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

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

Ana Marie Cox and Open Mike Eagle introduce The Interface, a new podcast from the BBC. We hope you gain as much from it as we have!

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

Ben Collins, CEO of The Onion, joins Ana and Mike to talk about what happens when you stop trying to fit into a box, and accidentally end up running one of the biggest newspapers in America. From burning out covering extremism at NBC News to buying The Onion for less than you'd expect, Ben gets into what it actually cost him to bottle up his personality on cable news, and why the humans-first approach is what's saving the thing he loves. Get more at patreon.com/pastdue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Actress and comedian Lilan Bowden joins us to talk about what it actually feels like to come out the other side, and why financial safety doesn't automatically mean financial peace. From barista shifts and transcription gigs to booking a Disney Channel series, Lilan gets honest about the bills she still can't bring herself to open, the shame that kept her moving forward, and what it means to build a life around brunch when you used to skip toothpaste. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ana and Mike try to untangle the pure joy of making art from the exhausting pressure of creating for survival. Mike admits he's pushing all his chips into survival mode and can't afford a break, while Ana discusses the elusive practice of emotional sobriety and letting go of the outcome. Get more at ⁠patreon.com/pastdue⁠ and help support the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie joins Ana and Mike to discuss the dismantling of legacy media by billionaire owners and the myth of the “Democratic Joe Rogan”. Jamelle also opens up about the intersection of luck and frugality that allowed him to build financial stability early in his career and how he now balances his work for "the mothership" with his own independent creative outlets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite writing bestsellers and landing a Reese’s Book Club pick, Xochitl Gonzalez opens up about the lingering shame of precarity, the invisibility of working-class success, and why we need to drag money talk out into the light. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonah Ray joins us to talk about finding joy in creative work after letting go of the version of success he once chased. From DIY punk to rebooting MST3K, Jonah reflects on what happens when you stop waiting for permission and start making the stuff you actually want to see. We get into the fear of going unnoticed, and why it’s still worth it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Comedian Devin Field has one of the rarest things in Hollywood: a full-time, year-round job. But even that didn’t protect him from the chaos of the past few years. From presidential threats to network pullouts to a brutal WGA strike, Devin opens up about what it’s like when late-night comedy is under siege—and how he’s learning to navigate the myth of hustle culture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ana Marie Cox and Open Mike Eagle kick off the year with a conversation about survival in a collapsing media economy. They get into dry January, capitalism, self-promotion, YouTube pivots, and what it means to keep showing up even when the numbers don’t add up. Plus: the upside of YouTube thumbnails, the reality of reporting on a shoestring, and why, in a world that wants you to give up, persistence might be the most radical act of all. Support the show: patreon.com/pastdue Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices