The stripper

I've got a very cool new interview up on my Forbes blog: "How Your Journalism Sausage Gets Made, Part Eight: The Stripper Herpetologist."

What’s it like working with the other girls? Is it competitive?

Everyone’s always your competition, you know? But we feel for each other, ‘cause we’re all doing the same thing. So it’s like, we’re all out there in big high heels, and we’re all working, we all have the same goal in mind, so it’s like we feel for each other. It’s like, “Oh, is it bad out there?” Girls, usually, at this club are like, “Keep your head up. One o’clock’s gonna come around. It’s gonna be good.” People try and stay in positive spirits, ‘cause with your thoughts, you create your world.

The journalism sausage series is one I started some time ago. It takes a look at the stripper economy. I visited some strip clubs and did some interviews in Austin, Texas. Next, I'll be visiting some strip clubs and doing some interviews in Chicago, Illinois.

I like doing this series because it's self-propelled. When I need to focus on other things, I focus on those things. When I'm ready to return to this, I return to it.

I got a very nice compliment today from Adam Penenberg on Twitter. He called me a "modern-age Studs Terkel." Penenberg is the journalist who exposed Stephen Glass. Terkel won the Pulitzer for collecting World War II oral histories.

Speaking of which, I've finally gotten back to The War Project. Which is what I would like to work on. All the time. 

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