Surviving The Moment: Op, I was laid off again.

Note from Tucker

Sadly, I got laid off from my job at Civic Media. Technically, I was furloughed. So, there's a chance I could get rehired, but it's unlikely and unknown. Second lay off in 15 months. Damn it.

I'm proud of what I did at Civic, but in some ways it points towards the instability: In 9 months I worked on three different radio shows. I strategized, made prototypes around social media that never launched. The highlights though are the guests I brought on: Local political organizers; comedians; investigative journalists; best-selling authors; U.S. Senators; clothing experts; death doulas; poets laureates; small-business owners; film critics, and many more.

I'm thankful for the work experiences and the growth I had managing daily radio talk shows. And if nothing else, these paychecks, this job, helped make it possible to buy a house here in Madison. I'll take all of that. I feel very lucky and am ready for next thing. It's now a time to plan and be ready for what's next.

I've been reading Molly Aitken's novel, BRIGHT I BURN about a Ireland's first person who was condemned for witchcraft, Alice Kyteler. This refurbished fictionally told story leans into the power of one woman during a time when women had little power — the late 12th century.

I can't help notice the changes Alice goes through the novel: the husbands, the loss loved ones, the rotating nooks and crannies she makes money from her at her Inn. The political-filled conversations she has in dinning halls, out by rivers. I don't agree with every decision Alice makes, but her swagger, her hedonistic hunger to live are something to cultivate. Speak up, be loud – even if the world seems to douse your inner flame. Burn through it.

That's advice I'll be taking as I begin this journey. The journey of being laid off for a second time in 15 months.

Resources

80,000 hours's new book HOW TO HAVE A FULFILLING CAREER THAT DOES GOOD sounds like something I've been trying to do since I knew people had to work. I wish this book had existed when I was twenty though, not in my late thirties. There is good advice in here, though, for anyone looking for jobs. Particularly the chapter about landing a job. You encounter rake-in-the-face information like this:

I highly recommend the book. And for those worried about how A.I. has broken the whole attempt of applying for a job, Harvard Business Review offers a fix idea (hint: more interviews! More testing of skills! The cover letter is dead).

Stuff I made this week.

• I wrote a book review for Zona Motel on Justin Nobel's interesting investigation into the gas and oil industry. A terrifying and on-the-ground account of how radio active material is a byproduct of this industry.

All for now, talk to you next week.