E1. The Ick - Why Work Feels Worse?
Shownotes
You're not burned out because you're weak — you're burned out because the system was designed this way. This isn't a self-help episode. It's a reality check — and the beginning of something better.
IN THIS EPISODE
You already know something is wrong. Maybe it's the Sunday dread, or the way your stomach drops when your boss Slacks you at 9pm, or the creeping feeling that you've given everything to a job that could disappear tomorrow. In this first episode, Aparna and Lars name what most of us have been too scared, too busy, or too gaslit to say out loud. They dig into the real data on white collar layoffs and disengagement, expose the moral compromises baked into everyday corporate work — from Project Nimbus to ICE contracts — and get into what all of this is doing to our bodies, our families, and our democracy.
TAKE THIS WITH YOU
Listen to your body this week. In your next meeting, pause and ask yourself: what does my body feel right now? Notice your posture, your jaw, your breathing. You don't have to do anything with what you find — just track it. Your nervous system has been paying attention even when your brain checked out.
Name it to change it. This week, resist the urge to treat your work stress as a personal failing. The layoffs, the moral compromises, the exhaustion — none of it is because you aren't resilient enough. It's structural. And structural problems need collective responses.
RESOURCES
- Bullshit Jobs: A Theory — David Graeber. The anthropologist who argued that corporations have convinced us being busy is morally virtuous — and what that's done to us. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Bullshit-Jobs/David-Graeber/9781501143335
- Ruined by Design — Mike Monteiro. The core idea: the world is working exactly as designed. If it's broken, that's on us. https://www.ruinedby.design
- No Tech for Apartheid — The worker-led campaign of Google and Amazon employees organizing against Project Nimbus. Follow them, support them. https://www.notechforapartheid.com
- Coworker Solidarity Fund — Financial support for the 50+ Google workers fired or arrested for protesting Project Nimbus. Donate here. https://coworkerfund.org/get-funded/googlers-fund-application
- Gallup: U.S. Employee Engagement Sinks to 10-Year Low — The data behind the decade-low engagement numbers: only 31% of U.S. workers engaged in 2024. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/654911/employee-engagement-sinks-year-low.aspx
- Gallup: State of the Global Workplace Report — The broader annual report on global engagement, wellbeing, and what it's costing us. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx
- Stanford Business School research on workplace mortality — Studies linking toxic workplace environments to over 120,000 deaths per year in the U.S. and 5–8% of annual healthcare costs. https://www.inc.com/scott-mautz/new-stanford-research-says-5th-leading-cause-of-death-is-workplace.html
- McKinsey Health Institute — Research showing toxic workplace behavior is the single largest predictor of negative employee outcomes — more than twice the impact of all positive practices combined. https://www.mckinsey.com/mhi/our-insights/present-company-included-prioritizing-mental-health-and-well-being-for-all
- CONNECT WITH US
Aparna on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/aparnarae
Lars on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lars-gallien
Got an ick? Got a hope? We want to hear from workers. Send us your story — written or as an audio recording — to [email protected]. We'll weave your voice into the show.
Want to bring this conversation into your organization? Aparna and Lars speak at HR conferences, Fortune 1000 ERGs, and philanthropic foundations. [email protected]
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