All Episodes
The Academic Life — 332 episodes
Heart-Centered Connections: Seven Essential Skills for Helping Neurodiverse and Marginalized Children Thrive
Doubled Up: Shared Households and the Precarious Lives of Families
Thy Will Be Done: George Washington's Legacy of Slavery and the Fight for American Memory
The Honesty Crisis: Preserving Our Most Treasured Virtue in an Increasingly Dishonest
Pink Crime: Fighting Against the Criminalization of Motherhood, Pregnancy, and Queer Identity
Can I Say That: Your Go-To Guide for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Paper Heroines: Women Writers in Conversation and Community Across the Sea Islands, 1838-1902
The Instigators
End of An Academic Dream
Reflection-In-Motion
Fighting for a Foothold: How Government and Markets Undermine Black Middle-Class Suburbia
Empathy Takes Action: An Autistic Therapist on the Radical Work of Connection
Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King
The Case for Career Services
The Coroner’s Silence: Death Records and the Hidden Victims of Police Violence
The Club: Where American Artists Found Refuge in Belle Epoque Paris
The Criminal Record Complex: Risk, Race, and the Struggle for Work in America
The Collective Cure: Upstream Solutions for Better Public Health
What’s on Her Mind: The Mental Workload of Family Life
Stuck: How Money, Media and Violence Prevent Change in Congress
The Vet at the End of the Earth: Adventures with Animals in the South Atlantic
A Light in the Tower: A New Reckoning with Mental Health in Higher Education
The American Mirage: How Reality TV Upholds the Myth of Meritocracy
The Power of the State: Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, and Minneapolis
Educated Out: How Rural Students Navigate Elite Colleges—And What It Costs Them
Ghost in the Criminal Justice Machine
Abortion and Reproductive Justice: An Essential Guide for Resistance
Everything Is Fine, I'll Just Work Harder: Confessions of a Former Badass
How to Make Your Brain Your Best Friend
How to Organize Inclusive Events and Conferences
Sustainability, Identity, Artisans and Designers
Try to Love the Questions: From Debate to Dialogue in Classrooms and Life
Living Night: On the Secret Wonders of Wildlife After Dark
Black Girls and How We Fail Them
The Library of Lost Maps: An Archive of a World in Progress
Conversations with Birds
Doing the Work of Equity Leadership for Justice and Systems Change
Facing Infinity: Black Holes and Our Place on Earth
House of Diggs: The Rise and Fall of America’s Most Consequential Black Congressman, Charles C. Diggs Jr.
Eram Alam, "The Care of Foreigners: How Immigrant Physicians Changed US Healthcare" (JHU Press, 2025)
What Do You Want Out of Life? A Philosophical Guide to Figuring Out What Matters
The Light Between Apple Trees: Rediscovering the Wild Through a Beloved American Fruit
Make Your Manuscript Work: A Guide to Developmental Editing for Scholarly Writers
Leading Toward Liberation: How to Build Cultures of Thriving in Higher Education
Jonn Elledge, "A Brief History of the World in 47 Borders: Surprising Stories Behind the Lines on Our Maps" (Experiment, 2024)
I Have Avenged America: Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Haiti’s Fight for Freedom
Designing and Facilitating Workshops with Intentionality
Jumping Through Hoops: Performing Gender in the 19th Century Circus
Who Needs College Anymore: Imagining A Future Where Degrees Don’t Matter
Tackling the Everyday: Race and Nation in Big-Time College Football
Citizenship Stripping: You Are Not American
Lost in Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life
Every Purchase Matters: How Fair Trade Farmers, Companies, and Consumers are Changing the World
Teacher by Teacher: The People Who Change Our Lives
Rehearsals for Dying
Religion in the Lands That Became America
The Entrepreneurial Scholar: A New Mindset for Success in Academia and Beyond
Overcoming ABD Pitfalls: Tips for Getting Unstuck
Decolonizing Ukraine: The Indigenous People of Crimea and Pathways to Freedom
Secrets of the Killing State
Considering Leaving Academia?
How Schools Make Race: Teaching Latinx Racialization in America
Trans Technologies
Moments of Impact: How to Design Strategic Conversations That Accelerate Change
The Freedom Academy
Brittany Friedman, "Carceral Apartheid: How Lies and White Supremacists Run Our Prisons" (UNC Press, 2025)
Live from the Underground: A History of College Radio
Rot: An Imperial History of the Irish Famine
Academic Librarians: A Discussion with Karen McCoy
Living Right: Far Right Youth Activists in Contemporary Europe
You Have More Influence Than You Think
No Common Ground: Confederate Monuments and the Ongoing Fight for Racial Justice
Doctors by Nature: How Ants, Apes, and Other Animals Heal Themselves
Stolen Fragments: Black Markets, Bad Faith, and the Illicit Trade in Ancient Artefacts
What Might Be: Confronting Racism to Transform Our Institutions
Womanist Bioethics: Social Justice, Spirituality, and Black Women's Health
The AI Mirror: How to Reclaim Our Humanity in an Age of Machine Thinking
Project Management for Researchers
The Burnout Workbook
Teaching With Positive Psychology Skills
Big Box USA: The Environmental Impact of America's Biggest Retail Stores
The World She Edited: Katharine S. White at the New Yorker
The Vice President's Black Wife: The Untold Life of Julia Chinn
Thanks to Life: A Biography of Violeta Parra
Understanding Disinformation
The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe
Tara Dorabji, "Call Her Freedom" (Simon and Schuster, 2025)
Dear Miss Perkins: A Story of Frances Perkins's Efforts to Aid Refugees from Nazi Germany
Graduate School Myths and Misconceptions
Once Upon a Tome: The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller
A Teacher’s Guide to Learning Student Names
Witchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials
That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America
Disabled Ecologies: Lessons From a Wounded Desert
Without Parents or Papers: A Discussion with Stephanie L. Canizales
We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance
Why Not Be Kind?: A Discussion with Catherine J. Denial
When We Prioritize Data and Metrics, What Happens to Human Connections?
The End of White Politics: How to Heal Our Liberal Divide
Reunited: Family Separation and Central American Youth Migration
Subatomic Writing: Six Fundamental Lessons to Make Language Matter
Black Woman on Board: Claudia Hampton, the California State University, and the Fight to Save Affirmative Action
Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World
Immigration Realities: Challenging Common Misperceptions
Before and After the Book Deal
In the Garden Behind the Moon: A Memoir of Loss, Myth, and Magic
You Will Get Through This: A Mental Health First-Aid Kit- Help for Depression, Anxiety, Grief, and More
Find Your Argument
He/She/They: How We Talk About Gender and Why It Matters
Decoding the Academic Job Market
Everyday Architecture in Context: Public Markets in Hong Kong (1842-1981) (Chinese U of Hong Kong Press, 2023)
The Dissertation-To-Book Workbook: Exercises for Developing and Revising Your Book Manuscript (U Chicago Press, 2023)
Freeman's Challenge: The Murder That Shook America's Original Prison for Profit
Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism—and What Comes Next
Leaving Academia: Pursing Life Abroad
Sorayya Khan, "We Take Our Cities with Us: A Memoir" (Ohio State UP, 2022)
PhDing While Parenting
More Than A Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech
The Artist’s Joy: A Guide to Getting Unstuck
Transforming Hispanic-Serving Institutions for Equity and Justice
The Translator's Daughter: A Discussion with Grace Loh Prasad
At Every Depth: Our Growing Knowledge of the Changing Oceans
Book Banning: A Discussion with Christine Emeran of the National Coalition Against Censorship
Leading from the Margins: College Leadership from Unexpected Places
Stitching Freedom: Embroidery and Incarceration
The Things We Didn't Know: A Conversation with Elba Iris Pérez
100 Years of Radio in South Africa: Then and Now
Stylish Academic Writing: A Discussion with Helen Sword
Contingent Faculty and the Remaking of Higher Education
Is Grad School for Me?: Demystifying the Application Process for First-Gen BIPOC Students
Secret Harvests: A Hidden Story of Separation and the Resilience of a Family Farm
The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You
Get PhDone! Proven Strategies for Tackling Your Writing Roadblocks
Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There
Deborah Taffa, "Whiskey Tender: A Memoir" (Harper, 2024)
Where is Home?: A Discussion with Zed Zha
Black Women, Ivory Tower: Revealing the Lies of White Supremacy in American Education
Inside Addiction and Sobriety in Academia
Black and Queer on Campus
Montana Lee, a Journey to Togo, and the Duke Diary Dispatches
Claire Myers Owens and the Banned Book
Brown and Gay in LA and the Craft of Writing Nonfiction
Talking to Strangers: A Discussion with Psychotherapist Charlotte Fox Weber
How to Build a Career: A Discussion with Ben Wildavsky
Hidden No More: A Conversation with Space Suit Technician Sharon McDougle
Education Behind the Wall: Why and How We Teach College in Prison
Rachel Neff, "Chasing Chickens: When Life After Higher Education Doesn't Go the Way You Planned" (UP of Kansas, 2019)
I Kick and I Fly
Exploring the Emotional Arc of Turning a Dissertation into a Book
Shark Sciences: A Conversation with Carlee Jackson
The Benefits of New Forms of Assessments for Historical Thinking
Indigenous DC: A Conversation with Elizabeth Rule
Lee Wind, "No Way, They Were Gay?: Hidden Lives and Secret Loves" (Zest Books, 2021)
Becoming the Writer You Already Are: A Conversation with Michelle R. Boyd
Chelsea T. Hicks, "A Calm and Normal Heart: Stories" (The Unnamed Press, 2022)
The Other Side of the Desk: A Discussion with "The Conversation" Editor Emily Costello
In-Person Research and Writing: Visiting Archives and "Selling Anti-Slavery"
The Power of Play in Higher Education: A Conversation with Alison James
Managing your Mental Health During Your PhD
Whisper Networks: A Discussion with Carrie Ann Johnson
Academic Aunties: A Conversation with Dr. Ethel Tungohan
Share and Share Alike: Researching Sibling Relationships in Eighteenth-Century England
The Other Side of the Desk: A Discussion with Danielle D'Orlando, Princeton UP's Audio Books Editor
Michelle Dowd, "Forager: Field Notes for Surviving a Family Cult--A Memoir" (Algonquin, 2023)
Sharing Lessons From His Working-Class Parents: A Conversation with Dr. Jorge Juan Rodríguez
Hannah Pittard, "We Are Too Many: A Memoir [Kind of]" (Henry Holt, 2023)
Dana Rubin, "Speaking While Female: 75 Extraordinary Speeches by American Women" (RealClear, 2023)
Studying the Pipeline to Politics for Women
The Killer Whale Journals: Our Love and Fear of Orcas
The Fun Habit: How the Pursuit of Joy and Wonder Can Change Your Life
The Lost Journals of Sacajewea
Academic Ghosting
My What If Year: A Discussion with Alisha Fernandez Miranda
Navigating the Community College Job Market
Making a “Junk Drawer” CV
Living Resistance: An Indigenous Vision for Seeking Wholeness Every Day
Do You Have Imposter Syndrome?
Tell Me What You Want: A Therapist and Her Clients Explore Our 12 Deepest Desires
Ph.D. Employability: Struggles and Solutions
Contracts, Agents, and Editors, Oh My! Demystifying the Path to Publication
What Do Bees, Ants, and Dragonflies Get up to All Day?
Gay on God's Campus: Mobilizing for LGBT Equality at Christian Colleges and Universities
The Connected PhD, Part Three
The Good Enough Life
The Top Ten Struggles in Writing A Book Manuscript (and What to Do About It)
Overcoming the Anxiety of Giving a Presentation
Can we Engage in Public Scholarship with Feminist and Accessible Communication?
Are We Done with Higher Education Rankings?
Who Gets Believed? When the Truth Isn't Enough
The Connected PhD, Part Two
A Primer for Teaching Digital History
We Are Not Dreamers: Undocumented Scholars Theorize Undocumented Life in the United States
The Grant Writing Guide: A Road Map for Scholars
The Connected PhD, Part One
The Diné Reader: An Anthology of Navajo Literature
The Climate Change Scientist: A Conversation with Dr. Shuang-ye Wu
Why Did 48,000 UC Workers Go on Strike? A Conversation with Dr. Trevor Griffey
You Do Have A Right To Remain Fat: A Conversation with Virgie Tovar
Archival Kismet: Lessons in Launching An Online Conference
Belonging: A Conversation with Geoffrey Cohen
Finding Yourself in Difficult Conversations?
Misrepresentation on Campus: A Conversation with Michelle Cyca
When Your Professor Asks You to Cheat: A Conversation with Dr. Joel Heng Hartse
Books, Antisemitism, and a Viral Tweet: A Conversation with Library Director Susan Kusel
Scholar Skills: Unraveling Faculty Burnout
Where Does Research Really Begin?
Making the Most of Academic Conferences: Insights and Tips from Dr. Thomas Tobin
Night of the Living Rez
Scholar Skills: Managing and Re-Envisioning the Academic Mid-Career
Far From Home: A Conversation About Academic Relocation with Clare Griffin
The Fight to Save the Town
The Surprising World of Wasps
Scholar Skills: Communicating Through your Online Presence
College Baseball in the Offseason: Meet the Savannah Bananas
Hope for the Humanities PhD
The Two Keys to Student Retention: A Discussion with Aaron Basko
What is a Tomboy?: A Discussion with Lisa Selin Davis
Opening Up the University for Displaced Students
The Journal of Higher Education in Prison
Writing Beyond a Limited Narrative: A Conversation with Hari Ziyad
Do You Need a Developmental Editor?
Considering Museum Work? A Conversation with Curators From the Smithsonian
The Cornell Sweatshirt Tweet
Bookends: A Conversation about Grad School, Loss, and Books
Dissertations Wanted! A Conversation with the Editor of University of Wyoming Press
Exploring Public-Facing Humanities
An Inside Look at the American Association of University Professors
The Great Resignation: In, Out, and Around Higher Education
Scholar Skills: Editing a Book Collection Through a Professional Organization
Amplifying Academics and Supporting Public Education
Feminism and Fierceness: A New Approach to Biblical Studies
Setbacks and Missteps: A Conversation about Failing Comps
Facing Failure and the Museum Dedicated to It
Behind the Scenes at a Literary Magazine: The Common
Why a Retreat Might Help: DIY Retreats
From PhD to Picture Book
Community Building and How We Show Up
Scholarly Skills: From Dissertation to Book
Skills for Scholars: How Can Mindfulness Help?
Tia Brown McNair, "From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education" (Jossey-Bass, 2020)
Dealing with Rejection
Need A Break from Overworking and Underliving?
Rejection Skills: How to Win or Learn
Attention Skills: How to Gain Productivity
How to Finish Your Dissertation
A Conversation with the Director of the Emerson Prison Initiative
I'm Possible: A Conversation with Tuba Professor Dr. Richard White
Your PhD Survival Guide: Succeeding in Your Final Year
Navigating the Two-Body Problem
A Conversation about Teaching While Nerdy
Being Well in Academia: A Candid Conversation About Challenges and Connection
Find Your People: A Conversation About Meaningful Connections
Dreaming of Leaving Academia to Write Full-time?
Scholarly Skills: Getting From To-Do to Done
Shoutin’ In the Fire: A Conversation with Graduate Student Dante Stewart
Underrepresented Groups in Archives: A Conversation About Ethics, Inclusion, and Acquisitions
About Maternal Health Studies: A Conversation with Bethany Johnson
Wondering How to Design a Qualitative Study?
A Chemistry Professor Shares his Grief and his Favorite Recipes: A Conversation with David Smith
Andrea Laurent-Simpson, "Just Like Family: How Companion Animals Joined the Household" (NYU Press, 2021)
Long Road to the Dream Job in Academia: A Conversation with Liz W. Faber
A Conversation About Reproductive Health and Abortion Studies
Cyndi Kernahan, "Teaching about Race and Racism in the College Classroom: Notes from a White Professor" (West Virginia UP, 2019)
The Role of “Failure” in Student Success
Aviva Legatt, "Get Real and Get In: How to Get Into the College of Your Dreams by Being Your Authentic Self" (St. Martin's Griffin, 2021)
Ginetta Candelario on Feminism, Race, and Transnationalism
Archival Etiquette: What To Know Before You Go
Karen Cook Bell, "Running from Bondage: Enslaved Women and Their Remarkable Fight for Freedom in Revolutionary America" (Cambridge UP, 2021)
Mentoring in the Academy: A Conversation with Dr. Claire Renzetti
Exploring New Paths to Mental Health: A Discussion with Sue Stuart-Smith
Laura Portwood-Stacer, "The Book Proposal Book: A Guide for Scholarly Authors" (Princeton UP, 2021)
Pandemic Perspectives from an Assistant Professor: A Discussion with Ulices Piña
Pandemic Perspectives from a Student Studying Abroad
Reclaiming Lost Voices and Recovering History: A Discussion with Erica Armstrong Dunbar
Teaching First-Year and First-Generation Students: A Conversation with Lisa Nunn
Another Look at Life as an Alt-Ac: A Discussion with Erica Bauermeister
Open Access Publishing Explained: A Discussion with Ros Pyne
Gender Bias in Medical School and the ER: A Discussion with Alyson J. McGregor
Pandemic Perspective from a Dual MA Student and New Bride
Pandemic Perspectives from The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Social Constructions of Race: A Discussion with Brigitte Fielder
How To: Create a Mentor Network
From the Military to Academia: A Discussion with Maurice Wilson
A Conversation with Jessica Kirzane about Yiddish Studies
Pandemic Perspectives: Loneliness in Graduate School
College Belonging: A Conversation with Lisa M. Nunn
Pandemic Perspectives: Working Remotely, a Discussion with Raj Balkaran
Inside Look: "Tribal College: Journal of American Indian Higher Education"
Pandemic Perspectives: A Student Speaks About Mental Health
Inside Look: Campus Mental Wellness Services
Pandemic Perspectives: Graduating, Job Searching, and Being a New Professional
An Inside Look at the American Historical Association: An Interview with Laura Ansley
Marketing Your Scholarly Book: A Discussion with Mona Rosen Hamlin
Pandemic Perspectives from a Recent College Graduate: A Discussion with Amy Sumerfield
A Field Guide to Grad School: A Conversation with Jessica McCrory Calarco
Meditation for the Academic Life: A Discussion with Lori Snyder
Pandemic Perspectives from a University Administrator: A Discussion with James D. Breslin
University Press Submissions and the Peer Review: A Discussion with Rachael Levay
Pandemic Perspectives: From a Vice President of Student Affairs
The Self-Care Stuff: Parenting and Personal Life in Academia
Pandemic Perspective from an Adjunct: A Discussion with Dawn Fratini
How to College: A Conversation with Lara Hope Schwartz and Andrea Malkin Brenner
Exploring Careers After Graduation: Writing for the Kid’s Lit Market
Pandemic Perspectives: Three Students Share
Exploring STEM, Insulin Research, and Why We Get Sick
Faculty versus Administrative Positions: A Discussion with Karin Lewis
Pandemic and the Student Parent: A Discussion with Brooke Lombardi
How to Navigate Mid-Career Choices as a Faculty Member: A Discussion with Vicki Baker
The Role of Community Colleges in Higher Education: A Discussion with Penny Wills
How to Work Toward Diversity and Inclusion in Campus Organizations
How to Stop Chasing Happiness and Make a Meaningful Life Instead
How to Leave Academia and Find a Good Job
On Writing Well for Trade: A Conversation with author and scholar Donna Freitas
The Self-Care Stuff: Considering Whether to Stay or Drop Out
The Other Side of the Desk with a UP Editor: A Discussion with Kim Guinta
How to Use Your First Amendment Rights On Campus (and Off)
How to See Your Senior Year of High School as a Path to College
Dealing with the Fs (Fear and Failure)
Finishing Your Book When Life Is A Disaster
Should I Quit My Ph.D. Program?
On Writing Well: Really Personal Essays-A Conversation with Rebekah Taussig
Sexuality on Evangelical Campuses: A Conversation with Dana M. Malone
Getting an MFA and Memoir Writing
Researching Racial Injustice
How to Deal With Structural Inequality in Academia
How to Maintain Your Artistic Practice After Graduation
The Detective Work of Research: A Conversation with Polly E. Bugros McLean
On Writing Well: Feminist Biography-A Conversation with Anya Jabour
How to Help Girls Achieve
Research, Whiteness, and Campus Monuments
Gender Bias in the Study of Science
Introduction to 'The Academic Life' Podcast