The initial allegations against Harvey Weinstein have opened the floodgates for what seems to be an unrelenting stream of sexual harassment claims against the powerful. But this isn’t the first time the country has had to reckon with inappropriate behavior in the workplace. In 1991, Anita Hill testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee about the alleged harassment of Clarence Thomas, who was ultimately confirmed to the Supreme Court. This week, Francesca and Rebecca look back at the...

Career coaches claim to help navigate everything from nailing a tough interview to figuring out what you want to do with your life. Rebecca and Francesca sat down with prominent career coach Vicki Salemi to talk through their own career transitions and find out what really goes on in these sessions.

Most of us are really bad at thinking about and planning for our retirement. Only a third of Americans contribute to employer-provided 401(k) accounts. And around half have no retirement savings at all. There are lots of forces working against us when it comes to saving up for the future. But never fear, the behavioral economists can save us. See, it’s not our fault that we’re bad at saving: We’re wired to make bad retirement decisions. At least that’s what Steve Wendel, a behavioral...

After dozens of women accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault and harassment over decades, some singled out the Hollywood power structure for criticism. But in recent years, harassment scandals, inequities and patterns of abuse and mistreatment have been uncovered in nearly every field. There are common themes across disciplines, but they each require unique solutions. Becca and Francesca talk to Beth Alpert Nakhai, an archeologist and professor who is working to make digs safer for women.

By some measures, at the end of last year LGBTQ workers in the U.S. had more protections than ever before. The Trump administration, however, has proven to be hostile to the LGBTQ community. All of these big picture policy changes trickle down into people’s every day lives. Francesca and Rebecca dig into what it’s like to be an LGBTQ worker in 2017. The hosts of Nancy, a WNYC Studios podcast about queer life, join them to talk about the decision to come out, how to navigate discrimination,...

Work meetings at hotel bars, making small talk with total strangers, and waiting in line to use the restroom: It's that time-tested corporate ritual, the conference. This week, Rebecca and Francesca went to a conference to report on the $14 billion conference industry. Attendees shared their thoughts on conferences, panels, and compulsory networking.

All the pings and buzzes of the office make it difficult to get anything done—let alone our best, most creative work. But the solution is not a digital detox. There are ways to overcome creativity blocks at work that don't involve an off-the-grid hermit lifestyle. Francesca and Rebecca discuss how to do their best, most creative work in a world that makes it hard to take the time to do deep thinking. Instead of a detox, their guest Manoush Zomorodi, author of the book "Bored and Brilliant,"...

Francesca and Rebecca examine the increasingly tenuous relationship between workers and companies. Lots of people in the gig economy, contract workers, and even salaried employees enter a system that promises freedom from corporate America but doesn’t offer much in the way of comfort and advancement. Guest Rick Wartzman, author of “The End of Loyalty: The Rise and Fall of Good Jobs in America” explains about how we got to this point.

One of the unfortunate realities of office life is having to work with people you don’t like. How do you deal with having to do your job alongside a bona-fide work jerk? Rebecca and Francesca talk to Robert Sutton, author of the No A*****e Rule and the A*****e Survival Guide about the best coping strategies for working with the worst of the workplace.

Silicon Valley types like to say the quality of your work is all that matters, and good ideas rise to the top, no matter whom they come from. But why do the people who rise to the top in a meritocracy tend to be the ones with all the advantages? Francesca and Rebecca talk to Ryan Carson, the chief executive officer of Treehouse Island Inc., a coding school, about why he once believed in meritocracy and then—suddenly—didn’t.

We live in politically polarized times, and those tensions are seeping into the workplace in all sorts of ways. In liberal enclaves like Silicon Valley, conservatives feel isolated and judged at the office. People on the other end of the spectrum feel attacked by the administration's policies—and have no problem telling their bosses their views. For some, the increased political chatter in the office has led to increased hostility and stress. And it can have even more extreme consequences:...

People just starting out in their careers get one piece of big advice: Find a mentor. And that’s true—research has found the many benefits of having a career guru. But finding the right person often feels stressful and forced. Instead of getting anxious about finding that special someone, it’s time rethink the idea of mentors. Francesca and Rebecca talk to Phyllis Korkki, the executive editor of the story-telling app Hooked, about how to seek out unconventional mentors.

In 2015, Millennials became the biggest generation in the American workforce. Last year, they overtook Boomers as the biggest generation overall in the U.S. These changing demographics have led to some tension at work for people both old and young. Rebecca and Francesca speak with Karen Wickre, a 66-year-old Silicon Valley veteran, about what it’s like to work among the youngs. We can all learn to get along!

Maybe you're dying to change careers—or being forced to because your job is going to a robot—but it just seems impossible to start over in a new field. There might be a better way. Francesca and Rebecca look at the skills-based approach to job switching; a way to assess what unrelated jobs may be unexpectedly similar to yours. We talk to Claire Cain Miller, a New York Times reporter who embarked on a major data study to cross-reference thousands of skills and jobs.

Workplaces can be the perfect breeding ground for crushes, but there are major downsides to getting romantic with colleagues. Francesca and guest host Jenny Kaplan talk to author and advice columnist Cheryl Strayed about the advice she gives lovelorn workers—and how to handle yourself when friendships at work grow into something more.

Rebecca and Francesca head to an office that lets everyone control their own desk temperature using a phone app. We'll see if it's possible to resolve the annual office air conditioning wars, or whether someone's always doomed to be uncomfortable.

Is there anything more annoying than coworkers who interrupt you? Research has shown that women get interrupted more than men. Author and Professor Chris Karpowitz talks to Francesca and Rebecca about how that affects the kinds of conversations and decisions that happen at companies, and what can be done about it.

A big part of our work lives takes place not in the office, but instead stuck in traffic or on a crowded train en route to and from our jobs. The average American spends 25 minutes getting to work, up from 21.7 minutes in 1980—and people living in major metropolitan areas have it much worse. We are spending a lot of time shuttling between work and home. These increasingly long rides to work are stressful, frustrating and bad for our health and the economy. Is there a way to make commuting...

Among a certain set of companies competing for talent, there’s been a perks arms race. Health benefits and vacation days aren’t enough to sweeten a good salary anymore. Companies now offer to pay off student debt, subsidize egg-freezing services and provide cash stipends for employees to go on vacation. Francesca and Rebecca talk about the state of cushy workplaces and whether anything can compensate for a job you just don’t like. Jason Fried, chief executive officer and co-founder of...

Each week on Game Plan, Francesca and Rebecca share their half-baked takes, a segment where they talk about their not super well thought out ideas and opinions on work and work related activities.  In the spirit of the summer slack off, this week Francesca and Rebecca outsourced that task to their colleagues to present the very first half-baked take marathon. In it, they talk about important office topics like office footwear, the case for coffee in the afternoon, and an innovative idea to...

Venture capitalist Keith Rabois set off a Silicon Valley firestorm earlier this month about what it takes to succeed. When another tech investor wrote on Twitter that working on the weekends and burning out isn’t cool—and doesn’t work—Rabois fired back. “Totally false,” he said, suggesting that dogged dedication (usually measured by long hours) was the only way to reach the top. Lots of people objected to his assessment. Francesca and Rebecca speak with one of Keith's critics, startup founder...

So, you want to move to Canada? Or New Zealand, or Australia or another English-speaking, culturally adjacent country to the U.S. that doesn’t have our current president. After every election, Americans threaten to get out of dodge—and 2016 was no different. Rebecca and Francesca talk about the realities of starting over in another country and what it takes to actually pick up and move your life to a new place. They talk to author Suketu Mehta, who grew up in India and came to America when...

Letting employees occasionally work from home makes them happy, can save companies money and there's research to suggest it could help close the gender pay gap. But some companies, like IBM, say remote work encourages habits that hurt collaboration, innovation and productivity. Last month the company told hundreds of thousands of employees they had to report to headquarters. So what's the future of work? Guest Christopher Mims, a technology columnist and a 10-year veteran of working from...

Fake it 'til you make it! That's the career advice many of us get upon first entering the workforce. Since you're a newbie, and won't understand lots of parts of your job, just pretend — and one day, all of a sudden, you'll be a bona fide expert. It's not bad advice, and research has even found that it works. But what happens when you still feel as if you're faking it, long after you've actually made it? Francesca and Rebecca discuss the phenomenon known as imposter syndrome. Many competent...

Student debt doesn't only affect students and recent grads. It’s a burden that can follow people through their working life and influence every financial and career decision they make. It’s easy to feel panicked by doom-and-gloom news, so to separate worries from reality, Francesca and Becca talk with Bloomberg's Shahien Nasiripour, who covers student debt and education policy.