How Did You Find Your Life’s Work?

How Did You Find Your Life’s Work?

From KQED's Forum by KQED

May 8, 2026 · 55 min

About this episode

Jodi Kantor discusses how to find and start one's life's work, focusing on need and craft in a challenging job market.

How can we find and start our life’s work? That’s the question Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Jodi Kantor tried to answer for Columbia University’s seniors last spring in a graduation speech that went viral. She urged graduates facing a brutal job market to focus on two things: need and craft. Kantor encouraged graduates to use that lens to assess what services, products or information society will most need in their working lives and what expertise they can develop to bring them to fulfillment. We talk to Kantor about her new book “How to Start.” Guests: Jodi Kantor, investigative reporter, The New York Times; author, "How to Start: Discovering Your Life's Work" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Guest: Jodi Kantor

Topics covered

  • life's work
  • career advice
  • job market
  • graduation
  • craft
  • need

Keywords

  • life's work
  • career
  • Jodi Kantor
  • graduation speech
  • job market
  • craft
  • need

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Columbia University, The New York Times

Books & works: How to Start: Discovering Your Life's Work

More episodes of KQED's Forum

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the KQED's Forum podcast page.