Work Stew Podcast

Listen to the interview by clicking the arrow on the audio player below.

Work Stew’s essays and interviews have covered a lot of ground, but with a handful of exceptions, most of the site’s contributors are people whose work involves a lot of sitting down. This week, I felt it was time to talk with someone who is almost entirely desk-free. Cirque du Soleil artist Jonathan Morin not only moves for a living; he invents completely new ways to do so.

About Jonathan Morin: Montreal native Jonathan Morin trained and competed as a world-class gymnast before taking his talents to Cirque du Soleil, where he first performed as an aerial artist in Quidam. Since 2005, he has focused exclusively on an apparatus he developed called the “Crossed Wheel.” As the founder of 2-zen-O, Morin has invested years exploring and refining the apparatus, and in 2011 he again joined forces with Cirque du Soleil—this time, as a main acrobatic character performing with the Crossed Wheel in the production of Dralion.

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Listen to the interview by clicking the arrow on the audio player below.

I find most career paths interesting, but I have a decidedly soft spot for stories that involve second acts. For example, you might remember my conversation with John Safkow, the longtime flight attendant who left the airlines to become a gorilla caretaker.

In this episode featuring author C. Hope Clark, I learned that the work Clark is doing these days—penning mysteries and mentoring other writers—follows a decades-long career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In fact, Clark managed to take the darkest days of her time as a government employee—when a bribery attempt turned her life upside down—and convert that ordeal into page-turning fiction.

About C. Hope Clark: C. Hope Clark was a government employee for 25 years before turning her full attention to writing. As an Administrative Director within a federal agency, she managed budgets, loans, grants, human resources, and procurement—work that gave her a lifetime supply of story ideas. She is currently writing a mystery series; the first book in the series, Lowcountry Bribe, was published earlier this year by Bell Bridge Books. Clark also manages FundsforWriters.com, a website and newsletter service she founded in 2000 that now reaches over 45,000 subscribers. Writer’s Digest has recognized the site in its annual 101 Best Web Sites for Writers for a dozen years.

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