"They Rely On Me": An Update From A USPS Mail Carrier

"They Rely On Me": An Update From A USPS Mail Carrier

The United States Postal Service has been in the news a lot in the past week, as national anxiety rises about the upcoming presidential election, mail-in ballots, and the Postmaster General's recent cost-cutting changes to the mail system.  Our listener Beth is a mail carrier in rural Maine who first wrote to us back in March about being an essential worker, and her fears of contracting and spreading COVID-19 on her route. "I don't know if this virus is on the mail," she said then. "The packages, the mailboxes. I touch everything."  When we checked in with Beth more recently, she told us some of those fears have lessened for her. But now, she's facing new pandemic-related challenges at work, including childcare issues, and delivering a lot more packages. "I definitely run from my truck to a house to drop off a package and I run back to my truck and it's go, go, go, go, go all day long," she said, adding that because she gets paid a set rate for her rural route, "I get paid for 43 hours [per week] no matter what." Listen to our episode about essential workers, including Beth, from earlier this spring.

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Sugar Babies Cost Me $8,000 And My Marriage

Sugar Babies Cost Me $8,000 And My Marriage

A few months ago, a listener we're calling Ethan sent us an email. The subject line was: "Sugar babies cost me $8,000 and my marriage."  Ethan told us that he hired sex workers from the website Seekin...

4 Maalis 202031min

Maria Bamford Didn't Wait For It To Be Perfect

Maria Bamford Didn't Wait For It To Be Perfect

When comedian Maria Bamford moved to LA in her early 20s, she struggled to cover her food and rent as she was breaking into the comedy world. "Although I had a college degree, I just did not know how ...

26 Helmi 202029min

Cancer Changed Ken Jeong's Comedy

Cancer Changed Ken Jeong's Comedy

Ken Jeong described his role as Mr. Chow in the 2009 blockbuster The Hangover as "the most obscene love letter to a spouse one could ever have.” He peppered his dialogue with bits of Vietnamese as an ...

19 Helmi 202023min

No Slumping With Twyla Tharp

No Slumping With Twyla Tharp

Twyla Tharp's mother first put her in dance classes when she was a child living in Southern California. "I've always been highly programmed," Twyla told me. But when she got to New York and realized h...

12 Helmi 202029min

Carmen Maria Machado Is Using The Word 'Abusive'

Carmen Maria Machado Is Using The Word 'Abusive'

When author Carmen Maria Machado was in her mid-20s, she had her first relationship with a woman. She was in graduate school at the time, and in the beginning, her ex made her feel special. "I just wa...

5 Helmi 202032min

Who Are Your 'Quick And Deep' Friends?

Who Are Your 'Quick And Deep' Friends?

Last week, we partnered with the NPR podcast Code Switch to bring you two episodes all about race and friendship. If you haven’t heard those episodes yet, definitely go back, and take a listen to thos...

29 Tammi 202013min

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