The state of paid parental leave in the U.S. is abysmal. And advocating for it, coordinating it, and scraping it together more often than not falls to mothers. Raena Boston, co-founder of Chamber of Mothers, joins host Anne Helen Petersen to answer questions from listeners about advocating for paid leave, how to plan for your leave, and whether you can start-- or quit-- a job while you're pregnant.

Got a workplace quandary you need help figuring out? Head to www.workappropriate.com and tell us about it!

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Every decade or so, the entire writing-for-money paradigm shifts yet again. To write for money is to get very comfortable with constantly changing your expectations, your strategy, your skillset. It's a lot, particularly when all you really probably want to do is... write. So to talk about how to navigate this ever-changing and increasingly unsustainable business, host Anne Helen Petersen is joined by Jennifer Romolini. Jennifer's been in the writing biz for a long time, and she's now the host of Crooked Media's new podcast, Stiffed, about the rise and fall of Viva Magazine in the 1970s.

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"Boundaries" has become a buzzword, especially in the conversation about work-life balance. But work is a part of life-- and why should you be the only one responsible for making sure work doesn't creep into every other part of your life? Shouldn't your workplace prevent the creep in the first place? To re-examine this idea of boundaries, and come up with alternatives, host Anne Helen Petersen teams up with Stephanie Nadi Olson, founder of We Are Rosie. How do you keep from taking on multiple jobs as people leave your company? Can you tell your boss "no" when they ask for your phone number? How much work is too much? And is it okay to trust management to look out for you?

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The idea that every problem, every issue, every roadblock in your organization can and should be solved by a meeting — that’s meeting culture. But often, meetings feel like a huge waste of time, and they can take up so much of your day that you can't actually get your work done. There has to be another way!  Christina Janzer, SVP of Research & Analytics at Slack, joins host Anne Helen Petersen to answer listeners' questions about how to make meetings better.

Got a workplace quandary you need help figuring out? Head to www.workappropriate.com and tell us about it!

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Sometimes the stuff that happens to us at work is weird, or frustrating, or funny-- but sometimes it's straight-up traumatizing. How do you move forward when you still feel like you're carrying trauma from a  previous job? Should I go back to my old job, because at least I had friends there? Should I tell my manager about my PTSD diagnosis? Licensed psychologist Dr. Hammad N'cho joins host Anne Helen Petersen  to answer some of these tough questions, and more.

Got a workplace quandary you need help figuring out? Head to www.workappropriate.com and tell us about it.

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Live from SXSW EDU, it's Work Appropriate! Your coworkers are not your family, your bosses are not your parents—but workplaces are filled with the sort of big emotions we usually associate with family dynamics. In front of an excellent crowd, Anne Helen Petersen and guest host Gloria Chan Packer answer all manner of questions from listeners who are grappling with tough relationships at work. 

Got a workplace quandary you need help figuring out? Head to www.workappropriate.com and let us know!

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In a lot of workplaces, compensation isn’t transparent— and sometimes it’s actively obscured. Leaders and managers work to implicitly and explicitly communicate that you shouldn’t talk with your coworkers about money — arguing that it’s demoralizing, or “private,” or unfair to share what you make with your coworkers. But that mindset only keeps compensation deeply inequitable. On today's episode, Maya Lau, host and creator of Other People's Pockets, joins Anne Helen Petersen to advise listeners on all things salary-related. When should you ask for a raise, and how? And to whom? And what do you do when you find out your coworkers make a whole lot more— or less— than you?

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In our episode "May I Speak to the Manager?" host Anne Helen Petersen talked with Melissa Nightingale about why and how formal management training has really gone by the wayside, resulting in a plethora of managers without the skills they need to thrive. In today's episode, Melissa returns to answer questions from listeners about really specific problems they're having as managers. Whether it's figuring out your management style, keeping your cool when your trainee just isn't getting it, or designing an effective performance review system-- Melissa and Anne have advice for bosses in any industry.

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Workplaces are often very, very skilled at making us feel very, very bad about ourselves. Sometimes you need structural reform of the whole workplace, and sometimes you just need a good, old-fashioned pep talk. Whether the crisis in confidence comes from imposter syndrome, or from feeling like you're the only one who thinks it's weird to give a CEO a holiday gift-- we've got some advice. Comedian and writer Josh Gondelman joins host Anne Helen Petersen to answer questions from listeners who are struggling to feel confident at work. 

If you've got a workplace quandary you need help figuring out, get in touch! Check out submission guidelines at www.workappropriate.com, or send a voice memo with your question to workappropriate@crooked.com.

We're kicking off a new series on Work Appropriate called "My Industry Is Failing." First up? Academia.  Professor Dominique Baker of SMU joins host Anne Helen Petersen to answer listeners' questions about surviving within academia when the whole institution seems irrevocably broken. Regardless of your own industry, you're sure to hear some familiar themes in these stories.

If you've got a workplace problem that feels emblematic of your own broken industry, we want to hear about it! Some of the realms we want to explore include health care, retail,  veterinary medicine, teaching, non-profits... the list goes on and on. Head to www.workappropriate.com to view submission guidelines and send us your question.