Your Workplace Rage, And Mine

Death, Sex & Money

• Episode: Your Workplace Rage, And Mine
• Website: Death, Sex & Money
• Feed URL: http://feeds.wnyc.org/deathsexmoney
• Duration: 00:09:04
• Published: 2017-12-06 06:00

This past weekend, New York Magazine published a story detailing a pattern of alleged sexual misconduct and bullying by John Hockenberry, the former host of WNYC's show The Takeaway. The story includes allegations of forcible kissing, excerpts of inappropriate online messages Hockenberry sent to staff and guests, and descriptions of a pervasive culture of intimidation on the show that was most publicly directed against three of Hockenberry's cohosts—all women of color—who left The Takeaway one after the other, while he stayed. 

This story is part of a much larger conversation we're having about sexual harassment, and about misconduct of all kinds in the workplace—but this one hits close to home. I worked on The Takeaway from 2009-2010, and I remember this culture vividly. And since this story broke, I've been mad. And I've been wanting to talk about it with someone. So I called up my friend and former colleague at The Takeaway, Noel King, to talk about what we put up with during our time at the show, what we shouldn't have—and how we're rethinking that time in our careers now.

And we want to hear from you about how you're processing this moment in our cultural confrontation of sexism, racism and other inappropriate behavior in the workplace. Inspired by one of our favorite new podcasts, For A Bad Time Call..., we want to hear your rage. Send us a 30 second voice memo of what you would tell your younger self about office culture, or share with us the advice you would give yourself to deal with harassment, bullying, or worse. You can send those voice memos to [email protected]—we'll put them together and share them with you soon. 

Click here to read Suki Kim's original reporting in New York Magazine about the allegations against Hockenberry. WNYC's own reporting on the story can be found here. And you can find statements from Hockenberry and WNYC here.