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Employee of the Month — Society & Culture
Employee of the Month

We spend most of our time working, so what does it take to (mainly) love what you do? How do even the most gifted, talented, intelligent, ambitious, disciplined, imaginative, inventive, and lucky people develop their point of view, find meaning, serve a greater good, deal with work place politics, rejection, finances, boredom, red tape, logistics, and creative roadblocks? What are the perks or enjoyable about forging your own path? Catie Lazarus and her guests delve into beauty, banality and absurdity of work, jobs, and labor.

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Copyright: © Catie Lazarus

Latest Episodes:

ALEX BLUMBERG talks about why he is excited to work with Adam McKay and his bro Adam Davidson Sep 12, 2015

Show notes

When NPR launched it became a vital American resource offering reliable news coverage and nuanced analysis. Its first generation groomed and passed the baton to a remarkable crew, including Blumberg, who worked his way up the ladder at the public radio darling This American Life. There his coverage of the subprime mortgage crisis earned him a Peabody Award, and he went onto produce their television spin-off for Showtime. In our interview, we spoke about how the cable network wanted to continue the TV series, but This American Life opted to quit after two seasons.

Blumberg left his Mothership to co-found NPR Planet Money with fellow Peabody winner and New York Times money columnist Adam Davidson. But as digital media conglomerates and cable news networks and, more recently, podcasts changed the landscape, Blumberg decided to take what he’d learned about finance and journalism and launch his own podcast company.

Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to Employee of the Month and the rest of your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Employee of the Month show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or visit slate.com/employeeplus to get access wherever you listen.

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LISA KRON on writing Fun Home, performing Well, and how winning a Tony Award pays off. Sep 01, 2015

Show notes

It's easy to mistake Lisa Kron for a comedian due to her wry wit, self effacing nature, and comic timing, but Kron is a rarity in the theater word as she doesn't take herself too seriously. An actor and Tony winning playwright, Kron prefers to write and perform characters who can roam emotionally. She grounds comedy in reality and she can depict her own characters and others with equal dexterity and vulnerability.

In our interview, Kron talks about writing her first musical Fun Home with composer Jeanine Tesori, that is based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel. We also discuss The Ver**zon Play, which premiered 2012 Humana Festival, and surprisingly did not turn her into a Sprint customer.

Kron was a downtown darling in New York's theater world, but her show Well put her on the proverbial international map when it was named “Best Play of 2004” by the New York Times, moved to Broadway, and she and her co-star Jayne Houdyshell received Tony nods.

Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to Employee of the Month and the rest of your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Employee of the Month show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or visit slate.com/employeeplus to get access wherever you listen.

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LAILA ROBINS, star of Showtimes's Homeland & TNT's Murder in the First, on her theater habit Aug 19, 2015

Show notes

TNT’s MURDER in the FIRST garnered an Emmy nod, but The New York Times critic Mike Hale wanted to know how Hollywood forgot to nominate LAILA ROBINS for Best Supporting Actress. He is not alone. Laila Robins has steadily worked in film and television for decades since her breakout role in John Hughes’ PLANES, TRAINS and AUTOMBILES with Steve Martin and the beloved John Candy back in 1987. Most recently she did a stint on Showtime’s Homeland. But New York theater directors and producers may not want to share their best kept secret. On Broadway and off, Theater royalty, from the late great Mike Nichols to Pulitzer (and Employee of the Month Award winner) Jon Robin Baitz cast Robins because she consistently delivers her signature subtle, sly, supple, and seductive performances. She’s won the Drama League Award and been nominated for the Helen Hayes and Lucille Lortel Awards, but a consummate worker bee, Robins would rather focus on what’s coming down the pipeline.

Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to Employee of the Month and the rest of your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Employee of the Month show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or visit slate.com/employeeplus to get access wherever you listen.

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JOSH KATZ talks about why he joined the military and the CIA, and terrorism apps. Aug 19, 2015

Show notes

Former CIA agent Joshua Katz first signed up to the army when most of his peers were contemplating whether to they'd go to law or business school. His nice Jewish parents were baffled, but it didn't stop Katz. He went onto serve as a Squad Leader in the Special Operation Command (SOCOM), where he trained his unit for special combat. Despite his parent’s fears, Katz thrived. He says his military stint offered him a nuanced sense of how counterterrorism efforts "are used and misused."

The CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) then recruited Katz and sent him to work on terrorism as an Intelligence Officer in the National Clandestine Service. We spoke about how the secrecy required for the job often reeks havoc on marriage and his decision to invite terrorists into his home with his children for dinner. (I apologize. I should have asked him what food he served them.)

Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to Employee of the Month and the rest of your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Employee of the Month show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or visit slate.com/employeeplus to get access wherever you listen.

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DAVID CRABB, on being a really bad kid and winning The Moth over and over. Aug 07, 2015

Show notes

After winning The Moth, a mecca for those who love storytelling from the last bastion of true freaks and geeks, actor David Crabb spoke to me about transforming his coming-of-age stories as a gay, goth kid in Texas in the 1980's and 1990's into a live one man touring show and debut memoir. David has the rare ability to suck you into 80s pop-culture and the closeted, bigoted world, without sentimentalizing or glorifying debauchery and anomie. His gift as a pithy, hilarious storyteller are as palpable when Crabb tells them live live as they are on the page.

Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to Employee of the Month and the rest of your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Employee of the Month show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or visit slate.com/employeeplus to get access wherever you listen.

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HARI KONDABOLU on making white audiences uncomfortable and working for Hilary Clinton Aug 06, 2015

Show notes

I got my start in life in stand-up, I mean not counting that time when I swam, some say was yanked, out of my mom's womb. Anyway, I miss being in stand up because I don't get to spend enough time with performers, like Hari Kondabolu. (Obviously, your thank you letters begging me to stop softened the blow.")

Anyway, Hari Kondabolu is hilarious. You don't have to know that The New York Times described him as “one of the most exciting political comics in stand-up today,” because you can figure that out yourself when you see his performances on TV shows like Late Show with David Letterman, Conan, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Live at Gotham, and John Oliver’s New York Standup Show. His Comedy Central Presents half-hour television special and writing and correspondent work for Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell on FX were where he really got to flex his proverbial muscles. I say proverbial, because he is a stand up comedian, and I am not sure if "athletic" is a word anyone would use to describe this bundle of joy.

Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to Employee of the Month and the rest of your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Employee of the Month show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or visit slate.com/employeeplus to get access wherever you listen.

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CORN MO talks about why he didn't become a preacher and joined the circus. Jul 31, 2015

Show notes

To know Corn Mo is to love Corn Mo. The singer, composer, and musician Jon Cunningham, who goes by Corn Mo, spoke to me about why he decided not to be a preacher and, instead, joined a sideshow circus. A musician's musician, Corn Mo has performed solo shows, along with his band .357 Lover, Nick Offerman, Ben Folds, Wheatus, They Might Be Giants, and The Polyphonic Spree, when they toured with David Bowie. Once you hear him sing and play the accordion, you'll gras his remarkable range, mischievous wit, and steady hands. So where can you hear Corn Mo? Well, for starters you can hear him perform a couple songs during our interview for Employee of the Month, which was recorded live at Joe's Pub.

Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to Employee of the Month and the rest of your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Employee of the Month show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or visit slate.com/employeeplus to get access wherever you listen.

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ASTROLOGERS Starsky & Cox on readings the planets to the crap couples who don't procreate get. Jul 23, 2015

Show notes

This summer I've walked by numerous psychics fanning themselves as they sit in various dilapidated New York storefronts, leading me to wonder why they don't use their psychic powers to manifest air conditioning. Sure I'll read my horoscope if I'm on an airplane flipping through a magazine, but am wary of self proclaimed experts who overestimate what they know about the world's fate. Yet, I took an immediate shine to astrologers and entertainers Stella Starsky and Quinn Cox, a husband and wife duo, because of their palpable self-awareness, warmth, and especially their dead pan wit. Not only were they not above satirizing metaphysics, they found the budding, often lucrative, field downright absurdly entertaining enough to perm a live show Cosmic Cabaret about their star searching.

Our interview was taped live at the Writers Guild, which was fitting since Starsky and Cox wrote two best selling books Sextrology: The Astrology of Sex and the Sexes and Cosmic Coupling: The Sextrology of Relationships.

Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to Employee of the Month and the rest of your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Employee of the Month show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or visit slate.com/employeeplus to get access wherever you listen.

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ELISA ZURITSKY & JULIE ROTTENBERG started on Sex-and-the-City and now tackling ODD MOM OUT Jul 23, 2015

Show notes

Comedy writers ELISA ZURISTKY and JULIE ROTTENBERG got a big break when they landed a job on the already successful HBO series SEX-And-The-CITY. In our interview, which was recorded at the WGA (Writers Guild), the duo discuss what made working for their boss and SATC's show's head writer Michael Patrick King so fulfilling and, unfortunately, rare in TV writing. They didn't find another boss like him, and when it was time to become head writers on Bravo's Odd Mom Out, they tried to emulate what they had learned. We spoke about there own failed pilots and what it's like to go from childhood friends to go into business with one another.

Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to Employee of the Month and the rest of your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Employee of the Month show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or visit slate.com/employeeplus to get access wherever you listen.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

DAVEED DIGGS is back for Part 2 of our interview Jul 21, 2015

Show notes

DAVEED DIGGS is back! We spoke at the WGA-East (Writers Guild) during his brief vacation between starring in Hamilton at The Public Theater and, now, on Broadway. We talked about everything from east coast vs. west coast rap vs. regional rap, napping to making sure you don't eat anything that may land you in the loo before curtain call, to why he worships his pop. Daveed's mom was such a good DJ, back in Oakland, that she wooed his dad, amongst others, and their shared love of music and life certainly rubbed off on their son. Before or after you catch Daveed on Broadway in Hamilton or with Freestyle Love Supreme or his own albums, you can hear Daveed talk about his journey and music buying habit in Part and Part II of our conversations.

Join Slate Plus to unlock full, ad-free access to Employee of the Month and the rest of your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Employee of the Month show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or visit slate.com/employeeplus to get access wherever you listen.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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