Over the past month, a few essays about work and corporate life have struck a nerve online.

In “The Death of the Corporate Job,” Alex McCann argues that traditional work isn’t collapsing; it’s quietly dying because people no longer believe in it. The offices, the meetings, the decks all still happen, but the meaning has leaked out. More and more, the paycheck is just funding the real work: side projects, creative pursuits, anything that feels alive.

In “The Futile Search for the B******t-less Job,” Anne Helen Petersen agrees that modern work often feels hollow, but says the problem runs deeper. Decades of eroded labor protections have left individuals shouldering all the risk. Freelancing or launching a Substack might feel like freedom, but it’s often precarity in disguise.

In this podcast episode, we’re asking: What even is work now?

Is a job still a career…or just a funding mechanism? Is self-employment true freedom, or another hustle trap? And perhaps most important, can we find meaning in work?

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit relatedpodcast.substack.com