What Does It Profit Podcast

For most of human history, women cared for the dead. They prepared bodies and guided families through grief. Then death became a business, and women were pushed out. In this episode of What Does It Profit? , Dr. Dawn Carpenter brings you inside the death care industry with Doris Amen and Alexandra Mosca, two New York funeral directors who have spent decades working with the dead and bereaved in an...

In this episode of What Does It Profit?, Dr. Dawn Carpenter explores what happens when a business begins with a simple question. Where do people go to belong?   More women are starting businesses than ever before. Yet ownership does not always mean access. Women still face barriers to capital, growth, and recognition. In spaces like game store ownership, those gaps are even more visible.   Whitney...

A board game may look simple. A set of pieces. A set of rules. A way to win. But every game is a system. It teaches us what to value, how to compete, and what success looks like. In this episode of What Does It Profit? , we follow the unexpected journey of Elizabeth Hargrave, a health policy consultant turned award-winning game designer, whose hit board game Wingspan reshaped an entire industry. W...

In Season 6 of What Does It Profit?, Dr. Dawn Carpenter explores dignity at work by stepping inside industries where women are still underestimated and often unwelcome. In this episode, we meet Aine O'Dwyer, a civil engineer and the CEO of Enovate Engineering. Raised on a dairy farm in Ireland, Aine learned early the value of discipline, perseverance, and hard work. Those lessons carried her acros...

In Season 6 of What Does It Profit? , Dr. Dawn Carpenter goes inside industries where women are still underestimated and often unwelcome to explore how they are reshaping the meaning and structure of work. In this episode, we meet Judaline Cassidy, a master plumber, union leader, and founder of Tools & Tiaras, a nonprofit that introduces girls to welding, carpentry, plumbing, and the power of the...

Less than 10% of truck drivers are women. The open road has long been seen as a man's world. But that is changing. In 2012, Jess Graham left an abusive relationship and enrolled in CDL training within days. Weeks later, she was licensed and on the road with her ten-year-old daughter, living together in the cab of a truck. For Jess, trucking was not just a job. It was a path to stability, speed, an...

What happens when women enter one of the most dangerous, male-dominated professions... and change it from the inside? In this episode of What Does It Profit , Dr. Dawn Carpenter goes from D.C. firehouses to wildfire lines to meet the women fighting fire with fire. At Camp Spark in Washington, D.C. , Lieutenant Roshawnda Drake is building a pipeline for the next generation of women firefighters. Ou...

Women have always worked. But when women entered the U.S. labor force in large numbers during the 1970s, equal pay did not follow. In this episode of What Does It Profit? , Dr. Dawn Carpenter explores the history of women's labor rights—from the rise of the Nine to Five movement to the equal pay fight led by Lilly Ledbetter . Through organizing, unions, and the law, women challenged workplaces tha...

This season on What Does It Profit , host Dr. Dawn Carpenter steps into the worlds where women are least expected—and often least welcomed. From firehouses to funeral homes, construction sites to game design studios, meet the women breaking barriers and reshaping the meaning of work itself. Their stories reveal courage, solidarity, and the power to build a more inclusive future of work. Subscribe...

In this episode, we delve into the challenges faced by airline pilots and flight attendants, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. With a national pilot shortage and increased workloads, safety is at risk as pilots and cabin crew work longer hours without adequate rest. Former airline captain Mike Simkins shares his experiences with fatigue and the pressures of the industry, highlighting the...

In this episode, we delve into the harrowing experiences of Amazon warehouse worker Wendy Taylor, who suffered a serious injury while under immense pressure to meet unrealistic productivity quotas. Despite her injuries, Taylor was denied proper medical care and forced to return to work, highlighting the grueling conditions faced by Amazon employees. The episode also discusses the Warehouse Protect...

This episode explores the resurgence of black lung disease among coal miners, particularly due to toxic silica dust exposure. We revisit the Season 3 story of Joe and Elizabeth Opyoke, highlighting the dangers miners face. Cecil Roberts, President of the United Mine Workers of America, discusses the preventability of black lung disease and the need for stricter regulations on silica dust. Recent f...

This episode we take listeners back to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911. This was one of the deadliest industrial tragedies in U.S. history, claiming 147 lives due to locked exit doors and inadequate safety measures. This tragedy sparked significant reforms, including the establishment of OSHA and mandatory safety regulations. Historian Hasia Diner shares that the fire changed public p...

In the Season 5 premiere of What Does It Profit , we explore the pressing issue of worker safety at Dollar General. Our journey begins with a bus trip to Nashville, where employees from nine states rally for fair pay and improved safety conditions. The episode highlights alarming safety violations, including blocked fire exits and inadequate staffing, which have led to numerous injuries and fatali...

To our long-time listeners... welcome back. To those who have just found us, we are the podcast that examines the social and moral value of business. In the 5th season of What Does It Profit , we grapple with what it means to feel safe at work. We talk to historians and workforce safety experts, but most importantly we talk to workers themselves. From the surviving family members of those who died...

In the final episode of the fourth season of the What Does It Profit? Podcast, Dr. Dawn explores the impacts of artificial intelligence on religion .    Dr. Dawn speaks to Josh Franklin, a rabbi at the Jewish Center of the Hamptons in New York, who used the chatbot ChatGPT to help write one of his sermons. Rabbi Franklin tells us his thoughts on how he hopes AI can be used as a tool for people to...

On this episode of the What Does It Profit? podcast, hitch a ride along with Dr. Dawn as she explores the potential impacts of artificial intelligence on public transportation in the U.S.    In this episode, we hear first from Bill Domanico, a retired New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) driver, who talks about the ways technology changed during his career.    We then turn to Barry...

This Thanksgiving week on the What Does It Profit? podcast we're taking a break from this season's AI theme to extend some thank you-s. Listen in for a re-air of our award-winning Season 3 episode, "Brewing Change: Labor Organizing at Starbucks."   Loyal listeners know that in this episode we left off with the story of the triumph of unionizing efforts in Buffalo, New York, which is where Starbuck...

In this unexpected mini-episode, Dr. Dawn pivots from our regular programming to reflect on President Biden's sweeping executive order on AI. The executive order, passed on October 30, 2023, is the Biden Administration's attempt to reconcile tech companies' demand for profit and unchecked innovation while ensuring the public trust of Americans given the rapid rise of AI in just the past year.   To...

In this episode, Dr. Dawn examines the newest addition to the construction industry's toolbox: AI technology. In this episode, we learn that AI is like a double-edged sword: While AI technology certainly threatens jobs in the construction industry, it's also ushering in a new era of efficiency and safety.   We begin this episode in conversation with Bella McCann, the president of the woman-owned a...

In this episode, Dr. Dawn heads straight into the scene of the action, Paramount Studios in Hollywood, where writers and actors are fighting an existential battle that stems in large part from AI. We look beyond the glitzy Hollywood sets to learn more about how AI threatens the livelihoods of creatives in an industry where most struggle to even make ends meet.    We set the stage for what feels li...

Welcome to Season 4. In this kick-off episode, we travel with Dr. Dawn to the hometown of tech, San Francisco. We start the season this way because we feel that it's important to start in the real world before we venture into the virtual one. Dr. Dawn shares her observations of fear, hope, and heart.  Special thanks in this episode to the Faithful Fools , the quirky souls in the Tenderloin who rem...

Welcome to Season 4 of What Does It Profit. In this season, we're bringing you six stories about the hottest topic on the planet-- artificial intelligence (AI).  Wanting to see firsthand what all the hype is about, Dr. Dawn packs up the WDIP production team and heads to Silicon Valley. In Season 4, we connect the dots between AI and the social and moral value of economic life. We dive into the imp...

We've reached WDIP Summer School 2023. Our final lesson might seem a bit technical, but attention to this detail can make all the difference to the success of a social purpose enterprise. In class today, we learn that how a business is incorporated has a real impact on how a business venture can manage a social mission. Benefit Corporations provide entrepreneurs with a tool to change the culture o...

Welcome to WDIP Summer School. It's not summer school for those who have failed. It's summer school for those who want to catch up, and for those who want to get ahead.  Every two weeks throughout the summer, we'll look back on lessons learned from Season 3 which was all about making change… right where you are. In class today, we explain the circular economy– a vision for a more sustainable, stab...