A fork (still) in the road
Endless Thread3 Loka 2025

A fork (still) in the road

You've heard of the "Freshman 15"... how about the "DOGE 15"? This is how some federal employees have referred to the stress associated with the establishment of the Department of Government Efficiency back in January and the "restructurings, realignments, and reductions in force" that came with it, as announced in an email sent to nearly all federal employees with the subject line, "Fork in the Road."

Federal workers have found community in the FedNews subreddit: "A vital, independent hub for U.S. federal employees to navigate the bureaucracy, protect our careers, and support one another." r/FedNews is our hub for this episode. Back in April, Amory and Ben spoke with three of its members: one of whom is still a federal employee, another who participated in the Deferred Resignation Program, and another who was laid off along with thousands of other probationary employees, only to be offered his job back.

We hear their stories as the country faces another fork in the road: a government shutdown that the White House has said could result in further reductions in force — specifically of federal jobs that are "not consistent with the president's priorities."

Show notes:

This content was originally created for audio. An auto-generated transcript is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Heads up that some elements (i.e. music, sound effects, tone) are harder to translate to text.

*** Survey alert: Tell us what you love about the show, what you want more of; what you could stand a little less of. And if you complete the survey, we'll send you an extra episode (what Ben's calling a "dashboard confessional") in January.

Take the survey here: wbur.org/endlessthreadsurvey

Thank you!

Jaksot(434)

Hidden Levels Ep. 6: Segagaga

Hidden Levels Ep. 6: Segagaga

The final episode of Hidden Levels explores the story of SEGA developer Tez Okano and the bizarre, meta-game he created: Segagaga. Okano joined SEGA in 1992, witnessing firsthand the company's tumult...

24 Loka 202540min

Hidden Levels Ep. 5: Press B to Touch Grass

Hidden Levels Ep. 5: Press B to Touch Grass

Video games are arguably the antithesis of nature; highly constructed worlds, synthetic, inorganic. If you grew up gaming, you may recall grown-ups telling you to shut down the console, go outside, an...

22 Loka 202541min

Hidden Levels: Surgical Precision (Side Quest)

Hidden Levels: Surgical Precision (Side Quest)

Dr. James "Butch" Rosser was a pioneer in minimally invasive surgery in the 1990s. When he credited his surgical skills to video games, people dismissed him. The prevailing narrative was that kids who...

21 Loka 202524min

Hidden Levels Ep. 4: Machinima

Hidden Levels Ep. 4: Machinima

Machinima — a portmanteau of “machine” and “cinema” — refers to movies filmed inside video games. The art form had a renaissance in the 1990s, and many thought it had a future in Hollywood. Among the ...

18 Loka 202545min

Hidden Levels: Choose Your Player (Side Quest)

Hidden Levels: Choose Your Player (Side Quest)

Today, Stef Sanjati is a creator on YouTube with over half a million subscribers. Her content mostly focuses on her two greatest loves — makeup and gaming — often combining the two with her otherworld...

17 Loka 202531min

Hidden Levels Ep. 3: This Game Wants YOU

Hidden Levels Ep. 3: This Game Wants YOU

For decades, the U.S. Army has been on edge about recruitment, hitting its goals for a few years, only to miss them again. As part of their strategy to combat recruiting concerns, the Army has turned ...

14 Loka 202544min

Hidden Levels Ep. 2: Stick It to 'Em

Hidden Levels Ep. 2: Stick It to 'Em

In this second episode of Hidden Levels, Amory traces the history of the humble-yet-genius joystick — from early 20th century aviation, to 1970s video game consoles like the Atari 2600, to the Nintend...

10 Loka 202541min

Hidden Levels Ep. 1: Mr. Boomshakalaka

Hidden Levels Ep. 1: Mr. Boomshakalaka

Welcome to our all-new collaborative series, "Hidden Levels," in which we team up with 99% Invisible to explore how the world of video games has impacted the world beyond. We’ll dive deep into how gam...

7 Loka 202537min