Yesterday before the typhoon hit I was able to go on a lovely nighttime run through Tokyo while listening to talks for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

First was a great discussion with Melinda Roth on how US securities law applies to family offices and potential reforms on the Business Scholarship Podcast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HACXGaMbqSM

Next was a fantastic paper by Wesley W. Koo, Miaomiao Zhang, Prithwiraj Choudhury on temporal distance and user interactions on a digital platform. The authors convincingly demonstrate that time zone differences still have a huge impact on interaction likelihood despite the virtual nature of these sites, with implications for consumer platforms as well as global businesses. Highly recommend https://sms.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smj.70105

Next was “Towards a Decent Labour Market for Low-Waged Migrant Workers,” edited by Conny Rijken and Tesseltje de Lange. This is an informative collection of academic papers focused on refugee labor conditions in Europe. I particularly liked the chapters on (the basically non-existent) refugee labor rights in the Netherlands (de Lange) and the Chowdury forced labor case in Greece (Rijken). As with other books like this, you're best off selectively reading chapters on topics you're interested in https://www.routledge.com/Towards-a-Decent-Labour-Market-for-Low-Waged-Migrant-Workers/Rijken-Lange/p/book/9781041189657

Next was “Remote Work and Labor Institutions,” edited by Julia López López. This is a fantastic academic collection, providing a wide variety of up to date research on different aspects of remote work and labor regimes. While I highly recommend the whole book, I especially liked the chapters on the societal value of workplace ties and the challenge of supporting them in a remote environment (Cynthia Estlund) and (perhaps unsurprisingly) the chapter on remote work in Japan before, during, and after the pandemic (Takashi Araki). There are a lot of other great chapters as well, and given how quickly research like this can age I'd suggest reading this soon if you're at all interested in workplace strategy https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/remote-work-and-labor-institutions/EDB665144406C03D07B30684285532E6

Last was “Weathering” by Arline Geronimus. This is an absolutely vital and extremely depressing book, with Geronimus powerfully building up the case that weathering, the accumulation of environmental and structural violence against underrepresented people, creates measurable physiological harm that is impossible to fix through individual efforts. The breadth of the case is impressive, further illustrated with poignant case studies. Importantly, she also shows the complex nature of seemingly straightforward issues, such as teenage pregnancy, when analyzed through the weathering lens. There is probably a bit too much time spent on discredited behavioral economics solutions/findings, and given that this was written in 2023 the book frankly gets even more depressing when, for example, ICE raids during the first Trump administration are contrasted to what we're seeing today. For that reason and more, if you're in or interested in the US or public health, this is required reading. Highly recommend https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/dr-arline-t-geronimus/weathering/9780316258180/