[Phil Eil, practical matters]: When the work you’re passionate about doesn’t make a lot of money

This week my guest is Phil Eil, an author and freelance journalist based in his hometown–and mind–Providence, RI.
Phil’s first book, “Prescription for Pain: How a Once Promising Doctor Became the ‘Pill Mill Killer’”, came out in 2024 and was hailed a riveting true-crime page-turner by the Columbus Dispatch. He’s currently working on a new book about the history of the Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, RI, a maximum-security prison that was hailed as an economic lifeline for Rhode Island’s poorest–and geographically smallest–city and is now being used to house people detained by ICE and causing quite a stir in the local community.
Phil was the news editor and staff writer at the alt-weekly, the Providence Phoenix, until the paper closed in 2014. Since then, he's contributed to VICE, the Atlantic, Men’s Health, The Nation, Boston Magazine, and Huffington Post, and is a regular contributor to vital local independent news outlets including UpriseRI and the Rhode Island Current.
We covered:
-How his first clue that he wanted to be a journalist was that he loved writing papers in college (not something most people love)
- The continuing education class he took that clicked his career path into place
- How meaning and passion can make up for lack of profit
- The news story he just broke
- How he uses speaking to supplement his income
- The link between AI and the spread of disinformation (a subject he speaks about)
- A look at the financial realities of being a journalist in 2026
- Why he doesn’t get down when reporting on bleak topics
- The prescription medication that was a game changer for him
Connect with Phil at philipeil.com, or on Instagram @philip.eil or Bluesky @phileil.
For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.
Thank you for listening!

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