Most recently I was in Durham, North Carolina, to do a reading with two excellent folks from NOT WORKING, George Ploghoft and Bridgette Lacy. After the event I had the pleasure of talking to Tess Vigeland on NPR’s Marketplace with Bridgette. You can hear our conversation here.

The reading was hosted by  The Carrack Modern Art an excellent organization, which is relatively new to the downtown area–it’s an important addition to Durham and I’m grateful to Laura Ritchie for inviting us.

George’s story is not to be missed: his layoff experience at one of the major university in the Raliegh-Durham area perfectly captures the corporatization of higher education in the US.

And Bridgette has an intense story in which she left journalism for a “safer” government job, only to be laid off from that position a couple of years after taking it. Bridgette’s pledge to remain “CEO of me” is inspiring–and informative for her fellow unemployed. After attending an unsatisfying unemployment workshop, Bridgette decided to turn her frustrations into productivity: she is now writing a regular column on unemployment for the News & Observer, sharing all that she continues to learn through her experiences and the experiences of others.

Onward.