Shows / The Academic Life
The Academic Life
A podcast for your academic journey—and beyond! Created and produced by Dr. Christina Gessler, the Academic Life podcast is inspired by today’s knowledge-producers around the world, working inside and outside the academy. Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life
Episodes
- The Academic Life
In the Garden Behind the Moon: A Memoir of Loss, Myth, and Magic
Alexandra Chan thinks she has life figured out until, in the Year of the Ram, the death of her father—her last parent—brings her to her knees, an event…
- The Academic Life
You Will Get Through This: A Mental Health First-Aid Kit- Help for Depression, Anxiety, Grief, and More
You Will Get Through This: A Mental Health First-Aid Kit- Help for Depression, Anxiety, Grief, and More (Experiment, 2024) was written by three practicing…
- The Academic Life
Find Your Argument
Have you been told your draft isn’t ready yet, because you still need to find your argument? We have all gotten that feedback at some point. But what we…
- The Academic Life
He/She/They: How We Talk About Gender and Why It Matters
Schuyler Bailar didn’t set out to be an activist, but his very public transition to the Harvard men’s swim team put him in the spotlight. His choice to be open…
- The Academic Life
Decoding the Academic Job Market
When professor jobs are scarce and most academic jobs are temporary, what do you do if you still want to work on a campus? Can you make the leap to admin? How…
- The Academic Life
Everyday Architecture in Context: Public Markets in Hong Kong (1842-1981) (Chinese U of Hong Kong Press, 2023)
How do public markets, as ordinary as they seem, carry the weight of a city’s history? How do such everyday buildings reflect a city’s changing political…
- The Academic Life
The Dissertation-To-Book Workbook: Exercises for Developing and Revising Your Book Manuscript (U Chicago Press, 2023)
How do you turn a dissertation into a book? Today’s book is: The Dissertation-to-Book Workbook: Exercises for Developing and Revising Your Book Manuscript (U…
- The Academic Life
Freeman's Challenge: The Murder That Shook America's Original Prison for Profit
Today’s book is: Freeman’s Challenge: The Murder That Shook America’s Original Prison for Profit (U Chicago Press, 2024), by Dr. Robin Bernstein, which tells…
- The Academic Life
Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism—and What Comes Next
Watching the footage of the January 6 insurrection, Professor Bradley Onishi wondered: If I hadn't left evangelicalism, would I have been there? Today’s book…
- The Academic Life
Leaving Academia: Pursing Life Abroad
Have you had that dream—the one where you just leave academia? You quit your job, sell all your stuff, and board a plane for somewhere far, far away. But what…
- The Academic Life
Sorayya Khan, "We Take Our Cities with Us: A Memoir" (Ohio State UP, 2022)
Today’s book is: We Take Our Cities With Us (Ohio State UP, 2022), by Sorayya Khan. After her mother’s death, Sorayya Khan confronts her grief by revisiting…
- The Academic Life
PhDing While Parenting
An increasing number of students worldwide attend graduate school while simultaneously navigating a variety of competing responsibilities in their personal…
- The Academic Life
More Than A Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech
Today’s book is: More Than A Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech (MIT Press, 2024), by Meredith Broussard. When technology reinforces…
- The Academic Life
The Artist’s Joy: A Guide to Getting Unstuck
Today’s book is: The Artist’s Joy: A Guide to Getting Unstuck, Embracing Imperfection, and Loving Your Creative Life (Broadleaf Books, 2024), by Dr. Merideth…
- The Academic Life
Transforming Hispanic-Serving Institutions for Equity and Justice
What makes Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) uniquely Latinx? And how can university leaders, staff, and faculty transform these institutions into spaces…
- The Academic Life
The Translator's Daughter: A Discussion with Grace Loh Prasad
Today’s book is: The Translator’s Daughter: A Memoir (Mad Creek Books, 2024), by Grace Loh Prasad, which is a unique immigration story about the loneliness of…
- The Academic Life
At Every Depth: Our Growing Knowledge of the Changing Oceans
Today’s book is: At Every Depth: Our Growing Knowledge of the Changing Oceans (Columbia UP, 2024), by Tessa Hill and Eric Simons, which takes readers beneath…
- The Academic Life
Book Banning: A Discussion with Christine Emeran of the National Coalition Against Censorship
Book bans and book challenges are both on the rise. And they are increasing at unprecedented rates. But why is this happening? Dr. Christine Emeran of the…
- The Academic Life
Leading from the Margins: College Leadership from Unexpected Places
Today’s book is: Leading From the Margins: College Leadership from Unexpected Places (Johns Hopkins UP, 2024), by Dr. Mary Dana Hinton, which is a guide to why…
- The Academic Life
Stitching Freedom: Embroidery and Incarceration
Today’s book is: Stitching Freedom: Embroidery and Incarceration (Common Threads Press, 2024), by Dr. Isabella Rosner, which considers how for centuries…
- The Academic Life
The Things We Didn't Know: A Conversation with Elba Iris Pérez
Today’s book is: The Things We Didn’t Know (Gallery Books, 2024), by Dr. Elba Iris Pérez’s. A cross-cultural coming-of-age story, The Things We Didn’t Know is…
- The Academic Life
100 Years of Radio in South Africa: Then and Now
Today’s book is: 100 Years of Radio in South Africa, Volume 1: South African Radio Stations and Broadcasters Then & Now (Palgrave MacMillan, 2023), edited by…
- The Academic Life
Stylish Academic Writing: A Discussion with Helen Sword
Today’s book is: Stylish Academic Writing (Harvard UP, 2012), by Helen Sword, which dispels the myth that you only get published by writing wordy, impersonal…
- The Academic Life
Contingent Faculty and the Remaking of Higher Education
Today’s book is: Contingent Faculty and the Remaking of Higher Education: A Labor History (University of Illinois Press, 2024), which is an essay collection…
- The Academic Life
Is Grad School for Me?: Demystifying the Application Process for First-Gen BIPOC Students
Today’s book is: Is Grad School for Me? Demystifying the Application Process for First-Gen BIPOC Students (U California Press, 2024), by Dr. Yvette Martínez-Vu…
- The Academic Life
Secret Harvests: A Hidden Story of Separation and the Resilience of a Family Farm
Today’s book is: Secret Harvests: A Hidden Story of Separation and the Resilience of a Family Farm (Red Hen Press, 2023), by David Mas Masumoto. In his new…
- The Academic Life
The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You
Today’s book is: The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You (Catapult, 2020), by Dina Nayeri, a book which asks “what is it like to be a refugee?”…
- The Academic Life
Get PhDone! Proven Strategies for Tackling Your Writing Roadblocks
Are you facing writing roadblocks? There are many guides on how to make your writing match academic standards, so why aren’t there any on how to make yourself…
- The Academic Life
Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There
Today’s book is: Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There (Atria/One Signal Publishers, 2024), by Tali Sharot and Cass R. Sunstein, a book that…
- The Academic Life
Deborah Taffa, "Whiskey Tender: A Memoir" (Harper, 2024)
Today’s book is: Whiskey Tender: A Memoir (Harper, 2024), by Deborah Jackson Taffa, who was raised to believe that some sacrifices were necessary to achieve a…
- The Academic Life
Where is Home?: A Discussion with Zed Zha
When Zed Zha came to the United States for her education, she faced barriers to medical school admission and financial aid, and to establishing a sense of…
- The Academic Life
Black Women, Ivory Tower: Revealing the Lies of White Supremacy in American Education
Today’s book is: Black Women, Ivory Tower: Revealing the Lies of White Supremacy in American Education (Broadleaf Books, 2024), by Dr. Jasmine L. Harris, which…
- The Academic Life
Inside Addiction and Sobriety in Academia
How do the pressures of academia affect our relationships with ourselves, our work, and with substance use? Dr. Alicia Andrzejewski joins us for a candid…
- The Academic Life
Black and Queer on Campus
Today’s book is: Black and Queer on Campus (NYU Press, 2023) by Michael P. Jeffries, which offers an inside look at what life is like for LGBTQ college…
- The Academic Life
Montana Lee, a Journey to Togo, and the Duke Diary Dispatches
Does time abroad teach you something about the world, or about yourself? Whether you are a student, staff, or have gone alt-ac, you’ve likely considered what…
- The Academic Life
Claire Myers Owens and the Banned Book
Why did the New York Public Library ban a novel about women’s independence? What was the Human Potential Movement? And who was Claire Myers Owens? Today’s book…
- The Academic Life
Brown and Gay in LA and the Craft of Writing Nonfiction
In this episode, Dr. Anthony Christian Ocampo takes us both inside and beyond his new book, Brown and Gay in LA: The Lives of Immigrant Sons (NYU Press, 2022)…
- The Academic Life
Talking to Strangers: A Discussion with Psychotherapist Charlotte Fox Weber
Can the kindness of strangers help with the loneliness crisis? Whether you are a student, staff, or have gone alt-ac, you’ve likely had to move at least once…
- The Academic Life
How to Build a Career: A Discussion with Ben Wildavsky
On this episode of the Academic Life, we dive into the book The Career Arts: Making the Most of College, Credentials, and Connections (Princeton UP, 2023) by…
- The Academic Life
Hidden No More: A Conversation with Space Suit Technician Sharon McDougle
Who dresses the astronauts for flight? Why are the suits orange? And how are they cared for? Sharon Caples McDougle joins us to talk about her work as a modern…
- The Academic Life
Education Behind the Wall: Why and How We Teach College in Prison
Why are college programs offered in some prisons? How are the students selected? Where do the professors come from? What are the logistics of preparing to…
- The Academic Life
Rachel Neff, "Chasing Chickens: When Life After Higher Education Doesn't Go the Way You Planned" (UP of Kansas, 2019)
The majority of PhDs won’t secure a tenure-track job. So how can you pivot, and find a new opportunity? Dr. Rachel Neff joins us to share her experiences…
- The Academic Life
I Kick and I Fly
Professor Ruchira Gupta joins us to share her young adult novel I Kick and I Fly (Scholastic, 2023), which was inspired by her experience making the Emmy-award…
- The Academic Life
Exploring the Emotional Arc of Turning a Dissertation into a Book
Imposter syndrome. Intellectual fatigue. Feeling like you have nothing interesting to say. Not liking your topic or your research anymore. Wondering if anyone…
- The Academic Life
Shark Sciences: A Conversation with Carlee Jackson
Today’s book is Minorities in Shark Sciences: Diverse Voices in Shark Research (CRC Press, 2022), edited by Jasmin Graham, Camila Caceres and Deborah Santos de…
- The Academic Life
The Benefits of New Forms of Assessments for Historical Thinking
Considering trying ungrading? Assigning the unessay? What helps, and what hinders student progress? Today’s guest shares her own interrupted journey to her…
- The Academic Life
Indigenous DC: A Conversation with Elizabeth Rule
Today’s book is Indigenous DC: Native Peoples and the Nation’s First Capital (Georgetown UP, 2023), by Dr. Elizabeth Rule, which is the first and fullest…
- The Academic Life
Lee Wind, "No Way, They Were Gay?: Hidden Lives and Secret Loves" (Zest Books, 2021)
Which stories are left out of the history books? What’s in the documents omitted from the “official” record? And what happens when we go in search of people’s…
- The Academic Life
Becoming the Writer You Already Are: A Conversation with Michelle R. Boyd
Procrastination. Writer’s block. Feeling stuck. Are you struggling with the blank page? Today’s guest shares her methods that help writers move past these…
- The Academic Life
Chelsea T. Hicks, "A Calm and Normal Heart: Stories" (The Unnamed Press, 2022)
Today’s book is A Calm and Normal Heart: Stories (The Unnamed Press, 2022) by Chelsea T. Hicks. The heroes of A Calm and Normal Heart are modern-day…
- The Academic Life
The Other Side of the Desk: A Discussion with "The Conversation" Editor Emily Costello
How can writing for the general public help scholars to democratize education? Today, The Conversation editor Emily Costello takes us behind the scenes of a…
- The Academic Life
In-Person Research and Writing: Visiting Archives and "Selling Anti-Slavery"
What does it feel like to hold that diary or broadside or sugar bowl you are writing about? In today’s episode, Dr. Christina Gessler is joined by Dr. Teresa…
- The Academic Life
The Power of Play in Higher Education: A Conversation with Alison James
Why are academics encouraged to be rigorous and exhausted, instead of innovative and engaged? What learning outcomes are we sacrificing by being so serious?…
- The Academic Life
Managing your Mental Health During Your PhD
Can your graduate school affect your mental health? Dr. Zoe Ayres joins us to discuss what she wishes she had known before starting graduate school, including…
- The Academic Life
Whisper Networks: A Discussion with Carrie Ann Johnson
What is a Whisper Network? What can you gain from being in one, and what is expected of the network members? Not everybody is invited is into a Whisper…
- The Academic Life
Academic Aunties: A Conversation with Dr. Ethel Tungohan
You’ve probably heard by now that there’s a hidden curriculum in academia. But it’s called hidden for a reason—only some [privileged] people are in the know…
- The Academic Life
Share and Share Alike: Researching Sibling Relationships in Eighteenth-Century England
What defines the complicated relationship between brothers and sisters—is it lineage? Love? Obligation? Friendship? Need? And why did so many parents expect…
- The Academic Life
The Other Side of the Desk: A Discussion with Danielle D'Orlando, Princeton UP's Audio Books Editor
Does listening to an audio book count as reading? Can audio books help democratize education? Will more academic presses be creating audio versions of their…
- The Academic Life
Michelle Dowd, "Forager: Field Notes for Surviving a Family Cult--A Memoir" (Algonquin, 2023)
Today’s book is: Forager: Field Notes for Surviving a Family Cult, published by Algonquin Books, and written by Michelle Dowd. Forager is a memoir which…
- The Academic Life
Sharing Lessons From His Working-Class Parents: A Conversation with Dr. Jorge Juan Rodríguez
Why are students encouraged to move far from home and family, to attend “the best school”? Why aren’t the emotional and physical costs of this disclosed to…