Working

Talking About What We Do All Day and How We Feel About What We Do

I recently finished putting together and presenting a talk about Bullshit Jobs in InfoSec at Kiwicon, you might’ve heard about it!

As part of writing that talk, I naturally read Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber, but also took some time to read parts of Working by oral historian and radio broadcaster Studs Terkel.

It’s a book about what work meant to people in the late 60s and early 70s (presumably, given it was published in 1974). Working features a lot of “working class” stories from newspaper delivery boys, farmers, press agents, bus drivers, housewives, and a lawyer, so it really covers a lot of ground.

I didn’t find it great as a like cover-to-cover read, the stories can feel a little dated, and repetitive, but it’s a surprisingly delightful book to flip through when you’re procrastinating on slide writing.

What stuch with me was how every day these stories were. They weren’t about super successful CEO’s or influencers trying to push the idea of the grind or sell their management training course, they were just people working their way through life.

And it got me thinking about all the InfoSec podcasts out there and how each one chooses who to talk to. Back when I was running OWASP DevSlop Australia, we were all about finding the interesting research or AppSec stories happening locally (or bringing international guests to an Australian timezone) so people didn’t have to just watch replays; they could actually ask questions and be part of the conversation.

That experience, interviewing people for Bullshit Jobs in InfoSec, reading Terkel’s book made me realise how many other stories sit between the big wins. The personal ones, the messy ones, the ones that never make it into a conference talk. Those are the stories I want to talk about now.

Anyway, this isn’t some announcement I’m getting back into podcasting. Podcasting sucks, it gives me mad dysphoria. But I do want to tell these stories! But I’m probably going to write them instead that feels much more my speed!

I’m still fleshing out the details of this project… while also trying to wrap up Bullshit Jobs in InfoSec… and get the first edition of The Damnation Download out the door (which is a whole other blog post).

Anyway, my brain has about three tabs open, and all of them are slightly on fire. But the direction feels right. If you’re interested in finding out more, you should subscribe to my RSS feed!