About

Hi, I am Robin Kaiser-Schatzlein, a freelance essayist, critic, and journalist. I’m at work on a book for Harper about the authoritarianism of the American workplace and how it has made the dream of a democratic society impossible.

The book is called “Tyranny at Work.” It concerns the tools and laws—from “at-will” employment, to coercive contracts, surveillance, employer-driven debt, and mandatory arbitration—that make us uniquely unfree on the job, revealing how much of our lives is spent outside of democracy, and what a different arrangement might look like. The book is a blend of vivid in-person reporting, rich historical narrative, and first person essay and analysis that attempt to clarify America as it is experienced by most working people today, from the highest paid workers laboring under constant surveillance to the most precarious, most overlooked, and lowest wage employees.-

I write about the workplace, economic life, New York City, criminal justice and culture. I’ve written for numerous outlets including the Appeal, the Baffler, Harper’s, Insider, Lapham’s Quarterly, Los Angeles Review of Books, Mother Jones, the Nation, New York magazine, the New York Times, the New York Times Book Review, the New York Times Magazine, the New Republic, and the New Yorker. I grew up in St. Paul, MN and live today in New York City.

In 2020, I was invited to participate in an Atlantic Ideas Festival round table on inclusive economic recovery. My essay “The Emperor’s New Rules” was a finalist for a 2021 Kukula Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Book Reviewing.

Media Appearances

WNPR Colin McEnroe Show, talking about incarcerated content creators on TikTok

Insider‘s The Refresh, talking about the trading platform Robinhood

International Posters of the World (podcast), Ep 10 talking about organizing freelance writers

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Follow me on twitter: @robinsreport

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email me : robin at robinks.com

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robks @ protonmail for encrypted

Represented by Allison Devereux at Trellis Literary Management