Unemploymentality’s Past: voices from the Great Depression

It’s Saturday afternoon and it’s unlikely that any new jobs will be posted until Monday.   So stop refreshing the Craigslist page, and enjoy the afternoon.  After a long week of punching up cover letters and tweaking your resume, you deserve a little break.  And if you took our advice from last night’s post and went out and got yourself a few bottles of cheap wine, you’re probably nursing a pretty good headache. 

I heard this episode of This American Life a few weeks ago where they played some of the oral histories that the late Studs Terkel recorded of normal people who lived through the Great Depression.  Listening to these honest and seemingly mundane details of going without and adapting to hard times are haunting.  And as many of us learn to appreciate things we previously took for granted (like having a job or central heating), these voices don’t seem so distant anymore.

So put off your worries about the job market or the economy for Monday.  Don’t worry, there will be plenty to deal with then.  Today, sit back, relax and listen to the voices of unemploymentality’s past. 

Listen to This American Life Epidsode: Who Do You Think You Are?

* Studs Terkel’s Great Depression oral histories begins at 8 minutes, but I encourage you to listen to the entire episode.