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Voices In Time

1650 | York

Goodbye to the Bourgeoisie

Daniel Defoe on life in the vital center.More

Voices In Time

c. 30 BC | Lombardy

Work Ethic

Virgil on the relentless efforts of early man.More

Voices In Time

1714 | London

The Hive Mind

Bernard Mandeville’s fable of the bees.More

Voices In Time

1976 | Pagsanjan

Set Decoration

Behind the scenes of a filmmaker’s apocalypse.More

Voices In Time

216 | China

4:30 Feeling

Escaping office work drudgery.More

Voices In Time

1789 | England

Sound Investment

Olaudah Equiano estimates his value.More

Voices In Time

806 | China

Sow and Reap

The not-so-simple life of a farmer.More

Voices In Time

1776 | London

Divide and Conquer

Adam Smith’s parable of the pin maker.More

Voices In Time

458 BC | Rome

Public Servant

Cincinnatus, from farmer to dictator to farmer.More

Voices In Time

1899 | Chicago

Spending Time

Thorstein Veblen considers the nonproductive consumption of time.More

Voices In Time

1525 | Bavaria

Serfs Up

Peasants refuse to be pawns in the game of the life.More

Voices In Time

1621 | Oxford

The Devil’s Tools

Robert Burton on the disease of idleness.More

Voices In Time

1923 | New York City

Trading Commodities

Preventing damage to the pocketbook and to the soul.More

Voices In Time

1839 | Stonegappe

Hands Full

Charlotte Brontë overworked and overwhelmed.More

Voices In Time

1988 | Austin, TX

Price Adjustment

Calculating the cost of pain and suffering.More

Voices In Time

c. 1548 | Geneva

Assigned Positions

John Calvin explains how to find your vocation.More

Voices In Time

1802 | Manchester

Satanic Mill

Robert Southey observes the unsettling status quo.More

Voices In Time

c. 335 BC | Henan

Skilled Labor

A Chinese butcher masters his craft.More

Voices In Time

c. 1330 | Kyoto

Cost-Benefit Analysis

Yoshida Kenkō on getting one’s priorities in order.More

Voices In Time

1888 | London

Decent Help

George Moore remembers the life of a servant.More

Voices In Time

1778 | Paris

Clear-Sighted Ambition

Mozart does not care to wrestle with dwarfs.More

Voices In Time

c. 445 BC | Athens

Public Works

The architecture of Periclean Athens.More

Voices In Time

c. 1923 | Paris

Mutual Interest

The courting of Marie Curie.More

Voices In Time

c. 530 | Monte Cassino

Stitches in Time

“Idleness is the enemy of the soul.”More

Voices In Time

c. 1750 | Ingolstadt

A Single-Minded Scientist

Mary Shelley on the arduous quest to reanimate matter.More

Voices In Time

1828 | North Carolina

A Case of Sexual Harassment

Avoiding the predations of one’s enslaver.More

Voices In Time

1861 | London

Power Points

Mrs. Beeton and the art of household management.More

Voices In Time

1851 | Atlantic Ocean

Between Sharks and Spades

Queequeg at the end of a monkey rope.More

Voices In Time

1844 | Paris

What Is Human Becomes Animal

Marx’s theory of alienation.More

Voices In Time

1992 | Chicago

Always Be Closing

David Mamet’s death of a real estate salesman.More

Voices In Time

3761 BC | Eden

Labor Contract

God’s punishment for pursuing low-hanging fruit.More

Voices In Time

1935 | New York City

Unemployment Benefits

Down and out in New York City.More

Voices In Time

c. 321 BC | India

Instruction Manual

Mastering the techniques of ancient Indian surgery.More

Voices In Time

2010 | Los Angeles

Quality Control

A guide to being naturally beautiful at work.More

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