Episodes

  • Epis.#45: a Travel Agent in the pandemic- time to change careers

    Epis.#45: a Travel Agent in the pandemic- time to change careers
    Nov 23 2020
    Marti is a travel agent who lives in Thousand Oaks, California. After 10 years in the travel business, the coronavirus pandemic rapidly put the brakes on it- there were virtually no trips to plan. Fortunately, she was beginning a transition into wellness coaching, and with the pandemic she’s pushed her new career into overdrive.
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    15 mins
  • Epis.#44: Going Where the Work is- an American Architect in Paris

    Epis.#44: Going Where the Work is- an American Architect in Paris
    Aug 15 2020
    Nick Morof works for an architecture firm in Paris. Just a year out of architecture school at USC, he’s already established a solid career path, thanks to strategic internships in Detroit, Tokyo and the one in Paris that led to his current full-time salaried position. He talks about the strict Parisian quarantine protocol he lived through (fortunately his roommate has parents they escaped to outside the city), living in tiny apartments, and the self-driven qualities that served him well in getting through a rigorous architecture program. He also discusses how he’s been a careful spender, and why he moved abroad for work (which has a lot to do with the way that aspiring architects in the U.S. are offered a pittance for full-time work).
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    30 mins
  • Epis.#43: Christy, an Essential Worker in Albuquerque

    Epis.#43: Christy, an Essential Worker in Albuquerque
    Jul 11 2020
    Christy works at a grocery store - part of a national chain - in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A recent college graduate, she talks about what it's been like as the Coronavirus pandemic sent shoppers into panic mode, navigating customers who don't follow public health guidelines, and the empathy involved in her job, one which she compares to being a therapist. She also talks about her mature financial strategies which allow her to start building a 401K with under $2,000 in take-home pay, and the possibility of transferring to another store, maybe in Colorado, where she may begin grad school.
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    29 mins
  • Epis.#42: Project manager and commercial realtor Phillip P. discusses the comforts of wealth and the ways in which landlords can work with tenants in times of crisis

    Epis.#42: Project manager and commercial realtor Phillip P. discusses the comforts of wealth and the ways in which landlords can work with tenants in times of crisis
    Jun 11 2020
    Phillip P. is a Santa Barbara-based landlord and project manager who works with multi-millionaires and billionaires. He talks about maintaining a minimum standard of comfort when he travels – which he does often for work –including everything from where he sits on the plane to where he draws the line when it comes to the quality of his hotels. He also describes how and why he expanded his work life into commercial real estate, the risks he took early on, and how he’s responded to the Coronavirus pandemic as a landlord.
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    25 mins
  • Epis.#41: actor and comedian Ethan Herschenfeld is financially secure, and only a little guilty

    Epis.#41: actor and comedian Ethan Herschenfeld is financially secure, and only a little guilty
    Apr 20 2020
    Ethan Herschenfeld is a standup comedian and actor (his acting credits include: Girls, Boardwalk Empire, High Maintenance, and the Plot Against America) living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He's managed to reach a level of financial security that's very unusual for a creative type. He talks about how he's managed to do it (hint: real estate), his various early gigs including opera singer and college prep tutor, and, eventually, how much he spends, and even his ballpark net worth.
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    26 mins
  • Epis.#40: Allen makes very good money in corporate IT, AND is unemployed in the same year as an Airstream trailer nomad

    Epis.#40: Allen makes very good money in corporate IT, AND is unemployed in the same year as an Airstream trailer nomad
    Mar 17 2020
    Allen (not his real name) works in corporate IT. He makes very good money, but only works about half of the year—the rest of the time he is “unemployed” (at least that’s how he essentially presents himself to people he’s dating). When he’s not traveling abroad, he’s traveling the country in an Airstream trailer, parking in RV parks, and periodically taking on corporate IT jobs along the way. He grew up mainly in the Seattle area, living in foster homes, being homeless, and hanging out with a group of what he refers to as “Asian suprematists.” He shares all these parts of his life, and also talks about how he does NOT like the work that he does for money, but accepts it for what it is, and that it allows him his “pretty luxurious” lifestyle.
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    28 mins
  • Epis.#39: How do rich people feel about being rich? "Uneasy Street: the Anxieties of Affluence" author and sociologist Rachel Sherman

    Epis.#39: How do rich people feel about being rich? "Uneasy Street: the Anxieties of Affluence" author and sociologist Rachel Sherman
    Feb 3 2020
    "Uneasy Street: the Anxieties of Affluence" is Rachel Sherman's book about very wealthy families living in New York City. She talks with me about it-- everything from how she found her subjects to what big-picture revelations came from studying rich people--and I in turn talk with my collaborator Maia Laperle about our respective reactions to the book and rich people generally.
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    32 mins
  • Epis. #38: Zane Helberg, Los Angeles comedian and former restaurant worker, on getting off the treadmill of an all-consuming job and striking out on his own

    Epis. #38: Zane Helberg, Los Angeles comedian and former restaurant worker, on getting off the treadmill of an all-consuming job and striking out on his own
    Jan 11 2020
    Zane Helberg is a Los Angeles-based comedian who organized comedy shows at recovery and rehab centers. It's a new career for him--he was recently in the restaurant industry, working as a manager for a small chain of sandwich outlets. The job paid very well but also ate up all of his time and obliterated his quality of life. He talks about how and why it got so bad, and how he managed to turn things around.
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    33 mins