Game Plan

Introducing: Blood River, A New Podcast From Bloomberg Jul 18, 2020

The killers of Berta Caceres had every reason to believe they’d get away with murder. More than 100 other environmental activists in Honduras had been killed in the previous five years, yet almost no one had been punished for the crimes. Bloomberg’s Blood River follows a four-year quest to find her killers – a twisting trail that leads into the country’s circles of power.

Blood River premieres on July 27.

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Introducing Prognosis Season 4: America's Broken Health-Care Costs Jan 13, 2020

Americans are paying more and getting less for their health care than ever before. On the new season of Prognosis, reporter John Tozzi explores what went wrong.

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Coming Soon: Travel Genius Season 2 Oct 25, 2019

Bloomberg's Travel Genius podcast is back! After clocking another hundred-thousand miles in the sky, hosts Nikki Ekstein and Mark Ellwood have a whole new series of flight hacking, restaurant sleuthing, and hotel booking tips to inspire your own getaways—along with a who's who roster of itinerant pros ready to spill their own travel secrets. From a special episode on Disney to a master class on packing, we'll go high, low, east, west, and everywhere in between. The new season starts Nov. 6.

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Introducing "What Goes Up," A New Show From Bloomberg Apr 17, 2019

On this new show from Bloomberg, hosts Mike Regan and Sarah Ponczek speak with expert guests each week about the main themes influencing global markets. They explore everything from stocks to bonds to currencies and commodities, and how each asset class affects trading in the others. Whether you’re a financial professional or just a curious retirement saver, What Goes Up keeps you apprised of the latest buzz on Wall Street and what the wildest movements in markets will mean for your investments.

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Are We More Productive? Mar 04, 2019

For the last eight weeks, Rebecca and Francesca have tested out workplace hacks to see if any of them do what they claim to do: Make people happier, more creative and more productive.

On the finale of Works for Me, the hosts talk about which methods worked, which ones didn’t and if the self-improvement industry is just a bunch of snake oil.

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Get Better At Email Feb 25, 2019

This week, Francesca takes on the bane of every corporate worker’s existence: email. Drowning in email and regularly missing important messages, she attempts to attain inbox zero through rigorous discipline.

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Fight Less At Work Feb 18, 2019

Francesca and Becca try their first joint experiment: They set out to learn how to be a better team. To help them in their quest, they find a management coach who specializes in pairs. After undergoing the workplace equivalent of couples therapy, the two attempt to use their newfound self-awareness to solve a podcast production conflict.

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Find a Mentor Feb 11, 2019

Ah the elusive mentor. We’re all supposed to have one to succeed in our careers, but how do you actually get one? This week, Becca goes on a journey to find a career guide.

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Make Meetings Better Feb 04, 2019

Meetings are easy to hate: they clutter our calendars, eat up our time, and often accomplish very little besides getting more meetings scheduled. Francesca consults with a raft of meeting experts in an attempt to reform one of her more aimless meetings: a weekly team check-in.

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Train Your Brain to Focus Jan 28, 2019

Like many people, Becca has trouble concentrating on one task at a time, with emails, chats, and social media distracting her from her work. But, she's determined to get focused. For a week, she commits to a regimented focus routine recommended by concentration aficionado Cal Newport to see if she can train her brain to stay on track.

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Become a Morning Person Jan 22, 2019

Francesca tries to fix the most important part of the day: Her mornings. To get more out of the precious hours before work, she tests out a scientifically proven method called R.I.S.E.U.P. But, will her rigorous new morning routine be the key to a better day?

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We're Back (With a New Show!) Jan 14, 2019

Francesca and Rebecca are back with their new podcast "Works For Me." In each episode, one of the two becomes a human guinea pig as she tries to solve a specific work-related problem. We've dropped the first episode here for you to enjoy! If you like it, you can subscribe to "Works For Me" on Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Introducing "Works For Me," A New Podcast From Bloomberg Jan 09, 2019

On this new show from Bloomberg, hosts Francesca Levy and Rebecca Greenfield navigate the productivity industry by way of their own experiences. In each episode, one of the two becomes a human guinea pig as she tries to solve a specific work-related problem. Using the advice of so-called productivity experts, the duo tackles obstacles like ineffective to-do lists, overflowing inboxes and unruly meetings. Follow along with their attempts, insights and missteps, and maybe find a solution that will work for you.

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Travel Genius, a New Show From Bloomberg Nov 08, 2018

What’s the most sure-fire way to get a flight upgrade? How can you find the best, secret local restaurants by asking just one question? What's the first thing you should do when you get into a hotel room? On Bloomberg's new podcast Travel Genius, we'll give you those answers—and plenty more—as hosts Nikki Ekstein and Mark Ellwood quiz the world’s most experienced globetrotters for their tried-and-true travel hacks. Listen weekly, and even your work trips will go from a necessary evil to an expert art form. Plus, you'll be padding out your bucket list with dreams of amazing future vacations.

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Prognosis, a New Show From Bloomberg Nov 02, 2018

Where does a medical cure come from? 100 years ago, it wasn't uncommon for scientists to test medicines by taking a dose themselves. As medical technologies get cheaper and more accessible, patients and DIY tinkerers are trying something similar—and mainstream medicine is racing to catch up. Prognosis explores the leading edge of medical advances, and asks who gets—or should get—access to them. We look at how innovation happens, when it fails, and what it means to the people with a disease trying to feel better, live longer, or avoid death.

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BONUS: The Pay Check, Episode 6 Jun 13, 2018

So far, the pay gap has proved pretty impossible to solve. But most of us aren’t just going to sit here and accept that we’ll be paid less than men for our entire careers. In the last episode of The Pay Check, host Rebecca Greenfield talks to Gaby Dunn, who hosts her own podcast called Bad With Money, about what she's learned from the many people she's sought advice from on her series. Jordyn Holman also travels to Seattle for the Get Money, Get Paid conference, hosted by a group called Ladies Get Paid, and learns some important lessons about negotiation—and collaboration.

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BONUS: The Pay Check, Episode 5 Jun 08, 2018

The pay gap goes way deeper than just men's and women's salaries—that's why just paying women more doesn't solve the problem. In this episode, Claire Suddath talks to Salesforce.com Inc., the San Francisco software company that began doing pay equity audits in 2015 and has found a pay gap every single year. Host Rebecca Greenfield looks at another software company, Fog Creek Software, Inc., and how radical pay transparency is helping equalize salaries. And Ellen Huet reports on Adobe Systems Inc., which says it's closed its pay gap but is still trying to tackle inequities around parental leave that can hold some women back.

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BONUS: The Pay Check, Episode 4 May 30, 2018

Can companies be shamed into closing the pay gap? A new law in the U.K. requires companies with more than 250 employees to publicly disclose their gender pay gaps. More than 10,000 companies reported by the April deadline, revealing differences in median pay of as much as 60 percent in some extreme cases. Now it’s up to companies to decide what, if anything, to do about that. This week, Suzi Ring talks to one company that reported a wide gap, and how that’s changing the way it hires and pays women. Then, Claire Suddath tells us about a different pay gap law in Iceland, how that came to be and if it’s working.

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BONUS: The Pay Check, Episode 3 May 23, 2018

Skeptics say the gender pay gap is explained by choices women make about family and career. Rebecca Greenfield unpacks those arguments with the help of professors from Harvard and Georgetown. Then, Jordyn Holman goes inside a contract negotiation between Netflix and the comedian and actress Mo’Nique that went south.

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BONUS: The Pay Check, Episode 2 May 16, 2018

There was a brief moment 150 years ago when it looked like women might get equal pay for equal work. But they didn’t—and that set the standard for decades to come. On this episode of the Pay Check, Rebecca Greenfield revisits a Civil War-era sex scandal that set the stage for the pay gap debates we're having right now. She talks to Claire Suddath about how a century of rules and laws saying what women can and can’t do have made it easy for companies to pay women less.

One big reason the gender pay gap still exists is because of a phenomenon called "occupational sorting"— the idea that some jobs are dominated by women, and those jobs often pay less. That didn't just happen. Claire and Rebecca sort through how history determined the market value for women. Then Claire talks with Lilly Ledbetter, whose fight for gender equality at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. seemed like an open and shut case—until a loophole in the law denied her justice.

Visit us at https://www.bloomberg.com/the-paycheck

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BONUS: Listen to The Pay Check May 09, 2018

In the first episode of The Pay Check, we go deep on pay discrimination. Host Rebecca Greenfield tells us about an equal pay fight in her own family. We take you inside a gender discrimination case against Goldman Sachs that’s been unfolding for over a decade. And we look at how companies magically make their pay gaps disappear—without actually paying women more.

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Our Pettiest Office Complaints, Compiled Dec 06, 2017

In our last episode of Game Plan before a hiatus, we cleared our backlog of Half-Baked Takes; the weekly segment in which we give voice to some of our most passionate ideas before thinking them all the way through. Come for the take-down of guessing your co-worker’s age, stay for definitive rulings on the value of sheep and movies.

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How to Get Dressed for Work Nov 29, 2017

We'd like to think that what we wear to work doesn't matter, but tons of research has found that it does. Yes, people judge you based on your outfit choices. The right work wear can also make us feel good and enhance our performance. One study found that participants dressed in suits negotiated for more money; another found that formal wear facilitates creative thinking.

This week on Game Plan, Rebecca and Francesca learn how to dress well for work. Chris Rovzar, the editorial director of Bloomberg Pursuits, our luxury and lifestyle vertical, joins the show to answer all their work fashion questions.

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Is Your Personality Right For Your Job? Nov 22, 2017

Employers are increasingly putting prospective workers through personality tests. The idea is that certain characteristics lend themselves to certain types of work, and that a straightforward job interview can’t identify them. Rebecca and Francesca talk about how much personality matters at work, and the pitfalls of testing workers. Guest Melissa Dahl discusses her book “Cringeworthy: A Theory of Awkwardness,” and whether awkward types can get a leg up in the workplace.

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Anita Hill on Fighting Sexual Harassment Nov 15, 2017

The initial allegations against Harvey Weinstein have opened the floodgates for what seems to be an unrelenting stream of sexual harassment claims against the powerful. But this isn’t the first time the country has had to reckon with inappropriate behavior in the workplace. In 1991, Anita Hill testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee about the alleged harassment of Clarence Thomas, who was ultimately confirmed to the Supreme Court. This week, Francesca and Rebecca look back at the decades since her testimony and talk about what has and hasn’t changed. We hear from Hill, who Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait interviewed at Bloomberg’s “Year Ahead” conference, about how we can take the current moment and create safer workplaces.

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The People Who Say They Can Save Your Career Nov 08, 2017

Career coaches claim to help navigate everything from nailing a tough interview to figuring out what you want to do with your life. Rebecca and Francesca sat down with prominent career coach Vicki Salemi to talk through their own career transitions and find out what really goes on in these sessions.

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How to Trick Yourself Into Retiring a Multimillionaire Nov 01, 2017

Most of us are really bad at thinking about and planning for our retirement. Only a third of Americans contribute to employer-provided 401(k) accounts. And around half have no retirement savings at all. There are lots of forces working against us when it comes to saving up for the future. But never fear, the behavioral economists can save us. See, it’s not our fault that we’re bad at saving: We’re wired to make bad retirement decisions. At least that’s what Steve Wendel, a behavioral scientist, us. Steve teaches us how to take advantage of our shortcomings as humans, and trick ourselves into becoming super savers.

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The Harvey Weinstein in Your Industry Oct 25, 2017

After dozens of women accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault and harassment over decades, some singled out the Hollywood power structure for criticism. But in recent years, harassment scandals, inequities and patterns of abuse and mistreatment have been uncovered in nearly every field. There are common themes across disciplines, but they each require unique solutions. Becca and Francesca talk to Beth Alpert Nakhai, an archeologist and professor who is working to make digs safer for women.

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What It’s Like to Be Gay at Work Right Now Oct 18, 2017

By some measures, at the end of last year LGBTQ workers in the U.S. had more protections than ever before. The Trump administration, however, has proven to be hostile to the LGBTQ community. All of these big picture policy changes trickle down into people’s every day lives. Francesca and Rebecca dig into what it’s like to be an LGBTQ worker in 2017. The hosts of Nancy, a WNYC Studios podcast about queer life, join them to talk about the decision to come out, how to navigate discrimination, and other unique challenges of being gay in the office at this moment in time.

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How to Survive a Conference Oct 11, 2017

Work meetings at hotel bars, making small talk with total strangers, and waiting in line to use the restroom: It's that time-tested corporate ritual, the conference. This week, Rebecca and Francesca went to a conference to report on the $14 billion conference industry. Attendees shared their thoughts on conferences, panels, and compulsory networking.

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Why a Digital Detox Won't Solve All Your Problems Oct 04, 2017

All the pings and buzzes of the office make it difficult to get anything done—let alone our best, most creative work. But the solution is not a digital detox. There are ways to overcome creativity blocks at work that don't involve an off-the-grid hermit lifestyle. Francesca and Rebecca discuss how to do their best, most creative work in a world that makes it hard to take the time to do deep thinking. Instead of a detox, their guest Manoush Zomorodi, author of the book "Bored and Brilliant," offers moderate and realistic solutions to get the creative juices flowing.

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The End of the Job as We Know It Sep 27, 2017

Francesca and Rebecca examine the increasingly tenuous relationship between workers and companies. Lots of people in the gig economy, contract workers, and even salaried employees enter a system that promises freedom from corporate America but doesn’t offer much in the way of comfort and advancement. Guest Rick Wartzman, author of “The End of Loyalty: The Rise and Fall of Good Jobs in America” explains about how we got to this point.

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How to Work with Someone You Hate Sep 20, 2017

One of the unfortunate realities of office life is having to work with people you don’t like. How do you deal with having to do your job alongside a bona-fide work jerk? Rebecca and Francesca talk to Robert Sutton, author of the No Asshole Rule and the Asshole Survival Guide about the best coping strategies for working with the worst of the workplace.

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Hard Work Isn’t The Reason For Your Success Sep 13, 2017

Silicon Valley types like to say the quality of your work is all that matters, and good ideas rise to the top, no matter whom they come from. But why do the people who rise to the top in a meritocracy tend to be the ones with all the advantages? Francesca and Rebecca talk to Ryan Carson, the chief executive officer of Treehouse Island Inc., a coding school, about why he once believed in meritocracy and then—suddenly—didn’t.

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Yes, Your Political Beliefs Can Get You Fired Sep 06, 2017

We live in politically polarized times, and those tensions are seeping into the workplace in all sorts of ways. In liberal enclaves like Silicon Valley, conservatives feel isolated and judged at the office. People on the other end of the spectrum feel attacked by the administration's policies—and have no problem telling their bosses their views. For some, the increased political chatter in the office has led to increased hostility and stress. And it can have even more extreme consequences: The wrong political view could even get you canned.

When do political beliefs become too extreme for the workplace? Can what you believe ever get you fired? Rebecca and Francesca talk to Art Leonard, a labor law and first amendment expert, about what can and can't get workers in trouble. Does the First Amendment protect us all or does at-will employment mean anyone is at risk of termination at any time for anything they do? The short answer is: It's complicated.

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You Don’t Really Need a Mentor Aug 30, 2017

People just starting out in their careers get one piece of big advice: Find a mentor. And that’s true—research has found the many benefits of having a career guru. But finding the right person often feels stressful and forced. Instead of getting anxious about finding that special someone, it’s time rethink the idea of mentors. Francesca and Rebecca talk to Phyllis Korkki, the executive editor of the story-telling app Hooked, about how to seek out unconventional mentors.

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Can Boomers and Millennials Get Along? Aug 23, 2017

In 2015, Millennials became the biggest generation in the American workforce. Last year, they overtook Boomers as the biggest generation overall in the U.S. These changing demographics have led to some tension at work for people both old and young. Rebecca and Francesca speak with Karen Wickre, a 66-year-old Silicon Valley veteran, about what it’s like to work among the youngs. We can all learn to get along!

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There's an Easier Way to Change Careers Aug 16, 2017

Maybe you're dying to change careers—or being forced to because your job is going to a robot—but it just seems impossible to start over in a new field. There might be a better way. Francesca and Rebecca look at the skills-based approach to job switching; a way to assess what unrelated jobs may be unexpectedly similar to yours. We talk to Claire Cain Miller, a New York Times reporter who embarked on a major data study to cross-reference thousands of skills and jobs.

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What to Do About Your Office Crush Aug 09, 2017

Workplaces can be the perfect breeding ground for crushes, but there are major downsides to getting romantic with colleagues. Francesca and guest host Jenny Kaplan talk to author and advice columnist Cheryl Strayed about the advice she gives lovelorn workers—and how to handle yourself when friendships at work grow into something more.

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Why Your Office is Always the Wrong Temperature Aug 02, 2017

Rebecca and Francesca head to an office that lets everyone control their own desk temperature using a phone app. We'll see if it's possible to resolve the annual office air conditioning wars, or whether someone's always doomed to be uncomfortable.

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How to Cope With a Coworker Who Interrupts Jul 26, 2017

Is there anything more annoying than coworkers who interrupt you? Research has shown that women get interrupted more than men. Author and Professor Chris Karpowitz talks to Francesca and Rebecca about how that affects the kinds of conversations and decisions that happen at companies, and what can be done about it.

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Yes, Your Commute Really Is Getting Worse Jul 19, 2017

A big part of our work lives takes place not in the office, but instead stuck in traffic or on a crowded train en route to and from our jobs. The average American spends 25 minutes getting to work, up from 21.7 minutes in 1980—and people living in major metropolitan areas have it much worse. We are spending a lot of time shuttling between work and home. These increasingly long rides to work are stressful, frustrating and bad for our health and the economy. Is there a way to make commuting tolerable again? Rebecca and Francesca talk to Richard Florida, an urban studies theorist and author of The New Urban Crisis about how traveling to our jobs got this bad and the piecemeal initiatives that are attempting to make our commutes to work a teeny bit better.

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Your Company Could Be Tricking You With Perks Jul 12, 2017

Among a certain set of companies competing for talent, there’s been a perks arms race. Health benefits and vacation days aren’t enough to sweeten a good salary anymore. Companies now offer to pay off student debt, subsidize egg-freezing services and provide cash stipends for employees to go on vacation. Francesca and Rebecca talk about the state of cushy workplaces and whether anything can compensate for a job you just don’t like. Jason Fried, chief executive officer and co-founder of Chicago-based software company Basecamp joins us to discuss all the things he’s done to keep employees happy (and keep them from departing for the coasts) and what is—and isn’t—working.

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Let's Hear It For Petty Office Gripes Jul 05, 2017

Each week on Game Plan, Francesca and Rebecca share their half-baked takes, a segment where they talk about their not super well thought out ideas and opinions on work and work related activities. In the spirit of the summer slack off, this week Francesca and Rebecca outsourced that task to their colleagues to present the very first half-baked take marathon. In it, they talk about important office topics like office footwear, the case for coffee in the afternoon, and an innovative idea to make open offices more habitable.

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Are You Sure You're Working Enough? Jun 28, 2017

Venture capitalist Keith Rabois set off a Silicon Valley firestorm earlier this month about what it takes to succeed. When another tech investor wrote on Twitter that working on the weekends and burning out isn’t cool—and doesn’t work—Rabois fired back. “Totally false,” he said, suggesting that dogged dedication (usually measured by long hours) was the only way to reach the top. Lots of people objected to his assessment. Francesca and Rebecca speak with one of Keith's critics, startup founder and engineer Sara Mauskopf, about why she thinks flexible hours and a healthy work-life balance can actually make your product better. Then we check in with Keith to see whether he has revised his opinion.

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Here's How to Actually Live and Work Abroad Jun 20, 2017

So, you want to move to Canada? Or New Zealand, or Australia or another English-speaking, culturally adjacent country to the U.S. that doesn’t have our current president. After every election, Americans threaten to get out of dodge—and 2016 was no different. Rebecca and Francesca talk about the realities of starting over in another country and what it takes to actually pick up and move your life to a new place. They talk to author Suketu Mehta, who grew up in India and came to America when his family immigrated to New York in the 1970s. In a recent piece for the New York Times, Mehta urged more Americans to consider the expat life, arguing that it’s not just a fantasy of the elite.

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Is Working From Home Too Good to Be True? Jun 13, 2017

Letting employees occasionally work from home makes them happy, can save companies money and there's research to suggest it could help close the gender pay gap. But some companies, like IBM, say remote work encourages habits that hurt collaboration, innovation and productivity. Last month the company told hundreds of thousands of employees they had to report to headquarters. So what's the future of work? Guest Christopher Mims, a technology columnist and a 10-year veteran of working from home, explains why he believes companies can't curb the trend of working from a distance.

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It's Not Just You—Everyone Feels Like a Fraud at Work Jun 06, 2017

Fake it 'til you make it! That's the career advice many of us get upon first entering the workforce. Since you're a newbie, and won't understand lots of parts of your job, just pretend — and one day, all of a sudden, you'll be a bona fide expert. It's not bad advice, and research has even found that it works. But what happens when you still feel as if you're faking it, long after you've actually made it? Francesca and Rebecca discuss the phenomenon known as imposter syndrome. Many competent (often female) professionals go through their entire careers with the sneaking suspicion that they'll be revealed as frauds — even when they're more than qualified. Is there a way to combat this haunting feeling? Dr. Suzanne Koven, a primary care physician at Mass General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, explains how she recently got over her own imposter syndrome and helps Francesca and Rebecca deal with their own inner work demons.

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The Expert's Guide to Not Freaking Out About Student Debt May 30, 2017

Student debt doesn't only affect students and recent grads. It’s a burden that can follow people through their working life and influence every financial and career decision they make. It’s easy to feel panicked by doom-and-gloom news, so to separate worries from reality, Francesca and Becca talk with Bloomberg's Shahien Nasiripour, who covers student debt and education policy.

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How to Talk About Trump (And Other Tough Topics) at Work May 23, 2017

Workers used to leave their opinions and feelings at home. No talking at work about politics, religion or other personal stuff was the rule. Not anymore! Companies ask us to bring our whole selves to the office. But for those of us averse to sharing with our coworkers, the current political climate and social media have made it impossible to resist. These days, many of us talk to coworkers about Trump, our personal lives or something we just spotted on Facebook. But is putting it all out there necessarily a good thing? This week on Game Plan, Rebecca and Francesca discuss whether we need to revisit what's acceptable to say at work and how to say it. If we're going to talk about sensitive, divisive and uncomfortable topics at work, we need better rules and etiquette. To help us, we turn to Ijeoma Oluo, the author of “So You Want to Talk About Race." She provides practical tips for having productive conversations at work about a topic both political and personal: race.

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The Art of Listening to Music at Work May 17, 2017

Francesca and Rebecca talk about when listening to music out loud, and with your co-workers—becomes a job requirement. They report from various scenes of communal workplace listening, including retail chains, where employees have to listen to whatever somebody at headquarters decided fits a store's vibe, and a public relations firm that's experimenting with a cooperative DJ-ing environment. Even in operating rooms, many surgeons use music to focus on their high-stakes work, but one—Becca's dad—bans tunes except during the holidays. They look at the effect of music on our productivity and happiness at work, and ask whether forced-music regimes can make people's jobs better, or if jamming should remain a solo pursuit.

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Real Talk About Disabilities and Work May 09, 2017

We're used to seeing accessible bathrooms and wheelchair ramps at the office, thanks to the Americans with Disabilities Act. But in many ways, employers still don't go far enough to accommodate people with disabilities. The unemployment rate is two times higher for disabled people than the general population. Those who do find work get paid less, making 63 cents on the dollar, on average. And, of course, there's workplace bias. Francesca and Rebecca talk to Gideon Goldberg, a software developer at The Guardian with cerebral palsy about what it's like to work with a disability. He talks about all the small things he has to consider in his working life that most people don't. Like: How his limited spacial awareness makes navigating to job interviews slightly more difficult. But, thanks to accommodations he's entitled to by law in his native U.K., he doesn't have to worry too much about doing his job.

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The Working Family Has Changed. Why Hasn't the Workplace? May 02, 2017

Families in America used to look pretty similar. Moms in the 1970s were far more likely to stay home with the kids, while dads went to the office and paid the bills. That paradigm has shifted dramatically. Now, more households have two working parents than ever. America also has more single-parent households — and more female breadwinners. Yet the rules and norms of office life — commuting to the office, spending most of the weekday there, and working late if you have to — haven’t adapted to the realities of modern families. In addition to running on a rigid 9-to-5 schedule, many offices don’t offer paid family leave and still punish working women. On this week's show, we discuss that disconnect. Guest Ashley Ford, a senior features writer at Refinery29, polled 130 millennial women to find out how they felt about making more money than their male partners. She talks to Francesca and Rebecca being a female breadwinner in a world that isn’t sure it's ready for that.

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The First Day of the Rest of Your Job Apr 25, 2017

First days at a new job fall on a continuum. There are the days-long orientation with each minute planned out with activities, powerpoints, and trainings. And then, sometimes you get to work on day one and the manager has no idea what to do. He gives you 20 minutes of paperwork and the next eight hours are spent pretending to work on tasks that don't exist. What happens on a first day can color the rest of a worker's experience at a job -- so much so that companies spend an average of $4,000 per new hire. A good experience can keep new hires around long term, which saves companies money on retention. But what makes a good first day? Rebecca and Francesca find out by taking a field trip to Great Neck, New York, to visit Northwell Health, which prides itself on its orientation.

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Here's Why Your Company Is Still So White Apr 18, 2017

If throwing money at problems solved them, much of corporate America would look like a rainbow coalition by now. Companies have poured millions into diversity initiatives with the aim of recruiting and retaining more women, minorities and people from underrepresented groups. But a lot of what they’ve done hasn’t worked. On this week’s Game Plan, Francesca and Rebecca ask whether companies are doing enough—and doing the right things—to diversify their staffs. Ellen Pao, former CEO of Reddit, joins to talk about Project Include, a diversity consultancy she co-founded, and how it is tackling the complex problems that keep many workforces largely male and white in a new (and maybe better?) way.

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Here's What Office Workers Need to Get Healthier Apr 11, 2017

From smoking-cessation programs to step challenges, companies do all sorts of things to push employees toward getting healthy. Why? Sick workers are expensive. If companies can create healthier workforces, they save tons of money on health insurance costs. These efforts have helped spawn a $6 billion dollar corporate wellness industry, but they aren't really working. People don't care enough to participate, and many wellness initiatives don't have a good return on investment, studies have found. Is there a better way to stay healthy at work? Joanna Frank, the founding executive director of the Center for Active Design, joins Game Plan to talk about a growing movement to create workspaces that quietly manipulate workers into healthier behaviors. Sign us up!

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Your Work Friends Are Faking It Apr 04, 2017

Work friendships are a complicated dance. Research suggests we’re more inclined to undercut our colleagues than the people in our personal lives, and a big factor in what makes us feel close to work buddies is their sheer physical proximity. So are we all conniving frenemies on the job, or can we actually form meaningful bonds? Guest Jessica Methot, an expert on workplace relationships at Rutgers University, discusses the value of even surface-level work connections, and drops some surprising science about which coworkers exhaust us the most (hint: it’s not our enemies).

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It's Fine to Obsess over March Madness at Work Mar 28, 2017

For many office workers, March means hours spent surreptitiously watching college basketball games and obsessively checking in on brackets. Even if you're not a March Madness fan, we all have our own workday distractions. (The Olympics, anyone?) Even when there’s nothing major going on, with Slack, an unrelenting news cycle, and open offices, getting through an entire workday without some kind of distraction is pretty much impossible. For the easily distracted—which is all of us, right?—we have some great news: not all distractions are bad. Gloria Mark, an informatics researcher at UC Irvine, studies workplace interruptions and her research has found that being distracted doesn’t necessarily destroy productivity. You’re welcome. (Corrects name in first sentence of second paragraph.)

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Learning to Love (or at Least Live With) Email Mar 27, 2017

Lots of us suffer from email overload, but few have taken such dramatic steps to address it as Dan Ariely. He’s a behavioral economist at Duke University who was so buried by emails he wrote software to help triage his messages, and uses a two-page auto-response to redirect all but the most important ones.\u0010\u0010Rebecca confesses this week that she has 2,026 unread emails. That number might send you into a cold sweat or sound kind of low, depending on what kind of email personality you have. Email is such a universal enemy that strict deletion regimes like Inbox Zero have gained cult-like followings, and office chat apps like Slack hope to make it obsolete. Despite these efforts, email isn’t going anywhere, so you may as well learn to deal with it. And there are some things about email you may come to like—or even love.

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You're Using Your Standing Desk Wrong Mar 14, 2017

Everyone's heard the new mantra: Office life can be hazardous. Staring at a screen all day ruins your eyes. Poor air quality deprives your brains of energy. Worst of all, sitting is the new smoking. In an attempt be healthier and more productive in our cubicles, workers and workplaces have hacked the office to encourage better patterns of behavior. There's no more popular hack than the standing desk. But does it live up to the hype? Rebecca and Francesca seek answers from Mark Benden, director of the ergonomics center at Texas A&M, whose research has found that we're using standing desks wrong. With his help, we learn how to get the most out of standing (and sitting) at work.

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It's OK to Cry at Work — Sometimes Mar 07, 2017

The conventional wisdom on crying at work is: Don't do it. Executive coaches advise clients to hold back tears in times of distress. But what about when there's no stopping the waterworks? It happens. Many of us have had emotionally overwhelming moments at the office, and you know what? It's totally acceptable. That's right. It's OK to—sometimes—cry at work. This week, Francesca and Rebecca tackle the taboo of tears in the office, arguing that crying at work, in moderation, is natural and can even be beneficial. They're joined by crying experts Susan Orlean and Sarah Thyre, who host Crybabies, a podcast about which movies, books, and music make people cry. Together they discuss strategies for making the most out of a good office cry.

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How to Escape a Toxic Workplace (Correct) Feb 28, 2017

When Susan Fowler, a former engineer at Uber, told Human resources she was being sexually harassed, the company did nothing about it, she said. When she discovered other women had reported being harassed by the same manager, HR still did nothing. Last week, in a viral blog post, Fowler painted a picture of a toxic work environment where management ignores bad behavior and punishes people like Fowler. Her story is not unique to Uber, or the technology industry. This week on Game Plan, Francesca and Rebecca dive into toxic workplaces, how people cope with them, and how they finally get out. Maureen Sherry, a former trader at Bear Stearns joins them to talk about the bro culture of Wall Street, where she endured sexual harassment for 12 years before finally getting fed up and leaving. (Correct spelling of Bear Stearns in final sentence.)

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Everybody Burns Out Eventually. Here’s How You Can Fight It Feb 22, 2017

Do you suffer from exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficiency at work? Does the idea of getting up and going into the office fill you with dread? You might be suffering from burnout. While we tend to throw around the term, it's a specific psychological state. People who work in high-stress, high-stakes professions, such as medicine, are the most at risk. Yet even we cube-dwellers can overextend ourselves and reach a breaking point. This week on Game Plan, Rebecca and Francesca seek advice on how to avoid burnout from Wharton professor and author of "Give and Take" Adam Grant. He explains how to be a "giver" at work without losing enthusiasm and energy for your job.

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Does Your Job Have to Protect You from Trolls? Feb 14, 2017

The phrase “workplace safety” conjures images of factory floors or corny training videos that warn office workers against spilling hot coffee. But as work has begun to bleed into our personal and online lives, what it means to stay safe on the job has become murkier. On this week's Game Plan, Francesca and Becca talk to Lauren Duca, a freelance writer for outlets that include Teen Vogue. Duca's articles and TV appearances have made her a target of severe online harassment, so she must work while considering whether bigoted, violent e-mails and social media posts constitute legitimate threats or mere words. We wrestle with how—and whether—employers can look out for workers when the threats to employee safety are virtual.

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How to Make Bureaucracy Work for You Feb 07, 2017

In an ideal world, hard work and good ideas would be enough to succeed. In reality, getting things done at work requires playing the game, navigating office politics and persuading people to buy into your vision. This week on Game Plan, Francesca and Rebecca get some tips and tricks from Derek Thompson. He's the author of "Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction," a book that explores the popularity of all sorts of things -- from politicians to art and music. He explains how to use his insights to get ahead at work.

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The Truth About Coming Back From Maternity Leave Jan 31, 2017

People must take extended leaves of absences from work for many different reasons. The luckiest workers get paid for their time off, and have employers that make leaving and coming back as easy as possible. But for even the most privileged, reentering the workplace after a bunch of time off isn't entirely seamless. One of our own, Game Plan co-host Francesca Levy, knows the realities of coming back very well. She's just back from a months-long hiatus for her own maternity leave. For her, in some ways, coming back has been easier than expected. In others, it hasn't: Pumping, anyone? Anna Sale, the host of "Death, Sex & Money," joins the show to talk about what she calls a "visible" leave and how she balances work and parenting.

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Productivity Hacks Are Dumb. Try This Instead Jan 24, 2017

Most people wish they were more productive at work. To feed this never-ending desire for increased efficiency, an entire industry peddles so-called productivity hacks that promise quick fixes to snuff out procrastination and boost output. Unfortunately, most of this advice amounts to snake oil. This week on Game Plan, Sam and Rebecca take a novel path to solving their productivity problems: The subconscious. Gary Latham, an organizational psychologist at the University of Toronto, joins them to discuss his decades of research into how subtle influences to our psyches can help us get more done at work. Productivity here we come!

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Lean In Isn't Working. Now What? Jan 18, 2017

Four years ago, Sheryl Sandberg started a national conversation about women in the workplace with her wildly popular manifesto, Lean In. In it, she urged women to "lean in" to their work lives in ways that don't come naturally: Speak up in meetings and ask for raises, for example. For many, this advice was refreshing, even radical. Unfortunately, a lot of it doesn't work, research has found. Sandberg herself has even walked back some of her claims, admitting it would be hard for a single mother to follow her advice. No matter what women do, they can't seem to get ahead. They still make up less than 20 percent of c-suite jobs, and the pay gap persists. So, what now? This week on Game Plan, Sallie Krawcheck joins Sam and Rebecca to offer her advice on what women can do to succeed. In her new book, Own It, she argues that women don't need to act more like men to get ahead at work. Being a woman, she says, is more than enough.

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How to Really, Truly Keep Your Workplace Resolutions Jan 10, 2017

Every year we come back from the holidays and resolve to be our best workplace selves in the coming year. Some of us make specific New Year's resolutions, such as keeping a tidier desk. Others simply try to start the year off on their best foot. And then, about a month later, we slide right back into our old habits. Let's make this year different! On this week's Game Plan, Sam and Rebecca make their own workplace New Year's resolutions. To make sure they stick to them, they enlist the help of Gretchen Rubin. Rubin, of "The Happiness Project," who also wrote a book about habits, "Better Than Before." She offers strategies on behavior change and making 2017 a year of good habits.

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How the Workplace Will Change in Trump's America Dec 27, 2016

New year, new workplace. That's our motto here at Game Plan. And with a new government administration, many workers' lives will likely change this coming year. But how exactly? Will Donald Trump follow through on his promise of a federal paid maternity leave law? And will automation continue to gut jobs or can we keep humans employed? This week, on the final episode of 2016, Sam and Rebecca talk about some of the biggest changes coming to a workplace near you in 2017. See you next year!

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The Clean Person’s Guide to a Messy Desk Dec 20, 2016

Are you a messy person who yearns for a cleaner desk? Or maybe you're a neat freak looking for ways to avoid contracting the disgusting germs of your less considerate co-workers. No matter your preferences, you probably have to sit near and around people with different cleanliness levels. It's not always pretty, but especially in open offices, it's reality. Jolie Kerr is here to help with your neuroses. Kerr is a cleaning expert and the host of the "Ask a Clean Person" podcast, and she joins this week's Game Plan to help Sam and Rebecca with their messy desks. Okay, just Rebecca's messy desk. Sam is a fellow clean person. Jolie shares her tips and tricks for any office dweller looking to live their cleanest, healthiest and best work lives.

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Actually, the Office Dress Code Is Alive and Well Dec 13, 2016

In the modern office, workers dress in a wider variety of ways than ever. The phrase business casual means a lot more than Dockers and a button-down, and more and more workplaces allow for jeans, hoodies, fashion sneakers and other casual looks. The change in attitude to work wear has even led the New York Times fashion columnist to declare The End of the Office Dress Code. We'd like to respectfully disagree. The office dress code hasn't gone anywhere, it just looks different. This week on Game Plan, Sam and Rebecca talk about the new work dress code. People continue to put on uniforms to signal who they are and what they do -- it's just less codified. Sam and Rebecca talk to three guests who do just that, using their clothing to get what they want at work.

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Robots Aren't Coming For Your Job. They're Already Here Dec 06, 2016

"Automation anxiety" usually reflects expectations of an era in which robots will do all the work, leaving us 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 researcher at Harvard, joins them to talk about what kinds of skills and labor the robots can't take. Hint: Be human.

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How to Be a Good Loser Nov 29, 2016

For about a decade, failure has been cool. Facebook's motto "move fast, break things" became the mantra of the entire technology industry and a failed startup was a badge of honor for its success stories. This year, however, losing has taken on a whole new meaning, and for millions of voters, it has real consequences. For those of us not used to losing, or who ignore the small failures of our daily work lives, how do we deal with or learn from our lowest moments? Sam Weinman joins the show to talk Sam and Rebecca through the dark times. Weinman's forthcoming book, "Win at Losing: How Our Biggest Setbacks Can Lead to Our Greatest Gains," is a manual for getting the most out of career lows and other life bungles. For anyone feeling like a loser these days, listen up.

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The Greatest Movies About Work Nov 22, 2016

Election season has been emotionally challenging for many of us. For the lucky, Thanksgiving will be a much-needed break from the relentless news cycle. For most, it will be a turkey-laden political minefield. Will wine make things better or worse? Unclear. Nevertheless, Game Plan is here to distract you. This week, Sam and Rebecca head to the movies, specifically, movies that tell some universal truths about life at work. "Office Space," of course, is widely considered the single greatest piece of art ever created on the subject of the workplace. But, there are a few other films that we think deserve a place in the office movie hall of fame.

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Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Is as Bad as Ever Nov 15, 2016

President-elect Donald Trump has been accused of sexual harassment and, during his campaign, used language that would be considered inappropriate in the workplace. Considering he's now the highest-profile example of leadership in our country, we got to thinking about the state of sexual harassment in the workplace. Many of us want to believe we live in a post-Mad Men era, in which most people know not to harass each other at work. As it turns out, in many ways we don't. Claire Suddath, a reporter at Bloomberg Businessweek, spent the last few months talking to almost 20 women who experienced various forms of harassment at work. Harassment, she learned, is still incredibly common. "When I started asking people about this, I got a flood of responses unlike anything that I have ever gotten for any other story that I've worked," she said. Join us in this week's episode as we explore just how far we have -- and haven't -- progressed.

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The Right (and Wrong) Way to Quit Your Job Nov 08, 2016

Quitting a job is a delicate process. It's effectively a breakup. And much like ending a romantic relationship, there's no ideal way to do it. The person getting dumped (the employer) will feel hurt. But there are a few things that departing workers can do to soften the blow -- and hopefully not ruin the possibility of a future relationship. It's an issue that's especially relevant now, because Americans have been voluntarily leaving jobs at the highest rate since the 2008 recession, according to the Labor Department. For tips on how to leave a job with grace, Sam and Rebecca enlist the help of an expert: Reyhan Harmanci, the soon-to-be former editor-in-chief of Atlas Obscura, who has left her fair share of jobs over the years. She about talks tricks of the trade and the key to quitting in style.

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Inside the Hardest Job Application Process in the World Nov 03, 2016

With less than one week until the election, Rebecca and Sam shamelessly turn their attention to the only thing anyone wants to talk about: the campaign. What does this political season have to do with life at work? Running for president, it turns out, is a lot like a super intense, hyper-scrutinized, multi-year job application process for the most important position in the world. Like any job search, it starts with networking (campaigning), ends with a job interview (debate), and is, in and of itself, a full time job. This week, Sam and Rebecca talk to four campaign managers, who worked this election season with Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Bernie Sanders, and Rand Paul about what it's like to apply for the job of president of the United States of America. They explain how running for president is the hardest job application process in the world. And, how like the traditional hiring process, it could be improved.

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How to Have the Perfect Meeting Oct 25, 2016

Ah, meetings, that productivity suck we can't manage to escape. One survey estimates that they cost us an astonishing $37 billion in lost productivity. And yet they continue: Workers spend 15 percent of their time in meetings, another survey found. This week on Game Plan, Sam and Rebecca talk about their meeting pet peeves, from how hard it is to be heard as a woman to dealing with annoying characters and unnecessary showmanship. There must be a better way -- Chris White, formerly of Goldman Sachs, knows the secret. In fact, White banned meetings altogether during his two years at Goldman. Now that White runs his own company, he gets stuff done by holding meetings on his own terms. Join us as White imparts the secret of how to run the perfect meeting.

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Why You Really Should Read Your Employment Contract Oct 18, 2016

From the pesky, far too long, constantly updating terms of service agreements to our similarly verbose employment agreements, nobody reads the fine print. Want an example? A survey of 1,000 people in the U.K. found that more than 90 percent hadn't read their employment contracts. Yet the stuff we sign when we start a job can come back to bite us. Take the non-disclosure agreement, which has come up in multiple high-profile stories this year. One woman accusing Roger Ailes of sexual harassment may face legal action for breaking an NDA by telling her story to the press. Trump campaign volunteers also sign an NDA agreeing not to "disparage publicly" Trump or anything related to him -- even after they stop working for him. The Republican nominee has hinted that he might bring that policy to the White House. So it's time to get smart about the world of employment contracts. And because both Sam and Rebecca are guilty of skimming their employment agreements, they seek the help of a labor and employment lawyer, Brett Gallaway. He breaks down the standard terms of a boilerplate contract and what signing that dotted line really means.

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No Passion, No Problem: How to Find a Job You Like Oct 11, 2016

For the person stuck in an unsatisfying career, changing course can seem almost impossible. We're told to follow our dreams, as if that will somehow lead to success and happiness. If only it were that easy. For most of us, following a "passion" is straight-up bad advice: Not everyone can succeed, or even earn a paycheck, as an artist, musician or basketball player. But many of us don't have a singular passion. In that case, how do we pivot out of an ill-fitting career? Where do we even start? Sam and Rebecca, still toiling away in their own first careers, turned for advice to Francesca Hogi. She's a successful matchmaker and dating coach who began her career as a corporate lawyer. "We do have this conversation around passion in our culture," Francesca says. "That puts a lot of pressure on people to feel like, `I've got to quit my job, burn that bridge, go follow my heart and then I'll be a billionaire.' It doesn't work that way most of the time and that's okay."

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Keith Olbermann's Curious Course to Career Success Oct 04, 2016

Keith Olbermann has a habit of abrupt exits from some pretty high-profile professional gigs. "He didn't burn bridges here, he napalmed them," Mike Soltys, an ESPN executive, said after the commentator left the network for the first time back in 1997. Even so, despite leaving on atrocious terms, Olbermann returned to ESPN not just once, but twice. That's what's so remarkable about his career: Olberman manages to get hired back by the very places he publicly pilloried. How does he do it? This week, Olbermann joins Sam and Rebecca to talk about how he succeeds on his own terms. Olbermann, who left ESPN for the second time last year is back again, this time with a new web series, "The Closer," over at GQ. He talks with Sam and Rebecca about his workplace philosophies and how they've served him through what many would consider an extremely successful career.

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Why Getting Fired Hurts So Bad Sep 27, 2016

There are a series of practical reasons that losing a job hurts: It cuts you off from a source of income, it interrupts your work history, and then you have to go on a soul crushing job hunt. But, getting laid off also has an emotional sting that can color the rest of your career.\u0010\u0010This week Sam and Rebecca talk about why getting let go from a job often feels like a break-up, especially as the workplace becomes the center of our social lives. They're joined by Brittany Ashley, who this summer had a very public firing from Buzzfeed, where she wrote and starred in some of the company's popular videos. She talks us through the day she got canned, not only from a job that she liked, but from a place around which she had built her social life. The experience has changed the way she views the employer-employee relationship, she says.\u0010\u0010But, maybe leaving a job doesn't have to be that painful. To make the process of getting fired less emotionally shocking, Sam and Rebecca suggest building up a "F*ck Off Fund" for your heart. In addition to having cash saved off for when times get tough, workers can build up an emotional nest egg. Keep in mind: Companies, ultimately, don't actually care about you.

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Are You Successful? Sep 20, 2016

Listening to this show will not help you make a million dollars or retire early. We don't have 10 easy tricks for how to climb the corporate ladder. Instead, it will probably make you question your career aspirations. Doesn't that sound fun?\u0010\u0010This week, Sam and Rebecca get angsty and talk about what success means to them. Is it money? Fame? Happiness? To do some good in this world? It's a complicated question into which this week's guest, Chris Gethard gives us some insight. Gethard, an actor, comedian, and writer, whom you may recognize from his roles on Broad City and The Office has made a career out of failing. As friends and fellow comedians moved to Los Angeles to find success, Gethard stayed in New York to work on a public access TV show and remain relatively unknown. Decades later, he is finally finding success on his own terms. Gethard starred in this summer's critical darling, Don't Think Twice and has a new show opening off-Broadway this October.\u0010\u0010Gethard has mixed feelings on success. As he puts it, "success oftentimes is a headache that brings pressures with it."

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Can We Fix the Hiring Process, Already? Sep 13, 2016

Job-hunting is a horrible process that no one much likes, except perhaps the headhunters. Applying for a job can feel as if you're sending a message in a bottle into a black hole. Even if your application makes its way to a human being, it might warrant just a five-second glimpse. The tiniest detail (or a spilled cup of coffee) can disqualify you entirely. The view from the other side isn't much better. Hiring managers say that many applications are garbage and employers are having a hard time finding the right people. It's a broken system that Kieran Snyder, this week's guest, is trying to fix. A linguist by training, Snyder runs Textio, a company that uses machine learning to create better job listings for companies. Snyder talks about common mistakes employers are making, and how a few tweaks to a job listing can result in better and more diverse hires.

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How to Go Into Business With a Friend -- And Stay Friends Sep 06, 2016

Friends and business don't mix: A Harvard Business School study found that pals make the most unstable founding teams. There's no better example than Facebook. Two college buddies start a website, and then, millions of dollars and users later, they hate each other and get entangled in a nasty lawsuit. Facebook ended up thriving, and we got an entertaining movie about the juicy drama, but a friendship was sacrificed. It doesn't have to be end that way. Claire Mazur and Erica Cerulo were best friends when they started the online retailer "Of a Kind" in 2010. Six years later, the friendship and company are both intact. Bed Bath and Beyond acquired the shopping site last summer and Claire and Erica still see each other almost every day. How do they do it? It's work. They share the secrets with Rebecca and Sam on this week's show.

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Being Pregnant Has Affected My Job Performance Aug 30, 2016

There's a lot of talk about balancing kids and work, but what about the nine months before the baby comes? This week, Francesca and Rebecca talk about going on maternity leave. That's something Francesca has some expertise in because. . . She's pregnant! In her last episode before heading out on leave, Francesca talks about the career anxieties and excitement that she's had for the better part of a year, as she prepares to leave her job until December. She also admits something semi-scandalous: That being pregnant has affected her job performance. Doctors' appointments and the sheer biology of gestation, she admits, can get in the way of office life.Jordan Salcito, the beverage director at Momofuku, joins the show to talk more about how work and pregnancy can be almost diametrically opposed. Not only does Jordan's job involve a fair amount of alcohol, but in the middle of studying to become a master sommelier found out she was pregnant. She talks about the challenges of balancing her career and the realities of pregnancy.

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The Career Path Is (And Has Always Been) a Lie Aug 23, 2016

Remember back when people would stay at a company long enough to get a gold watch, a time before entitled millennials decided they didn't feel like working at the same boring job for their entire career? Those were the good old days, right? Wrong. This week, Francesca and Rebecca challenge the conventional wisdom that America's favorite generation doesn't have its life on track. The demise of the traditional career path might have more to do with student debt and the changing corporate priorities than a personality trait of an entire generation of workers. Plus, older folks have also taken circuitous routes to career success. This week's guest, Mary Norris, has the resume of a hipster: Milk truck driver, costume shop clerk, cheese factory worker and web series hostess with a cult following. But she's no millennial. Since 1978, Norris has been with the New Yorker magazine, where she's a respected copy editor and host of the web series Comma Queen. While she eventually settled down, she took her own sweet, not always logical time getting to where she is today.

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That Time I Burned a Bridge Aug 16, 2016

Just about everyone has fantasized about quitting a job in grand style -- telling off a boss, for example, or tearing up a work nemesis's cubicle. Mostly, we hold the urge in check because we don't want to offend people from whom we might need stuff in the future. This week, Francesca and Rebecca tell a tale of bridge-burning that took place close to home. At a previous job, Rebecca very publicly insulted someone who later became an important figure in her work life. Did it hurt her career? She confronts the very man she insulted: This week's guest, Bloomberg's own Joe Weisenthal.

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Let's Talk About Slack, Baby Aug 09, 2016

Don't know what Slack is? Then you probably don't work in an office. The communication tool is like e-mail, but better -- and it's taking over workplaces across America. In this week's episode, Francesca and Rebecca break down the enterprise software phenomenon: How it works, who uses it, and why people are so obsessed with it. Dayna Evans, a writer for New York magazine, who has written about her complicated relationship with Slack, joins them to also discuss some potential downsides of chatting with coworkers all day.

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Maybe You'll Get Ahead by Being Nicer at Work Aug 02, 2016

Some people abide by the Steve Jobs' theory of getting ahead at work: Be a jerk. In fact, the workplace in general is getting meaner, at least by some metrics. People have fewer friends than they used to and have less regard for their coworkers. But there's a case to be made for politeness at work. Francesca and Rebecca talk to the writer Paul Ford about how being a polite person has advanced his career. Plus, they learn a fun party trick.

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Money Talks Jul 26, 2016

How much money do you make? It's a question that makes a lot of people uncomfortable. Like politics and religion, our salaries are something we don't like to talk about with anyone but our closest friends and family. It can get awkward. Yet pay secrecy can lead to wage discrimination, especially against minorities and women. So, in this week's episode Francesca and Rebecca put it all out there. They talk about money -- how we get what we deserve and what we do with it once we have it. Joining them is former Citigroup and Bank of America wealth-management executive Sallie Krawcheck, the founder of Ellevest, a service that helps women invest their money, who walks them through how to get the most out of their salaries.

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Why We Hate Office Jargon So Much Jul 19, 2016

In this inaugural episode, Rebecca and Francesca talk office jargon--meaningless terms and phrases like synergy, circle back, and touch base that we're all guilty of using. Where do these words come from? How do they spread? And why do we hate them so much? To talk about this workplace pox, Rebecca and Francesca talk to comedian Sara Schaefer. Schaefer spent five years working in a law firm, which inspired her to write the web series Day Job. They discuss lawyer jargon, journalism jargon, comedian jargon, and even Schaefer family jargon. In the end, they learn to accept jargon's place in their lives.

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Welcome to Game Plan Jul 12, 2016

You spend more time at your job than anywhere else. In their new show, Bloomberg's Rebecca Greenfield and Francesca Levy take a close look at the way we live our lives at work, from how we started speaking office jargon to the strategic value of being nice to your coworkers. Here's a taste of what you'll hear each week. Stay tuned for the first full length episode, which debuts Wednesday, July 20.

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