Working

In a special five-episode mini-season of Working, we talk with people who have had “second acts,” that is people who made a dramatic career pivot at some point in their working lives.Patty Stonesifer was running a computer-book publisher in Indianapolis when Microsoft recruited her to run its publishing division. In 10 years at the company, she rose to senior vice president of the Interactive Media Division—where one of the sites she launched was Slate. (Stonesifer is now married to the magazine’s founding editor, Michael Kinsley.) When she left the tech giant, Bill Gates recruited her to lead what became the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. After a decade there, she left to become the president and CEO of Martha’s Table, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit. She has also served as chair of the Smithsonian Institution Board of Regents, was appointed by President Barack Obama to lead the White House Council for Community Solutions, and is the lead director of the corporate board of Amazon.com.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a special five-episode mini-season of Working, we talk with people who have had “second acts,” that is people who made a dramatic career pivot at some point in their working lives.Nicole Auerbach worked as an attorney for 10 years, first as a federal public defender in the Southern District of New York and then as a media lawyer specializing in First Amendment issues. Realizing she was unhappy in that career, she was drawn to become a rabbi and is now director of congregational engagement at New York’s Central Synagogue. Auerbach talks about how she decided to attend rabbinical school, the challenges that making a career switch presented, and what she likes best about her new line of work. You can email us at working@slate.com.Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a special five-episode mini-season of Working, we talk with people who have had “second acts,” that is people who made a dramatic career pivot at some point in their working lives.Gerry Allen always dreamed of becoming a National Park Ranger, but by the time he graduated from college, family obligations meant that he needed to take a different career path. He went to work for Delta Airlines, eventually focusing on the company’s environmental programs. In 2001, when Delta offered an early retirement package, Allen decided to make his youthful ambitions come true. At 56, he sent out between 60 and 80 applications, eventually securing a position as a “fee collector” at Vicksburg National Military Park. “That’s the guy who sits at the gate and takes $5 as the cars come through,” he explains. After stops at three other parks in the South, he landed at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park.Now retired, Allen talks about the challenges of making his career move; what he enjoyed about being a park ranger; and why everyone should visit the Andersonville National Historic Site. You can email us at working@slate.com.Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a special five-episode mini-season of Working, we talk with people who have had “second acts,” that is people who made a dramatic career pivot at some point in their working lives.Adriane Fugh-Berman was a writer and reproductive-rights activist when she decided to go to medical school. She is now a professor in the department of pharmacology and physiology at Georgetown University and the director of PharmedOut, a Georgetown University Medical Center project that promotes rational prescribing and researches the effects of pharmaceutical and medical device industry marketing on prescribing behavior and therapeutic choices.Fugh-Berman talks about how her earliest work in the family restaurant influenced her current career, the importance of good writing, and why she maintains a garden on the Georgetown campus.  You can email us at working@slate.com.Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a special five-episode mini-season of Working, we talk with people who have had “second acts,” that is people who made a dramatic career pivot at some point in their working lives.If it weren’t for a shoulder injury, Mary Stevenson’s retirement may have looked completely different. After benefiting from classes in the Nia Technique, she decided to teach the fitness method—along with Zumba Gold and Ageless Grave—to older adults when she left the University of Massachusetts, Boston, where she had taught economics for 40 years.Stevenson talks the challenges and rewards of making a career switch in her late 50s. You can email us at working@slate.com.Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Jordan talks to Leigh Cordner, Medieval Times’ Creative Director. Leigh is in charge of making all the various elements of the show you’ve been hearing about come together to wow the crowd. And not just at one castle--but all of them. You can email us at working@slate.com.Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Managing the bar at Medieval Times, is not quite the same a running things at the local dive. With a crowd full of customers clamoring for 32 oz beers in souvenir mugs and cocktails like the Royal Knight (which is apparently the Long Island Iced Tea of Medieval Times specialty drinks) you really have to have a commanding presence. Which is why Toni Ann Siri, who runs the bar at Medieval Times in Lyndhurst, NJ, will tell you she’s the Queen when it comes to her department.You can email us at working@slate.com.Podcast production by Jessamine Molli. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Victoria Militello has been a serving wench at Medieval Times for seven years (yes, that’s really what they call waitresses at the show). As she tells Jordan in this episode, the job takes a surprising amount of athletic stamina, as well as a tolerance for hearing the same Cable Guy jokes every night.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Bill Ponder was in third grade, he read a book about falconry and decided that’s what he wanted to do when he grew up. Unlike most kids who daydream about training and flying raptors for the King’s court, Bill actually made his dream come true by becoming the resident falconer at the Medieval Times in Lyndhurst, NJ. Bill tells Jordan how he turned his lifelong hobby into a career, what goes into training a bird of prey and why you shouldn't expect a falcon to cuddle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can you imagine a better day job than being Queen? Tara Henderson, a working actor who appears in roles off-broadway, really cannot. She is one of the women who plays Queen Doña Maria Isabella at Medieval Times in Lyndhurst, NJ. Queen Isabella is the first female ruler in Medieval Times history. And as you’ll hear in this episode, Tara and her “queen sisters” appreciate the challenge of this meaty new female role.  Tara talks about how she is lucky to have found a steady gig that is flexible enough to accommodate her career and lets her play a role she truly loves. It’s good to be Queen. You can email us at working@slate.com.Podcast production by Jessamine Molli.This episode is brought to you by Constant Contact. For a free trial, sign up today at constantcontact.com/working. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices