Advertise on podcast: Past Due with Ana Marie Cox and Open Mike Eagle

Journalist and 404 Media co-founder Jason Koebler joins us to talk about what it takes to build an independent newsroom. From the cost of defamation insurance to the weight of mailing your own merch, we get into the invisible math of staying scrappy without burning out—and the true cost of reader-supported journalism. Get more at http://patreon.com/pastdue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ana Marie Cox and Open Mike Eagle recommend Conversations From The Frontlines, a podcast from from Liberty Hill Foundation. If you are interested in how real social change actually happens, we suggest you check it out.

Mike opens up about the emotional toll of promoting his most personal album yet, while Ana shares about her new gig at Mediaite. The two compare therapy approaches, swap creative struggles, and discover Ana's memoir might be more haunted than she realized. Get more at http://patreon.com/pastdue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wrestler and podcaster Colt Cabana joins Ana and Mike to talk about building a life in wrestling. From getting fired by WWE to becoming a blueprint for sustainable DIY success, Colt breaks down the real economics of creative work—merch tables, mattress money, and all—and why betting on yourself might be the best decision you ever make. Get more at http://patreon.com/pstdue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Comedian and writer Joey Clift returns to talk about first book deal money, the evaporation of publisher marketing, self-financing a 22-date tour, and why tribal casinos are actually closer to socialism than capitalism. Get more at http://patreon.com/pastdue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stand-up comedian and former NPR host Ophira Eisenberg joins us to talk about what happens after the salary ends. We get into public radio money, Sirius XM royalties, and the Gen X guilt of making content. Get more at http://patreon.com/pastdue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Malcolm Barrett joins us to break down exactly how streaming, with it's shorter seasons, invisible metrics, and evaporating residuals, might be breaking the working actor.  Get mote at http://patreon.com/pastdue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Comedian, writer, and union organizer Nato Green joins us to talk about 30 years of building worker power by day and doing stand-up by night, and why he's made peace with the fact that comedy will never be his primary income. Plus, how to negotiate any creative contract without getting screwed. Get more at http://patreon.com/pastdue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Actor, writer, and registered ER nurse Ambar Martinez joins us to talk about building a life out of two careers that are both all-consuming... and refusing to pick just one. We get into the economics of nursing your way through an acting career, how medical advising became its own income stream, and what it costs to keep proving yourself in two industries that each assume the other one is your real job. Get more at http://patreon.com/pastdue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist and podcast host Sam Sanders joins us to talk about what happens when the thing you thought you wanted turns out to be too small. We get into the emotional and financial cost of walking away, what it means to do it yourself in a collapsing industry, and how to balance ambition with reality. Get more at http://patreon.com/pastdue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jamie Feldman and Rachel Webster, the duo behind the award-winning podcast Debt Heads, join us to talk about the 1978 Supreme Court decision that quietly eliminated interest rate caps and created the modern credit card crisis, why shame is the most profitable tool the financial industry has, and why the answer to "how did we all end up here" is never as personal as we've been told. Get more of this conversation at http://patreon.com/pastdue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike's running at full speed with no room to breathe, Ana's navigating the gap between making art and making rent, and together they unpack why showing up, week after week, broke or not, might be the only honest answer left. Get more at patreon.com/pastdue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Writer and author Rainesford Stauffer joins us to talk about what happens when you've spent your whole life working your way into worthiness and it still doesn't feel like enough. We get into the real economics of freelancing plus nonprofit work plus mentoring student journalists in Kentucky, what OCD has to do with financial anxiety, and what she actually tells young people entering the worst job market of their lifetimes.  Get more at http://patreon.com/pastdue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Comedian Adam Conover joins us to unpack the real costs of the so-called "creator economy" from algorithmic gatekeeping to the crumbling of stable creative jobs. Get more at http://patreon.com/pastdue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alex Goldman, co-creator of Reply All and current host of Hyperfixed joins us to talk about what it actually looks like to start over. We get into 18 months of floundering and how he ended up funding Hyperfixed with a $200,000 loan he's still paying back. Get more at patreon.com/pastdue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices