Asleep on the job

Rumble Strip / barber shop

Top: Given her meticulous attention to heart and craft, it’s hard to believe Erica Heilman, producer since 2013 of the podcast Rumble Strip, ever relaxes. But here is photographic proof. Make your life sweeter by listening in as she constructs warm, deep stories that will make you, even in these harsh times, feel affinity and affection for your flawed and wondrous fellow humans. Start with “Finn and the Bell” (which won a Peabody) and then wander the whole archive up to the current series,“What Class are You?” Erica takes all the time she needs to listen to people whom media often treat as props and rarely ask for anything but soundbites.

Below: Putting a barber chair to good use in the Bronx.