This week, host Karen Han talks to Isaac Butler about the writing of his new book The Method: How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act. They discuss how Isaac’s background as a child professional actor informed his understanding of his subject, how he researched a wide-ranging topic that spanned geography and generations, and how he conceived of the book’s structure and managed its narrative tension.  After the interview, Karen and co-host June Thomas talk about learning from the questions that arise during a book’s research phase, coming to terms with having to make cuts to a manuscript, and how to find trusted outside readers. In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Karen asks Isaac to recommend some great Method performances.  Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675.  Podcast production by Cameron Drews.  If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Big Mood, Little Mood—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Working

Why Isaac Butler's History of Method Acting Is Such a Page-Turner

This week, host June Thomas talks to New Yorker writer Rebecca Mead about her new memoir Home/Land, which traces her experience moving back to Britain after making a home for herself in New York and becoming a U.S. citizen. In the interview, Rebecca discusses the feelings she wanted to capture in the book and describes her impulse to document an important moment in her life. She also explains why Home/Land was more difficult to write than her previous books.  After the interview, June and co-host Karen Han talk about the challenges Rebecca faced while writing her book and what we can learn from them.  In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, June asks Rebecca for some moving tips.  Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675.  If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Big Mood, Little Mood—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rebecca Mead on the Challenge of Writing About Herself

For this episode of Working Overtime, hosts Karen Han and June Thomas dissect some creative advice from the director Bong Joon-ho, who claimed during his 2020 Oscars acceptance speech that “the most personal is the most creative,” a phrase he attributed to director Martin Scorsese. In their conversation, Karen and June examine the advice and discuss the upsides and downsides of making their work personal.  Is there a piece of creative advice that you’d like to share with us? Call and leave us a message at (304) 933-9675 or email us at working@slate.com.  Podcast production by Cameron Drews and Kevin Bendis. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Big Mood, Little Mood—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Working Overtime: Bong Joon-ho’s Creative Advice

This week, host Isaac Butler talks to playwright Aleshea Harris and director Whitney White, whose new play On Sugarland is currently in preview performances at the New York Theatre Workshop. In the interview, Aleshea and Whitney explain the crucial relationship between playwrights and directors and discuss the ways they work together, solve problems, and ultimately put on the best production possible.  After the interview, co-host June Thomas asks Isaac about his experience working as a director and collaborating with writers.  In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Aleshea and Whitney explain how COVID protocols have affected their rehearsal process.  Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675. Podcast production by Cameron Drews If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Big Mood, Little Mood—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How a Playwright and a Director Harmonize to Make Great Theater

This week, host Karen Han talks to comedy writer Karen Chee, who works as a writer and performer for Late Night With Seth Meyers. In the interview, Chee discusses her early work writing humor pieces for the New Yorker before landing a job writing for the Golden Globes. Then she breaks down her joke-writing process for Late Night, which involves generating dozens of setups and punchlines every day.  After the interview, Karen Han and co-host June Thomas discuss the challenges of producing a large volume of work under a tight deadline.  In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Chee talks about her taste in movies. Then she shares more secrets from the Late Night writers' room.  Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675. Podcast production by Cameron Drews. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Big Mood, Little Mood—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How Late Night Writer Karen Chee Generates Punchlines

For this edition of Working Overtime, hosts June Thomas, Isaac Butler, and Karen Han discuss the pomodoro technique, which involves breaking work into timed intervals and taking breaks in between those intervals. In their conversation, they talk about the benefits of taking breaks and using timers, but they also underscore the importance of creative momentum. Could the pomodoro technique actually disrupt the flow of certain tasks? If you have creative techniques or strategies to share, or if you’d like some advice from June, Isaac, and Karen, send us an email at working@slate.com or leave a message at (304) 933-9675.  Podcast production by Cameron Drews and Kevin Bendis. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Big Mood, Little Mood—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Working Overtime: The Pomodoro Technique

This week, host June Thomas talks to author Malinda Lo, whose book Last Night at the Telegraph Club won the National Book Award. In the interview, Malinda explains that she never intended to write books under the young adult label. She also digs into her writing process, which involves many drafts and inspirational mood music.  After the interview, June and co-host Isaac Butler discuss Malinda’s research process and her willingness to go down rabbit holes.  In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Malinda talks about her use of Chinese languages in Last Night at the Telegraph Club.  Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675. Podcast production by Cameron Drews. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Big Mood, Little Mood—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author Malinda Lo on the Limits of the Young Adult Label

This week, host Isaac Butler talks to Fionnuala Murphy, an actor and linguist who invented multiple alien languages for Apple TV Plus’s series Foundation. In the interview, Fionnuala explains how she landed the job, which was her first ever foray into language creation. Then she breaks down the process of designing the languages based on information she could gather from the scripts and conversations with the Foundation team.  After the interview, Isaac and co-host Karen Han talk about their own relationships to language and discuss how patterns and structures, like those found in language, are crucial to their creative work.  In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Isaac asks Fionnuala about her translation work. Then Fionnuala offers advice for people who are trying to better understand their own language.  Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675. Podcast production by Cameron Drews If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Big Mood, Little Mood—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How the Alien Languages in “Foundation” Were Created

Welcome to the debut episode of Working Overtime! In these bi-weekly episodes, June, Isaac, and Karen dissect creative advice​​—and sometimes offer it to listeners and each other. This week, they discuss a piece of advice from cartoonist Alison Bechdel, who argues that avoiding the Internet every once in a while can lead to more focus and productivity. In the discussion, the hosts assess whether the internet helps or hurts their creative work and share some strategies for logging off when necessary.  Do you have a piece of creative advice to share? Or maybe you could use some advice from the Working crew. Either way, get in touch at working@slate.com or leave a message at (304) 933-9675.  Podcast production by Cameron Drews. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Big Mood, Little Mood—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Working Overtime: “Get Off the Freaking Internet”

This week, host Karen Han talks to fashion designer Jasmine Chong whom you might know from the reality show Making the Cut. Before founding her own label, Jasmine worked for some of the most influential names in fashion. In the interview, Jasmine explains the profound influence her fashion designer mother has had on her life, creative outlook, and career.  After the interview, Karen and co-host Isaac Butler discuss the challenges of unraveling how people develop their aesthetic and what their aspirational garments are. (Isaac is big into Brian Cox’s Succession cardigans..)  In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Karen asks Jasmine about “straight-sizing” and how the fashion industry remains centered around a small sub-section of sizes and body types. Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675. Podcast production by Zak Rosen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fashion Designer Jasmine Chong on Aesthetics, Familial Influence, and Hot Pink

This week, hosts June Thomas, Isaac Butler, and Karen Han share their creative New Year’s Resolutions for 2022. Then they look back at their goals for 2021 and discuss what they accomplished and where they had trouble. They also check in with former host Rumaan Alam, who shares an update on his 2021 resolutions.  Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675. Podcast production by Cameron Drews.  If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Big Mood, Little Mood—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our Creative New Year's Resolutions for 2022

This week, hosts June Thomas, Isaac Butler, and Karen Han help each other to overcome creative roadblocks and discuss some of their favorite pieces of creative wisdom. But first, they make a big announcement about future episodes of Working.  Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675. Podcast production by Cameron Drews. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Big Mood, Little Mood—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Special Creative Advice Episode

This week, host June Thomas talks to Debra Schmidt Bach, a curator of the New-York Historical Society’s new exhibition, " ‘Turn Every Page’: Inside the Robert A. Caro Archive.” They discuss the art of selecting objects that visitors will respond to; how objects like notebooks and a typewriter showcase Caro’s idiosyncratic writing process; and the particular challenges of maintaining an exhibition that features lots of pieces of paper, a material that needs to rest so that it can be preserved. After the interview, June and co-host Karen Han discuss what kind of museum visitors they are, the art of winnowing, and how they find projects that will sustain their interest. In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Schmidt Bach reveals her strategy for overcoming “curator’s block” and shares what she learned from working on the Caro exhibition. Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675.   Podcast production by Kevin Bendis and Cameron Drews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How a Museum Curator Decides Which Objects to Put on Display

This week, host Isaac Butler talks to Ai-Ling Lee, a movie sound editor whose long résumé includes the critically acclaimed films First Man, La La Land, and Jojo Rabbit. In the interview, Lee explains what a sound editor does and how it’s different from the work of a sound mixer. Then she delves into the many creative decisions that go into crafting an immersive soundscape for movies.  After the interview, Isaac and co-host Karen Han discuss Lee’s early career strategy of cold-calling people in the movie business. In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Lee explains how technological advancements have changed the way she works.   Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675. Podcast production by Cameron Drews. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Big Mood, Little Mood—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How Sound Editor Ai-Ling Lee Creates Immersive Soundscapes for Movies

This week, host Karen Han talks to Andrew Ortiz, founder of the movie merchandise company Super Yaki, which designs T-shirts, pins, hats, and more. In the interview, Andrew discusses the origins of the company and their first product, which was an enamel pin with legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki’s face on it. After that, Andrew talks about quitting his day job, staffing the company, and building a customer base of people who adore cinema. After the interview, Karen and co-host June Thomas discuss Andrew’s ability to create a vibe and a clear mission for his company. In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Andrew offers some tips for avoiding burnout.   Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675. Podcast production by Cameron Drews. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Big Mood, Little Mood—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inside Super Yaki, the Merch Company for Movie Lovers

Slate interviews Americans about their jobs.

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Working

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