The Gist Noam Scheiber on the "Class Confidence" of the Overqualified
Apr 6, 2026
Noam Scheiber, New York Times reporter and author of Mutiny, examines the rise of college-educated workers organizing at companies like Apple and Starbucks. He discusses how shifting job markets and dashed expectations fuel collective action. Conversations focus on the idea of
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Mike's NPR Time And A Half Union Story
- Mike Pesca recounts NPR's union deal that paid time-and-a-half after 12 hours and sometimes flat personal services contracts.
- He contrasts that with his experience filing accurate timesheets and receiving travel pay during long events like the World Series.
WNYC Union Protected A Troubled Engineer
- Pesca describes a poorer union experience at WNYC where the union fought to reinstate a problematic engineer who later attacked someone.
- He uses this to illustrate unions can protect bad employees and fail workers in some workplaces.
College Sell Created A Crisis Of Expectations
- The college boom created a gap between expectations and labor-market reality where degrees became less valuable as supply rose and demand shifted.
- Noam Scheiber traces a generation post-2009 who were sold college as essential yet faced worse returns and worker frustration.
