
Hosted by Ana Marie Cox and Open Mike Eagle · EN

Olivia Messer, journalist, novelist, and editor-in-chief of The Barbed Wire, joins us to talk about what it actually looks like to run an independent Texas newsroom. We get into why virality and revenue have essentially no relationship to each other, what she learned sitting on the management side of a union negotiation for the first time, and what happens to your own creativity when every single day is a budget meeting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

W. Kamau Bell, Emmy and Peabody Award-winning comedian and filmmaker, joins us to talk about what it actually looks like when the industry that rewarded you for doing the right thing quietly decides it's done doing that. We get into the real math of basic cable money, and what happens to a career built on diversity and inclusion when DEI becomes a liability. Three kids. Nine jobs. Every dollar, he has to go grab. Still making his own gravy. Get more at http://pateron.com/pastdue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Los Angeles-based photographer Kim Newmoney has shot for HBO, Showtime, Vogue, and Comedy Central. We get into what it actually takes to build a freelance photography career from the ground up, how a nail salon a 600,000 chickens play a role, and what all of it taught her about how to walk onto any set and make anyone comfortable in front of a lens. Hear the full episode at patreon.com/pastdue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To celebrate one year of Past Due, Ana and Mike look back at the conversations that changed them — featuring Baron Vaughn, Ian Danskin, and Mary Robinette Kowal — and wrestle with what it means to make work that matters in an economy that keeps moving the goalposts. (Part 2 of 2) Get more at patreon.com/pastdue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To celebrate one year of Past Due, Ana and Mike look back at the conversations that changed them — featuring Paul F. Tompkins, Siri Doll, and Rhett Miller — and wrestle with what it means to make work that matters in an economy that keeps moving the goalposts. (Part 1 of 2) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Comedian Chris Gethard joins us to talk about walking away from the version of success he spent years chasing, and why that might be the reason he's still standing. We get into the grief of giving up the big dream, the joy of making weird stuff for the people who get it, and the radical act of building a career that actually fits your life. Get more at patreon.com/pastdue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam Gurri, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Liberal Currents, joins us to talk about eight years of building a publication nobody paid him to make, and what happened when the world finally caught up. We get into how you raise half a million dollars from a community you built on trust, what it actually costs to pay yourself in New York City without betraying your principles, and why the most important job in journalism right now might be the one nobody sees: editing. Get more at patreon.com/pastdue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Comedian and speechwriter Chandler Dean joins us to talk about building a streaming show without burning down his career to do it. We get into why keeping a day job might be the most radical creative decision you can make, how Abolish Everything went from a monthly live show to the Nebula's most-watched new series, and why deadline-based work is secretly a gift. Get more at patreon.com/pastdue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Actors and comedians Mary Holland and Matt Newell survived the WGA strike, the SAG strike, and a newborn... more or less simultaneously. They join Ana and Mike to talk about what going all-in on a creative life actually looks like, what improv teaches you about listening, and what happens when there is no plan B.. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Six-time James Beard Award-winning food critic Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl joins Ana and Mike to make the case that food isn't a soft beat, it's the whole story. From ICE raids gutting Twin Cities restaurants to the real wage gap hiding in daycare costs, Dara connects the dots between what's on your plate and everything that actually matters. She also gets into why there are fewer working restaurant critics in America than prima ballerinas and what non-competes do to creative careers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices