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The Making Of A Carpenter: From Behind The Desk, To Building It

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Almost a decade ago, Nina MacLaughlin had a revelation.

Sitting in front of her computer at the now-defunct Boston Phoenix, she was editing the list of the world's 100 unsexiest men, which in 2008 included Osama Bin Laden, Gary Busey and Kevin Federline.

As she was matching names and numbers, this troubling thought crept in: "You will die and this is an empty way to spend the days."

Six months later, without any alternative plan, Nina MacLaughlin quit what she once considered the perfect job.

All she knew was that sitting in front of a computer was draining her life away, and she had the smallest inkling that she wanted to do something with her hands. So, almost on a whim, she applied to an ad on Craiglist to become a carpenter's apprentice, without even knowing how to hammer a nail.

This conversation originally aired on March 16, 2015. 

Guest

Nina Maclaughlin, carpenter and author of "Hammer Head: The Making of a Carpenter." She tweets @the_carpentrix.

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This segment aired on December 25, 2015.

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