When a new episode is downloaded I'll look at the title and think this episode is going to be boring. But I always end up being surprised by how interesting the time ends up being.

I really enjoyed your Working at the White House Series - fabulous work. You did an interview with Washington Post White House Bureau Chief, Julie Eilperin - it would be great if you updated that interview with her in the current WH. How have things changed? Has the use of Twitter helped on hindered reporters, etc... thanks for the great work.

I love this show. Been listening since 2016.

Some of the best interviews you will ever hear with regular people. It can be a fascinating and eyeopening look at America, its challenges and the people who are working to fix them. The Baltimore public defender episode? Fantastic.

I can't recommend this podcast enough. It is utterly fascinating, giving listeners a glimpse into a host of different professions that they may or may not be familiar with. The hosts are remarkable interviewers that make each episode both educational and engaging. Highly, highly recommend.

I enjoyed various seasons, but the White House series was by far the best! Each person interviewed was articulate, passionate, focused, and a brilliant spokesperson for the White House and for what working there is like. Other favorites were the medical marajuana dispensary and the midwife. Even the make-up artist who was so passionate about her profession and about turning around young women was a good listen.

Even if you think you know what someone's job is, this podcast humanize it in a way that really allows you to relate. Listen just for the enjoyment.

Update: you've redeemed yourself with the abortion doctor episode. Looking forward to this new series. Glad I didn't unsubscribe. :)

Really enjoyed the White House interviews - well-produced, well-paced, and fascinating. This podcast has gone downhill since then. The last couple of episodes have been boring and slow. The latest one about the "tailoress" is soo slow, boring, and seems poorly produced. I couldn't make it through it. Based on the White House episodes I'll give you another episode or two to win me over. Hope you get this podcast back on track.

I loved listening to Rosana Vollmerhausen from DC Style talk about her professional work. I don't live in DC but someday hope to work with someone just like her - smart, genuine, helpful and methodical. She has inspired me to tackle my closet and re-assess my wardrobe which is long overdue.

Just want you to know that your two latest pods with the Tailoress and the Nail Artist were so delightful. I loved hearing the inside details of their work, the pride they take in their professionalism, and the skills and artistry they possess.

I also loved your White House series.

All the interviews ask excellent questions, posed with reapect and clarity.

You are really really good at this podcast niche!

I've listened to all seven seasons of this podcast, but have enjoyed the White House season the most. Loved to have the focus on one thing, but hear from the diverse people/jobs involved in the daily activities in and around the one location.

Love this podcast! Just discovered it this summer. If I were doing one myself, it's exactly the topic I'd cover. I often ask people what they do, and when they offer their title, I ask, "No...what do you DO? At 10:37 on Tuesday morning, what are you physically doing?" Here's a podcast questioning brilliantly in the same spirit. Love how the host gets into the commute and lunch time routines, interactions with technology, etc, that affect how our days go around our work, as well. White House series was FASCINATING. Keep up the good work!

I started listening to this podcast before the White House edition and it was good too - fun to pick and chose by job - the more unusual the better! Now with White House edition its great to hear all perspectives of what it takes to keep things running. Hope they continue to do deep focus like this - what's next?!

As a person who is himself detail-oriented and conscientious about trying to do the best job he can (or at least, strives for those ideals), I greatly appreciate hearing from other people in other walks of life in the ways they approach the jobs they do. The questions and answers are always thoughtful and well-considered, and there is often nuggets of wisdom or perspectives that are extensible beyond that job's particular context that might be readily applicable to another's. It makes this podcast a very enjoyable listen. Highly recommend!

The current season in the White House is everything you'd want to hear - that they can reveal. Dedication, support, good natured management with tough schedules and issues.

Started brilliantly asking ordinary people about jobs each season slipped. Now fluffball academic asking elite about White House jobs. Depressing decline

I really want to like this, but the host just seems so bored when he’s interviewing these people — he doesn’t seem to be personally engaged in the conversation at all. It sounds like he’s reading questions off of a list. This show could really benefit from a more conversational approach. I also think it would be a lot more engaging from the get-go if he started his interviews by asking his guests why/how they got into their respective professions.

The first two episodes of this podcast I listened to were really interesting, the one about the barber and the other one about the bail bondsman. I was excited to listen to more, but the next three were really boring and I didn’t finish listening to them. It seemed that the interviewer was finding it hard to come up with questions. One started: “How do you start your day?” and the answer was “Well, we walk to work, and when we get there we open the door and then we turn on the lights”, etc. So it seems there are some gems among the lot but I will have to hunt for them.

Pie bakers, twerking instructors, monotone narration. Who cares. This has gone from a great podcast to a terrible one. Don’t bother

Current host Arun is too interested in his own agenda for this show with a very specific premise. He spent the entire "casting director" episode asking questions about diversity ("should Idris Elba(sp?) be James Bond"), how the guest got into the business, and "what do you tell people who want to get cast/be actors?" I still don't know how a casting director gets paid, how he gets clients, how many casting calls he does per day, how does he get people to audition, differences between types of castings, etc...I didn't learn how a casting director works. Disappointing. I'm unsubscribing again. Maybe the next host will get it.

The animal behaviorist obviously loves her work and feels great compassion for the dogs she works with. But I was shuddering as I listened to her talk about using STUFFED DOGS and TODDLER-SIZED DOLLS to “socialize” abused and traumatized dogs. I just can’t help picturing the dog’s potential reaction to a real live child when it leaves the safe and controlled space of the shelter. And the cheery remark that “hipsters” are adopting dogs that have been rescued from dog-fighting operations, raised to be vicious. That’s just irresponsible. And the suggestion that dogs with “high reactivity” or “guarding issues” could be sent to families with older kids or teens (just not toddlers). Dogs that have been abused and neglected to the point of needing to be rescued by the police are damaged.

I love how this podcast is covering tons of different types of jobs by getting down into the details of how people actually work! The content quality can vary (usually based on the interviewee), but most of the time, it’s very engaging.

Could not get through this episode and have now unsubscribed. I'm all for people living their life their way, but I don't really want to hear about the nitty gritty details. Some episodes are interesting but those are few and far between. Most episodes end abruptly and the different hosts for each season seems to suggest that no one really wants to take responsibility for this show. Good concept but poor execution.

This is an interesting look into people's jobs. They do it in an annoying way, though. They always just randomly stop, with no transition or flow or indication or anything. They go away for months at a time and then start running every week. When the first one ended there was no indication they'd ever start up again so when I picked it back up season 2 was halfway done. Then there's the host merry-go-round.

Abysmal. One more episode like the one on the male dominatrix and I’m unsubscribing.

So interesting to learn about jobs that aren't the normal doctor, lawyer, teacher ect.

Great persepctive from famous people to the regular joe

Can't believe how bad the matchmaker episode was, but prior years were powerful details about significant but obscure jobs. Needs to stick to formal journalistic properties.

I like this podcast a great deal, but it is not at the top of my list. That shouldn’t take away from it, but it isn’t a podcast for exercise. Still, very educational and enjoyable— glad it keeps pushing out new episodes!

I loved the first season and have enjoyed the second and third, but the interviews aren’t quite as interesting as they were at first. I think probing questions are needed at more intervals, otherwise even the most interesting jobs end up sounding like a laundry list of tasks. that being said, I think the subject matter is exceptional and I welcome new episodes as they show up in my feed

Plotz was really interesting. He had wonderful questions. Adam Davidson was also very thoughtful. This new season? Downhill fast.

Somehow, the presentation doesn't really work for me. It's slow and humorless. A great premise, and full of good moments, but ultimately a letdown.

I'm not always interested in the job. But it's a great podcast nonetheless

I really enjoyed it when David Plotz hosted but the new host does not seem comfortable in the interviewer role. Hope a better interviewer will be found for next season.

I love how this show makes everyday professions interesting and mysterious fields approachable. There are very few programs that give us in-depth responses from real individuals. I appreciate the terse editing of questions in David's episodes and later in the second season-- they foreground interviewees and bring the Studs Terkel effect home.

No fluff, just smart people talking about how they work.

I enjoyed David Ploz and I'm enjoying Adam Davidson even more.

Hello all. I am a Rancho Bernardo High School Senior and I LOVE this podcast. It's particularly amazing for me because i've never ben in the work force and it give's me all of this great insight to how jobs will feel, and it kinda helps with that question we all face, "What do I like? And what do I want to do with my life?" I've listen to all of the 20 or 30 some odd number on iTunes and I wish you would make more both David and Adam. So if there is any high school tudents out there reading this GET IT! You will love it. And to David and Adam AWESOME WORK. You've got a listener for life here. Keep it up and Speed it up:) I hope it's not to much to even ask this and if it is don't sweat. Heh..:) Looking forward to season 2!!!!!!!! Also I am a listener of Stuff You Should Know by How Stuff Works. Com. That is a really great podcast as well. They have over 600, yes two zeros, audios, and I have listened to probably 60 and I am hooked. Phenominally better than listening to music all day. So thanks if you stuck it with me to the end of this! I really do appriciate it! KEEP LISTENING and have a great sleep tonight:P We all know everyone needs it:)

This show is very simple in concept and is one of those projects that makes one wonder why it hasn't been done before. Everyone wonders what it's like to work other jobs or in other professions so it's wonderful to hear these thoughtful conversations.

David Plotz is a good interviewer and asks good questions but really stays out of the way of the people he's interviewing. I hope this one goes for a long time.

I enjoyed the first episode but all the rest end up being so lifeless a more appropriate title would "Not Working".

The once promising podcast loses all credibility after the pornstar episode.

Listening to this it soon becomes obvious that the host is really getting off as he is practically panting when asking questions.

In a way this one is just as creepy and disturbing as that documentary about the Indonesian generals that going back and relive their massacres.

All the other episodes are so bland you get the feeing this whole series was created just so this guy could "get his freak on" while talking to his favorite adult star.

If you're looking for something better to listen to, take out your earbuds and create your own song by clapping your hands and snapping your fingers. It will be way better.

I enjoy this podcast. It's interesting to listen in on the lives of all kinds of working people. The interviewer stays out of the way, which is rare.

These are interviews with very interesting people. David Plotz does a great job of asking questions so that you can understand what each job feels like to the person doing the job. I really enjoy listening to it.

Love this series. Wish it hadn't ended.

This is (was?) a fantastic podcast and I really hope the recent lull doesn't mean we've reached the end.

Found this podcast after having Serial withdrawls via Entertainment Weekly magazine, and it's currently getting me through half marathon training. David is very thoughtful in the way he crafts his questions. He was able to ask interesting questions without passing judgement on the Jessica Drake episode, which, to me, was remarkable. Most of the questions I have throughout any given ep, he ends up asking, which is nice.

I had a work trade show, and I passed along this podcast series several times.

Such a great series. Please continue!!!

amazing podcast

Disappointed this won't be an ongoing series but thank you David Plotz for a good run. Someone should take up the reigns!

More! Please!

I have always been intensely curious about how people spend their day at work, all the details about what a job entails. Probably because I still don't know what my 'dream job' would be! Thanks for producing this show, and keep up the great work!

Can't get enough of this podcast

I've been fond of Slate for a while, but the Working podcast has fast become my favorite. Open interviews that draw out the complexities and the richness of people's work lives.

This is one of my new favorite podcasts. David is an excellent interviewer and the focus of the questioning is always detailed and informative. Think of all the facsinating professions that could be explored, I can hardly wait until the next episode. If I am allowed one complaint.... I want more more more!

David has found an astonishingly interesting group of people to interview and brings out the best of each! The pornstar and the paramedic are my faves so far...

I enjoy most of Slate’s podcasts, but “Working” is my favorite.

Really enjoy this more than I expected. Even went back and listened to them all. Seems Plotz finds just the right person in a field to interview.

I’ve always been interested in how other people live and work, and most programs out there do so in a general manner. But David Plotz asks the exact questions I have in my head, “Okay, you wake up, then what..” He has a way of pulling the most engaging stories and experiences from people’s day-to-day. Love it!

Such a simple and brilliant idea for a podcast. David Plotz asks probing questions and each interview has been fascinating. Homerun!

Please write descriptions about each podcast each week. Even if it's a single name, write something unique! The "featuring Stephen Colbert" thing is not working. Otherwise great!

I really love the premise of this podcast, and the topics are fantastic, however in all other ways I feel really let down by the end product we are given to listen to. Somehow every episode I’ve listened to manages to take a tremendous guest or subject and make it very difficult to listen to. In the Colbert interview I felt like Colbert had so much energy but was just let down by Plotz’s boring questions and disinterested tone.

The host really needs to learn more about producing an audio show. Yes this is not “radio” but it is audio! I to actually be taken to the places where they work! Is that so crazy? Have them SHOW us how they do what they do. Don’t ask the Nose “how do you make perfume?” but maybe “show me how you would start to make a perfume?” What about sounds of the workplace? Tape of before Colbert’s show, etc. There are so many more places where this could go.

I really want to like it, but In the end I just feel like I am listening to two people in a vacuum with all the life sucked out of them.

Love the new podcast. I have been a political gabfest listener for a while now. I love hearing about peoples day to day at interesting jobs. Looking forward to more guests.

One of my favorite podcasts, very clever and informative.

Great show! I was just thinking that there should be a program like this, where we get to be a fly on the wall and see what people actually DO all day. I hear someone say they work in IT, or finance, or the health care system. I kind of understand what that entails, but I’m not sure what their 9 to 5 is like. A genuine behind the scenes tracking a day in the life, not just the highlights or best of or an interview promoting someone’s book. I want all the boring details, and the more specific the guests are, the more universal it becomes. Everyone’s tendency is to step back and reflect on their career and put it all in perspective and tell us what wisdom they’ve amassed, but seldom do we get to hear the nitty gritty day-to-day, and I love it.

This is a great podcast that I would highly recommend.

I love it. It should not be interesting, but it's fascinating to hear about the details of different professional people's lives.

I'm addicted.

OMG this might be my new favorite from Slate. I am obsessed with what people do all day. My favorite interviews have been with people who do normal things (i.e. not Colbert). I hope there are more of those coming in the lineup because, seriously, I find it fascinating. Plotz is such a great interviewer, too. I'd way rather listen to him than the frenzied-sounding Pesca (sorry). Can't wait for more!

At two episodes old this may be a bit premature but this podcast is incredible. David Plotz does an amazing job of asking questions that can be drawn out into deep answers, and he does a great job of staying out of the guest’s way to let them answer thoughtfully. This podcast seems to tap into a simple but genius idea: that people think deeply about what it is that they spend so much of their life doing, and what they do in a day can therefor be a fascinating story where we might not expect to find one. This podcast has as many great future episodes as there are interesting people in the world, which makes me very excited for its future.

Although listening to Colbert describe his job was great, I found myself absolutely fascinated by the podcast about the health care clinic doctor’s daily dealings.

It was so refreshing to listen to someone who isn't plugging a movie or book. She was so charming and dedicated, it truly warmed my heart.

Something about the tone of this podcast bring to my mind, Krista Tippett’s podcast: 'On Being’. (Another goody.)

I was fascinated listening to Colberts interview. Great show!

I really enjoy listening to David Plotz on Slate's Political Gabfest so I was excited to listen to his newest foray into the podcast world. I liked the first episode and can't wait to hear more!

As with most Slate podcasts, Working is yet another great, simple formula with an engaging host. The premiere episode, featuring Stephen Colbert, is a fantastic start to what will likely prove to be an illuminating and fun show.

Dedicated Slate-o-file. Weekly listener to Culture, Political, Hang Up, and The Gist. (Pesca killing it) Now all in on Working and Amicus. Thanks to Plotz for leaving Editor's Desk in such capable hands.