Terkel interviewed people of all walks of life (though mostly the working kind) about what they do and how they feel about it. The result is a massive collection of failed dreams, despair, hope, and pride. Each of us wants to work and work hard, but so much of modern American life thwarts that simple need.
The receptionist:
My father’s in watch repair. That’s always interested me, working with my hands, and independent. I don’t think I’d mind going back and learning something, taking a piece of furniture and refinishing it. The type of thing where you know what you’re doing and you can create and you can fix something to make it function. At the switchboard you don’t do much of anything.
I think the whole idea of receptionists is going to change. We’re going to have to find machines which can do that sort of thing. You’re wasting an awful lot of human power.
Of course, we did replace switchboard operators with machines, but we continue to waste human power in myriad other ways.
I’m always struck by those who claim “creatives” are a different kind of people; as if some of us need creative jobs, while others do not. A bigger pile of bullshit I’m not sure I’ve seen. Being creative is a basic human need.
It is right that the murder of many people be mourned and lamented.
Even the best weapon is an unhappy tool.
What do they do, the singers, tale-writers, dancers, painters, shapers, makers?
Five principles for embracing uncertainty.
Where to give all your precious fucks.
Necessary writing about making a living world. Sign up for free, or become a sustainer.
subscribeOn To Write Like a Woman and Why We Fear AI
In memory of Nevan Scott, 1985–2026
On Always Coming Home and Orality and Literacy
On Virtue Hoarders and The Other Side of Empathy
On The Language of the Night and The Real World of Technology
by Ursula K. Le Guin
by Joanna Russ
by Samuel R. Delany
by Ursula K. Le Guin
by Catherine Liu