In this week's episode of Past Due, Ana Marie Cox and Open Mike Eagle turn the mic inward—unpacking what it costs (financially, emotionally, and physically) to do the work that matters for them. From "on assignment" reporting to indie rap touring, they compare notes on work, compromise, and the strange privilege of chasing meaningful work in a gig economy that often rewards content over craft.
Here’s what stuck with us:
Creative work doesn’t make financial sense—and still feels urgent.<...
2025-09-17 10:00:10 +0000 UTC
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Ana and Mike compare notes from the road: Ana’s on assignment in small-town Maine chasing a political story she believes in, and Mike’s in between tour legs, chasing rent. They get into the economics of chasing meaning when the math doesn’t make sense, the disappearing budgets of real journalism, and why a DIY ethos is both a burden and a blessing.
2025-09-15 18:00:00 +0000 UTC
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Open Mike Eagle's interview with 'Community' and 'Rick and Morty's' Dan Harmon. They talk through their relationship to vulnerability, freestyle rap techniques and how to survive the toxicity of Hollywood.
2025-09-09 10:00:00 +0000 UTC
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Comedian and actor Ron Funches joins us for a deeply funny and unexpectedly honest conversation about the strange economics of creative work. We talk about surviving on joy, staying positive when nothing’s going right, and why failure is sometimes part of the paycheck.
Originally recorded in 2022 for Mike’s podcast "Secret Skin."
2025-09-08 09:00:11 +0000 UTC
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Chris Gethard has done the big stuff. HBO, late-night TV show, a wildly devoted cult following. But in this episode of Past Due, Chris talks about what happens when the thing you love starts to drain you, and why stepping away might be the only way to stay in love with it.
We talk about comedy, creative identity, fatherhood, reinvention, and what it means to choose a smaller, stranger path that still feels like yours.
Here’s what stuck with us:
Success doesn’t protect you from self-doub...
2025-09-03 09:00:28 +0000 UTC
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Comedian Chris Gethard joins us to talk about walking away from the version of success he spent years chasing, and why that might be the reason he's still standing. We get into the grief of giving up the big dream, the joy of making weird stuff for the people who get it, and the radical act of building a career that actually fits your life.
2025-09-01 10:00:16 +0000 UTC
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Siri Dahl has spent more than a decade in the adult industry, navigating everything from studio shoots to OnlyFans, social media bans, podcasting, and burnout. In this episode of Past Due, Siri shares what it’s really like to be a public-facing creator in a world that wants your content, but not your complexity.
We talk about visibility, boundaries, labor, and what it means to survive an industry that commodifies your identity, then expects you to manage the business, branding, and backlash on your own.
Here...
2025-08-27 10:00:12 +0000 UTC
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Adult performer and podcaster Siri Dahl joins us to talk about the emotional and economic realities of sex work in an era that calls itself creator-friendly, but still censors, exploits, and erases. We talk about the myth that OnlyFans is easy money, the rising pressure to be everywhere at once, and what it means to be both the product and the platform.
2025-08-25 09:00:10 +0000 UTC
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Rhett Miller has been making music in bands and by himself professionally since the 90s. He’s toured the world, played late-night TV, and built a steady career. But in this episode of Past Due, Rhett gets real about the parts that don’t make the highlight reel: the depression, the doubt, the decades of DIY survival, and what it means to keep going when the industry has changed... and so have you. We talk about the mindset it takes to endure, the economics of staying relevant, and the creative hunger that refuses to die, even aft...
2025-08-20 10:00:14 +0000 UTC
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Musician and writer Rhett Miller joins us to talk about staying creative in an industry that keeps changing. From fronting the Old 97’s to writing children’s books, Rhett opens up about the financial rollercoaster of life on the road, the loneliness of independence, and the challenge of keeping faith in your work when the world stops clapping.
2025-08-18 19:00:00 +0000 UTC
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In this episode of Past Due, Ana and Mike pull back the curtain on the emotional cost of doing creative work in public. From the anxiety of touring to the loneliness of newsletter culture, they talk about what it means to be your own brand, and what gets lost in the process.
Because loving the work doesn’t always mean the work is good for you.
Here’s what stuck with us:
Touring is isolating. Mike opens up about the weirdness of being in a room full of people, performin...
2025-08-13 12:00:17 +0000 UTC
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Ana and Mike get real about what creative work actually looks like behind the scenes, breaking down the economics of touring, Substack’s Nazi problem, how platforms trap creators, audiences, and the psychology of performing.
2025-08-11 19:00:13 +0000 UTC
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Jody Avirgan has had the kind of career that looks perfect on paper. High-profile roles at ESPN and NPR, bylines that impress, and shows that reach millions. But in this episode of Past Due, he shares what it took to walk away from all of it—and why doing so made space for the creative life he actually wanted.
We talk about identity, the illusion of “making it,” and how Jody traded the grind of institutional prestige for a quieter, weirder, more sustainable path.
Here’s what stuck with us:
2025-08-06 10:00:10 +0000 UTC
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Podcast host and producer Jody Avirgan joins us to talk about walking away from big platforms like ESPN and NPR, and what it takes to build something sustainable on your own terms. We get into the pressure to grow, the trap of prestige, and the trade-offs between stability, scale, and creative freedom. In the end, rethinking success might be the real win.
2025-08-04 19:00:00 +0000 UTC
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Video essayist Ian Danskin has built one of the smartest channels on YouTube, Innuendo Studios. His breakdowns of online radicalization, culture war discourse, and YouTube grifts are thoughtful, careful, and critically acclaimed. But in this episode of Past Due, he shares the frustrating truth behind the scenes.
We talk about creator myths, audience backlash, and the strange economics of online attention, and why Ian nearly quit the platform altogether.
Here’s what stuck with us:
<...
2025-07-30 10:00:11 +0000 UTC
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Before the interview even starts, Ian Danskin, Ana Marie Cox, and Open Mike Eagle went off on a delightful tangent about cats, Lifesavers, and Gucci Mane. It's chaos, it’s cozy, it’s completely off-topic… and it might be our favorite part.
2025-07-29 15:00:16 +0000 UTC
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Video essayist Ian Danskin joins us to talk about the exhausting economics of doing thoughtful work online—and what it means when your most meaningful content can’t pay the bills. From burnout to bad faith backlash, Ian opens up about what it takes to keep going when attention is currency... and you're broke.
2025-07-28 21:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Bob DeRosa has written 39 screenplays. Ten have made money. Three became movies. One paid for a house. But in this episode of Past Due, he shares what those numbers don’t say about the six-year stretch where nothing sold, the web series that reignited his fire, and what it really means to build a creative life over the long haul.
We talk about the reality behind “breaking in,” the math that never adds up, and why surviving isn’t just about writing—it’s about rekindling your own flame.
Here’s...
2025-07-23 10:00:10 +0000 UTC
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Screenwriter Bob DeRosa joins us to talk about what it really takes to build a long-haul creative career—one that doesn’t go viral, but keeps going. We break down 20+ years in Hollywood by the numbers, and what it reveals about persistence, rejection, reinvention, and the myth of overnight success.
2025-07-21 18:00:00 +0000 UTC
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Sam Sanders built a name for himself inside the machine, but in this episode of Past Due, he opens up about why he left legacy platforms behind… and how he’s navigating the freedom, fear, and chaos of being fully independent.
We talk about the economics of podcasting, the myth of prestige, and the hard work of staying creative when no one’s handing you a roadmap or a paycheck.
Here’s what stuck with us:
Journalist and podcast host Sam Sanders joins us to talk about what happens when the thing you thought you wanted turns out to be too small. We get into the emotional and financial cost of walking away, what it means to do it yourself in a collapsing industry, and how to balance ambition with reality.
2025-07-14 10:00:10 +0000 UTC
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Josh Gondelman and Maris Kreizman are both doing great. He just released a standup special. She just published a book. They’re married, creative, and stable… kind of. In this episode of Past Due, they open up about what it really takes to build a sustainable life as a creative couple—and how even success doesn’t always mean security.
From canceled gigs to spreadsheets, we talk about the love, planning, and low-grade panic behind a shared creative life.
Here’s what stuck with us:
...
2025-07-09 10:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Comedian Josh Gondelman and writer Maris Kreizman join us to talk about surviving the creative economy as individuals and as a couple. We dig into the emotional labor of staying hopeful, the financial logistics of making art with no guarantees, and what happens when even the “success stories” feel precarious.
2025-07-07 17:30:03 +0000 UTC
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Author and screenwriter Xochitl Gonzalez grew up working-class in Brooklyn and made it to the Ivy League, the boardroom, and the bestseller list. But in this episode of Past Due, she talks honestly about how success didn’t erase class anxiety, it just made it more complicated.
We talk about the emotional labor of code-switching, the psychological toll of upward mobility, and how hard it is to feel like you belong when you’re still waiting for the rug to get pulled out.
Here’s what stuck with us:
2025-07-02 10:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Despite writing bestsellers and landing a Reese’s Book Club pick, Xochitl Gonzalez opens up about the lingering shame of precarity, the invisibility of working-class success, and why we need to drag money talk out into the light.
2025-06-30 10:00:13 +0000 UTC
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There’s a moment every creative hits, when the work that pays the bills doesn’t align with the work you care about most. In this episode of Past Due, Ana and Mike get real about those moments when your principles and your paycheck don’t quite match up.
From selling out to staying afloat, we talk about the compromises we’ve made, the regret that lingers, and the weird jobs we took when survival came first. Because if you’ve ever wondered “Am I still an artist if I hate what I’m making?” you’re not alo...
2025-06-25 10:00:10 +0000 UTC
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2025-06-24 21:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Ana and Mike talk about what it means to sell out... financially, creatively, and emotionally. From brand deals to burnout, they ask whether survival in the creative economy means compromising your values, or just being honest about what pays the bills.
2025-06-23 10:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Jamie Loftus is a wildly talented writer, podcaster, and performer. She’s built a career on curiosity, humor, and sharp cultural insight. But in this week’s episode of Past Due, Jamie gets honest about something a lot of creatives hide:
What happens when financial security arrives—but your scarcity mindset never really leaves?
We talk about how growing up with instability reshapes your brain, how therapy and friendship can slowly pull you out of survival mode, and what it costs to keep your creative freedom at all ...
2025-06-18 10:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Writer and podcaster Jamie Loftus joins us to talk about financial anxiety, inherited frugality, and the emotional cost of choosing creative freedom. From 7-Eleven coffee to viral fame, we explore what happens when you build a life around surviving—long after you’ve made it.
2025-06-15 10:00:09 +0000 UTC
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