Job Seekers Pay Recruiters as Layoffs Reshape White Collar Hiring

That’s definitely nothing new in the grand scheme of things, people have been doing that for ages. But it is definitely new for my generation, who was told that if we went to college, we’d never have to worry about finding work

Workers turn to ‘polyworking’ to combat frozen salaries and inflation

Trend piece alert. That probably doesn’t help the people who are in need of a “first” job, but it’s completely understandable given the state of the economy. If you have the bandwidth to do more, at this point it almost seems irresponsible not to make some extra money

More Stories Below, but first some new content in the News Sidequest Podcast Universe…

Auditory Anthology

SCI-FI SHORT STORIES - NARRATED BY DARREN MARLAR & PRODUCED BY KEITH CONRAD

The Mystery of Deneb IV by Robert Silverberg - When a navigator with a titanium-plated skull responds to a distress call on an alien world, he discovers a telepathic trap that has turned every human into a puppet—and he’s the only man in the galaxy with the "shielding" to fight back.

The Delivery by Tuukka Sarkki Keith Conrad / Darren Marlar Episode

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Also Worth A Look…

• Author Uses AI to Produce 200 Romance Novels in a Year - There’s certainly an ethical case to be made against using AI for stuff like that. But I have a hard time with that based on quality alone. There’s just no way that would be anything but slop with that kind of volume. But I guess it’s for the readers to decide if they want slop

• Gen Z begrudge online dating - but almost half don’t know how else to meet someone - Business idea: an app that helps Gen Z meet people in the real world. Pay me $5 a month and I’ll introduce you to a bunch of people

• Man pays US$50K to clone his Boston Terrier - Are you spending $50k for a pet that’ll look just like your old one? Heartwarming or sin against nature?

• She walks, shows emotion, holds eye contact and is warm – but she's a robot - If she shows emotion and can hold eye contact, she’s already doing better than most human beings

• What these identical twins can teach Americans about politics and family - They have different political views. Listen, I’m sure they can teach us a lot about navigating this divisive time. But I just want to know what super powers they have as twins

• Wizz Air flight intercepted by fighter jets after passenger renames WiFi ‘terrorist’ - I’m not sure there’s any place where it would be a good idea to name your WiFi network “terrorist” but you have to be a special level of dense to think it’s a good idea on an airplane. “FBI Surveillance Van” on the other hand is a name everyone can get a good laugh out of

• Children cast their votes in Portugal’s presidential election, but for fictional characters - I could see myself voting for Rumi from K-Pop Demon Hunters for President, but first I’d have to know her stance on that Unitary executive nonsense

• Police warn unicyclist to stop juggling fire at intersection, admit act was “quite good” - What happened to this country? If we’re not free to ride a unicycle while juggling fire, is this really even America anymore?

• Twitch streamer rushed to ER after trying to catch falling katana by the blade - I can’t believe I have to say this, but maybe don’t try to catch a sword by the blade

• Face of a ‘vampire’ revealed: Science rebuilds likeness of man decapitated after death to stop him coming back - It must have worked since he didn’t come back as a vampire, right?