For over three decades, director and writer Nicole Holofcener gave stars like Jennifer Aniston in FRIENDS WITH MONEY, Julia Louis Dreyfuss in ENOUGH SAID, Jake Gyllenhaal and Catherine Keener in LOVELY & AMAZING their meatiest, dramatic roles. With her new Netflix film THE LAND of STEADY HABITS starring Ben Mendelsohn, Edie Falco, Elizabeth Marvel, and Thomas Mann, Holofcener will focus for first time from the perspective of a male protagonist. On this episode off Employee of the Month, Catie Lazarus talks to Holofcener about her start at as a production assistant for Woody Allen, being female, rejecting actors, being rejected, and aging in Hollywood, and her latest TV project, directing Amazon's ONE MISSISSIPPI with Tig Notaro.

Director Nicole Holofcener on money, stars, and rejection in Hollywood

Sexual assault, sexism and harassment in the work place is getting its due in the news, but in ACTUALLY, currently off Broadway at  the Manhattan Theater Club, playwright Anna Ziegler examines whether colleges are any more objective than our criminal system. It is nearly impossible for women of all races seeking justice for rape and sexual harassment in our criminal system. Men of color are also considered "guilty until proven innocent." What happens when these two issues collide? And on a college campus? Ziegler speaks about the challenges of judging these cases to her big break, which she credits to Nicole Kidman starring in the West End Production of Ziegler's beloved PHOTOGRAPH 51. Ziegler's works often touch on loneliness, love, and, most recently, ambition, which she deftly tackles in THE LAST MATCH. Loosely based on tennis stars Roger Federer and Novak Djokic The Last Match is a "must see" at The Roundabout Theater Company. We also spoke about writing a television series for HBO, based on ACTUALLY, and another for AMC/Sundance. If you can't make it to any of the numbers of national and international productions of her nine plays, well, Oberon Books published the first collection of her works Anna Ziegler: Plays One. For more about Employee of the Month, go to www.employeeofthemonthshow.com or follow host Catie Lazarus @CatieLazarus on Twitter.

Playwright ANNA ZIEGLER questions if colleges can judge sexual assault cases fairly

REBECCA TRAISTER reveals the price of elitism within journalism and publishing, and how it decides who and what gets published. Today, most journalists, writer and reporters earn less than minimum wage which determines who can afford to do this critical job. Now, she is one of New York Magazine's star columnists and talking head on Real Time with Bill Maher, but she got her start as a reporter. Her experience shows. Her self-awareness and research contextualizes the nuances of sexism, racism, and elitism. She didn't rise the ranks alone. She talks to Catie Lazarus on Employee of the Month about what her mentors, including the late great editor of The New York Observer Peter Kaplan and Billboard's Frank DiGiacomo did. She touches on why The New York Observer crumbled under Jared Kushner and how her views of Hilary Clinton changed in covering her for her first book, BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY. Her second book ALL THE SINGLE LADIES was also a New York Times best seller. Traister is working on a third book about women and anger. To find out more about Employee of the Month, go to www.employeeofthemonthshow.comor follow host Catie Lazarus @catielazarus on Twitter.

EMPLOYEE of the MONTH

REBECCA TRAISTER on Sexism, Class & Jared Kushner Destroying The Observer

Debbie Millman talks to podcast host, comic, and comedy writer Catie Lazarus about comedy, and about the grey area of comedians telling off-color jokes.

Design Matters with Debbie Millman: 2009-2017

Design Matters with Debbie Millman: Catie Lazarus

Employee of the Month Show with Catie Lazarus is a live late night talk show, recorded for podcast. 

After dropping out of her doctoral studies in psychology to do comedy, the comedian wanted to ask people she admired about their careers, be it the good, bad and absurd.   Lazarus has interviewed folks like Gloria Steinem, Lin Manuel Miranda, Patti LuPone, Jon Stewart, Zadie Smith, Rachel Maddow, Patton Oswalt, Justin Vivian Bond, Nicholas Kristof, Edie Falco, Lee Fields, Cynthia Nixon, Masha Gessen, Daveed Diggs, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Alex Lacamoire, Maria Popova, Jon Hamm, Tara Brach, Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, Samantha Powers, Jon Hamm, Congressman Barney Frank, Steven Wright, Greta Gerwig, Keegan Michael  Key, Bridget Everett, Fred Armisen, Lewis Black, Sarah Silverman, Tim Blake Nelson, Sharon Van Etten, Chris Jackson, Nate Silver, Edie Falco, David Cross, Rosie Perez, Fred Armisen, Tim Blake Nelson,  Hari Kunzru, Nicole Holofcener, Wally Shawn, Laura Benanti, Larry Kramer, Tig Notaro, Al Jaffee, Alex Borstein, Triumph the Insult Dog, The Muppets Grover and Elmo, Esther Perel, Seth Godin, John Turturo, and many more exceptional folks. 

Since 2009, Lazarus has hosted the longest running late night talk show hosted by a female. Each of her guests receives the coveted Employee of the Month Award, which falls somewhere between a Nobel Peace Prize and free cup of coffee.  


Due to Covid and democracy eating itself alive, live shows are on hold, but you can listen to the podcast and see videos on Youtube of it. www.employeeofthemonthshow.com or @catielazarus on Twitter.

REBECCA TRAISTER on Sexism, Class & Jared Kushner Destroying The Observer

EMPLOYEE of the MONTH

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