AcaDames

Latest Episodes:

S108: Rena Apr 25, 2019

Show notes

Today Sarah and Whitney speak with Dr. Rena Pasick, a Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Whitney reunites with the woman who created a training program in which she participated when she was a student. The program encouraged underrepresented people of color and LGBTQ people to pursue doctoral programs and careers in research. Rena discusses her journey from reluctant leader to trailblazer and imparts words of wisdom regarding research, mentorship, coping with stress, and more.

Clickhere to subscribe on iTunes!

Related readings and links:

Dr. Rena J. Pasick

Minority Training Program in Cancer Control Research

Éxito: Latino Cancer Research Leadership Training

What the heck does emeritus mean?

Notable quotes from The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham

Recorded: June 14, 2018

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AcaDamesPodcast

E-mail: acadamespodcast@gmail.com

Voicemail #: (919) 666-7301

(Voice memos can also be emailed if you would like!)

Music by: Grace Mesa — PremiumBeat.com

Creative Director: Mara Buchbinder

Production, editing, and admin by: Jonathon Young, Logan Castrodale, Tamara Huson, and Molly Horak.

Artwork by Melissa Hudgens at Leafy Greens Designs

S107: Journal Club: Bodies Apr 11, 2019

Show notes

In today’s journal club, Whitney and Sarah discuss the challenges of having a body as a woman in academia. Body perceptions, clothing choices, hairstyles, and general physical presence have all played a part. They discuss self-policing and how they can even use aspects of their physical presence to gain strategic advantages at work. NOTE: This episode makes a brief reference to eating disorders. BTW,see if you can hear Louie in the background putting ice in his glass in the last 10 minutes of the show :).

Clickhere to subscribe on iTunes!

Discussed this week:

The Financial Perks of Being Tall

NPR’s Fresh Air: From Upspeak To Vocal Fry: Are We 'Policing' Young Women's Voices?

National Eating Disorders Association

Intersectional Invisibility

Black/Female/Body Hypervisibility and Invisibility

Cute Outfits and the Academic Career

What Not to Wear, Assistant Professor Edition: Fashion for the Academic Set (NOTE: our team finds this advice prescriptive and does not necessarily endorse its contents.)

Recorded: July 16, 2018

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AcaDamesPodcast

E-mail: acadamespodcast@gmail.com

Voicemail #: (919) 666-7301

(Voice memos can also be emailed if you would like!)

Music by: Grace Mesa — PremiumBeat.com

Creative Director: Mara Buchbinder

Production, editing, and admin by: Jonathon Young, Logan Castrodale, Tamara Huson, and Molly Horak.

Artwork by Melissa Hudgens at Leafy Greens Designs

S106: Jessie Mar 28, 2019

Show notes

Today Sarah chats with Jessie Borelli, an Associate Professor of Psychology and Social Behavior at the University of California, Irvine. Jessie’s research focuses on the links between close relationships, emotions, health, and development. Jessie discusses her initial insecurities and struggles to find her career path under the constraints of being a military spouse, the sacrifices along the way, and her personal evolution to embrace her ambitions and goals.

Clickhere to subscribe on iTunes!

Discussed this week:

Invisibilia: The Personality Myth

Does Your Body Really Refresh Itself Every 7 Years?

Overview: Enhancing your relationships and building stronger attachments: “Relational Savoring”

Full Research: Enhancing your relationships and building stronger attachments: “Relational Savoring”

Recorded: March 8, 2018

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AcaDamesPodcast

E-mail: acadamespodcast@gmail.com

Voicemail #: (919) 666-7301

(Voice memos can also be emailed if you would like!)

Music by: Grace Mesa — PremiumBeat.com

Creative Director: Mara Buchbinder

Production, editing, and admin by: Jonathon Young, Logan Castrodale, Tamara Huson, and Molly Horak.

Artwork by Melissa Hudgens at Leafy Greens Designs

S105: Bonus: Whitney Q&A and maternity leave update Mar 21, 2019

Show notes

It’s time for AcaDames’ first bonus episode! In late February, Whitney gave birth to baby August. We answer a listener question about balancing all the identities that academic women have, and share with you Whitney’s birth story.

Listener note: Whitney’s maternity leave update begins at 13:18.

Click here to subscribe on iTunes

Discussed this week:

Why Women Still Can’t Have it All

National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity

What is a Birth Center?

Recorded: March 16, 2019

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AcaDamesPodcast

E-mail: acadamespodcast@gmail.com

Voicemail #: (919) 666-7301

(Voice memos can also be emailed if you would like!)

Music by: Grace Mesa — PremiumBeat.com

Creative Director: Mara Buchbinder

Production, editing, and admin by: Jonathon Young, Logan Castrodale, Tamara Huson, and Molly Horak.

Artwork by Melissa Hudgens at Leafy Greens Designs

S104: Journal Club: Pregnancy Mar 14, 2019

Show notes

Today on AcaDames, Sarah and Whitney discuss the joys and struggles of becoming a parent while working in academia. They discuss whether tenure makes taking family leave easier, how to maintain relationships with students while gone, and utilizing childcare to make the transition back to work easier. Is academia really the holy grail of work-life balance? How does the larger cultural environment shape university leave policies? Is there a “perfect time” for AcaDames to have children? Tune in to hear them answer these questions and more.

Click here to subscribe on iTunes

Discussed this week:

Coming Out As Academic Mothers

How Long Can You Wait to Have a Baby?

Recorded: September 11, 2018

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AcaDamesPodcast

E-mail: acadamespodcast@gmail.com

Voicemail #: (919) 666-7301

(Voice memos can also be emailed if you would like!)

Music by: Grace Mesa — PremiumBeat.com

Creative Director: Mara Buchbinder

Production, editing, and admin by: Jonathon Young, Logan Castrodale, Tamara Huson, and Molly Horak.

Artwork by Melissa Hudgens at Leafy Greens Designs

S103: Whitney Feb 28, 2019

Show notes

This week on AcaDames, Whitney discusses what it’s like to receive tenure, why she sets boundaries between her personal and professional life, and even a mathematical formula for choosing love. She also shares her experience being the only black tenure-track woman in her department, and why a home renovation was more stressful than her high-risk pregnancy.

Clickhere to subscribe on iTunes!

Discussed this week:

Whitney's dating optimization strategy, Top Tip #2 (around 7:11) in Hannah Fry's TEDTalk: The Mathematics of Love
This American Life: LaDonna
What is epidemiology?
R01 definition
Social determinants of health
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholars Program, now defunct
Dating site that matched Whitney and Louie -OkCupid
National Institutes of Health full list of institutes, centers, and offices
Funding levels for the NIH, according to the list of NIH History of Congressional Appropriations, FYs 2000-2018
Preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM)
Whitney had major reservations about the ableist implications of how she described her first-born. Here's a corrective:“Let’s Stop Saying: ‘We Don’t Care, as Long as our Baby’s Healthy” by Sarah Sahagian
Do women work more collaboratively than men? Articles from the National Bureau of Economic Research and Harvard Business Review.
Kimberlé Crenshaw on Intersectionality. Her landmark article, “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics” from 1989. Also an overview and short video.

Recorded: May 31, 2018

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AcaDamesPodcast

E-mail: acadamespodcast@gmail.com

Voicemail #: (919) 666-7301

(Voice memos can also be emailed if you would like!)

Music by: Grace Mesa — PremiumBeat.com

Creative Director: Mara Buchbinder

Production, editing, and admin by: Jonathon Young, Logan Castrodale, Tamara Huson, and Molly Horak.

Artwork by Melissa Hudgens at Leafy Greens Designs

S102: Journal Club: Division of Labor Feb 14, 2019

Show notes

We discuss division of household and work labor as it relates to our lives as AcaDames. Jumping off from an article in Harper’s Bazaar, we parse between the emotional labor associated with managing the feelings (of the men in our lives in particular) and the invisible labor associated with, for example, managing schedules of loved ones. We discuss our experiences in the context of academic institutions that were built with men in mind who have support systems comprised of women (e.g., a stay-at-home wives). We consider the implications of this conventional model of academic home-life for those who are in same-sex partnerships or single. Finally, we propose potential solutions (however problematic): outsourcing labor, changing norms around division of labor, and toeing the line between the efficiency of assuming household roles and the risks of being pigeonholed into them.

Click here to subscribe on iTunes!

*Relevant Links*

Women Aren’t Nags — We’re Just Fed Up — How Emotional Labor is Dragging Down Gender Equality

How Same-Sex Couples Divide Chores, and What It Reveals About Modern Parenting

Recorded: November, 23, 2018

Website: acadamespodcast.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AcaDamesPodcast

E-mail: acadamespodcast@gmail.com

Voicemail #: (919) 666-7301

(Voice memos can also be emailed if you like!)

Music by: Grace Mesa — PremiumBeat.com

Creative Director: Mara Buchbinder

Production, editing, and admin by: Jonathon Young, Logan Castrodale, Tamara Huson, and Molly Horak.

Artwork by Melissa Hudgens at Leafy Greens Designs

S101: Sarah Jan 31, 2019

Show notes

This week on AcaDames, it’s Sarah’s time for a little self-disclosure. Sarah tells the story behind her unconventional decision to start her academic career as a half-time assistant professor, and talks about everything from being homegrown, to withdrawing from a job search, to what it’s like to have kids in grad school.

Click here to subscribe on iTunes!

Recorded: April 2, 2018.

Website: acadamespodcast.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AcaDamesPodcast

E-mail: acadamespodcast@gmail.com

Music by: Grace Mesa — PremiumBeat.com

Creative Director: Mara Buchbinder

Production, editing, and admin by: Jonathon Young, Logan Castrodale, Tamara Huson, and Molly Horak.

Artwork by Melissa Hudgens at Leafy Greens Designs

S100: Episode 0 Jan 17, 2019

Show notes

In Episode 0, we’re giving you a raw, behind-the-scenes look at what AcaDames is and who we are. These voice memos left between AcaDames Sarah and Whitney give you a peek at how our podcast dreams came to fruition. Episode 1 coming Thursday, January 31.

Click here to subscribe on iTunes!

Website: acadamespodcast.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AcaDamesPodcast

E-mail: acadamespodcast@gmail.com

Music by: Grace Mesa — PremiumBeat.com

Creative Director: Mara Buchbinder

Production, editing, and admin by: Jonathon Young, Logan Castrodale, and Tamara Huson

Season 1 Trailer Jan 03, 2019

Show notes

AcaDames is a biweekly podcast that explores whether being a woman in academia is a dream, game, or scam through interviews with a diverse range of women. Discussions cover career trajectories, finances, childbearing decisions, spirituality, the ever-present patriarchy, and everything in between. Co-hosts Whitney Robinson and Sarah Birken open up to each other and their guests in intimate, frank, and often funny conversations. Along the way, they share insider knowledge about the “hidden curriculum” for professional advancement (and potential world domination). Season 1 coming Thursday, January 17.

Click here to subscribe on iTunes!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AcaDamesPodcast

E-mail: acadamespodcast@gmail.com

Music by: Grace Mesa — PremiumBeat.com

Creative Director: Mara Buchbinder

Production, editing, and admin by: Jonathon Young, Logan Castrodale, and Tamara Huson.