Burning Glass Institute

Skills-Based Hir...

Kerry McKittrick, in her work as co-director of The Project on Workforce at Harvard, looks into different aspects of the relationship between workforce development and careers. In this episode of Hardly Working, we dive into three different reports that McKittrick has authored recently.

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The College-to-Jobs Initiative: Exploring the intersection of higher education and the workforce

College-to-Jobs Map

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On July 22, Brent Orrell from AEI and Tony Pipa from Brookings hosted a discussion about Casa Grande Valley Farms, an agricultural cooperative from the New Deal era that faced challenges and eventually failed. AEI's Kevin R. Kosar, who has republished a book on the project, joined the conversation to discuss the lessons this historical case offers for modern federal rural economic development, especially in the context of recent le...

Russ Roberts, President of Shalem College in Jerusalem and host of the Econtalk podcast, discusses his book, “Wild Problems: A Guide to the Decisions That Define Us. The book discusses Robert’s approach to problems that can’t be solved with normal economics analysis. In this episode, Brent and Russ also discuss the influences Russ had growing up and the advice he has for young people today.

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On July 8, AEI’s Brent Orrell hosted the fifth event in the “On the Front Porch” series with the Brookings Institution’s Tony Pipa featuring Stanford University Professor Keith Humphreys and AEI’s Sally Satel, two experts in opioid treatment and the societal effects of drug abuse in rural areas. They discuss the factors that led to the opioid crisis and the challenges in resolving it.

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This week on Hardly Working, Brent Orrell talks with AEI Senior Fellow Brad Wilcox. Wilcox’s recent book Get Married: Why Americans Should Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families and Save Civilization explores the importance of marriage in society. Brent and Wilcox discuss how marriage promotes healthy families and why declines in marriage rates are so alarming. They also touch on how marriage and family structure impact the workfor...

Americans are grappling with the complexities of economic growth, technology, and their impacts on society. This week, Brent talks with Oxford University economist Daniel Susskind, who explores these themes in his latest book Growth: A Reckoning. Together, Brent and Susskind discuss the historical context of growth, the role of technological advancements, and Susskind’s views on the need for policies that better align economic ince...

Americans’ views on the economy have soured in recent years, often seemingly disconnected with the realities of work and growth in incomes. One particularly pernicious meme, found on both the left and the right, is that economic growth has not translated into higher wages for American workers. This week on Hardly Working, Brent sits down with Scott Winship, who dispels this myth in his recent report, “Understanding Trends in Worker...

In a world where the traditional boundaries of work are being redrawn, the interplay between work and personal satisfaction, a sense of purpose, and meaning is rapidly evolving. This week on Hardly Working, Brent sits down with John Tamny, editor of RealClearMarkets and president of the Parkview Institute. They discuss Tamny’s 2018 book The End of Work: Why Your Passion Can Become Your Job, which envisions a world where material ab...

Contemporary differences between rural and urban areas in America have their roots in long-term demographic, economic, technological, and social factors. Brent and the Brookings Institution’s Tony Pipa are hosting conversations “On the Front Porch” with authors of recent research on issues facing rural America. These discussions explore the unique challenges and opportunities facing rural America and consider policy options to prom...

As technology marches on, what kind of world are we moving towards? According to AEI senior fellow Jim Pethokoukis, it’s an abundant and prosperous one, at least potentially. So long as we play our cards right–and embrace what he calls an “UpWing” technology and growth policies we will reap the benefits of what many find to be destabilizing, disorienting change. 

This week on Hardly Working, Brent speaks with Pethokoukis about ...

In a world of specialists, generalists sometimes seem like people without a country. That may be changing. In an age of specialized–and increasingly powerful– AI tools, going broad rather than narrow may increasingly be valuable. Today on Hardly Working, Vikram Mansharamani returns to the podcast to discuss his personal and professional journey as a self-described generalist. His recent memoir The Making of a Generalist narrates hi...

Divides between rural and urban America have their roots in longstanding demographic, economic, technological, and social factors. In a new event series, AEI’s Brent Orrell and the Brookings Institution’s Tony Pipa are hosting a series of conversations “On the Front Porch” with authors of recent research on issues facing rural America.

These discussions explore the unique challenges and opportunities facing rural America and conside...

In recent years, confidence in higher education has plummeted. This decline has prompted a vigorous debate on the role of all types of post-secondary education. 

In their recent book America’s Hidden Economic Engines: How Community Colleges Can Drive Shared Prosperity, Robert B. Schwartz and Rachel Lipson make the case for the value of community colleges. Surveying five case studies across the US–in Ohio, Virginia, Ar...

As artificial intelligence (AI) bounds ahead, many are rightfully concerned about the risks and ethical issues it raises. Perhaps some of the most practical of these is the potential that AI will be biased against minority populations because of deficiencies in the data used to build it. If true, this would have serious implications for human resources and hiring. 

Today, Brent sits down with Keith Sonderling, a commissioner on...

Many urban Americans have come to believe that there’s a growing chasm separating urban and rural America. While urban America bounds ahead, rural America, many assume, is being left behind, struggling with material and spiritual impoverishment, and cultural confusion. 

This week on Hardly Working, Brent talks with University of Southern California professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, who dispels some of the myths about the so-c...

Regrettably, the debate about post-secondary education has devolved into just another culture war issue with one camp saying “everyone go to college” and another saying “skip college learn a trade.” 

Today, Brent sits down with Ben Wildavsky, a visiting scholar at the University of Virginia’s School of Education and Human Development, who challenges this false dichotomy. In his recent book “The Career Arts,” Wildavsky argues th...