Episodes
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We regret to inform you that today marks the final episode of our fifth season. So, we thought we’d do a little call back to season one. This week, Sidney and Terry 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?
Thanks for tuning in all these years. We’ll meet you right back here soon for Season Six.
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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. Hope you’ll join us.
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Missing episodes?
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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. Hope you’ll join us.
Ask Us Anything:
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Email us: [email protected]
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In Part Two of our Rejecting Ellen DeGeneres episode, DeGeneres reads a shocking headline in the trades, Oprah Winfrey and Laura Dern take career hits, and DeGeneres learns to just keep swimming.
Ask Us Anything:
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Email us: [email protected]
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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. Making DeGeneres the first openly gay star of a television show. But what came next, not even her critics could have predicted.
You might think you know this story, but take a listen. You may just learn something new. Hope you'll join us.
Ask Us Anything:
Record a Question.
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Email us: [email protected]
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This week, we’re excited to share a brand-new podcast we think you'll enjoy. From our friends over at Canadaland, meet The Worst Podcast.
Hosted by award-winning filmmaker (and noted curmudgeon) Alan Zweig, The Worst Podcast is Canadaland’s first celebrity interview pod. Zweig finds typical celebrity interviews surface-level and predictable, so he found a solution: conversations with notable guests about the worst things in life. Rejection, anyone?
In this episode, Zweig sits down with Ron MacLean. Find The Worst Podcast wherever you’re listening right now.
Ask Us Anything:
Record a Question.
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Email us: [email protected]
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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.
Ask Us Anything:
Record a Question.
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Email us: [email protected]
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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 neuroscientist 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 neuroscientists shouldn’t write fiction. Hope you’ll join us.
Ask Us Anything:
Record a Question.
Tweet or DM us.
Email us: [email protected]
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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.
Tell us YOUR rejection story:
Record your voice: https://speak-to.us/rejection
Write to us: [email protected]
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Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness worldwide – 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 he 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.
Hope you’ll join us.
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Each week on this podcast, 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.
You sent us voicemails, emails, comments, posts and messages. Take a listen.
Tell us YOUR rejection story, and you may be featured in an upcoming episode:
Record your voice: https://speak-to.us/rejection
Write to us: [email protected]
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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This week it's our mid-season break, and that means an encore presentation of one of our most-loved episodes: Rejecting Pedro Pascal.
Pedro Pascal is the man of the moment. In 2020 he was named one of Entertainment Weekly’s Entertainers of the Year, and in 2023 he became one of the highest-paid actors on television. But only 10 years ago, Pascal was struggling to make rent, rejected for parts and told he was aging out of Hollywood – quick. Until one afternoon, when he picked up a script for a 30-something bisexual Lothario from the 15th century...
Tell us YOUR rejection story, and you may be featured in an upcoming episode:
Record your voice: https://speak-to.us/rejection
Write to us: [email protected]
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Online graphic design platform Canva is worth $26 billion. 85% of Fortune 500 companies utilize Canva, and its users span 190 countries. But when Australian entrepreneur Melanie Perkins pitched Canva to investors, she got the following feedback:
“Your headquarters are too far from Silicon Valley.”
“You didn’t go to Harvard, Stanford or MIT.”
“Your idea is too ambitious.”
“Your idea isn’t ambitious enough.”
And, “The market is too small.”
185 million monthly users later, Canva holds the title of world’s most valuable startup founded and led by a woman.
Hope you'll join us.
Tell us YOUR rejection story:
Record your voice: https://speak-to.us/rejection
Write to us: [email protected]
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Over the past five years – and 85 episodes – we’ve come across so many rejection stories that aren’t long enough to fill an entire episode. But that doesn’t mean they're any less filled with insight. Join us this week for a special “Short Stories” podcast – the inspiring pint-sized rejection stories of Melissa McCarthy and Jennifer Aniston.
Before getting their big breaks on Gilmore Girls and Friends, both Melissa McCarthy and Jennifer Aniston were struggling actors in New York City. McCarthy landed auditions, but not parts. And eventually, she stopped landing auditions altogether. Meanwhile Aniston was landing parts – in low-budget sci-fi and horror comedies. Their careers were going nowhere and the rejection was crushing.
Aniston’s father, Days of Our Lives actor John Aniston, begged her to quit the business. McCarthy set a do-or-die date for her 30th birthday.
Tell us YOUR rejection story:
Record your voice: https://speak-to.us/rejection
Write to us: [email protected]
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Hi – Sidney here. You may not recognize the name Bessie Coleman, so you may be wondering whether or not to tune into this episode. But, I highly encourage you to give it a listen. It’s a story our team – from our director Callie to our engineer Geoff – all declared one of their favourites of the entire series. Because it’s a story about the ripple effects of bravery. Coleman battled racism, sexism, poverty and rejection to – just 20 years after the Wright Brothers successfully flew the first controlled airplane – become the first Black woman pilot. What Coleman didn’t know, was that her resilience would inspire another incredible woman – whose story we’ve already told on this show. Turns out, the sky is not the limit.
Hope you’ll join us.
Tell us YOUR rejection story:
Record your voice: https://speak-to.us/rejection
Write to us: [email protected]
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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.
Tell us YOUR rejection story:
Record your voice: https://speak-to.us/rejection
Write to us: [email protected]
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Since the year 1937, over 60 Dr. Seuss books have been published. Over 650 million copies have been sold. Leading to film adaptations grossing over $1.7 billion at the box office. But before the late author was Dr. Seuss, he was Theodor Geisel. And his first children’s book “A Story That No One Could Beat” was a story that no one would want. After being rejected by every publisher in Manhattan, Geisel decided to burn his drawings. Then, a chance encounter changed everything.
Tell us YOUR rejection story:
Record your voice: https://speak-to.us/rejection
Write to us: [email protected]
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In Part 2 of our Rejecting Manon Rhéaume episode, for the first time, Rhéaume plays with women. It’s Canada vs. the USA at the World Championships. Then, the goalie gets a strange letter in the mail – from the brand-new Tampa Bay Lightning. Hope you'll join us.
Tell us YOUR rejection story:
Record your voice: https://speak-to.us/rejection
Write to us: [email protected]
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Manon Rhéaume was told hockey was for boys. Manon Rhéaume was cut from teams for being a girl. Manon Rhéaume was heckled by parents in the stands. Manon Rhéaume was told she was taking a spot away from boys with NHL dreams. Manon Rhéaume was told she’d never play pro. Manon Rhéaume became the first woman to ever play in an NHL game.
If you enjoyed our Hayley Wickenheiser episodes last season, give this one a listen. It’s a story of courage, vulnerability and unbelievable determination.
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Adam Driver is a two-time Academy Award nominated actor known for his roles in films like Marriage Story, BlacKkKlansman and the Star Wars franchise as Kylo Ren. But before landing his breakout role on HBO’s Girls, Driver was rejected from Juilliard, turned his Lincoln Town Car around before he reached Los Angeles and was medically discharged from the Marines prior to deployment. Broke and struggling to find his way, Driver made a bold decision: to apply to Juilliard again.
Welcome to Season Five of The Rejection Podcast. It’s good to be back.
Tell us YOUR rejection story:
Record your voice: https://speak-to.us/rejection
Write to us: [email protected]
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