Stay ConnectedLeading scholars in History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science (HPS) introduce contemporary topics for a general audience. Developed by graduate students from the HPS program at the University of Melbourne.
Lead Host: Thomas Spiteri (2025-2026).
More information on the podcast can be found at hpsunimelb.org
Copyright: © 2024 The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science
Welcome back to The HPS Podcast for Season 4.
In today's episode, Carmelina and Samara touch on a variety of topics, but a core theme is 'how we study science through the lens of the humanities'. Both Sam and Carmelina believe the skills and perspectives developed through disciplines such as history, sociology, and philosophy are crucial to resolving many of today's problems. So, it is incredibly sad that they continue to be undervalued by many.
We hope The HPS Podcast - in its own small way - contributes to a broader appreciation of the richness and value of the humanities approach.
Also - make sure to listen to the end for some fun outtakes from the recording of this episode!
Transcript available here: https://www.hpsunimelb.org/post/s4-ep-1-sam-and-carmelina-on-studying-humanities-and-science
Relevant links include:
Thanks for listening to The HPS Podcast. You can find more about us on our website, Bluesky, Instagram and Facebook feeds.
This podcast would not be possible without the support of School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne and the Hansen Little Public Humanities Grant scheme.
Music by ComaStudio.
Website HPS Podcast | hpsunimelb.org
We are pleased to bring you a special five episode podcast series Working Fathers created by Professor in HPS Cordelia Fine, political philosopher Associate Professor Dan Halliday, social psychologist, Dr Melissa Wheeler and historian Dr Annabelle Baldwin.
What’s next for Australian fathers? In this final episode of the mini-series, we look at the future of fatherhood. So far, one thing all our guests seem to agree on is that, for many families, current arrangements aren’t working as well as they could. Expectations on men as fathers are expanding, but without much of a lessening of demands from employers. As people have children later, these demographic shifts mean that families will be less likely to be able to depend on grandparents to help out. In short, policies, practices and norms need to continue to evolve to support the needs of working dads and their families and move us towards more equal opportunities to share care, access more flexible work, and achieve greater family wellbeing.
Special guests for this episode are:
A full transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.hpsunimelb.org/post/working-fathers-mini-series-ep-5-what-s-next
The Working Fathers Podcast was funded by the Faculty of Arts and the School of Historical & Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. The creators of the podcast are also very grateful for the support of external partners, the Women’s Leadership Institute of Australia and the Trawalla Foundation.
Thanks for listening to The HPS Podcast. You can find more about us on our website, Bluesky, Instagram and Facebook feeds.
This podcast would not be possible without the support of School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne and the Hansen Little Public Humanities Grant scheme.
Music by ComaStudio.
Website HPS Podcast | hpsunimelb.org
We are pleased to bring you a special five episode podcast series Working Fathers created by Professor in HPS Cordelia Fine, political philosopher Associate Professor Dan Halliday, social psychologist, Dr Melissa Wheeler and historian Dr Annabelle Baldwin.
In Episode 4, Give Dads a Break, we look at more of the pressures that prevent fathers from being active and equal caregivers in their children’s lives. In particular, we look at the gender norms that dictate what it means to be a good man, and the social norms that dictate what it means to be a good worker – and ask what this means for fathers’ capacity to be more active caregivers in their children’s lives. We also look at the experiences of men who defy these norms, the policies that can help shift them, as well as some of the potential benefits of change for dads, partners and families.
Special guests for this episode are:
A full transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.hpsunimelb.org/post/working-fathers-mini-series-ep-4-give-dad-s-a-break
The Working Fathers Podcast was funded by the Faculty of Arts and the School of Historical & Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. The creators of the podcast are also very grateful for the support of external partners, the Women’s Leadership Institute of Australia and the Trawalla Foundation.
Thanks for listening to The HPS Podcast. You can find more about us on our website, Bluesky, Instagram and Facebook feeds.
This podcast would not be possible without the support of School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne and the Hansen Little Public Humanities Grant scheme.
Music by ComaStudio.
Website HPS Podcast | hpsunimelb.org
We are pleased to bring you a special five episode podcast series Working Fathers created by Professor in HPS Cordelia Fine, political philosopher Associate Professor Dan Halliday, social psychologist, Dr Melissa Wheeler and historian Dr Annabelle Baldwin.
How much freedom do fathers have? Do fathers have real choices about how to divide their time between paid work and caring for the kids at home? Where do government and organisational policies fit in?
One of the major societal changes of the past century has been the rise of female employment, particularly in the peak child rearing years. Over the same period, there has been much less change in men’s employment rates. Why hasn’t the rise in women’s employment been accompanied by a drop in men’s employment? Why is part-time work still so much less common among men than it is among women? One answer is that these patterns are just the product of free choices. But choices are never made in a vacuum, and freedom of choice comes in degrees. In this episode, we look at the laws, policies, and organisational practices that constrain dads’ choices.
Special guests for this episode are:
A full transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.hpsunimelb.org/post/working-fathers-mini-series-ep-3-are-fathers-free
The Working Fathers Podcast was funded by the Faculty of Arts and the School of Historical & Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. The creators of the podcast are also very grateful for the support of external partners, the Women’s Leadership Institute of Australia and the Trawalla Foundation.
Thanks for listening to The HPS Podcast. You can find more about us on our website, Bluesky, Instagram and Facebook feeds.
This podcast would not be possible without the support of School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne and the Hansen Little Public Humanities Grant scheme.
Music by ComaStudio.
Website HPS Podcast | hpsunimelb.org
We are pleased to bring you a special five episode podcast series Working Fathers created by Professor in HPS Cordelia Fine, political philosopher Associate Professor Dan Halliday, social psychologist, Dr Melissa Wheeler and historian Dr Annabelle Baldwin.
How people divide labour within and beyond the family unit has changed throughout human history. The current model in many Western nations, including Australia, is a version of the 'breadwinner model', where one parent is designated the primary earner and the other the primary carer. But where did this model come from? And why is it so entrenched?
In this episode, What Gave Rise to the Breadwinner? we dive into the complex social, cultural, political, and economic forces shaping fatherhood, the historical notion of the male breadwinner, and consider where policy might fit in.
Special Guests:
A full transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.hpsunimelb.org/post/working-fathers-mini-series-ep2-what-gave-rise-to-the-breadwinner
The Working Fathers Podcast was funded by the Faculty of Arts and the School of Historical & Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. The creators of the podcast are also very grateful for the support of external partners, the Women’s Leadership Institute of Australia and the Trawalla Foundation.
Thanks for listening to The HPS Podcast. You can find more about us on our website, Bluesky, Instagram and Facebook feeds.
This podcast would not be possible without the support of School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne and the Hansen Little Public Humanities Grant scheme.
Music by ComaStudio.
Website HPS Podcast | hpsunimelb.org
We are pleased to bring you a special five episode podcast series created by Professor in HPS Cordelia Fine, political philosopher Associate Professor Dan Halliday, social psychologist, Dr Melissa Wheeler and historian Dr Annabelle Baldwin.
The series is called Working Fathers, and explores the varied roles fathers play in contemporary Australia and how policy can better recognise, value and support fatherhood.
In this first episode, ‘Where’s Dad?’ host Dan Halliday notes that, despite significant social change over the last 50 years, there is still a large gap between the time and energy mothers and fathers expend in caregiving and family labour. Dan and his guests look at how this division of labour shakes out in terms of responsibilities, risks and rewards: from the mental and emotional load of keeping a family running, through unappealing household chores, to the more joyful moments of parenting and the economic impacts for mothers.
Special guests for this episode are:
A full transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.hpsunimelb.org/post/working-fathers-mini-series-ep1-where-s-dad
The Working Fathers Podcast was funded by the Faculty of Arts and the School of Historical & Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. The creators of the podcast are also very grateful for the support of external partners, the Women’s Leadership Institute of Australia and the Trawalla Foundation.
Thanks for listening to The HPS Podcast. You can find more about us on our website, Bluesky, Instagram and Facebook feeds.
This podcast would not be possible without the support of School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne and the Hansen Little Public Humanities Grant scheme.
Music by ComaStudio.
Website HPS Podcast | hpsunimelb.org
In a break from our usual format, we are pleased to bring you a special five episode podcast series created by Professor in HPS Cordelia Fine, political philosopher Associate Professor Dan Halliday, social psychologist, Dr Melissa Wheeler and historian Dr Annabelle Baldwin.
The series is called Working Fathers, and explores the varied roles fathers play in contemporary Australia and how policy can better recognise, value and support fatherhood.
In this introduction to the series, Dan provides us with a teaser about what to expect over the next five episodes.
The Working Fathers Podcast was funded by the Faculty of Arts and the School of Historical & Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. The creators of the podcast are also very grateful for the support of external partners, the Women’s Leadership Institute of Australia and the Trawalla Foundation.
Thanks for listening to The HPS Podcast. You can find more about us on our website, Bluesky, Instagram and Facebook feeds.
This podcast would not be possible without the support of School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne and the Hansen Little Public Humanities Grant scheme.
Music by ComaStudio.
Website HPS Podcast | hpsunimelb.org
Our guest today is Professor of Philosophy and History of Science at the University of Exeter, Sabina Leonelli. Sabina recently released a book in the Cambridge Elements Philosophy of Science series on The Philosophy of Open Science. In her book, Sabina offers a stimulating perspective on the Open Science movement, discussing both its strengths and some of its unintended downsides, including constraining academic diversity and worsening epistemic injustices in some cases.
In this episode, Sabina talks about her own wide-ranging experience with Open Science initiatives and the shift in perspective she would like to see across the Open Science movement towards ensuring more effective and responsible research outcomes.
A transcript of the episode can be found here: https://www.hpsunimelb.org/post/s3-ep-12-sabina-leonelli-on-the-philosophy-of-open-science
Relevant links:
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PhD Positions in HPS at the University of Melbourne.
All are currently open for expressions of interest, with fully funded positions to start in 2025.
Thanks for listening to The HPS Podcast. You can find more about us on our website, Bluesky, Instagram and Facebook feeds.
This podcast would not be possible without the support of School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne and the Hansen Little Public Humanities Grant scheme.
Music by ComaStudio.
Website HPS Podcast | hpsunimelb.org
Today Carmelina is joined by Professor Uljana Feest, Philosopher of Psychology and Chair for Philosophy of Social Science and Social Philosophy at the Leibniz University of Hannover.
In this episode, Uljana discusses her work on the philosophy and history of psychology as it relates to the replication crisis. In a recent article ‘What is the Replication Crisis a Crisis Of?’ Uljana proposes something is missing from current debates which typically focus on one of two positions. On one hand are those calling for reforms in methods, such as statistical reform, on the other are those calling for a focus on theory building.
Uljana suggests that, while both positions get something right, there is more to the story. We also need to focus on the subject matter of psychology - on what phenomena or object we are interested in studying, in how we conceptualise those objects (‘memory’ or ‘emotion’, for example) and then differentiate between the broader object of study and the narrow effect analysed in our experiments.
The transcript for this episode can be found here: https://www.hpsunimelb.org/post/s3-ep-11-uljana-feest-on-what-is-missing-in-replication-debates
Relevant links
___________________________________________
PhD Positions in HPS at the University of Melbourne.
All are currently open for expressions of interest, with fully funded positions to start in 2025.
Thanks for listening to The HPS Podcast. You can find more about us on our website, Bluesky, Instagram and Facebook feeds.
This podcast would not be possible without the support of School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne and the Hansen Little Public Humanities Grant scheme.
Music by ComaStudio.
Website HPS Podcast | hpsunimelb.org
Today we are joined by Miguel Ohnesorge and Aja Watkins to talk about a new subfield of HPS - The Philosophy of the Geosciences.
Miguel and Aja recently co-authored an article titled 'What is the Philosophy of the Geosciences?' In today's episode, we discuss many of the themes introduced in the paper, including common problems found across such diverse geoscientific disciplines as palaeontology, seismology and climate science.
Aja and Miguel highlight how the geosciences have had to develop similar strategies for studying such large and often inaccessible phenomena. As global sciences, they also face many common ethical challenges, including rectifying a history of often extractive and exploitative practices, as well as navigating the continued ramifications of their research on human welfare and the environment.
A transcript of the episode can be found here: https://www.hpsunimelb.org/post/s3-ep-10-aja-watkins-miguel-ohnesorge-on-philosophy-of-the-geosciences
Relevant links:
Thanks for listening to The HPS Podcast. You can find more about us on our website, Bluesky, Instagram and Facebook feeds.
This podcast would not be possible without the support of School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne and the Hansen Little Public Humanities Grant scheme.
Music by ComaStudio.
Website HPS Podcast | hpsunimelb.org
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