"Get comfortable with people hating you," Sarah Treem, who created THE AFFAIR, which is in the midst of its third season on SHOWTIME, says about what it takes to be a boss. Her keen awareness about the messiness of real life is palpable in this epic series. Of course, it helps having actors like Dominic West , Maura Tierney, Joshua Jackson, and Ruth Wilson depict what the cost of prison, murder, infidelity, children, death, mental illness play on even the strongest relationships. This season continues to shed light on how people use, abuse, and find refuge in sex, lust, and love, but also delves into what it takes to live with baggage and the limits of resilience. Everyone and every relationship has a breaking point, and this season looks at what role mental illness, custody battles, prison, infidelity, children, death of parents, work play.

In our interview Treem unveils what happens behind the curtain. She outlines what it takes to sell stories in Hollywood, and, once you do, the glory and challenges...

THE AFFAIR's SARAH TREEM on firing and hiring, sex and seduction, egos and loneliness

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.

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

Comedy

Business

Investing

Careers

Management & Marketing

Business News

Shopping

In this episode Catie Lazarus talks to Obama’s former Deputy Chief of Staff  of Operations Alyssa Mastromonaco and comedy writer Peter Grosz.

Alyssa Mastromonaco and Peter Grosz on what makes President Obama, Stephen Colbert, and Seth Meyers great bosses

In this episode Catie Lazarus talks to acclaimed actor, writer, and director Tim Blake Nelson and singer songwriter Jill Sobule.

Tim Blake Nelson and Jill Sobule

Adam Gopnik has held many dream jobs, all in the same office. After almost forty years (and counting) at The New Yorker, Gopnik has served as a food, art, and music critic, and he’s written his own novels, children’s books, musicals, and solo shows. His latest (and first) political book A Thousand Small Sanities delves into how liberals can save Democracy. In this interview Gopnik talks to Catie Lazarus about the infighting between liberals and progressives, his upcoming solo show at The Red Bull Theater, and the incalculable torment of sibling rivalry.                                                                                                Podcast production by Cameron Drews. Theme song by Lady Rizo.

Adam Gopnik on Sibling Rivalry, Stand Up, and Liberalism

After making her stand-up debut in Washington, D.C., Aparna Nancherla quickly became a comedy darling in Los Angeles and New York, writing for FX’s Totally Biased with Kamau Bell and Late Night with Seth Meyers. She also became a welcome fixture in New York’s competitive stand-up scene thanks to her smart and self-aware one-liners. When she opened up about her own anxiety and depression, more fans flocked. As a writer and actor, she has worked on HBO’s Crashing, Comedy’s Central’s Corporate, and Netflix’s Bo-Jack Horseman. Now she’s eager to explore new terrain in her next stand-up special but worries what fans and Hollywood will think. In her conversation with Catie Lazarus, Nancherla talks about the solitary nature of stand up and writing, the toll it takes to regularly joke about anxiety, and how to say no to too much work.

Aparna Nancherla On Learning to Saying No and Avoiding Brain Trolls

Adrienne Truscott reveals what comedians mean by “funny is funny.” Her debut solo show transformed #MeToo, #TimesUp and still manages to be hilarious, as she proves just how funny feminsists can be. Plus, Pamela Adlon’s Better Things on FX starts up again, while Orange is the New Black reaches its final season. What do they share in common? Actor Alysia Reiner. The actor speaks about the two hit series and her film EGG, which co-stars Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks, and cracks into motherhood and work from a fresh, fun, and smart angle.

THE AFFAIR's SARAH TREEM on firing and hiring, sex and seduction, egos and loneliness

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