How to Be Anything is a documentary-style podcast about people with unusual jobs.

Every week, host and writer Emily McCrary tells the story of someone making their living doing something strange or unusual. From puppeteers to tower climbers to scientists who search for dark matter underground and in space, each episode explores how people end up in jobs no one tells you about in school—and what it’s like to build a life doing something most of us have never heard of.

This isn’t a self-help show or a career coaching podcast. How to Be Anything is for the job-curious, the creatively restless, and anyone who likes eavesdropping on someone else’s weird path through life.

About the host

Emily McCrary is a writer and based in Richmond, VA. Though most of her reporting covers business and corporate workplaces, she most enjoys writing about original people.

Her work has appeared in Oxford American, the Economist, the BBC, the Washington Post, Lit Hub, Discover, and Richmond magazine, among others. She is the recipient of a Virginia Press Association award for business and financial journalism.

Why subscribe?

Subscribe to get updates on new episodes, photos of HTBA guests, and more info about their work, plus behind the scenes of the show.