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Checking in on self-checkout

Close-up of weighing bananas during self-checkout at supermarket.
Grace Cary / Getty Images
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Moment RF
Close-up of weighing bananas during self-checkout at supermarket.

This hour is about self-checkout technology and its impacts. We'll debate its pros and cons, look at the history of self-service at grocery stores, and talk about the future of technology in stores.

Plus, we'll learn about the psychology of "weak ties," and the value of talking to strangers in places like the checkout aisle.

GUESTS: 

  • Christopher Andrews: Associate Professor and Chair of Sociology at Drew University, and author of The Overworked Consumer: Self-Checkouts, Supermarkets, and the Do-It-Yourself Economy
  • Stew Leonard Jr.: President and CEO of Stew Leonard’s, a regional supermarket chain headquartered in Connecticut
  • Gillian Sandstrom: Senior Lecturer in the Psychology of Kindness at the University of Sussex 

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

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Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired on December 20, 2023.

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Lily is the senior producer for 'The Colin McEnroe Show'. She's also a producer of the narrative podcasts 'Generation Barney' and 'Generation Gilmore Girls.' She first worked at Connecticut Public as an intern in 2014. She has previously worked for WBUR, KUNC and as a producer for the New England News Collaborative's weekly show 'Next'. Lily can be reached at ltyson@ctpublic.org.