Working

For this week’s episode of Working Overtime, the hosts June Thomas and Isaac Butler respond to some recent listener mail. The first message is from a listener who wonders how to find an assistant to help with their workload and tasks around the home. June and Isaac offer up their own experiences and extoll the importance of making time to supervise someone you hire's work. Later they tackle anothe...

This week, host Isaac Butler talks to Anthony Davis, a Pulitzer Prize winning opera composer whose work includes the 1986 opera X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X , which was recently revived and produced for the Metropolitan Opera. In the interview, Anthony discusses the inspiration for X and the many genres he drew from to compose its music. He also talks about how to craft a story using music a...

This week, host June Thomas talks to children’s book author and illustrator Mika Song, whose work includes the Norma and Belly series about two squirrels with big appetites. In the interview, Mika explains how she collects ideas just by moving around her neighborhood and jotting down notes and drawings. She also talks about her materials, her audience, and her experiences giving book presentations...

For this week’s episode of Working Overtime, hosts June Thomas and Isaac Butler examine their most habitual work routines and think of new ways to improve them. For Isaac, it’s all about switching up your physical workspace, while June likes to audit her creative expenses and get rid of unnecessary subscriptions. Both of them have encountered the anxious feelings of what to do with your day once a...

This week, host Isaac Butler talks to the very in-demand sound designer Johnnie Burn, who has worked on multiple great and sonically rich films like Nope , Poor Things , and the dark historical drama The Zone of Interest , which tells the story of a Nazi commandant and his family who live right outside the walls of Auschwitz. In the interview, Johnnie discusses the crucial role that audio plays in...

This week, host June Thomas talks to Jason Isaacs, an actor known for roles like Lucien Malfoy in the Harry Potter film series and Georgy Zhukov in The Death of Stalin . In the interview, Jason discusses the extensive research that went into his portrayal of Cary Grant in the Britbox series Archie , including the work of capturing Grant’s accent, which changed over time. He also talks about his im...

For this week’s episode of Working Overtime, hosts June Thomas and Isaac Butler expand their world by exploring the senses we often neglect. Isaac recounts a method acting technique of attaching a memory or feeling to a specific scent, or color from our past. June remembers the sight of a dress made by a friend bringing back the memory of childhood Christmas chocolates. They also dive into other s...

This week, guest-host Ronald Young Jr. talks to Wendy MacNaughton, an artist whose work can be found in many places, including the bestselling cookbook Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat . In the interview, Wendy discusses her unique artistic style, which stems from her practice of interacting closely with her subjects. She also talks about her educational project DrawTogether and its sister project DrawTogeth...

This week, working hosts June Thomas and Isaac Butler share their goals for the year ahead and devise strategies to help each other accomplish them. They also reflect on their resolutions from last year and share how well they stuck to them.  Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675. Podcast production by Cameron Drews.  ...

For this week’s episode of Working Overtime, hosts June Thomas and Isaac Butler discuss the value of finding people who can help take work off your plate and let you focus on your primary tasks. Isaac found employing a research assistant for both his books was an integral part of discovering and collating details. June has utilized software programs to stay productive and organized, yet both hosts...

This week, we revisit host Isaac Butler's conversation with Liz Stokes and Jon Pearce, who make up half of the New Zealand indie rock band The Beths. In the interview, Liz and Jon walk through their songwriting process step-by-step, from initial riffs and lyrics to their complex vocal harmonies and guitar solos. They also explain why the bridge is often the hardest part of a song to write. After t...

This week, host Isaac Butler is joined by actor, writer, director Erik Jensen for a frank conversation about his recent cancer diagnosis and the challenges artists face holding on to health-care coverage, especially in the age of streaming. They go on to discuss Jensen’s continued creative activity, including a new film project he co-directed with his wife and acted in with his daughter. Later, Je...

For this week’s episode of Working Overtime, hosts June Thomas and Isaac Butler discuss the need to keep good health as a creative person. Both June and Isaac have had their health scares, June in the dental world, and Isaac with his back. We’ve all been enchanted by the chain-smoking, heavy-drinking, sleepless poet, but the truth is that mistreating your body can catch up with you and eventually...

This week, host June Thomas talks to Val McDermid, a prolific crime novelist whose books have sold millions of copies worldwide. Val has even been dubbed the “Quine of Crime,” a Scottish alternative to the title “Queen of Crime,” which the Agatha Christie estate objected to. In the interview, Val explains where her ideas come from and how she decides which of her on-going series to pick up next. S...

This week, guest-host Keisha “TK” Dutes talks to graphic designer, writer, and educator Gail Anderson, who specializes in the art of typography. In the interview, Gail talks about falling in love with printed lettering and her decision to become a designer in the first place. Then she discusses some of her specific work, including campaign buttons and posters, playbills for Broadway, and her Emanc...

For this week’s episode of Working Overtime, hosts Nate Chinen and Isaac Butler are joined by Jaime Green, author of The Possibility of Life , for a discussion on “anchor jobs,” or gigs that can provide stability through the financial uncertainty of freelance work. All three have endured feast or famine periods and found that certain side jobs can create a protective scaffolding to help get throug...

This week, host June Thomas talks to casting director and producer Logan Clark, whose credits include reality TV series like American Idol , The Masked Singer , and the excellent HBO reality series Legendary . In the interview, Logan explains how and why he got into reality show casting and what the job entails. Then he talks about the casting process for Legendary and the importance of featuring...

This week, host Isaac Butler talks to Kristoffer Borgli, the writer and director (and editor!) behind the new movie Dream Scenario , starring Nicolas Cage. In the interview, Kristoffer discusses the writing and revision process for Dream Scenario and explains how he tweaked the main character once Cage signed on. He also talks about why he shoots on film, why he likes to both direct and edit his w...

For this week’s episode of Working Overtime, hosts Nate Chinen and Isaac Butler explore the refractive nature of switching mediums. Like a light through a prism, we can sometimes find new creative colors by seeking unfamiliar paths. Nate explains his different approaches to two separate profiles he created on composer Anthony Braxton, one for the page and one for the radio. Then, both hosts share...

This week, guest-host Kristen Meinzer talks to Nikki Watson, a home staging expert who founded The Design Quad , one of the biggest home staging companies in the country. In the interview, Nikki explains what a home stager does and how it’s different from the work of an interior designer. She also discusses trends in the industry, like the “monochromatic” color palettes, and her ability to evoke e...

This week, host Isaac Butler talks to Raja Feather Kelly, a choreographer and director who works both on Broadway and with his dance-theatre-media company, The Feath3r Theory . In the interview, Raja discusses the useful systems and strategies he’s developed with his collaborators at The Feath3r Theory and how he’s able to apply some of that wisdom to his work on Broadway. He also shares the proce...

For this week’s episode of Working Overtime, a listener grapples with the complicated problem of having too much success as a freelancer. Balancing their time between a day job and an onslaught of freelance projects leaves them feeling wiped out, yet tepid about rocking their financial boat. Hosts June Thomas and Isaac Butler share their own experiences of juggling freelance and full-time work. Wh...

This week, host June Thomas talks to Katherine Howe, a writer of both historical fiction and nonfiction books. In the interview, Katherine starts by discussing her upcoming novel A True Account , which tells a fictional story about the very real Golden Age of Piracy. Then she talks about her work collaborating with CNN anchor Anderson Cooper on historical nonfiction books. Their latest is called A...

This week, guest-host Kristen Meinzer talks to Margalit Fox, a longtime writer of obituaries for the New York Times and now a full-time writer of nonfiction books, like The Confidence Men . In the interview, Margalit discusses the delicate art of documenting notable deaths, including the practice of pre-writing and continually updating the obituaries of living people. She also explains how her wor...

For this week’s episode of Working Overtime, hosts Isaac Butler and June Thomas discuss confidence and what it took for them to feel self-assured in their own creative strengths. June knows she is a wizard of copy editing, while Isaac has faith in his prowess as a writer, but it took them both years of hard work to get there. At the beginning of a career it can be hard to feel self-assured in your...