Finally, this weekend's This American Life's podcast is now available and I urge you to listen to it.
If you own an iPhone, iPad, Kindle, Wii, PlayStation 3, or Xbox 360, I encourage you to listen to the following "This American Life" podcast, about the company, Foxconn, that makes those items. In China, 430,000 employees work at one facility. 430,000. Think about that.
Mark Sumner briefly mentioned the podcast on Saturday, when it aired live:
Mike Daisey's audio piece on This American Life is one of the hardest things I've ever listened to, and one of the most thought provoking. I will never think about the concept of "hand made" the same way again.
but there were just five, six comments about the piece.
But, please, go now. Download the podcast. Listen to the podcast. And, let me know what you think.
Go here to find the podcast:
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/...
Mike Daisey was a self-described "worshipper in the cult of Mac." Then he saw some photos from a new iPhone, taken by workers at the factory where it was made. Mike wondered: Who makes all my crap? He traveled to China to find out.
Mike Daisey performs an excerpt that was adapted for radio from his one-man show "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs." A lifelong Apple superfan, Daisey sees some photos online from the inside of a factory that makes iPhones, starts to wonder about the people working there, and flies to China to meet them. His show restarts a run at New York's Public Theater later this month. (39 minutes)
By the time you're done listening, you will find yourself googling the following words and phrases, to learn more:
Foxconn
Shenzhen, China
Special Economic Zones
Apple's Supplier Responsibility webpage
Listen to the podcast and be forever moved...to tears, to outrage, to action.
And, I found a great mini-documentary where actual Chinese workers are interviewed.
http://vimeo.com/...