Fake work and Y2K w/ Leigh Claire La Berge episode artwork

EPISODE · Jul 10, 2025 · 46 MIN

Fake work and Y2K w/ Leigh Claire La Berge

from Politics Theory Other · host Politics Theory Other

In 1998 Leigh Claire La Berge was hired by a major communications conglomerate, where she worked alongside employees of the soon to be disgraced Arther Anderson (the auditor of companies involved in high profile corporate fraud such as WorldCom and Enron). Leigh Clare and her colleagues were tasked with working on the problem of Y2K - also known as the millennium bug - when it was predicted that the turn of the millennium would cause computer systems to fail - with potentially catastrophic consequences. Based on her experience of working for the conglomerate, Leigh Claire wrote a book: Fake Work: How I Began to Suspect Capitalism is a Joke.We talked about the absurd nature of the conglomerate's work on Y2K, the socio-cultural atmosphere of the late 1990s, and about how Leigh Claire's experience of becoming a Marxist affected her perspective on the diary she wrote whilst working for the company. Finally, we touched on the extent to which the book fits within the tradition of Workers' Inquiry.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jul 10, 2025

Embed this episode

NOW PLAYING

Fake work and Y2K w/ Leigh Claire La Berge

0:00 46:37

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Politics Theory Other?

This episode is 46 minutes long.

When was this Politics Theory Other episode published?

This episode was published on July 10, 2025.

Can I download this Politics Theory Other episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!