Canned is cooking
"It's like Modern Love for getting fired."
“Listening made me feel a lot better.”
“There’s nothing like it.”
“It’s like Modern Love, but for getting fired.”
Everyone’s said such wonderful things about Canned, the podcast I launched with Amy just a few short weeks after I got fired.
“I can’t believe you got all that online in, like, no time,” is the other thing I keep hearing.
Find you a creative partner who says “Fuck yeah, let’s do that,” to whatever screwball narrative project you’re carrying around in your head. In a very reductive sense, that’s how Elvis of the Yukon got made. I handed Amy the script, she shared it with the Potenza crew and now we have gorgeous indie film with a pile of awards.
(Sidebar. Saw a very old friend at a party last night. “She doesn’t look like you at all,” he said, “but when I watched that film I thought yeah, that’s Pam.” Love that.)
We are 7 + 1 stories in. I format it that way because the first seven are stories about getting fired, but the most recent is a conversation with a therapist about how to deal.
We are at 571 downloads. We need to hit 1000 to turn on ads — that will allow Canned to earn some income; I’m not sure how much yet.
We raised 569.86 to cover our costs, plus I received a fancy new microphone — you’ll hear the difference when we get to episode 14 or so. The funds are a big deal because throwing money at a project when you don’t have a job is hard. Our startup costs are covered; now I’m looking at things like upgraded hosting and tools that make promotion easier.
I built a website for the project at cannedpodcast.com. I’m still moving the furniture around and doing some backfill, but the essentials are there.
I have 22 names on the intake list — two are in process with Amy right now, nine are recorded, and I have four sessions scheduled this coming week. It’s hopping.
It’s been quite a vibe shift.
This job market is whacked, I’ve never seen anything like it. My theory is that HR is a good 80% AI now and until you please the robot overlords, you’re not getting that callback. A friend told me he thinks the market is full of “ghost jobs” — jobs that look real to everyone until it comes to actually filling them. I doubted this but I’ve received a number of autoreplies saying, “We’re no longer filling this role,” for jobs that remain online in the search engines.
Instead of getting bogged down in robots and ghosts, I’m talking with humans about their real experiences at work. Instead of hiding the facts about my situation, I’m saying “I got fired, it was fucked up. Has this ever happened to you?”
You’ve never seen someone so happy about losing a job. Not having income? Not great. Working on Canned? Amazing.
//Pam
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Want to tell your story? Email me at talktocanned@gmail.com. Hesitating? Maybe this will help.
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