What It’s Like to Be…a Nurse
Caring for patients with serious burns, making sure the correct leg gets operated on, and working 24 hours straight with Teresa Shuster, a nurse in Florida.
Dan Heath
Dan Heath is a senior fellow at Duke University’s Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship. He is the coauthor (along with his brother, Chip) of four books, including the New York Times bestsellers Decisive and Switch. His most recent book is Upstream.
What It’s Like to Be…a Stand-Up Comedian
Crafting jokes that kill, hustling to find gigs, and improvising based on the audience’s reaction with Chris Grace, a stand-up comedian.
What It’s Like to Be…a Hair Stylist
Cutting to accentuate the client’s eyes and ears, plotting to tame Einstein’s hair, and riding the ups and downs of entrepreneurship with Ona Diaz-Santin, a hair stylist from New Jersey.
What It’s Like to Be…a Welder
Pushing perfectionism to its limits, suffering third degree burns from slag, and having your welds “shot” by X-rays with Matt “Lucky” Reed, a welder in Florida.
What It’s Like to Be…a Piano Teacher
Delivering the perfect first lesson, working with 89-year-old students, and learning how to charge for your work with Christina Whitlock, a piano teacher in Indiana.
What It’s Like to Be…a Professional Santa
Refurbishing old sleighs, reviewing advance dossiers on kids, and going to “Santa School” with Larry Jefferson, a professional Santa Claus.
What It’s Like to Be…a High School Principal
Managing complaints from parents, handling the horrors of teenage social media, and serving as an emergency substitute teacher with Marcus Belin, a high school principal in Illinois.
What It’s Like to Be…a Mystery Novelist
Scouting body disposal sites, investigating obscure poisons, and computing royalty payments with Donna Andrews, the mystery novelist behind the Meg Langslow series.
What It’s Like to Be…a Forensic Accountant
Catching embezzling CFOs, sniffing out a corrupt private school headmaster, and sifting through fake invoices with Chris Ekimoff, a forensic accountant at RSM US.
What It’s Like to Be…a TV Meteorologist
Tracking a 2.5-mile-wide tornado, fretting over forecasts, and waking up at 2:30am with Lacey Swope, a TV meteorologist for News 9 in Oklahoma City. How does she deal with fans and stalkers? And what is the “deformation zone”?