The Pit of Despair

For some people, making great radio is easy. Ben Calhoun has no idea what those people are talking about! For him, making radio is hard, beset by self-doubt -- and he finds it’s often easy to get stuck.

As a former This American Life producer and Radiolab contributor, and WBEZ's current VP of content and programming, Ben’s had a chance to watch a lot of smart people beat back the forces of creative despair. In this session, he’ll share a few strategies he’s hatched, many he’s stolen, and pass on some concrete tools for un-slumping your situation.

Here are the slides Ben shared with his audience. Take a look, they'll come in handy.

And this is the GREAT handout Ben shared, a Q&A with past and present This American Life producers about when they get stuck, and how they get out of it.

Editors note: During the presentation, Ben references a few friends and colleagues by their first names.

• "Zoe" is This American Life producer Zoe Chace.
• "Robyn" is This American Life producer Robyn Semien.
• "Jonathan" is Heavyweight host Jonathan Goldstein.
• "Chana" is This American Life producer Chana Joffe-Walt.
• "Julie" is Serial executive producer Julie Snyder.