Recently I’ve come across a few creative outputs from folks confronting unemployment. One of the positive throughlines I noticed while conducting interviews for Not Working is the impetus to take anger or hurt or isolation or fear or all of the above and channel them into a creative project of some kind. And not even necessarily for the sake of going viral or hitting on something than wins over millions of fans or dollars. Rather simply to get something off the chest in a creative and productive way.

Two great examples:

Jessica Smith, an interviewee from Not Working, introduced me to Charles’s DeYoe who put together a video game called “Unemployment Quest.” You can get a taste of it here. Personally I think I’m drawn to it because the retro graphics look very similar to how they did the last time I was serious about video game playing. But also because it seems to do a great job of representing the travails of finding a job in the current market. It is not to be missed.

Also, Robert Bidney sent me this music video for a song he’s written about his experience with unemployment. It’s called “Pill for Poverty” and I think it really hits the center of something about the being unemployed — and with some great levity to boot.

Be sure to check them both out.

Onward.