The History of America’s Entrepreneurial Work Ethic
On this episode of American Prestige, Erik Baker on the deep-seated roots of US hustle culture.

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Pull yourselves up by your bootstraps, rise ‘n grind, and find your calling as we welcome historian Erik Baker to the program to talk about his book Make Your Own Job: How the Entrepreneurial Work Ethic Exhausted America. The group explores the Protestant work ethic and Jeffersonian yeoman farmer, influential figures like Henry Ford and Frederick Winslow Taylor, the seeds of entrepreneurialism in Harvard Business School, how it came to be seen as an American value during the Cold War, “entrepreneurial modernity,” postwar liberalism’s failure to provide meaningful work for the professional-managerial class, self-help writers, and much more.
Be sure to check out Issue Fifteen of The Drift, where Erik is a senior editor.
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Ford assembly line workers in 1914.
(Sjöberg Bildbyrå / ullstein bild via Getty Images)Pull yourselves up by your bootstraps, rise ’n’ grind, and find your calling as we welcome historian Erik Baker to the program to talk about his book Make Your Own Job: How the Entrepreneurial Work Ethic Exhausted America. The group explores the Protestant work ethic and Jeffersonian yeoman farmer, influential figures like Henry Ford and Frederick Winslow Taylor, the seeds of entrepreneurialism in Harvard Business School, how it came to be seen as an American value during the Cold War, “entrepreneurial modernity,” postwar liberalism’s failure to provide meaningful work for the professional-managerial class, self-help writers, and much more.
Be sure to check out Issue Fifteen of The Drift, where Erik is a senior editor.
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Jolly Saint Nick is giving the U.S. government lots of coal this year, a boon to fossil fuel companies. In this week’s news: Thailand–Cambodia fighting resumes despite Trump’s ceasefire claim (1:52); an Israeli airstrike in Gaza threatens what remains of the ceasefire (6:00), and a winter storm devastates Gaza as Israel continues blocking shelter materials and aid (9:10); Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council prepares to declare a new government amid Saudi threats (12:08); the U.S. approves the largest-ever arms package to Taiwan (16:10); China reportedly unveils a prototype advanced chipmaking tool (18:18); the Bondi Beach attack in Australia has possible Islamic State links (19:48); a New America Foundation report documents extensive U.S. airstrikes in Somalia (22:01); M23 announces its withdrawal from Uvira in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (24:49); Ukraine peace talks continue as the war nears its fourth year, including disputes over Kupiansk (27:59); Chile elects far-right president José Antonio Kast (32:23); the U.S. escalates pressure on Venezuela with military deployments and a partial oil blockade (33:27); and Congress passes a $901 billion National Defense Authorization Act, including a repeal of Syria’s Caesar Act and changes to Selective Service registration (41:40).
Listen to our special with Annelle Sheline on what’s going on in Yemen.
Don’t forget to listen to our Chinese Prestige miniseries.
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