Catherine Baab-Muguira, freelancer

Get ready for some perfect hot takes on today’s episode of F***ing Shakepeare with freelancer Catherine Baab-Muguira. She looks behind the curtain at the self-appointed guardians of the world of culture, celebrates indulging a rabbit hole of eccentric ideas as a freelancer, and we all have a laugh about how her outstanding personal essay on her highlights helped propel her career.* Plus, we endlessly appreciate Cat for being real with us about writing, success, and mental illness as she crowns Poe, word for word, “the most likely self-help guru in history.”

Check out more of Cat’s work on her website, her Contently page, and her Twitter.

Cat’s essays that we discussed in the podcast:

“Edgar Allan Poe Was a Broke-Ass Freelancer” in The Millions

“Buy All Your Furniture at Target, For Tomorrow We Die” in The Billfold

“I Spent $11,537 Becoming a Blonde” in The Cut

“The Seductive Scamming of Theranos’s Elizabeth Holmes” in shondaland

Suggested Reads & Honorable Mentions

Tigers are Better-Looking by Jean Rhys

“Like This or Die” by Christian Lorentzen in Harper’s Magazine (we discuss this article at 10:55)

“The Literati of New York City” by Edgar Allan Poe

“The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe

J.W. Ostrom’s works on Edgar Allan Poe’s letters

Elizabeth Holmes’s net worth according to Forbes

*Please note, we went out of our way not to say “highlight of her career.” You’re welcome for the lack of bad puns.