With Silicon Valley under the microscope for not living up to its idealistic hype, this week’s episode of Reveal investigates tech companies on the cutting edge that are struggling to solve old-fashioned problems.
We start with worker injuries at Tesla’s electric car factory in California. Alyssa Jeong Perry of KQED in San Francisco and Reveal’s Will Evans examine what caused the company’s safety problems and whether its claims of improvement hold up.
Next, we look at who holds the power in Silicon Valley. Reveal data reporter Sinduja Rangarajan got unprecedented access to demographic data about workers in Silicon Valley’s biggest companies. She found that most tech companies get low marks on diversity, and makes these findings come alive with help from a choir.
Then, Ellen Huet and Aki Ito, reporters with the Decrypted podcast from Bloomberg News, profile one of the women who sued Google over unequal pay. Kelly Ellis and other women say they were paid less than men for equal or similar work.
We end the hour with a discussion among successful women of color in Silicon Valley about why women feel out of place at the office and the shortcomings of company diversity efforts.
Reveal is a weekly radio program produced by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX. For more, check out our website and subscribe to our podcast.
