Name: Jesse Thorn
Age: 28
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Why we care: Thorn started The Sound of Young America, during his sophomore year at UC Santa Cruz. Six years later, he's juggling his show, a humor podcast called "Jordan, Jesse Go!," and a men's fashion site called "Put this On," among other side projects, all of which add up — finally — to "the comfortable dream of a middle-class lifestyle."

When you started your show, you were an American Studies major. Did you know you were going to be a radio host?

I thought that whatever I majored in at college was going to have no relation to whatever it was that I was going to do in real life, so I decided to major in whatever the most interesting thing was to me. It turns out, all that studying about American culture is really relevant to my job now.

Did you look for a traditional full-time job after you graduated?

I looked for a full-time job for years! I ended up working part-time for my dad at a non-profit. He's a great dad, but a bad boss. Things were going very poorly, and I thought about quitting the show because I was spending $20 a week on gas to drive from San Francisco to Santa Cruz to do the show — it was a lot of money for someone who wasn't making very much. My girlfriend [now wife, Theresa] said, "Well, Jesse, you don't really do anything else." She meant that this was a thing that I had created for myself and I loved it. So I didn't stop.

When were you able to earn a living from the show?

In 2006, three years after I graduated from college. I was making $12 an hour at a non-profit and doing some SAT tutoring to put food on the table while I pieced together the show. Then iTunes started supporting podcasts in 2005 and I got some attention from Time and Salon. In 2006, Public Radio International got in touch about distributing my show, and I was picked up by WNYC in New York.

Finally.

Well, this is the third year of taxes where my income is more than $20,000.

So it's true about public radio salaries?

It's absolutely true. I read a study that the average salary for a person with 8 to 10 years of experience in public radio is about $36,000. Terry Gross and Ira Glass are going to be okay, but even they make much less than other people in entertainment with a comparable audience.

Now you do the show directly out of your apartment in Los Angeles. How did you afford the equipment?

I sold my car. It was a '65 Dodge Dart, just a really cool car. I sold it for around $3,000 and bought a mixing board and other equipment I found on Craigslist. I had to buy one mic at a time.

Wow, people should really donate more to public radio. Do your friends make more than you do?

In the crowd I run with, I'm basically rich. Even my wife graduated from law school with a lot of debt and makes less than I do. My friends work in non-profits or are pursuing careers in entertainment in ways that are largely non-remunerative. My parents were divorced and my mom worked in retail and then later as a college teacher. My wife's mom worked for a non-profit and her dad worked in a hardware store.

Were you aware of money when you were a kid?

I grew up in an inner city neighborhood and I was a scholarship kid who got to go to a really fancy private school where eight out of 10 kids were rich. You know the guy who invented Macromedia? His kids went there. One kid couldn't believe I didn't have an Atari Lynx, so he gave me his old one because he already had a Game Boy and a Game Gear.

Did being around all those rich people make you feel weird?

I never felt bad about it. I always had food to eat. We never got evicted. When I stayed with my dad, we slept on mattresses on the floor. Though, I remember, when I was five, I really wanted an Apple II Plus, and my mom went out and bought one used at a computer show.

You also started a men's fashion website. How did someone who grew up with so little get interested in clothing?

My mom is an antiques and furniture dealer on the side, so even when she had to scrape together $1,500 for rent, our home was always full of really beautiful things — probably more beautiful than anything in the houses of the rich kids. My mom cared about clothes in the same way, and my dad was the kind of guy who, when there's that sale at Macy's, goes and buys a Armani suit. I learned from my mom how to shop. I found a Chester Barrie suit in a thrift shop because she taught me how to recognize quality.

Is there anything you've ever splurged on?

I usually buy neckties for $5 or $10, but when I got married, I bought a silver grenadine tie with a silk weave that was made for me bespoke by a company called Sam Hober in Thailand for $100. It was a special thing made for a special day. I thought, wedding dresses cost way more anyway.

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