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On this week’s episode of the Waves, Hanna, June, and Noreen debate the role (and utility) of HR in the #MeToo era. Can a department designed to minimize the company’s liability really protect its employees? And if not, are there other, better ways to change the workplace culture? Then, they discuss the child sex trafficking charges brought against multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein, examining how his wealth and connections allowed him to operate mostly unimpeded for so long—and how female reporters have been fighting to hold him to account for years. Finally, the hosts hold a spoiler-filled book club for Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Fleishman Is in Trouble. It’s a smart, gripping subversion of the modern divorce novel—but is there something conservative about its conception of marriage and power?
In Slate Plus: Is The Lion King sexist?
Other items discussed on the show:
• “The Problem With HR” by Caitlin Flanagan in the Atlantic
• “Women Take a Hit for Reporting Sexual Harassment, but #MeToo May Be Changing That” by Chloe Grace Hart in the Conversation
• Jillian Medoff’s This Could Hurt
• “Multimillionaire Financier Jeffrey Epstein Charged With Child Sex Trafficking” by Molly Olmstead in Slate
• Julie K. Brown’s three-part investigation of Epstein in the Miami Herald
• “I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003” by Vicky Ward in the Daily Beast
• Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Fleishman Is in Trouble
• “I’ve Picked My Job Over My Kids” by Lara Bazelon in the New York Times
• “Almost Half of American Women Fear Becoming Bag Ladies, Study Says” by Walter Hamilton in the Los Angeles Times
Recommendations
June: The Korean drama Sky Castle
Hanna: Russell T. Davies’ Years and Years and forming an article club
Noreen: Ben Lerner’s The Topeka School and Anna Burns’ Milkman
This podcast was produced by Danielle Hewitt. Our production assistant is Alex Barasch.
Please remember to like our Facebook page. Send your comments and recommendations on what to cover to thewaves@slate.com.
