Research Rabbit Holes

Colonialism through tourism? In this episode, we talk about the kingdom of Hawaii, and how it was slowly turned into the 50th American state. My guest is Henri Keskinen (University of Turku), who writes his dissertation about the evolution of colonialism through American interest groups in Hawaii. Tune in if you want to learn more about volcanoes, political coups and weird gift shops. 00:00 - 03:54: Introduction03:55 - 12:09: Cultural appropriation and the tourism industry12:10 - 18:59: The colonization of Hawaii and the role of missionary work19:00 - 32:32: Exhibitions, Othering & resistance32:33 - 37:26: The California-Hawaii relationship37:27 - 46:27: How Hawaii lost its sovereignty46:26 - 59:17: The situation today: tourism, diglossia & the sovereignty movement59:18 - 01:03:52: This or that?01:03:53 - 01:07:02: Henri’s future projectsYou can follow Henri’s research here: https://www.utu.fi/en/people/henri-keskinen 

Toni Morrison and Alice Walker are just two of many famous African American authors whose novels focus mostly on the experiences of black women. But how do they actually depict black men?My guest today is Dr. Tuula Kolehmainen (University of Turku), whose research explores how these writers depict the vulnerability of their male characters, as a way to resist common stereotypes, such as the macho or the violent man.We also talk about Tuula's next project, which focuses on stand-up comedy. Tune in for an episode about contemporary literature, gender and the American comedy scene.00:00-07:01 Introduction07:02-19:23 Common stereotypes and black male vulnerability19:24-33:01 What is intersectionality and how does it affect black men?33:02-41:32 Stereotypes in other media41:33-55:20 Can we always have empathy with fictional characters?55:21-01:13:17 Stand-up comedy, gender and controversial jokes01:13:18-01:14:32 This or That01:14:33-01:18:25 Conclusion & Tuula's future projectsYou can follow Tuula's projects here:https://www.linkedin.com/in/tuula-kolehmainen-b5848a55/https://www.instagram.com/teekolehmainenofficial/And here's a snippet of her doing stand-up comedy 😊:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tubx7v_WxEM

Today's episode is about crime and punishment: Why are 20% of all prisoners incarcerated in the United States, if only 5% of the world's population live there? Henry E. James (University College London) is writing his PhD thesis about the loss of institutional trust in America. In this episode, we talk about how people lost their belief in the government's ability to do the right things, about mass incarceration and the "broken windows" theory.00:00 - 08:16 Introduction: The loss of institutional trust in the last few decades08:17 - 19:22 The punitive turn & why so many people are incarcerated in the U.S.19:23 - 34:28 "Broken windows": Does a stronger police presence help reduce crime?34:29 - 37:30 American prisons vs European prisons37:31 - 48:46 College programs as a way of reintegrating prisoners48:47 - 50:17 Henry's future projectsFollow Henry's projects here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/social-historical-sciences/americas/research/research-students/henry-e-james

Are robots the better people? In his PhD project, Jiacheng Mo (Heidelberg University) analyzes artificial minds in anglophone literature. Today, we talk about whether robots dream of electric sheep (pun intended), empathy tests and the (non-)human mind.00:00 – 02:22 Introduction02:23 – 10:50 Why we have empathy with robots10:51 – 20:07 Frankenstein, Blade Runner and other literary artificial minds20:08 – 32:40 What’s the difference between (literary) humans and robots?32:41 – 36:41Why we need stories in our lives36:42 – 39:23 Jiacheng’s future projectsFollow Jiacheng's projects here: instagram.com/frankmjecheng

What if you could chat with someone who's no longer alive? It sounds dystopian, but several websites already offer their customers to create so-called deathbots - AI avatars of deceased people. I talked to Dr. Jenny Kidd and Dr. Bethan Jones (Cardiff University) about the ethics of digital afterlives, how AI could change our ways of grieving and our attitudes towards death in general, and how true crime victims are exploited with AI deathbots.00:00 - 04:15: Introduction04:16 - 16:16: MyHeritage's Deep Nostalgia tool & the ethics of bringing old family photos to life with AI16:17 - 19:09: Is "The Substance" becoming a reality thanks to AI?19:10 - 26:09: How to influence your own commemoration with a pre-mortem avatar26:10 - 32:27: How authentic are these avatars?32:28 - 36:26: Grief & capitalism36:27 - 40:54: AI & the exploitation of true crime victims40:55 - 44:09: Deathbots giving testimony in court44:10 - 48:47: Will AI change how we grieve?48:48 - 55:26: Reviving serial killers and holocaust victims with AI55:27 - 01:01:28: Jenny's and Bethan's current & future projectsYou can follow Bethan on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:7cwwdtps5lzr7gwsbfbxyuzs and on her website: https://bethanvjones.wordpress.com/And you can follow Jenny on her website: https://profiles.cardiff.ac.uk/staff/kiddjc2 and on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-kidd-92999638a/?originalSubdomain=uk

In this episode, we’re looking at the other side of the Iron Curtain: we’re talking about Soviet trauma in the form of undead creatures that haunt contemporary Russian literature, about Soviet Westerns, and the question whether the USSR was a colonial empire. Lara Righi, PhD candidate at the University of Verona, talks with us about post-memory, the relationship between Russia and Belarus, and Great Patriotic War aka World War II.00:00 – 10:17: Introduction10:18 – 24:18: Gothic themes in contemporary Russian literature24:19 – 29:54: Sasha Filipenko and Marija Stepanova29:55 – 41:11: The USSR – a colonial empire?41:12 – 54:12: Filipenko’s A Former Son54:13 – 1:06:25: Soviet Westerns01:06:26 – 01:09:21: Lara’s future projects

It's time to party! 🎉 Next year, the US turns 250 years old. The celebration of the so-called "Semiquincentennial" has been in the planning phase for 9 years at this point - but we don't know what to expect, because what started under the Obama administration has slowly morphed into a MAGA project. Historian Dr. Alexander "Xan" Karn talks with us about how anniversaries shape our memory of historic events, about American patriotism and the distortion of history by "memory trolls."If you want to learn more about Xan's research & future projects, you can follow him on Mastodon (@[email protected]) or on his website xankarn.net.00:00 - 06:21: Introduction: The 250th birthday of the Army in 2025 and the No Kings protests06:21 - 13:58: What is the Semiquincentennial and why should we care?13:59 - 21:15: The Hollywood-ification of history and liberal kitsch21:16 - 30:10: The MAGA version of history30:11 - 35:44: Behind-the-scenes drama in the planning process35:45 - 40:45: What is a memory troll?40:46 - 01:01:03: Is non-traditional patriotism possible in a politically divided country?01:01:04 - 01:04:49: Past birthdays of the United States and why this one is different01:04:50 - 01:07:38: Hamilton - a MAGA musical?01:07:39 - 01:10:21: Xan's future projects