麻豆约拍

What's it like to have a job that guarantees you'll spend your working life being loathed by the public? To work in a profession where your heart sinks when asked "what do you do?" What are the psychological costs of reading endless negative headlines about the role to which you've dedicated your life? What personal qualities are needed to put up with the constant jokes?

Writer James Walton meets people who might be tempted to avoid questions about their work.

From an estate agent who admits that in his younger days he was "a bit of an idiot" to a corporate downsizer who has to strike the balance between empathy and detachment, as she fires people on behalf of their bosses. From the former Daily Mail journalist who feels each slight on her profession ("journalists make it all up!") as an attack on her personal integrity, to the 18 year old trainee football referees who are adamant that they just shrug off abuse from spectators and players. But when the insults take on a racist tone, are they so easy to shut out?

James also speaks to stand-up comedian Nish Kumar about what it's like to harvest people's professions for laughs on stage. What does it feel like to go to a comedy gig and dread the moment when the comedian alights on you in the audience and asks "what's your job"? And how does Nish feel when someone in the front row says they're an estate agent and the whole audience turns on them?

Producer: Hannah Marshall.
A Loftus Media production for 麻豆约拍 Radio 4.