Rough Translation

Rough Translation
CATEGORY: Society & Culture
Our expectations of work are changing. Whether you're a cubicle-dweller, side gig hustler, or blue-collar breadwinner, we're all experiencing some major changes to the idea of what a workplace should look and feel like. Can the culture of work change too? In this latest season of Rough Translation, we'll be traveling the globe to see how people are shifting their relationship to their jobs. From the mysterious man who inspired a "slacker revolution" in China to an American trans woman trucker changing the rules of the road, and from to the new codes of small talk in the Brazilian metaverse, to the ways that a war can change how Ukrainians look at work (and how work can change how they see a war). We explore what happens when international workplace norms are challenged both by local customs and homegrown rule-breakers.
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You're@Work: The Right Persona for the JobWho are you at work? In this episode, two stories of people who really commit to embodying their work selves. The result? New realms and new personalities.
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Failing@Work: Epic Fails & Failure EpicsMany of us think we can't share our stories of failure until we've reached success. Some Mexico City entrepreneurs started a club to change that, and the world took notice.
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Stuck@Work: Your Country's Brand Is Escape, But You Can'tWhen Portugal forbade bosses from contacting employees after hours, international media jumped at the chance to cover the new law. Portuguese workers were oddly quiet. Why?
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Lunching@Work: When Eating at Your Desk Is ForbiddenIn 2021, France suspended a law that forbids eating lunch at work. We talk to an American teacher relieved to see it go and a French historian determined to bring it back.
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Slackers@Work: A Song for the ExhaustedA video ricochets across Chinese offices, and a scooter thief becomes an icon for brewing discontent. Why is a thief who says he's tired of working viewed by the Chinese state as such a threat?
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New Season: @Work. Starting June 1.We're back @Work. The new season of Rough Translation will tell surprising stories from workplaces and work cultures around the world.
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The Good RussiansHundreds of thousands of Russians are leaving Russia. They're facing an uncertain welcome abroad. Poet and writer Linor Goralik joins us to read from "Exodus 22," her uncomfortably frank conversations with Russ…
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The Scarf and the SnuffboxWhat can a blank piece of paper, four ballerinas, a scarf and snuff box mean in Russia? A conversation with Russian Anthropologist Alexandra Arkhipova about how anti-war protestors resist the war in Ukraine thr…
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Letter of UnhappinessWhen Naira calls her parents back home in Russia to talk about the war in Ukraine, they treat her as an outsider and a threat. She finds a way to break through the propaganda wall, with inspiration from a chain…
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The Culture FrontWhen protecting a language is used as justification for war, how can its speakers fight back? A conversation with Russian speakers of the diaspora who are rethinking their relationship to language, identity, an…
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Fighting Words In UkraineVladimir Putin joined the KGB at age 23. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy got his early training in a no less Soviet institution–the world of competitive comedy. We update our 2019 episode about a high-s…
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Presenting 'TED Radio Hour': Work, Play, RestThe past few years have shaken the fundamental ways we live. It's... disorienting. But it's also an opportunity to reexamine how we spend our time. In this episode from TED Radio Hour, speakers investigate evol…
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May We Have This Dance?A jazz dance born in Harlem in the 1920s ends up in a tiny Swedish town. What happens when Black dancers try to bring the Lindy Hop home?
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Moms In TranslationAn Irish journalist discovers she belongs in a place she's never been. A 6-year-old boy decides he's from another country. Stories about finding home far from home.
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Stories About Finding Home Far Away From HomeAn Irish journalist discovers she belongs in a place she's never been. A 6-year-old boy decides he's from another country. Stories about finding home far from home, and what it means for family.
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Tasting At A DistanceYou can zoom around the world through sight and sound, but you can't taste at a distance, right? Stories about what happens when we try.
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Home/Front: Marla's ListMarla kept a detailed account of Iraqi civilians harmed by war. How did she recruit people in the U.S. military to help them? And what toll did it take on her? Part 2 of the story of Marla Ruzicka. You can find…
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Home/Front: Marla's WarMarla Ruzicka didn't belong in a war zone. Nobody in Afghanistan knew what to make of her. Until Marla started to solve a problem that no one thought could be solved.
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Home/Front: Rebels In The ValleyTwo worlds: dress uniforms and foosball tables. The military and Silicon Valley used to work hand in hand. Now, why won't big tech build them a new gonculator?
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Home/Front: Battle BorneAlicia's situation raises questions about the VA's caregiver program. And a new diagnosis changes everything for Matt. How will Alicia and Matt start healing their respective wounds, borne out of different batt…