Category Archives: WRTIY post S5

This week we are bringing back “the reflection podcast.” Sidney and Terry will answer some of your questions. Like – why did we start this podcast? What’s our connection to each other outside the show? And is there a situation in which someone *should* give up?

You may not know the name Eddy Goldfarb, but you know his work. Goldfarb is the inventor behind over 800 toys and games – including Kerplunk, the “Yakity-Yak” wind-up Chattering Teeth, the Bubble Gun and Stompers. His incredible career has spanned eight decades. But before selling his first toy, Goldfarb was rejected. Over and over again. Then he made one very bad business deal. It’s quite the story.

This week, it’s pop rock debut rejections. We look at the stories of No Doubt – who rose to superstardom in the late ‘90s, and Chappell Roan – who was born in the late ‘90s. Both known for blending genres – both rejected by their own record labels – both persevered through it all.

Ellen DeGeneres has 34 Emmy Awards and a Presidential Medal of Freedom to her name. Her talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, ran for nearly 20 years. But back in 1997, DeGeneres was starring in the sitcom Ellen – when she made a historic decision. To come out as gay. Becoming the first openly gay star of a television show. But what came next, even her critics couldn’t have predicted.

It’s quite the story.

A Wrinkle In Time has sold 16 million copies worldwide. Time Magazine named it one of the 100 best fantasy books ever written, and the 1962 bestseller is still in print today. But when established author Madeleine L’Engle first pitched the novel to publishers, she was told it was too…strange. 10 years of rejection. 30 rejection letters from editors. One great gesture of renunciation.

This rejection story is out of this world.

Still Alice the book, sold 1M copies worldwide – a national bestseller. Still Alice the movie, sold $45M worth of tickets at the box office – and won an Academy Award. But back when neurologist Lisa Genova first penned the novel, it was rejected by 100 book agents. She was told no one would read a book about Alzheimer’s Disease. That the subject matter was too depressing. And that neurologists shouldn’t write fiction. Hope you’ll join us.

The Sopranos is widely considered the greatest television show of all time. Just ask TV Guide, The Writer’s Guild of America and Rolling Stone. But before revolutionizing the one-hour drama and ushering in what’s become known as the second Golden Age of Television, the idea for The Sopranos was rejected. By every major network. At nearly 50 years old, the show’s creator David Chase nearly shelved his script – then his manager got an idea.

Cuban pitcher Yennier Cano was told he’d never make the Cuban National Series. Then when he tried to leave Cuba to play in the Majors, his government banned him from playing baseball. When he finally made it to America, Cano floundered in obscurity in the minors. Today he’s one of the best relievers in Major League Baseball. Hope you’ll join us.

Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness. 50% of the world’s blindness is a result of cataracts. For 200 years, treatment of the condition involved removing the lens of the eye and substituting the function of that lens with a pair of thick glasses. But in 1949, Dr. Harold Ridley had another idea. What if they replaced the natural lens of the eye with an artificial one? Well, let’s just say the field of ophthalmology didn’t see the vision.

Each week on this pod, we tell the stories of famous names who overcame debilitating career rejection. We’ve talked through the careers of actors, artists, authors, athletes and even an astronaut. But rejection affects us all. So this season, we wanted to hear from you.

We put out a call for your rejection stories.

They’re inspiring, they’re vulnerable, they’re real. Take a listen.