“Automation anxiety” usually reflects expectations of an era in which robots will do all the work, leaving lowly humans unemployed, broke and bored. For many, that reality isn’t some not-so-distant future -- it’s happening right now. Automation has already gutted manufacturing jobs in America and is threatening transportation, warehouse work and routine white-collar work, including aspects of finance, law and computer programming.

This week, Sam and Rebecca talk about how robots are changing the workplace and what it means for the future of the job market. Will jobs even exist in the future? Well, yes -- they’ll just be different. David Deming, a professor at Harvard and researcher at the National Bureau of Economic Research, joins them to talk about what kinds of skills and labor the robots can’t take away. Hint: Be human.

To listen to this podcast, click here. (Run time 25:20)