I Hate It Here S11 E2: Is Industry the Most Honest Show About Modern Work? with Dave Garcia
Jan 19, 2026
This week, workplace commentator Dave Garcia joins the discussion, unpacking the painfully relatable themes in the show Industry. They dive into how the series exposes the horror of unregulated ambition and the way jobs can consume identity. Dave reveals insights on hazing and the troubling normalization of dysfunction in the workplace. As they contrast Gen Z's resistance to grind culture with pre-COVID norms, they delve into the trade-offs between status and safety in high-stakes careers. Their engaging dialogue offers valuable takeaways for navigating modern work dynamics.
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Episode notes
Work Equals Identity In Modern Institutions
- Industry holds up a mirror to how work, identity, and institutions fuse around productivity and status.
- The show dramatizes tolerance for harmful workplace behavior to reveal structural cultural dysfunction.
Idolizing A Toxic Manager
- Hebba recounts having an "Eric" manager she idolized early in her career and later rejected that model.
- She learned that emulating a problematic leader didn't guarantee the same long-term success or outcomes.
How Early-Career Pipelines Normalize Dysfunction
- Informal culture and onboarding pipelines socialize new hires into dysfunctional norms that persist.
- Hazing and ritualized behaviors get passed forward until someone refuses the script.
