How To!: Hack Any Bureaucracy

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3.9 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 11 July 2023

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When Gwen applied for unemployment during the early days of the pandemic, she never thought she'd still be waiting for her benefits years later. Despite hours on the phone, countless emails and even a court appearance, Gwen is haunted by her inability to get the money she was approved for. On this episode of How To!, co-host Amanda Ripley brings in Marina Nitze, author of Hack Your Bureaucracy. Not only does Marina help Gwen find shortcuts in her state's unemployment system, but she has useful advice for untangling any bureaucratic nightmare.

If you liked this episode, check out: How To Fight Outrageous Medical Bills.

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Podcast production by Derek John, Rosemary Belson, Kevin Bendis, and Jabari Butler.

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Transcript

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1:44.4	In some kind of diabolical bureaucracy, dealing with a chatbot or a line at the DMV or sitting
1:52.5	on hold with your insurance company for hours. For this week's listener, they're a battle with the
1:58.0	bureaucratic void started in the early days of the pandemic. My name's Gwen. I filed for unemployment
2:05.5	but I haven't received the money and I have all this logged information that says I received money
2:11.2	that I didn't receive and it's messed up a lot of my stuff like my tax returns and all sorts of
2:16.5	stuff. Could you tell us what was going on that led you to initially apply for unemployment?
2:23.4	Well, when the pandemic started, I worked at a brewery and we closed down so I didn't have any
2:30.9	income. And were you worried about paying the rent or what was foremost on your mind?
	...

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