The Academic Life

When we are tethered to our responsibilities, it can feel like we need someone to give us permission to go have fun. Maybe some of us have begun to forget what “fun” is? And what it feels like to have it? Have we talked ourselves into the idea that fun is just for kids…and that truly responsible people don’t have time for it? Dr. Mike Rucker joins us to explain the value of fun for our personal and our professional life. It turns out, it’s even good for our health.Today’s book is: The Fun Habit: How the Pursuit of Joy and Wonder Can Change Your Life, by Dr. Mike Rucker. Fun is an action you can take here and now, practically anywhere, anytime. Through research and science, we know fun is enormously beneficial to our physical and psychological well-being, yet fun’s absence from our modern lives is striking. Grounded in current research, accessible science, and practical recommendations, The Fun Habit explains how you can build having fun into an actionable and effortless habit and why doing so will help you become a healthier, more joyful, more productive person.Our guest is: Dr. Mike Rucker is an organizational psychologist and charter member of the International Positive Psychology Association whose work has been published in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management and Nutrition Research. His ideas about fun and health have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Vox, Thrive Global, mindbodygreen, and more. Named one of ten digital changemakers by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, he currently serves as a senior leader at Active Wellness. Learn more at MichaelRucker.com. He is the author of The Fun Habit: How the Pursuit of Joy and Wonder Can Change Your Life.Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, a historian of women and gender.Listeners to this episode may be interested in: Belonging, by Dr. Geoffrey Cohen It’s a Wonderful Life: Insights on Finding a Meaningful Existence, by Dr. Frank Martela The Well-Gardened Mind: The Restorative Power of Nature, by Dr. Sue Stuart Smith This podcast on the value of spending time outside Academic Life podcast on how to stop chasing happiness and make a meaningful life instead Academic Life podcast on belonging and the science of creating connections Academic Life podcast on navigating difficult conversations Academic Life episode on a college baseball league that puts fun first Welcome to The Academic Life! Join us here each week, to learn from experts inside and outside the academy, and embrace the broad definition of what it means to lead an academic life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life

Today’s book is: The Lost Journals of Sacajewea (Milkweed Editions, 2023), by Debra Magpie Earling, which is a devastatingly beautiful novel that challenges prevailing historical narratives of Sacajewea. Among the most memorialized women in American history, Sacajewea served as interpreter and guide for Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery. In this visionary novel, acclaimed Indigenous author Debra Magpie Earling brings this mythologized figure vividly to life, casting unsparing light on the men who brutalized her and recentering Sacajewea as the arbiter of her own history. Raised among the Lemhi Shoshone, in this telling the young Sacajewea is bright and bold, growing strong from the hard work of “learning all ways to survive”: gathering berries, water, roots, and wood; butchering buffalo, antelope, and deer; catching salmon and snaring rabbits; weaving baskets and listening to the stories of her elders. When her village is raided and her beloved Appe and Bia are killed, Sacajewea is kidnapped and then gambled away to Charbonneau, a French Canadian trapper. Heavy with grief, Sacajewea learns how to survive at the edge of a strange new world teeming with fur trappers and traders. When Lewis and Clark’s expedition party arrives, Sacajewea knows she must cross a vast and brutal terrain with her newborn son, the white man who owns her, and a company of men who wish to conquer and commodify the world she loves. Written in lyrical, dreamlike prose, The Lost Journals of Sacajewea is an astonishing work of art and a powerful tale of perseverance—the Indigenous woman’s story that hasn’t been told.Keywords from today’s episode include: Sacajewea, Agai River, Appe, Bia, Charbonneau, Lewis and Clark, The Journals of Lewis and Clark, Otter Woman, Pop Pank, MMIW, Lemhi Shoshone, Shoshone, Mandan, Hidasta.Today’s guest is: Debra Magpie Earling, who is the author of The Lost Journals of Sacajewea. An earlier version of The Lost Journals of Sacajewea was written in verse and produced as an artist book during the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition. She has received both a National Endowment for the Arts grant and a Guggenheim Fellowship. She retired from the University of Montana where she was named professor emeritus in 2021. She is Bitterroot Salish.Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, who is a freelance book editor. She has served as content director and producer of the Academic Life podcast since she launched it in 2020. The Academic Life is proud to be an academic partner of the New Books Network.Listeners to this episode may be interested in: Perma Red, by Debra Magpie Earling Sacred Wilderness, by Susan Power Grass Dancer, by Susan Power Night of the Living Rez, by Morgan Talty Indian Horse, by Richard Wagamese Embers, by Richard Wagamese Listeners may also be interested in: This podcast with Morgan Talty discussing Night of the Living Rez This podcast with Michelle Cyca about Misrepresentation on Campus This podcast with the editor of Tribal Colleges Journal of American Indian Higher Education This podcast on The Diné Reader: An Anthology of Navajo Literature Welcome to the Academic Life! Join us here each week to learn from experts inside and outside the academy, and around the world, and embrace the broad definition of what it truly means to live an academic life. Missed any of the 150+ Academic Life episodes? You can find them all archived here. And check back soon: we’re in the studio preparing more episodes for your academic journey—and beyond! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life

Have you ever been ghosted in academia? The mentor who no longer replies when you reach out, the collaborators who mysteriously stopped collaborating with you, the search committee that said you were a top candidate and then stopped communicating with you—these are academic ghosts. They are people who are important to your career and suddenly stop responding to you without warning or explanation. What makes academic ghosting different than romantic ghosting? And why does it seem to hurt so much more? Dr. Andrea Andrzejewski joins us to explain: The systems in academia that make some forms of ghosting inevitable. What to do about it. The lingering pain and shame that being ghosted causes. Why your ghoster may reappear but they won’t apologize. The ethical and financial reasons to address the issues that perpetuate ghosting. Our guest is: Dr. Alicia Andrzejewski, an assistant professor of English at the College of William & Mary. She is a scholar of early modern literature and culture; queer, feminist, and critical race theory; and the medical humanities. Her work has appeared in Shakespeare Studies, Shakespeare Bulletin, The Chronicle, Literary Hub, American Theater, The Boston Globe, Catapult, and others. Her current book project is Rude-Growing Briars: Queer Pregnancy in Shakespeare’s Plays, which argues for the transgressive force of pregnancy in his oeuvre and expansive ways in which modern people thought about the pregnant body.Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, who is a historian.Listeners to this episode may also be interested in: "The Sad Humiliations of Academic Ghosting," by Alicia Andrzejewski, PhD The Field Guide to Graduate School, by Jessica McCrory Calarco Candid Advice for New Faculty Members, by Marybeth Gasman The Latinx Guide to Graduate School, by Genevieve Negron-Gonzales and Magdalena Barrera Who Gets Believed, by Dina Nayeri Academic Life episode on Belonging Academic Life episode on quitting a PhD program Academic Life episode on the long road to the dream job in academia Academic Life episode on mistreatment of women of color in academia Academic Life episode on dealing with rejection Academic Life episode on Preparing for Difficult Conversations Academic Life episode on almost leaving academia Welcome to The Academic Life! Join us here each week to learn from today’s experts inside and outside the academy, and embrace the broad definition of what it truly means to live an academic life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life

Did we miss a fork in the road somewhere? What if our lives are going just fine, but we still want to hunt for the pieces of ourselves we’ve dropped along the way? Is it too late to claim more for ourselves?CEO and author Alisha Fernandez Miranda joins us to talk about what she gained by loosening her grip on deliverables, deadlines, and external affirmations of success. In this episode we explore the value of internships, mishaps, and what it means to trust in your dreams and in yourself.Today’s book is: My What If Year (Zibby Books, 2023) a memoir by Alisha Fernandez Miranda, about pausing her career to take four internships in three different countries, and finally explore the “What If” of her once-discarded—but still very real—dreams. With the tentative blessing of her husband, her parents, and her kids, she spent one year asking “What if?” and getting far more answers to that question than she ever expected. In My What If Year, she begins to question if exhaustion is a reasonable price to pay for anything, why she was so afraid of failure, and what success could look like on her own terms. For anyone who’s ever felt stuck, My What If Year proposes that it’s not too late to look for roads untraveled.Today’s guest is: Alisha Fernandez Miranda, who is a graduate of Harvard, and the London School of Economics. She is the author of My What If Year, and the co-author of 50 Years: Kinloch Lodge. She is the ex-CEO and current Chair at I.G. Advisors, and is the host of Quit Your Day Job, a podcast that takes you behind the scenes of your dream jobs. Alisha is a Cuban-American, born and raised in Miami, and has spent her adult life in New York and London; she is currently based in Scotland. She speaks and writes regularly on women’s empowerment, social impact and sustainability. Her writing has been published in Vogue, Romper, The Good Trade, Insider and more.Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, who is a freelance book editor. She has served as content director and producer of the Academic Life podcast since she launched it in 2020. The Academic Life is proud to be an academic partner of the New Books Network.Listeners to this episode may be interested in: Podcast on the benefits of doing less, and stressing less Podcast on living the "good-enough" life Podcast on why a DIY retreat might help you Podcast on difficult conversations Podcast asking about quitting a PhD program How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship and Community, by Mia Birdsong Weird: The Power of Being an Outsider in an Insider World, by Olga Khazan You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir, by Maggie Smith What If Year reading guide Welcome to the Academic Life! Join us here each week to learn from experts inside and outside the academy, and around the world, and embrace the broad definition of what it truly means to live an academic life. Missed any of the 150+ Academic Life episodes? You can find them all archived here. And check back soon: we’re in the studio preparing more episodes for your academic journey—and beyond! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life

What makes a community college job interview different than one at a four-year college or a university? Do you need a PhD to get hired? What are they looking for? Professor Rob Jenkins joins us to explain the hidden curriculum of navigating the community college job market, including: How long a typical interview lasts. What it really means when they ask you to do a job talk. How much of your expertise they want to hear about. Why your commitment to teaching well matters the most. Important things not to say or do. Our guest is: Professor Rob Jenkins, an associate professor of English at Georgia State University Perimeter College. He has spent more than 35 years in higher education, mostly at the two-year college level, where he has served as a faculty member, a department chair, an academic dean, and a program director. He writes the “Two-Year Track” columns in The Chronicle of Higher Education, and is the author of six books, including Welcome to My Classroom, and Think Better Write Better. For the past 15 years, he has led workshops on preparing for two-year college careers at research universities across the country. For more information, visit www.robjenkins.com.Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, who is a historian.Listeners to this episode may also be interested in: The Employability Journal, by Barbara Bassot Candid Advice for New Faculty Members, by Marybeth Gasman Building a Career in America’s Community Colleges, by Rob Jenkins Putting the Humanities PhD to Work, by Katina Rogers Academic Life episode on leaving academia Academic Life episode on moving far from home for an academic job Academic Life episode on the long road to the dream job in academia Academic life episode with the American Association of University Professors Academic Life episode on the role of community colleges in higher education Welcome to The Academic Life! Join us here each week to learn from today’s experts inside and outside the academy, and embrace the broad definition of what it truly means to live an academic life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life

How can the things you normally leave off of a CV help you navigate the job market? What if you made a list of all of the highs and the lows of your academic journey? Kate Stuart explains the benefits of doing this, including: The key differences between a CV and a Junk Drawer CV. How to write your Junk Drawer CV. Why thinking about what matters to you is important for your career path. How examining the highs and the lows of your career will help you. What to do with all that self-knowledge in a job interview. Our guest is: Kate Stuart, who is the Associate Director for the Office of Career Development ASPIRE Program within the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. She coaches biomedical science PhD graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, coordinates the Beyond the Lab podcast and video series, and teaches seminars specifically on Cover Letters and Professionalism. Kate is a Gallup certified Strengths Coach and enjoys incorporating StrengthsFinder into career and professional development. Kate is also the Director of Strategic Affairs and Events for the BRET Office. Kate has been with the BRET Office of Career Development since 2012 and at Vanderbilt since 2007. Prior to her time with BRET, Kate coordinated undergraduate student-alumni career engagement with the Vanderbilt University Alumni Association. Besides spending time with her husband and children, gardening, and coaching elementary school basketball, Kate loves to carefully craft clever out-of-office messages to make emailers laugh when they miss her.Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, who is a historian.Listeners to this episode may also be interested in: The Employability Journal, by Barbara Bassot Designing Your Life, by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans The Designing Your Life Workbook, by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans Put Your Science to Work: The Take-Charge Career Guide for Scientists, by Peter S. Fiske Building a Career in America’s Community Colleges, by Rob Jenkins Putting the Humanities PhD to Work, by Katina Rogers Next Gen PhD: A Guide to Career Paths in Science, by Melanie W. Sinche Academic Life episode on leaving academia Vanderbilt Beyond the Lab Podcast series: https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/career-development/beyond-the-lab-see-listen/ Welcome to The Academic Life! Join us here each week to learn from today’s experts inside and outside the academy, and embrace the broad definition of what it truly means to live an academic life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life

Feeling worn out by the work of resistance? How do you persevere? Why is so challenging to find wholeness? Kaitlin Curtice joins us to share: The four realms of resistance. Why they are all needed for our liberation. How resistance is a basic human calling. The anxiety and fatigue that will set in if you don’t seek wholeness. Why time in nature, ritual, rest, community, and journaling may help you. Two poems and an excerpt from her book. Today’s book is: Living Resistance: An Indigenous Vision for Seeking Wholeness Every Day, by Kaitlin Curtice. In an era in which "resistance" has become tokenized, Kaitlin Curtice reclaims it as a basic human calling. Curtice shows that we can learn to practice embodied ways of belonging and connection to ourselves and one another through everyday practices, such as getting more in touch with our bodies, resting, and remembering our ancestors. She explores four "realms of resistance"—the personal, the communal, the ancestral, and the integral—and shows how these realms overlap and why all are needed for our liberation. Readers will be empowered to seek wholeness in whatever spheres of influence they inhabit.Our guest is: Kaitlin B. Curtice, who is an award-winning author, poet-storyteller, and public speaker. As an enrolled citizen of the Potawatomi nation, she writes on the intersections of spirituality and identity and how that shifts throughout our lives. She also speaks on these topics to diverse audiences who are interested in truth-telling and healing. Kaitlin participates in conversations on topics such as colonialism in faith communities, and she has spoken at many conferences. She writes online for Apartment Therapy, On Being, SELF Magazine, Oprah Daily, and more. Her work has been featured on CBS and in USA Today. She also writes at The Liminality Journal. Kaitlin lives in Philadelphia with her family.Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, who is a historian.Listeners to this episode may also be interested in: How We Show Up, by Mia Birdsong Native, by Kaitlin Curtis Glory Happening, by Kaitlin Curtis Women Who Run With The Wolves, by Clarissa Pinkola Estes The Wisdom of Your Body, Hilary McBride This Here Flesh, by Cole Arthur Riley Welcome Home, by Najwa Zebian Kaitlin Curtice reading one of her poems [audio recording] Mia Birdsong on community building and how we show up This discussion on The Diné Reader with Esther Belin Welcome to The Academic Life! Join us here each week to learn from today’s experts inside and outside the academy, and embrace the broad definition of what it truly means to live an academic life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life

Why do so many students and academics worry that they are imposters? Is it normal to experience this kind of self-doubt? This episode explores: The difference between imposter syndrome and imposter phenomenon. How we can better understand imposter syndrome. Why it strikes some people. How to recognize it when it does. Tips for helping others and ourselves. Our guest is: Dr Darragh McCashin, who is an Assistant Professor in the School of Psychology at Dublin City University (DCU), and is interested in digital youth mental health, and clinical/forensic applications of technology. Previously, Darragh was a Marie Curie Fellow/PhD student at University College Dublin (UCD), examining technology-enabled youth mental health within the EU H2020-funded TEAM-ITN project, specifically the role of technology-assisted cognitive behavioural therapy for children using mixed methodologies. A second strand to Darragh’s research is that of forensic/criminal psychology. With an MSc in Applied Forensic Psychology (University of York), Darragh has previously worked as an Associate Lecturer and Research Assistant in the Online-Protect research group at the University of Lincoln case formulation tools for those with convictions for internet sexual offences.With respect to policy-making, Darragh is currently the taskforce leader for Mental Health of Researchers within the Policy Working Group of the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA), and co-founded the researcher mentoring programme Referent. Darragh also sits on two COST Actions: Researcher Mental Health Observatory (CA19117; Working Group Chair), and the European Network for Problematic Usage of the Internet (CA16207; management committee member for Ireland).Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, a historian of women and gender.Listeners to this episode may also be interested in: How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship and Community, by Mia Birdsong It’s a Wonderful Life: Insights on Finding a Meaningful Existence, by Frank Martela Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself, by Nedra Glover Tawwab The Rejection That Saved My Life, by Jessica Bacal The Academic Life podcast on belonging and the science of creating connection and bridging divides The Academic Life podcast Dealing With Rejection The Academic Life podcast On The Museum of Failure Welcome to The Academic Life! On the Academic Life channel we are inspired and informed by today’s knowledge-producers, working inside and outside the academy. Find us on Twitter: @AcademicLifeNBN. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life

Do we know what we really want, and what we are willing to do to get it? What if what we want doesn’t align with who we think we are supposed to be? Dr. Charlotte Fox Weber joins us today to help us think about what we really want. In this episode we consider some of life’s messy questions about opportunity, regret, ego, growth, and power.Today’s book is: Tell Me What You Want: A Therapist and Her Clients Explore Our 12 Deepest Desires (Atria Books,2023), by Dr. Charlotte Fox Weber, which is an exploration of the twelve fundamental psychological needs we all share. In Tell Me What You Want, Dr. Weber guides us in navigating our deepest longings, by asking the too-often unasked questions: “What do we want? And how do we get it?” Each of us, at certain moments in our lives, can feel lost or confused. We often don’t know how to get what we want, or what we think we want, but we share these universal desires: to love and be loved; understanding, power, attention, freedom; to create, to belong, to win, to connect, to control; and we want what we shouldn’t. In the twelve chapters, each focused on one of these universal desires, psychotherapist Dr. Weber considers the personal costs of met and unmet desires, and how they can lead to insights, change, and growth.Today’s guest is: Dr. Charlotte Fox Weber, who is a psychotherapist and writer. She cofounded Examined Life, and was the founding head of The School of Life Psychotherapy. She grew up in Connecticut and Paris and now lives in London with her husband and two young children. Tell Me What You Want is her first book. Find out more at CharlotteFoxWeber.com.Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, who is a freelance book editor. She has served as content director and producer of the Academic Life podcast since she launched it in 2020. The Academic Life is proud to be an academic partner of the New Books Network.Listeners to this episode may be interested in: Podcast on belonging and the science of creating connection and bridging divides Podcast on making a meaningful life Podcast on living the "good-enough" life Podcast on overcoming public speaking anxieties Podcast on campus mental wellness services The Rejection That Saved My Life, by Jessica Bacal Permission to Speak, by Samara Bay How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship and Community, by Mia Birdsong Life B, by Bethanne Patrick Bring Yourself, by Mori Taheripour Podcast on the knowledge unlocked by facing failure Podcast on the benefits of doing less, and stressing less Welcome to the Academic Life! Join us here each week to learn from experts inside and outside the academy, and around the world, and embrace the broad definition of what it truly means to live an academic life. Missed any of the 150+ Academic Life episodes? You can find them all archived here. And check back soon: we’re in the studio preparing more episodes for your academic journey—and beyond! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life

What happens when jobs in academia are scarce, and few of the descriptions of jobs outside academia seem like a fit? How can graduates find the right job for them, whether it’s inside academia or far afield? This episode explores: Ways to explain your skills and expertise so an employer sees you as a good match for them. Tips for reframing how graduate students talk about themselves and their research. How advisors can encourage graduates to explore a wider range of jobs. A discussion of the book chapter “Beyond the Data: Navigating the Struggles of Post-PhD Employability,” in The Sage Handbook of Graduate Employability. Our guest is: Dr. Holly Prescott, who is a career guidance practitioner specializing in working with postgraduate researchers (graduate students/ PhDs). She completed a PhD in Literature and Cultural Geography at the University of Birmingham (UK) in 2011. Since then, she has gained ten years' experience in postgraduate student recruitment, admissions, and careers support. Holly also holds a PGDip (QCG) in Career Guidance from Coventry University (UK) and the Career Development Institute, and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She is currently the Careers Adviser for Postgraduate Researchers at the University of Birmingham (UK). Holly is particularly passionate about developing Postgraduate Researchers' awareness of career routes beyond and adjacent to academic research, helping them to make transitions into meaningful careers. This led her to found the PhD careers blog ‘PostGradual’ (www.phd-careers.co.uk). Holly lives with a rare autoimmune eye condition called AZOOR which causes visual field defects, and outside of work she volunteers for the British sight loss charity RNIB. She is also Assistant Artistic Director of Ottisdotter Theatre Company based in London. She is the author of “Beyond the Data: Navigating the Struggles of Post-PhD Employability,” in The Sage Handbook of Graduate Employability.Our host is: Dr. Christina Gessler, a historian of women and gender.Listeners to this episode may also be interested in: The Employability Journal, by Barbara Bassot Leaving Academia: A Practical Guide, by Christopher L. Caterine Candid Advice for New Faculty Members, by Marybeth Gasman Putting the Humanities PhD to Work: Thriving in and beyond the Classroom, by Katina Rogers Going Alt-Ac: A Guide to Alternative Academic Careers, by Kathryn Linder, Keven Kelly, and Thomas Tobin The Connected PhD podcast episode, part one Academic Life podcast episode on Hope for the Humanities PhD Academic Life podcast on Leaving Academia Welcome to The Academic Life! Join us here each week, to learn from experts inside and outside the academy, and embrace the broad definition of what it means to lead an academic life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life