Cutting to accentuate the client's eyes and ears, plotting to tame Einstein's hair, and riding the ups and downs of entrepreneurship with Ona Diaz-Santin, a hair stylist and owner of 5 Salon & Spa in New Jersey. What's the most irritating way a client can respond to a haircut? And why was she christened "The Hair Saint"?

Our show takes a lot of inspiration from Studs Terkel's classic book Working. It features interviews Terkel did with more than 100 different people from different jobs: police officers, waitresses, gravediggers, private investigators. His guiding question? "What do they do all day?" Radio Diaries actually got their hands on the audio that Terkel recorded of his interviews and collected them into an episode that you can listen to here.

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WANT TO BE ON THE SHOW? Leave us a voicemail at (919) 213-0456. We’ll ask you to answer two questions:

1. What’s a word or phrase that only someone from your profession would be likely to know and what does it mean?

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We can’t respond to every message, but we do listen to all of them! We’ll follow up if it's a good fit.

Pushing perfectionism to its limits, suffering third degree burns from slag, and having your welds “shot” by X-rays with Matt "Lucky" Reed, a welder in Florida. What happens to welders' eyes if they don't wear protective hoods? And what's a time-tested way of trolling a fellow welder?

GOT A COMMENT OR SUGGESTION? Email us at [email protected]

FOR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: Email us at [email protected]

WANT TO BE ON THE SHOW? Leave us a voicemail at (919) 213-0456. We’ll ask you to answer two questions:

1. What’s a word or phrase that only someone from your profession would be likely to know and what does it mean?

2. What’s a specific story you tell your friends that happened on the job? It could be funny, sad, anxiety-making, pride-inducing or otherwise.

We can’t respond to every message, but we do listen to all of them! We’ll follow up if it's a good fit.

Delivering the perfect first lesson, working with 89-year-old students, and learning how to charge for your work with Christina Whitlock, a piano teacher in Indiana.  How does she help students hear the heartbeat of music? And what is it like to teach a student from first grade through college?

IF YOU LIKE THIS EPISODE: Check out what it's like to be a creative director, a tennis coach, or a mystery novelist.

Learn more about StoryCorps and the Story Preservation Initiative at their websites.

GOT A COMMENT OR SUGGESTION? Email us at [email protected]

FOR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: Email us at [email protected]

WANT TO BE ON THE SHOW? Leave us a voicemail at (919) 213-0456. We’ll ask you to answer two questions:

1. What’s a word or phrase that only someone from your profession would be likely to know and what does it mean?

2. What’s a specific story you tell your friends that happened on the job? It could be funny, sad, anxiety-making, pride-inducing or otherwise.

We can’t respond to every message, but we do listen to all of them! We’ll follow up if it's a good fit.

Refurbishing old sleighs, reviewing advance dossiers on kids, and going to “Santa School" with Larry Jefferson, a professional Santa Claus based in Dallas. How does he handle situations when kids ask for something Santa could never grant? And what would a kid have to do to get coal?

Music credit:
"Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

GOT A COMMENT OR SUGGESTION? Email us at [email protected]

FOR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: Email us at [email protected]

WANT TO BE ON THE SHOW? Leave us a voicemail at (919) 213-0456. We’ll ask you to answer two questions:

1. What’s a word or phrase that only someone from your profession would be likely to know and what does it mean?

2. What’s a specific story you tell your friends that happened on the job? It could be funny, sad, anxiety-making, pride-inducing or otherwise.

We can’t respond to every message, but we do listen to all of them! We’ll follow up if it's a good fit.

Managing complaints from parents, handling the horrors of teenage social media, and serving as an emergency substitute teacher with Marcus Belin, a high school principal in Illinois. How does it feel for everyone in town to know him as The Principal? And what exactly is a “sandwich email”?

GOT A COMMENT OR SUGGESTION? Email us at [email protected]

FOR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: Email us at [email protected]

WANT TO BE ON THE SHOW? Leave us a voicemail at (919) 213-0456. We’ll ask you to answer two questions:

1. What’s a word or phrase that only someone from your profession would be likely to know and what does it mean?

2. What’s a specific story you tell your friends that happened on the job? It could be funny, sad, anxiety-making, pride-inducing or otherwise.

We can’t respond to every message, but we do listen to all of them! We’ll follow up if it's a good fit.

Scouting body disposal sites, investigating obscure poisons, and computing royalty payments with Donna Andrews, the mystery novelist behind the Meg Langslow series. How do you make a living as a mystery novelist? And could Tylenol be a murder weapon?

Know someone who is a great storyteller that we should talk to about their job? Email us at [email protected]

GOT A COMMENT OR SUGGESTION? Email us at [email protected]

FOR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: Email us at [email protected]

WANT TO BE ON THE SHOW? Leave us a voicemail at (919) 213-0456. We’ll ask you to answer two questions:

1. What’s a word or phrase that only someone from your profession would be likely to know and what does it mean?

2. What’s a specific story you tell your friends that happened on the job? It could be funny, sad, anxiety-making, pride-inducing or otherwise.

We can’t respond to every message, but we do listen to all of them! We’ll follow up if it's a good fit.

Catching embezzling CFOs, sniffing out a corrupt private school headmaster, and sifting through fake invoices with Chris Ekimoff, a forensic accountant. What are his go-to moves to detect fraud? And who is the most famous forensic accountant (besides Ben Affleck)?

GOT A COMMENT OR SUGGESTION? Email us at [email protected]

FOR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: Email us at [email protected]

WANT TO BE ON THE SHOW? Leave us a voicemail at (919) 213-0456. We’ll ask you to answer two questions:

1. What’s a word or phrase that only someone from your profession would be likely to know and what does it mean?

2. What’s a specific story you tell your friends that happened on the job? It could be funny, sad, anxiety-making, pride-inducing or otherwise.

We can’t respond to every message, but we do listen to all of them! We’ll follow up if it's a good fit.

Tracking a 2.5-mile-wide tornado, fretting over forecasts, and waking up at 2:30am with Lacey Swope, a TV meteorologist for News 9 in Oklahoma City. How does she deal with fans and stalkers? And what is the “deformation zone”?

You can see Lacey's daily forecasts on the News 9 website. She's also on Instagram.

Got thoughts on the show? Reach out to [email protected]

GOT A COMMENT OR SUGGESTION? Email us at [email protected]

FOR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: Email us at [email protected]

WANT TO BE ON THE SHOW? Leave us a voicemail at (919) 213-0456. We’ll ask you to answer two questions:

1. What’s a word or phrase that only someone from your profession would be likely to know and what does it mean?

2. What’s a specific story you tell your friends that happened on the job? It could be funny, sad, anxiety-making, pride-inducing or otherwise.

We can’t respond to every message, but we do listen to all of them! We’ll follow up if it's a good fit.

Defending a man prosecuted for breaking into his own house, carrying clients’ burdens, and dispelling a myth about Miranda rights with Mike Panella, a criminal defense attorney from Orlando.

IF YOU LIKE THIS EPISODE: Check out what it's like to be a homicide detective, an FBI special agent, or a secret service agent.

GOT A COMMENT OR SUGGESTION? Email us at [email protected]

FOR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: Email us at [email protected]

WANT TO BE ON THE SHOW? Leave us a voicemail at (919) 213-0456. We’ll ask you to answer two questions:

1. What’s a word or phrase that only someone from your profession would be likely to know and what does it mean?

2. What’s a specific story you tell your friends that happened on the job? It could be funny, sad, anxiety-making, pride-inducing or otherwise.

We can’t respond to every message, but we do listen to all of them! We’ll follow up if it's a good fit.

Mystery dates, adult playrooms, habit stacking, and the misuse of “narcissism” with Laura Heck, a virtual couples therapist. Laura is also a co-host of the podcast Marriage Therapy Radio.

IF YOU LIKE THIS EPISODE: Check out what it's like to be a hospice nurse.

GOT A COMMENT OR SUGGESTION? Email us at [email protected]

FOR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: Email us at [email protected]

WANT TO BE ON THE SHOW? Leave us a voicemail at (919) 213-0456. We’ll ask you to answer two questions:

1. What’s a word or phrase that only someone from your profession would be likely to know and what does it mean?

2. What’s a specific story you tell your friends that happened on the job? It could be funny, sad, anxiety-making, pride-inducing or otherwise.

We can’t respond to every message, but we do listen to all of them! We’ll follow up if it's a good fit.