24 Hours: A Day in the Working Life

A lot of kids imagine growing up to be astronauts, doctors, basketball stars or firefighters. But often these dream jobs require money, education or coaching that most people never get. So, then, there are jobs most people don’t even think about: the night guard in the impound lot, the exotic dancer on the breakfast shift, the mother who cares for other people’s children. Someone does them. And we don't even think about those people, either.

In this one-hour special for Labor Day, we explore their worlds. One day, 12 very different jobs, in the workers’ own words – words we might otherwise never hear.

Each of these non-narrated audio stories was produced by a graduate student at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism in partnership with Homelands Productions and Bending Borders. "24 Hours; A Day in the Working Life" is available as a one-hour special for public radio or as a collection of individual stories.

Image: Photograph by Flickr user demented_dame, edit by Rosalie Murphy Hide full description

A lot of kids imagine growing up to be astronauts, doctors, basketball stars or firefighters. But often these dream jobs require money, education or coaching that most people never get. So, then, there are jobs most people don’t even think about: the night guard in the impound lot, the exotic dancer on the breakfast shift, the mother who cares for other people’s children. Someone does them. And we don't even think about those people, either.In this one-hour special for Labor Day, we explore their worlds. One day, 12 very different jobs, in the workers’ own words – words we might otherwise never hear.Each of these non-narrated audio stories was produced by a graduate student at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism in partnership with Homelands Productions and Bending... Show full description