Ana Marie Cox and Open Mike Eagle

Do You Have to Lose Money to Do the Work You Love?

In this week's episode of Past Due, Ana Marie Cox and Open Mike Eagle turn the mic inward—unpacking what it costs (financially, emotionally, and physically) to do the work that matters for them. From "on assignment" reporting to indie rap touring, they compare notes on work, compromise, and the strange privilege of...

Ana and Mike Leave the House

Ana and Mike compare notes from the road: Ana’s on assignment in small-town Maine chasing a political story she believes in, and Mike’s in between tour legs, chasing rent. They get into the economics of chasing meaning when the math doesn’t make sense, the disappearing budgets of real journalism, and why a DIY ethos is ...

Dan Harmon from "Secret Skin"

Open Mike Eagle's interview with 'Community' and 'Rick and Morty's' Dan Harmon. They talk through their relationship to vulnerability, freestyle rap techniques and how to survive the toxicity of Hollywood.

Can You Make a Career Out of a Patchwork Quilt? with Ron Funches

Comedian and actor Ron Funches joins us for a deeply funny and unexpectedly honest conversation about the strange economics of creative work. We talk about surviving on joy, staying positive when nothing’s going right, and why failure is sometimes part of the paycheck.

Originally recorded in 2022 for Mike’s podcas...

What If You Have to Leave to Stay in Love With It?

Chris Gethard has done the big stuff. HBO, late-night TV show, a wildly devoted cult following. But in this episode of Past Due, Chris talks about what happens when the thing you love starts to drain you, and why stepping away might be the only way to stay in love with it.

We talk about comedy, creative identit...

Is the Garage Is Better Than the Studio? with Chris Gethard

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 ...

What If Control Isn’t Freedom?

Siri Dahl has spent more than a decade in the adult industry, navigating everything from studio shoots to OnlyFans, social media bans, podcasting, and burnout. In this episode of Past Due, Siri shares what it’s really like to be a public-facing creator in a world that wants your content, but not your complexity. 2025-08-27 10:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post

What If the “Recession-Proof” Job Isn’t? with Siri Dahl

Adult performer and podcaster Siri Dahl joins us to talk about the emotional and economic realities of sex work in an era that calls itself creator-friendly, but still censors, exploits, and erases. We talk about the myth that OnlyFans is easy money, the rising pressure to be everywhere at once, and what it means to be both t...

Do I Keep Going?

Rhett Miller has been making music in bands and by himself professionally since the 90s. He’s toured the world, played late-night TV, and built a steady career. But in this episode of Past Due, Rhett gets real about the parts that don’t make the highlight reel: the depression, the doubt, the decades of DIY surviv...

What If 30 Years Is Just The Beginning? with Rhett Miller

Musician and writer Rhett Miller joins us to talk about staying creative in an industry that keeps changing. From fronting the Old 97’s to writing children’s books, Rhett opens up about the financial rollercoaster of life on the road, the loneliness of independence, and the challenge of keeping faith in your work when the...

What We Lost Going Direct-to-Audience

In this episode of Past Due, Ana and Mike pull back the curtain on the emotional cost of doing creative work in public. From the anxiety of touring to the loneliness of newsletter culture, they talk about what it means to be your own brand, and what gets lost in the process.

Because loving the work doesn’t al...

Ana and Mike Face the Music

Ana and Mike get real about what creative work actually looks like behind the scenes, breaking down the economics of touring, Substack’s Nazi problem, how platforms trap creators, audiences, and the psychology of performing.

What If You Leave the Dream Job… and Everything Gets Better?

Jody Avirgan has had the kind of career that looks perfect on paper. High-profile roles at ESPN and NPR, bylines that impress, and shows that reach millions. But in this episode of Past Due, he shares what it took to walk away from all of it—and why doing so made space for the creative life he actually wanted.

What Comes After the Big Job? with Jody Avirgan

Podcast host and producer Jody Avirgan joins us to talk about walking away from big platforms like ESPN and NPR, and what it takes to build something sustainable on your own terms. We get into the pressure to grow, the trap of prestige, and the trade-offs between stability, scale, and creative freedom. In the end, rethinking ...

What If Thoughtful Work Can’t Pay the Bills?

Video essayist Ian Danskin has built one of the smartest channels on YouTube, Innuendo Studios. His breakdowns of online radicalization, culture war discourse, and YouTube grifts are thoughtful, careful, and critically acclaimed. But in this episode of Past Due, he shares the frustrating truth behind the sce...

One of My Cats Wouldn’t Make It Through College

Before the interview even starts, Ian Danskin, Ana Marie Cox, and Open Mike Eagle went off on a delightful tangent about cats, Lifesavers, and Gucci Mane. It's chaos, it’s cozy, it’s completely off-topic… and it might be our favorite part.

What If Making Good Work Still Isn’t Enough? with Ian Danskin

Video essayist Ian Danskin joins us to talk about the exhausting economics of doing thoughtful work online—and what it means when your most meaningful content can’t pay the bills. From burnout to bad faith backlash, Ian opens up about what it takes to keep going when attention is currency... and you're broke.

What If You Write 39 Scripts… and It's Still Not Enough?

Bob DeRosa has written 39 screenplays. Ten have made money. Three became movies. One paid for a house. But in this episode of Past Due, he shares what those numbers don’t say about the six-year stretch where nothing sold, the web series that reignited his fire, and what it really means to build a creative life over...

How Do You Keep Going? with Bob DeRosa

Screenwriter Bob DeRosa joins us to talk about what it really takes to build a long-haul creative career—one that doesn’t go viral, but keeps going. We break down 20+ years in Hollywood by the numbers, and what it reveals about persistence, rejection, reinvention, and the myth of overnight success.

What If the Goal Isn’t to Go Big, It’s to Keep Going?

Sam Sanders built a name for himself inside the machine, but in this episode of Past Due, he opens up about why he left legacy platforms behind… and how he’s navigating the freedom, fear, and chaos of being fully independent.

We talk about the economics of podcasting, the myth of prestige, and the hard work...

What If You Outgrow the Dream Job? with Sam Sanders

Journalist and podcast host Sam Sanders joins us to talk about what happens when the thing you thought you wanted turns out to be too small. We get into the emotional and financial cost of walking away, what it means to do it yourself in a collapsing industry, and how to balance ambition with reality.

What If Making It Still Feels Fragile?

Josh Gondelman and Maris Kreizman are both doing great. He just released a standup special. She just published a book. They’re married, creative, and stable… kind of. In this episode of Past Due, they open up about what it really takes to build a sustainable life as a creative couple—and how even success doesn�...

What Does It Take to Stay Kind in a Brutal Industry? with Josh Gondelman and Maris Kreizman

Comedian Josh Gondelman and writer Maris Kreizman join us to talk about surviving the creative economy as individuals and as a couple. We dig into the emotional labor of staying hopeful, the financial logistics of making art with no guarantees, and what happens when even the “success stories” feel precarious.

What Happens When Class Never Stops Following You?

Author and screenwriter Xochitl Gonzalez grew up working-class in Brooklyn and made it to the Ivy League, the boardroom, and the bestseller list. But in this episode of Past Due, she talks honestly about how success didn’t erase class anxiety, it just made it more complicated.

We talk about the emotional labo...

What If Fear Is What Keeps You Working? with Xochitl Gonzalez

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.

What Do You Do When Your Values and Your Rent Are in a Fight?

There’s a moment every creative hits, when the work that pays the bills doesn’t align with the work you care about most. In this episode of Past Due, Ana and Mike get real about those moments when your principles and your paycheck don’t quite match up.

From selling out to staying afloat, we talk about the...

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Ana and Mike Sell Out

Ana and Mike talk about what it means to sell out... financially, creatively, and emotionally. From brand deals to burnout, they ask whether survival in the creative economy means compromising your values, or just being honest about what pays the bills.

What If the Work Never Lets Go?

Jamie Loftus is a wildly talented writer, podcaster, and performer. She’s built a career on curiosity, humor, and sharp cultural insight. But in this week’s episode of Past Due, Jamie gets honest about something a lot of creatives hide:

What happens when financial security arrives—but your scarcity mindse...

What If Scarcity Never Really Leaves You? with Jamie Loftus

Writer and podcaster Jamie Loftus joins us to talk about financial anxiety, inherited frugality, and the emotional cost of choosing creative freedom. From 7-Eleven coffee to viral fame, we explore what happens when you build a life around surviving—long after you’ve made it.