The Layoff Trilogy 1: Layoff Girl
Proxy with Yowei Shaw
Yowei Shaw
4.8 • 589 Ratings
🗓️ 22 May 2024
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When Yowei got laid off from NPR, she knew all the rational things. It was a business decision. It wasn’t about her performance. She had savings, severance, and support.
So why did it still feel like getting rejected by the entire life she’d built?
In the first episode of Proxy, Yowei investigates why layoffs can feel so emotionally devastating — even when you know, intellectually, that it’s not your fault. Along the way, she talks with experts about the history of layoffs, unemployment stigma, the American hiring process, and why losing a job can make you feel like you’ve lost your worth. And she begins the story that eventually became Proxy itself.
From the episode:
— Ofer Sharone — sociologist at UMass Amherst, and author of The Stigma Trap: College-Educated, Experienced, and Long-Term Unemployed
New to Proxy? Try Bisexual Wife Guy for a classic Proxy case, or.HR by Proxy, for the first full proxy converstion we ever recorded.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey everyone, it's YoA. I'm here to tell you about a brand new show in the Radiotopia family, |
| 0:06.1 | a partnership with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and fellow indie network talkhouse. |
| 0:11.5 | It's called Music Makes Us, and it's hosted by literal icon, the legendary Kathleen Hannah, |
| 0:18.1 | the frontwoman of Bikini Kill and the Tigra. |
| 0:22.9 | In each episode, she sits down with revolutionary musicians like Chaka Khan, Olivia Rodriguez, and Haley Williams of Paramore to talk about |
| 0:29.5 | things artists really want to talk about, things like perfect lyrics, unforgettable shows, |
| 0:36.1 | treasured artifacts, even snacks. You'll also hear bonus episodes |
| 0:40.8 | with rock and roll Hall of Fame curator Shelby Morrison, who tells the backstory of an object |
| 0:46.8 | from their incredible archive, such as Prince's guitar and Katie Pearson of the B-52's wig. |
| 0:54.2 | Music Makes Us is now out wherever you listen to podcasts. |
| 0:59.6 | Hello there. My name is Yo-A. Shaw, and the reason I'm starting this podcast is because |
| 1:06.0 | recently I got laid off from hosting another podcast. From NPR, this is Invisibilia. |
| 1:11.7 | I'm Yo-A. Shaw. |
| 1:16.3 | So earlier this season, we did a story about how... Last February, MPR informed me and my colleagues the layoffs were coming in a month. |
| 1:22.3 | The threat of recession had triggered an advertising downturn, and NPR had a budget shortfall. |
| 1:28.0 | NPR said they needed to lay 10% of us off. |
| 1:32.0 | And so, after a month of sleepless nights and teeth grinding... |
| 1:37.3 | Okay. |
| 1:39.3 | And I am logging into my work computer. |
| 1:43.1 | One day last March, I was sitting in my home office with my cat by my feet. |
| 1:48.1 | I braced myself as I clicked open my work email. |
| 1:52.6 | Ah, there it is. |
... |
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