How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted, and Alone

a book by Sarah Jaffe
Event

Hit Factory: Reality Bites

I joined the Hit Factory podcast–a show about the movies of the 90s and what they teach us about neoliberalism–to talk about a classic 90s flick and one of my favorites: Reality Bites. I suggested this topic because it is, of course, a film about work and what work means to our personal lives and thus very relevant to Work Won’t Love You Back, but on a re-watch I found it an even thicker and more rewarding text to dig into. There’s so much about class and work and gender and creativity and autonomy and this weird turning point in history when the pressure to follow your (work) dreams was ratcheting up even as the likelihood of them coming true was shrinking, and I think this movie, despite its flaws, does a lot to capture all of that.

I really enjoyed this trip and look out for future returns because whoa do I love 90s movies.