podium job
n.— «Gibbs is about to start a job that, like the presidency, seems to age its occupants disproportionately to the years they spend in the job. And it happens live and on C-Span. Known in Washington shorthand as “the podium job,” it has achieved a certain iconic stature—or thanklessness—in the ritual kabuki of Washington. White House press secretaries get a daily blistering from the press, nightly ridicule from comedians and are subjected to the widespread belief that they are unhelpful, obfuscating puppets—which, of course, they sometimes are.» —“Between Obama and the Press” by Mark Leibovich New York Times Magazine Dec. 21, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Responding to our discussion about thin places, those spots where the boundary between this world and other realities seems narrow or permeable, a listener in Kirkland, Washington, sent us some eloquent thoughts about her own experiences of that...
Following our conversation about the use of the term devil strip to denote the strip of land between sidewalk and street, listeners chimed in with other terms from their areas. In Portland, Maine, some people call it a hell strip. In Washington...