Explore every episode of the podcast What Works
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
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| Rethinking Busyness (With Help From HBO's The Pitt) | 02 Oct 2025 | 00:29:45 | |
Try as we might, many of us can’t shake the overwhelming sense that we're just too damn busy—that feeling that there’s something we’re forgetting about, somewhere we should be, some person we should be checking on. Busyness is sticky. And that’s because busyness is more than the amount of stuff we have on our to-do lists or the appointments on our calendars. Busyness is social, structural, and even political—though our go-to “solutions” for it tend to be individual. This episode examines busyness on a deeper level—and in doing so, offers ideas for how navigate it with more care and grace. And I can think of no better way to start than by talking about The Pitt. First, we’ll explore a nuanced theory of what busyness is and why we experience it. And then, we’ll distinguish between two forms of busyness and why differentiating between the two matters for how we navigate our responsibilities. Finally, I have a few recommendations for how we can approach limiting the harms of busyness without isolating ourselves. Footnotes:
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| Delightful Misdirection (Or How to Rethink Your Options) | 04 Sep 2025 | 00:21:15 | |
How we think about a problem or goal really matters. The variables we include, the relationships we draw between them, the flows of influence or resources—they change the interventions we choose. They change what interventions might even be possible. Today, an episode about crosswords, coffee shops, and rethinking your assumptions. ☞ By the way, just 3 spots remain in this cohort of Making Sense! Registration closes September 12, but I expect those spots will be spoken for by then. If you want to communicate with more clarity, help others rethink their assumptions, and make a bigger impact with your remarkable ideas, check out this 8-week interactive workshop. Footnotes:
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| We Can't Quit Turning Leisure Into More Work | 21 Aug 2025 | 00:08:25 | |
I'm pretty sure The New York Times is trolling me. Footnotes:
Turn your meaningful ideas into remarkable media—and help others make sense of chaos. Join me for Making Sense. We start September 16! ★ Support this podcast ★ | |||
| The Spectacle of Competence | 14 Aug 2025 | 00:20:43 | |
"Competence porn" is an indistinct genre of media that showcases people doing their jobs (loosely defined) exceptionally well, often using niche skills or uncommon expertise. You've no doubt seen it in documentaries, in short-form video, and even in a courtroom procedural or medical drama. What is it that's so appealing about competence porn? And why call it "porn?" And what can it tell us about what's missing from our work? This episode gets into all of that. But first, I gotta tell you about the day I became a boulderer. There are just 6 open spots in my next cohort of Making Sense! If you'd like to communicate more clearly and help others make sense of our complex and oft-confusing world, check out this 8-week interactive workshop. Get all the details and register here: makingsense.fyi Footnotes:
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| 3 Ways I Make Sense of the Unexpected & Perplexing | 07 Aug 2025 | 00:30:40 | |
In the last episode (written version), we talked about how "sensemaking starts with chaos" and that chaos arises when our expectations don't match reality. That mismatch occurs because the mental model we have that creates our expectations doesn't work for the situation at hand. To alleviate the frustration (or at least make sense of it), we need a new mental model. Well, in this episode, I want to share 3 mental models that I use to make sense of things that frustrate people I care about. These models aren’t even the tip of the iceberg when it comes to all the different ways we can make sense of the world. But I do think they’re ones you can apply broadly and start using quickly. Or, you might notice that they’re models you’re already using and now can be more conscious of how you deploy them. Speaking of which, if you want to communicate with more clarity, create more persuasive messaging, and stand out from the crowd with rigorous thinking, check out Making Sense. Making Sense is my 8-week interactive workshop that walks you step-by-step through creating media that helps others make sense of the world. Whether you’re a writer, podcaster, creator, academic, marketer, or any other kind of media maker, you’ll learn new tools for producing content that offers others some relief from the confusion and frustration they feel. To learn more and register, go to makingsense.fyi. Footnotes:
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| Make It Make Sense | 31 Jul 2025 | 00:17:15 | |
"Sensemaking starts with chaos," says organizational theorist Karl Weick. Chaos is the confusion and frustration we feel when things don't turn out the way we expect them to. To make sense of the chaos, we have to look past the results and examine how we came to expect what we did. This is the first part in a miniseries on sensemaking and media. Next week, I'll share some of the mental models I use to make sense of what feel chaotic to me. This miniseries is good on its own—and even better with MAKING SENSE, an 8-part interactive workshop about turning meaningful ideas into remarkable media. Learn more about the program here! Footnotes ★ Support this podcast ★ | |||
| EP 500: What if you're not off track... and never have been? | 24 Jul 2025 | 00:40:16 | |
If you're like me, you often think about what you would have done to prepare for... this job, this economy, this political climate, this financial situation, etc... if only you'd known. But you didn't know (I didn't know). And you (I) couldn't know. Some of the loudest shoulds and supposed-tos we face are those we couldn't have achieved due to the time we were born or the family we grew up in. In this episode, I reflect on the rapid changes occurring in work and the economy in the 21st century and how they relate to how I guide my now 17-year-old daughter. Then, I share my interview with sociologist and political economist Mauro Guillén about his book The Perennials: The Megatrends Creating a Postgenerational Society.
The program is limited to 15 participants and runs from September 16 to November 4. Enrollment opens soon! ★ Support this podcast ★ | |||
| EP 499: Reduction in Force | 17 Jul 2025 | 00:19:22 | |
No job is safer than a government job, right? Well, not anymore. At least not in the US. I’m paying special attention to the fight over government jobs (or, as the administration might put it, “bloat and inefficiency”) because it’s part of a more comprehensive narrative project—one that shapes how we think and talk about work, and therefore think and talk about who we are and how we fit into society. Questioning the narrative that government workers are lazy or that bureaucracy is bloated and unnecessary is one way to question the narratives we perpetuate in our own work lives. And that's what today's episode is all about. Footnotes:
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| INTERLUDE: The Pleasure & Promise of Re-Reading | 26 Jun 2025 | 00:11:32 | |
I wanted to drop in with a quiet interlude about re-reading (or re-watching, or re-listening) and its value in a world obsessed with new and different. Footnotes:
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| EP 498: Breaking The Validation Spiral | 05 Jun 2025 | 00:24:04 | |
Why is it that it seems like no amount of work, accolades, or achievement is enough? Why do we keep signing up for more, even as our capacity becomes ever more depleted? Why do we settle for mediocrity when we yearn for excellence? In today's episode, I revisit an idea from my book—the validation spiral—and provide a framework for understanding why we become stuck in it and how we can break free. Add to that a healthy dose of Audre Lorde's feminist theory, and you've got a satisfying mental model for rethinking your commitments. Summer Seminar starts Monday, June 9! Learn more about this flexible, brain-tickling program that combines speculative fiction with systems thinking: click here!
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| EP 497: Please Support My Work | 29 May 2025 | 00:27:00 | |
If you subscribe to newsletters, listen to podcasts, or watch videos on YouTube, I've no doubt that you’ve been asked to support the person or people who created them. You can always support with a like or a share, of course. But generally, the support they’re looking for is financial. And for good reason, life is expensive. Jobs with good pay and decent benefit packages can be hard to find—especially in the culture industry. But I gotta tell you, I’ve always been a little irked by the word “support.” It’s not inaccurate. Not unethical. Not even gauche. I just think it’s the wrong word.
Whether or not you identify as a “creator,” whether or not you buy from creators, whether or not you even follow creators on Substack, YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram, I promise this will be relevant to you. Because, regardless of your personal or professional relationship with Substack and the so-called creator economy, their very existence and continued growth reveal a great deal about how we all work and consume in the 21st century.
Let's (re)think systems this summer! Join me for Summer Seminar, a 7-week program that combines speculative fiction with curiosity about our own lives and work. This year, we're reading Sofia Samatar's The Practice, The Horizon, and The Chain and venturing through 6 explorations of systems thinking. Learn more and register with choose-your-own pricing. | |||
| EP 496: What to Do When Things Get Messy | 22 May 2025 | 00:20:05 | |
No matter how fastidious you are about creating and executing a plan, working toward any big goal will require adjustments. No matter how diligent you are about documentation and maintenance, any process will break down over time. The work we do is always changing—whether because of the people we work with, the market we operate in, or the cultural context our work is received in. Even when it seems like smooth sailing is just one standard operating procedure away, things will shift. That can feel like failure, or at least like you're not doing quite as well as you should be. But really, it's an opportunity. You can embrace the confusion, the entropy, the breakdown... and learn. Today, I've unlocked and revised an episode I put out in February 2024 for premium subscribers. If you like it, you'll love Summer Seminar, a 7-week program that combines speculative fiction with curiosity about our own lives and work. This year, we're reading Sofia Samatar's The Practice, The Horizon, and The Chain and venturing through 6 explorations of systems thinking. Learn more and register with choose-your-own pricing. Footnotes:
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| EP 495: Ann Leckie vs. The "Well, Actually" Bros | 08 May 2025 | 01:01:44 | |
Is an AI chatbot, like ChatGPT, a search engine? Does it scour the internet for helpful information so that it can respond to user queries? These questions were at the heart of a small kerfuffle on Bluesky last week between decorated speculative fiction writer Ann Leckie and a few prominent tech thinkers. Honestly, it bummed me out. But I found that the next morning, I had a lot to say about it. So I enlisted my dear husband, Sean, and I talked him through it. This episode is different than the last 6 months or so of episodes. If you have the same taste in podcasts that I do, you'll recognize the format. I've been wanting to try it for a long time, and this was the perfect topic to give it a go. It's far more casual than the last 15+ episodes, but just as rigorous. If you like it, reach out on Bluesky, and let me know! Sean is already asking when we can do it again. Footnotes:
JOIN ME FOR SUMMER SEMINAR! Summer Seminar is an intellectual oasis for creative thinkers and curious adventurers. It combines speculative fiction, big questions, and practical application. For Summer 2025, we’re reading Sofia Samatar’s critically acclaimed novella The Practice, The Horizon, and The Chain. We’ll pair it with adventures in systems thinking and cultural analysis. And we’ll apply what we discover by reflecting on the systems we create and encounter in our own lives and work. Summer Seminar is designed to fit into any schedule and explores critical thinking skills you can apply to any goal or challenge. To learn more, visit whatworks.fyi/summer ★ Support this podcast ★ | |||
| EP 494: How Structure Transforms Ideas | 01 May 2025 | 00:23:49 | |
"I have so many thoughts and not enough time to think them," I recently blurted out to my husband. For me, "thinking thoughts" means scribbling notes or writing messy paragraphs about whatever is on my mind. Of course, no one wants to read my scribbles or suffer through my unrefined musings. So once I've spent some time thinking thoughts, I have to figure out how to organize them. To structure them. To narrate them. That's what today's episode is all about. Whether or not you're a writer, content creator, or other media maker, I know that thinking thoughts and figuring out how to share them is important to you—and essential to your work. Footnotes:
NEW: The Return of Summer Seminar
It combines speculative fiction, big questions, and practical application. For Summer 2025, we’re reading Sofia Samatar’s critically acclaimed novella The Practice, The Horizon, and The Chain. We’ll pair it with adventures in systems thinking and cultural analysis. And we’ll apply what we discover by reflecting on the systems we create and encounter in our own lives and work. Summer Seminar is designed to fit into any schedule and explores critical thinking skills you can apply to any goal or challenge. To learn more, visit whatworks.fyi/summer (Today's episode is a significant revision of a piece I previously wrote for premium subscribers in April 2024.)
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| EP 493: The Prescription Economy | 17 Apr 2025 | 00:20:15 | |
"No one is ever completely safe from the critical gaze of a culture steeped in the makeover ethos." —Micki McGee I have a theory that you can measure the decline of any social media platform by the time it takes for its feed to become a firehose of unsolicited advice. Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn are all sludge piles of advice now, but it took them years to devolve. TikTok took maybe 18 months. Substack Notes? Like 3 months. Threads? Instant. Most of us (I think) can agree that the vapid posturing that occurs through posting advice on social media makes a platform less enjoyable. I don't open one of these apps in the hopes that I'll learn the one weird trick that can turn my frown upside down or give me six-pack abs. What we once loved about these platforms is how people shared their everyday descriptions of life, love, family, and curiosity. But much of that mutual exchange of experience has been ceded to the commercial interest of advice. After all, we love advice. We also hate advice. We love it when someone can tell us what we should do next. And we also hate being told what we should do next. So what gives? Today, a description of why that is. But first, things are going to get awkward. Footnotes:
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| EP 492: How We Realize Higher Values Through Enabling Structures | 03 Apr 2025 | 00:26:20 | |
Intractable challenges are often the result of a lack of imagination. That is, our solutions are constrained by existing systems and structures that likely created the problem in the first place. To dream up novel solutions that allow us to realize higher values, we need to build structures that enable and extend our imaginations. And sure, I'm talking about macroeconomic, climate, and political challenges. But I'm also talking about our day-to-day work and family lives.
Find more episodes and essays at whatworks.fyi. | |||
| EP 491: Meet Your Tiny Capitalists | 27 Mar 2025 | 00:18:08 | |
Many of us (most?) have an inner voice that loves to remind us that "If there's time to lean, there's time to clean" or that "Coffee is for closers." We nag ourselves about being more productive, working more efficiently, or hustling for more money. Even if we value rest, care, and comfort, that voice can be hard to ignore. Well, meet your Tiny Capitalist. Or rather, Tiny Capitalists: the Tiny Puritan, Tiny Manager, and Tiny Entrepreneur. Understanding the role they play helps us make better decisions about how we navigate the systems we exist in. Footnotes:
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| EP 490: Standardize Me | 13 Mar 2025 | 00:25:02 | |
Standardization is one of those ideas that, once you see it, you can't unsee it. It's a mental model that can explain, at least in part, many of our social, political, and personal challenges. Whether it's the clothes we wear, the language we use, the dates we go on, or the people we vote for, our choices are often unknowingly constrained by standardization. In this episode, an update of an essay I originally released for premium subscribers back in November 2023, I explore the role that standardization has played in our economic development, our relationships, and even our identities. Footnotes:
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| EP 489: Temporal Bandwidth | 06 Mar 2025 | 00:15:34 | |
This episode is about the long term—the commitments, projects, and relationships we can work on when our "temporal bandwidth" widens. How we perceive time and our ability to do what's meaningful to us in time does have to be constrained by the urgency of now. There are ways to feel more grounded and create more possibilities at the same time. Footnotes:
Find the What Works archives and subscribe to the newsletter at whatworks.fyi.
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| EP 488: Honeydew (Or, 3 Biases That Derail Remarkable Projects) | 27 Feb 2025 | 00:19:51 | |
Most of the work I do that's not this revolves around coaching, editing, and/or thinking with people who have meaningful ideas they want to better express to the world. In this work, the question I hear most often is about making sense of a complex idea—the kind of idea that contains many smaller, supporting ideas and stories and research. The sort of complex idea best expressed in a lengthy essay, a book, a podcast series, or a documentary. How does one make a plan for tackling that kind of idea? How does one get started writing or designing that complex idea? How does one keep track of all the bits and bobs that go into a massive project like that? From my perspective, three biases tend to trip us up when working on a project of this sort. I'll call them the linearity bias, the stick-with bias, and the waste-not bias. I'll explain how each gets in the way of big, messy projects—but first, I have to tell you about HONEYDEW. Footnotes:
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| EP 487: Rethinking Our Tech Mythology | 20 Feb 2025 | 00:19:00 | |
The tech industry has a central role in shaping our work, our communication, and even our identities. Its mythology is woven into the products and services we use on a daily basis. So understanding how the people leading the tech industry think—how they perceive their own stories and generate their own hype—is a solid step toward making sense of what can seem so nonsensical. And there is one book I go back to over and over again when I need to make sense of our mythologies of disruption and failure, value and genius—and that's What Tech Calls Thinking by Adrian Daub. In this episode, I share 3 ideas from that book that help me make sense of the headlines shaping politics, business, and work. Footnotes:
Find a text version of this episode at whatworks.fyi!
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| EP 486: How Knowledge Really Does Become Power | 13 Feb 2025 | 00:26:50 | |
What does my new website, the TikTok "ban," and the ongoing purge of "woke" from government websites have in common? The power to decide what content counts and what doesn't—and use that power to shape the knowledge and experiences of others. In this episode, I continue to examine the state of The Website today. Amidst a backdrop of diffuse epistemic violence, the website is both an archive and a communication tool we can use to preserve the knowledge and ways of knowing we care about. In the second half of the episode, I share a piece I wrote last year on how artificial intelligence disrupts and deskills our critical thinking. Footnotes:
Find a written version of this audio essay, subscribe free to the What Works newsletter, and learn more about working with me to turn your meaningful ideas into remarkable content at whatworks.fyi.
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| EP 485: Broken Links | 06 Feb 2025 | 00:41:56 | |
I'm back! Maybe you noticed or maybe you didn't—but the show (and my newsletter) has been on its longest hiatus since its inception. In the final quarter of 2024, I decided I wanted to (re)consolidate my web presence, abandon most "platforms," and breathe some new life into my work. This episode reflects on both my own challenges with wrangling my online presence and the ways the state of the web has made it extra challenging. While there’s a lot to complain about when it comes to social media platforms and the billionaires wreaking havoc in online and offline spaces, this isn’t that kind of episode. It’s an effort to illuminate some less obvious issues that, in turn, can help us figure out what we want to do next. If you've been feeling a bit blah or displaced or just overwhelmed in your online work lately, I hope this episode gives you a fresh mental model for making sense of those feelings. And I hope that model gives you the inspiration it's given me. Footnotes:
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| EP 484: The Freedom to Buy | 12 Dec 2024 | 00:27:31 | |
So, health insurance is in the news. And so is Americans' feelings about it. I got to wondering how we ended up with this terrible health insurance system in the United States. I uncovered a fascinating story about the marketing campaign that sunk Truman's national health insurance program in the 1940s. I also discovered some interesting parallels to popular marketing messages among today's influencers, gurus, and marketers. Today's episode is a little trip through history that will hopefully put some of our current issues in perspective. Footnotes:
Find an essay version of this episode at whatworks.fyi! ★ Support this podcast ★ | |||
| EP 483: Avoiding Acquiescence Bias | 05 Dec 2024 | 00:21:09 | |
A problem, question, or challenge is often more than meets the eye. But we're biased to accept how an issue is initially framed. We acquiesce to the original terms. That's called acquiescence bias. When we don't counteract our acquiescence bias, we miss opportunities to get to the root cause or think creatively about a challenge. Today, I share 3 ways to resist acquiescence bias as you consider your next moves, goals, or plans. Footnotes:
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| EP 482: Seeing Software | 21 Nov 2024 | 00:17:57 | |
Do you see your software? Footnotes:
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| EP 481: Preservation in the Post-Information Age with Sari Azout | 25 Oct 2024 | 00:29:52 | |
Stop me if you've heard this before: we're overloaded and overwhelmed by information. There's more content than you could ever hope to consume. More scientific theories, philosophical concepts, and art forms than you could ever hope to engage with. Enter personal knowledge management (PKM). It's a modern term for an ancient practice—how one collects, preserves, and utilizes knowledge worth remembering. In this episode, I speak with Sari Azout, the founder of Sublime, an app for personal knowledge management (but that description truly doesn't do it justice). We talk about the philosophy behind the product and how that plays out in the product's design. Plus, I dive into how Sari's PKM philosophy is part of a long lineage of practices people have used to remember what's worth preserving. Footnotes:
Every new episode is published in essay form at WhatWorks.FYI!
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| EP 480: Exceedingly Complex Systems | 17 Oct 2024 | 00:20:32 | |
In management cybernetics, there are 3 types of systems: simple, complex, and exceedingly complex. The systems we pay the most attention tend to be, you guessed it, exceedingly complex. In this episode, I explore what that means for how we do our work and run our businesses—and what happens when we forget that people are exceedingly complex systems, too. Footnotes:
Every episode is published in essay form at What Works and delivered in my newsletter—check it out and subscribe! ★ Support this podcast ★ | |||
| EP 479: A Theory of Resourcefulness | 10 Oct 2024 | 00:17:50 | |
You've probably heard of a scarcity mindset. Maybe you've even been accused of having one! In this short, I explore the false binary of scarcity and abundance mindsets to propose a third way: resourcefulness. Footnotes:
Essay versions of every episode are published at whatworks.fyi! ★ Support this podcast ★ | |||
| EP 478: Data Never Speak For Themselves | 26 Sep 2024 | 00:23:50 | |
We're constantly bombarded by data. And it's easy to think that with the right clues, we could answer the ultimate questions of life, the universe, and everything. But data aren't facts. They're not a secret code. Data are media—they mediate our interactions with the world around us. To make them useful and meaningful, we need a critical framework for working with data as media. That's what I've got for you today—a deep dive on how predictability, relevance, and actionability can help us see data for what they are and for what they're not. Footnotes:
Get written versions of all new episodes at whatworks.fyi—where you can also become a premium subscriber for just $7 per month and help support the work I do at What Works.
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| EP 477: Here's a tip | 20 Sep 2024 | 00:28:17 | |
Today's episode is about tips. As in gratuity. Wait, wait, wait! Where are you going? I know, you probably don't receive tips for your work. Maybe you don't live in the US, and you're thinking, 'What is this American BS about tips?' Well, when I first heard about Trump's (and then Harris's) proposal to eliminate federal taxes of tipped income, my brain went a hundred different places: how many people would it impact, how much savings are we talking about, what will this do to the proliferation of tipped work, and how much could this accelerate re-proletarianization?! You probably weren't expecting that last one. Here's the thing: tipping is a class issue. Which means it's also a social justice issue. And it's also an issue that intersects with frustrations with the way all of us work. To find out how, you've got to trust me—and listen. Footnotes:
Find essay versions of every new episode at whatworks.fyi! ★ Support this podcast ★ | |||
| EP 476: Cult Value | 12 Sep 2024 | 00:18:09 | |
If a chatbot writes your novel, did you really complete NaNoWriMo? Two niche internet panics caught my eye over the last couple of weeks: a bungled AI policy by the organization that promotes National Novel Writing Month and a viral story about people hiring Strava surrogates to run for them so they can claim the kudos. And those two stories got me thinking about the ways that we delegate away the intrinsic value of other activities. So with the help of a 1935 essay by Walter Benjamin, let's unpack the cult value of novel writing, running, and social media. Footnotes:
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| EP 475: Values aren't chains; they are wings | 22 Aug 2024 | 00:07:24 | |
Inspired by the current vibe shift, I'm interrupting my rebroadcast of the Self-Help, LLC series with an interlude about values—personal values, business values, American values, even Christian values. And it's about what is so often misunderstood about values. Values aren't chains; they are wings. ★ Support this podcast ★ | |||
| What Does Power Sound Like? | 15 Aug 2024 | 00:39:41 | |
This is the 6th installment in the Self-Help, LLC series, which originally ran in October 2022. Today's episode has been revised and re-engineered! We form an impression of our voices early in life. While it might shift some as we age, those impressions tend to stick with us. For many of us, what we learn about our voices is how they don’t quite measure up to the ideal: too high, too low, too soft, too loud, too this, too that. This is especially true for women, queer people, transgender people, non-native English speakers, Black people, people of color, indigenous people, and really anyone whose voice doesn’t fit into the white, male baritone mold.
As always, find the essay version of this episode at whatworks.fyi ★ Support this podcast ★ | |||
| The Spectacle of Influence(rs) with Sara Petersen | 08 Aug 2024 | 00:38:50 | |
How influencers, well, influence the way we see the world, our work, our families, and ourselves? And how does the spectacle we immerse ourselves in daily contribute to our perfectionism, anxiety, or fear? In the fifth installment of Self-Help, LLC, I talk about all that and more with Sara Petersen. This is an edited version of an episode that originally ran in October 2022. There’s an influencer for every thing these days. Camping equipment? Sure. Nutritional supplements? You bet. Miniatures? You know it. College admissions? But of course. In this episode, though, we’re going to focus on one of the original influencer niches: MOMS.
If you're bored by your current content strategy, tired of coming up with new how-tos or advice posts, and want a fresh and impactful way to approach how you write, podcast, speak, or communicate in any way, this seminar is for you. You'll work week-by-week through on-demand learning, office hours, workshops, and small assignments so that by the end, you have the draft of an essay, script for a video, outline of a podcast series, or slide deck for a presentation. Learn more about Making Sense! | |||
| What's Your Type? with Steph Barron Hall | 01 Aug 2024 | 00:31:05 | |
This is the 4th part of my series Self-Help, LLC, which I'm replaying over the summer! Enjoy!
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| The Paradox of Self-Help Expertise with Patrick Sheehan | 25 Jul 2024 | 00:27:56 | |
This is an updated version of the 3rd installment in my series Self-Help, LLC, from 2022. Enjoy! Our quest for self-improvement requires us to decide who (or what) to trust with our time, energy, and money. What book do you decide to read next? Which coach do you hire? What accounts do you follow? Our consumer choices seem endless—so finding someone or something to put your trust in might feel like an Olympic feat. On the flip side, as business owners or independent workers whether explicitly or implicitly in the business of self-help, our goal is to cultivate trust. Why would someone trust us with their business, their marriage, or their hopes and dreams for the future? In this episode, I sit down with sociologist Patrick Sheehan to talk about his study of career coaches and the role they play with job seekers. We examine the roles that both credentialed and experience-based experts play in society and why uncertainty and instability might inspire us—for better or worse—to put our trust in prophets rather than priests. Footnotes:
As always, find an essay version of this episode at whatworks.fyi ★ Support this podcast ★ | |||
| "She Looks Like an Instagram" Or, How Empowerment Became a Brand with Kelly Diels | 18 Jul 2024 | 00:36:18 | |
I’m continuing my rebroadcast of a series I did a couple of years ago called Self-Help, LLC, and asked the question, "Are we all in the self-help business now?" Today’s episode is all about the aesthetics of self-help and what my guest Kelly Diels has dubbed the female lifestyle empowerment brand. If you’ve ever fussed with your hair or outfit before taking a selfie or sought out the perfect Instagram-worthy spot on vacation, this episode is for you. And if you haven’t? Well, hopefully, this episode will put your mind at ease: you don’t need to do any of that to be successful. It’s not only self-help or entrepreneurship products that are sold as tools for “empowerment” today. It’s just about everything: makeup, clothing, workout equipment, vitamins, office supplies… Whole brands are built around the promise that a purchase won’t just solve your problem, it’ll make you a better, more fulfilled person. But empowerment isn’t for sale—only the status quo.
Read the updated essay version of this episode at whatworks.fyi Love What Works? Want to support the work of asking big questions about how we work today? Become a premium subscriber and get exclusive content and live quarterly workshops for just $7 per month. Go to whatworks.fyi/subscribe ★ Support this podcast ★ | |||
| How Advice Culture Makes Us Winners (And Losers) | 11 Jul 2024 | 00:32:12 | |
This is Part 1 of a series from 2022 called Self-Help, LLC. This summer, I’ll be republishing this series as I work on new essays and episodes. There’s a good chance this series is new to you, and if its previous reception is any indication, I think you’ll love it! If you listened to it the first time through, I’d love to know how it hits differently today. *** It’s hard to escape the language and politics of self-help today. Whether you’re browsing your LinkedIn, Instagram, or even TikTok feed, there’s a very good chance that the first post you see offers up some idea for living a better life or growing a more successful business. Shoulds and supposed-tos are cultural currency. We gain social capital by sharing advice or “giving value.” And that’s left me wondering: are we all in the self-help business now?
Find the essay version of this episode at whatworks.fyi and support my work critiquing and theorizing the 21st-century economy by becoming a premium subscriber for just $7 per month! ★ Support this podcast ★ | |||
| EP 474: Making Non-Obvious Choices at Work with Samhita Mukhopadhyay | 13 Jun 2024 | 00:34:37 | |
For justice-minded people, navigating the world of work in the 21st-century economy can feel... impossible. A real no-win scenario. There's a constant tension between what's good for the communities we inhabit and what's good (and necessary) for us as individuals. But it's in this tension that we find a "margin of maneuverability"—a source of hope, possibility, and creativity. That's the theme of a new book called The Myth of Making It by Samhita Mukhopadhyay, a feminist writer and editor, and the former executive editor of Teen Vogue. I sat down with Samhita to talk about the book and explore our margins of maneuverability.
Related episodes:
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| EP 473: Unpacking Attention Fetishism with Jess Shane | 23 May 2024 | 00:28:10 | |
Our podcast feeds and streaming services are full of real stories of real people. And not all of those stories feel... true. I mean, even if the facts are accurate, the way something is edited, packaged, and marketed can dramatically alter a story's impact. Artist and audio producer Jess Shane wanted to create a project that would expose some of the problematic elements of this booming (and highly profitable) industry. The result is a podcast series for Radiotopia Presents called Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative. Listening to it made me deeply uncomfortable, so I knew I needed to have her on What Works to discuss it! In this episode, you'll get the behind-the-scenes on this project. And you'll learn what happens when attention becomes a fetish. Footnotes:
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| EP 472: Speculative Investing Made Personal | 16 May 2024 | 00:15:39 | |
Okay, this isn't really an episode about speculative investing. Well, it is. But I'm not talking about crypto or meme stocks. I'm talking about the challenges of living and working as a speculative investment. Today's episode is a brief reflection on self-speculation, the "anticipatory, speculative self," and why the second person is so ubiquitous on social media. Footnotes:
As always, find an essay version of today's episode at whatworks.fyi ★ Support this podcast ★ | |||
| EP 471: The Many Hats of Leigh Stein | 02 May 2024 | 00:32:26 | |
What would happen if you archived all of your Instagram content, announced that you had taken a job at a fictional wellness company, and then got fired for disclosing your experience with company-mandated colonic hydrotherapy? Well, Leigh Stein did exactly that. Leigh wears many hats—novelist, poet, cultural critic, book coach, publishing expert. And when she realized that she wasn't wearing the hat she wanted to wear on Instagram, she decided to have some fun with a satirical performance art project. Listen for the whole story and a provocation to embrace your own social media use as a project of identity performance! Footnotes:
Click here for all the details or go to explorewhatworks.com/world
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| EP 470: Rethinking Creativity—A Cautionary Tale | 25 Apr 2024 | 00:21:22 | |
Good luck going anywhere today without running into a message about creativity. I was going to say, "anywhere online," but really, it's just about anywhere. We get creative in the kitchen. Creative in our workouts. Creative in bed. And of course, creative at work. Creativity is somewhat of a "cult object," as Samuel Franklin put it in his cultural history of creativity. Today, I want to get uncomfortably close to that cult object and ask, "What is our fascination with creativity hiding?" So join me as I venture onto the third rail of the 21st-century economy. Footnotes:
Also in this series:
Find an essay version of this episode at whatworks.fyi *** I'm teaching a new workshop on May 15 & 16, 2024! It's called World-Building for Business Owners, and it's based on a process I've been honing for more than a decade. I'll help you apply creative, even playful thinking to your business strategy—and help you create an internally consistent business that causes fewer headaches, meets your needs more efficiently, plays to your strengths, and creates satisfying work.
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| NEW: World-Building for Business Owners | 19 Apr 2024 | 00:09:54 | |
I'm teaching a new workshop on May 15 & 16, 2024! It's called World-Building for Business Owners, and it's based on a process I've been honing for more than a decade. I'll help you apply creative, even playful thinking to your business strategy—and help you create an internally consistent business that causes fewer headaches, meets your needs more efficiently, plays to your strengths, and creates satisfying work. Click here for all the details or go to explorewhatworks.com/world ★ Support this podcast ★ | |||
| EP 469: Building Solidarity in the Creator Economy with Kate Tyson & Charlie Gilkey | 18 Apr 2024 | 00:34:40 | |
"How do I want to live?" Philosopher Rahel Jaeggi says this question is bound up in the concept of alienation. Our disconnection and dissatisfaction keep us from answering that question—but they also keep us from asking it in the first place. So in this episode, Kate, Charlie, and I ask that question—and five more. We examine how work in the creator economy can reinforce competition and individualism when what we really need is solidarity and collective action. If you're curious what you can do to join with others for your own success and theirs, this episode has some ideas. Footnotes:
As always, find an essay version of today's episode at whatworks.fyi And speaking of the creator economy, if you appreciate the work I do, I'd be so grateful if you became a premium subscriber of What Works for just $7/month. Your support makes a world of difference when it comes to my ability to do this work.
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| EP 468: Figuring Out the Creator Economy with Charlie Gilkey & Kate Tyson | 11 Apr 2024 | 00:50:07 | |
It seems the creator economy is booming. Or is it?
Platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TechTalk are quite happy to advertise the ways they support creators with features and advice. Their aspirational creator hubs give the distinct impression that becoming a creator is akin to getting paid to be yourself.
Today's episode is Part 1 of 2 of that conversation. We get into who a creator is, how the creator economy really works, why we value what we value, and how platforms distort the market for our creative work. Footnotes:
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| EP 467: Organizing Indie Labor with Chiarra Lohr | 04 Apr 2024 | 00:38:22 | |
The labor market has undergone a sea change in the last 20 years. A full third of US workers are part of the independent workforce, including gig workers, contract workers, freelancers, and sole proprietors. And yet, key provisions in our labor regulations do not cover independent workers. What's more, platform companies have further changed our idea of work. If you sell your labor on a platform, you're not an employee of the platform—you're an entrepreneur. Well, those entrepreneurs are starting to ask questions. I am, too. Today's episode examines one organization's attempt to organize the indie workforce. The Indie Sellers Guild formed in the wake of a strike action in April 2022 by 30,000 Etsy sellers. I spoke with executive director Chiarra Lohr about what they've been up to, the challenges they face, and the victories they've already celebrated. Plus, you'll learn a bit about the history of working women's organizing in the US—starting back in the 1830s! Footnotes:
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| EP 466: Making Room for Others with Leonie Smith | 21 Mar 2024 | 00:32:43 | |
The Center for Nonviolent Communication describes what they teach as "empathy in action." And so it seems fitting to close out this series on Decoding Empathy with a look at nonviolence, Nonviolent Communication, and making social spaces at work & beyond that work for more people. I talked with Leonie Smith, founder of The Thoughtful Workplace, about how she uses the tools and practices of nonviolence to help individuals and teams feel more seen and understood. Footnotes:
Related:
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| EP 465: Learning Empathy from Copywriters & Doppelgangers with Samantha Pollack | 14 Mar 2024 | 00:35:23 | |
I have learned a lot about cognitive empathy by learning copywriting. After all, copywriting is a puzzle—the puzzle of figuring out what someone is thinking or feeling and how you can connect your idea to that thought or feeling. So, it seemed only fitting that I would invite a copywriter to this series on decoding empathy to share her process and give you a behind-the-scenes look at cognitive empathy in practical application. In this episode, I get real nerdy with Samantha Pollack, a positioning strategist and copywriter, and think about how the digital doppelgangers we create via our personal brands might help us get curious about who is behind others' digital doppelgangers. Footnotes:
Every episode of What Works is also released in essay form at whatworks.fyi!
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