Today, when we think of craft-based products, we tend to think of high end goods: Ferraris, Ferragamo shoes, and fine wines. But are the crafts merely reserved for the super wealthy, and what can we learn from the spirit of craftsmanship in a modern mechanized world? In this episode of the In-House Ethicist, John Paul Rollert takes up the modern legacy of craftsmanship as embodied in Oxxford clothes, a century-old Chicago based maker of high end, handmade men's garments. He also explores how craftsmanship has often been seen as an antidote to the unseemly elements of cheap goods and mechanized labor.

You don't need to be a card carrying communist to appreciate the familiar tension between employees and management, but what happens when your boss is an app? In this episode of the In-House Ethicist, John Paul Rollert explores the ways in which Uber has tried to perfect the art of app based management. He catalogues the ways in which the company nudges and controls its drivers and discusses how their efforts portend a world where management techniques will increasingly be automated.

Money can buy you a lot of nice things, but what about when its power goes beyond the ability to purchase a penthouse or a Porsche? When money allows us to buy non-material goods – such as status, power, or personal advancement – how does it change the way we look at ourselves and how we decide to spend our days? In this episode of the In-House Ethicist, John Paul Rollert draws on a wide array of economists and philosophers to explore what it means to live in a world where money can seemingly buy everything. He considers not only how this changes our understanding of non-material goods, like honor and self-esteem, but also how it shapes the stories we tell ourselves about what really constitutes our self-interest.