What the night janitor knows about you. And what you should know about her
As armies of white-collar workers funnel out of office buildings at the close of their working day, many janitors are just beginning theirs, preparing for long shifts that must be finished while their cities sleep. Lessons from the Night follows Maia Wallner as she reflects eloquently on the nature of her low-paying, under-appreciated and often solitary job, and the particular window it gives her into the psyches of those she cleans up after but rarely sees. Once an Arabic translator in her native Bulgaria, where she worked with world leaders, political turmoil forced her into exile while on assignment in Melbourne, Australia. Still living in Melbourne, she now gets through the lonely nights by finding humour and quiet dignity in her work.
videoDemography and migration
The volunteers who offer a last line of care for migrants at a contentious border
30 minutes
videoThinkers and theories
The prison abolitionist who dares to envision a world without ‘unfreedoms’
16 minutes
videoDemography and migration
In California’s farmlands, immigrant workers share their stories of toil and hope
17 minutes
videoHome
Life moves slowly in a Romanian mountain village, shaped by care and the seasons
13 minutes
videoEconomics
A tour of New York’s gaudiest neighbourhood with the Marxist geographer David Harvey
13 minutes
videoSocial psychology
What happened when a crypto scam swept over a sleepy town in the Caucasus
18 minutes
videoGender
A catchy tune explains the world’s ‘isms’ – according to your mum doing the laundry
5 minutes
videoTechnology and the self
The commodified childhood – scenes from two sisters’ lives in the creator economy
14 minutes
videoFairness and equality
There’s a dirty side to clean energy in the metal-rich mountains of South Africa
10 minutes