In this episode, I talk to professional lice remover Lisa Weisberg. When I first heard about Lisa’s business, a service in the Chicago area called The Nit Pickers, I took note mainly because it was yet another unusual job (so now we have gorilla caretak

Chris Soldevilla has been a working actor for more than 20 years, and his wife, Elizabeth Mitchell (ER, Lost, V), is also in the business—so he knows a thing or two about "playing" for a living. In Follow Your Heart, Do the Math, or Somewhere in Betwee

Many contributors to Work Stew wrestle mightily with the question of what to do for a living. They're not sure where their passions lie, or they worry that pursuing the work they love won't yield a living wage. But in this episode, I talk to Dr. Jennifer

Amy Gutman is a writer and lawyer whose career has already covered a lot of ground: among other things, she's worked as a journalist; she co-founded an enduring educational program; she did a stint in corporate law; and she's written two novels. And there

Back in December, a Work Stew listener suggested that I interview Santa. I liked the idea, and I got right on it. After all, seasonal workers are an important element of the labor force. I wanted to know how Santa landed the gig, how much it paid, and—m

I was interested to speak with Gabrielle Burton in part because she has pursued a path I considered but then abandoned. For about two years after college, I worked as a production assistant for various film companies in New York. I answered phones, fetche

Some career paths are well-known: doctors and cops, for example, get heaps of screen time—and, in real life, most people have at least rubbed shoulders with these sorts of professionals. But there are scads of different ways to make a living, and one a

Some people's careers follow a master plan developed at a young age. But many of us—in fact, most of us—figure things out as we go, and our career decisions are shaped at least in part by the chance events of our lives. In Lisa Grey's case, her exper

For most people, attending a funeral falls somewhere between 'pretty grim' and 'completely gut wrenching.' So I got to wondering: what is it like to attend funerals almost every single day? What is it like to have death at the very center of your life's

This episode features an interview with Carolyn Nash, the author of a newly published memoir called Raising Abel.  In Work Stew’s young life, I’ve profiled quite a few writers: an investigative reporter, a screenwriter, a speechwriter, and a writer