The Work Stew podcast is still on hold; there’s just not enough time in the day right now. But last month, I read a piece in Salon called “Gather around, screwed millennials: You must see this.” It made me want to pick up the phone and chat with the writer, who is none other than Arthur […]

Listen to the interview by clicking the arrow on the audio player below. Brief note from Work Stew editor Kate Gace Walton: Sometimes I request an interview because the specific job that someone does is intriguing to me; for example, this was clearly the case when I talked to an air traffic controller, a high-rise […]

Listen to the interview by clicking the arrow on the audio player below. For many of us, the past few weeks have been especially hard and depressing. As a nation, and as individuals, we are grappling with a host of painful issues. And grapple we must; bending that long arc towards justice is arguably the […]

Listen to the interview by clicking the arrow on the audio player below. Sex workers, even those operating legally, risk being treated as criminals. Many also face relentless moralizing from family, friends, and casual acquaintances. I wanted to talk to someone who endures all that—to find out how, and why. In this interview, professional dominatrix Margaret Corvid explains […]

Listen to the interview by clicking the arrow on the audio player below. Generally speaking, our culture is not one that deals well with death. Caitlin Doughty, an LA-based mortician and best-selling author, is on a life-long quest to change this. When we spoke, we discussed: —how she became a “death professional”  —the biggest misunderstanding that […]

Listen to the interview by clicking the arrow on the audio player below. I wanted to speak with Joe Loya not because I see criminality as a career path, but because it is a life path for many:  it’s hard to find good information on the number of Americans who have been convicted of a felony, […]

Listen to the interview by clicking the arrow on the audio player below. In this interview, I spoke with Karen Lynch, a 29-year veteran of the San Francisco Police Department. We discussed what it was that drew her to a life in law enforcement, why the role of homicide detective was her “dream job,” and—very […]

Listen to the interview by clicking the arrow on the audio player below. Another writer interview??? I know—I’ve done a string of them recently. For what it’s worth, I do have other sorts of people lined up. Coming soon on the podcast: a South African mediator, a retired homicide detective, and that elusive chimney sweep. […]

Listen to the interview by clicking the arrow on the audio player below. When I first connected with Beatrice Hogg, she said she wanted to share her story to show people that “being over fifty and long-term unemployed isn’t the end of the world.” In this interview, she shares the events that derailed her original career, […]

Listen to the interview by clicking the arrow on the audio player below. Athena Lark was a 17-year-old about to graduate from high school in Newark, New Jersey when her mother told her she had a choice: Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marines. In this interview, I spoke with her to learn how she reacted […]