Big Ideas TXST

Dale Blasingame , an assistant professor of practice in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University, joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss National Parks, State Parks and incorporating these outdoor treasures into higher education. A founder of the Study-in-America program at Texas State, each semester Blasingame oversees a class of students who travel to public...

Kate Spradley , a professor in the Department of Anthropology at Texas State University joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss her work along the South Texas border with Operation I.D. Beginning in 2013, the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State began a service-learning project ‒ Operation Identification (OpID) led and directed by Spradley. Operation ID was founded to facilitate the ide...

Seoyoun Kim , an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at Texas State University joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss the surprising health benefits of volunteering. Kim's research indicates that that health benefits derived from volunteer work are greater for lower-income volunteers than for wealthier ones. In the U.S., approximately 29 million older adults volunteer through a...

Andrew Ojede , an associate professor in the Department of Finance and Economics at Texas State University joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss the impact that international sanctions are having in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. When Russian forces crossed the border into Ukraine on February 24, the international response was swift. The United States, European Union and other nat...

Andrea Banzatti , an assistant professor in the Department of Physics at Texas State University joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss the observatory time he has been awarded on NASA's recently-launched James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). JWST is NASA's flagship infrared telescope designed to study exoplanets and distant galaxies. The telescope was successfully launched Dec. 25, 2021, and is...

Elizabeth K. Eger , an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Texas State University joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss presenteeism—the pressure to work while sick—and the negative impacts this has on both the individual and business. Presenteeism, or sickness presence, is the act of showing up for work without (really) being productive. The individual is there...

Josh Daspit , an associate professor of religious studies in the Department of Philosophy at Texas State University, and Daniel Roy join the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss the Sustainable Cultivation and Advancement of Local Enterprises for Underserved Populations (SCALEUP) program. SCALEUP is a new initiative at Texas State designed to research the factors restraining minority-owned business g...

Joseph Laycock , an associate professor of religious studies in the Department of Philosophy at Texas State University, joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss religious freedom, new religious movements and the fascinating, pan-cultural phenomenon of exorcism. Laycock teaches courses on world religions, religion in America and the intersection of religion and popular culture. He is the author...

Kim Rossmo , holder of the University Chair in Criminology and Director of the Center for Geospatial Intelligence and Investigation at Texas State University, joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss geographic profiling and the surprisingly wide range of applications for that discipline in various fields of study. Rossmo has researched and published in the areas of environmental criminology, t...

Kaitlin Hopkins , head of the Musical Theatre Program at Texas State University, joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss building a ground-breaking musical theatre program from the ground up and then navigating the program through the COVID pandemic. Hopkins is an award-winning actress, director, producer and educator who has worked in theater, film and television for more than 30 years. In 20...

Erika Nielson , director of the Common Experience at Texas State University, joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss the 2021-2022 Common Experience theme of "Compassion." Texas State presents an academic theme each year, providing numerous opportunities for everyone — students, faculty, staff and community members — to share in a Common Experience. The Common Experience theme for the 2021-202...

Nick Dornak, director of watershed services with the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University, joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss the Clean Coast Texas Collaborative. The collaborative will provide coastal communities with technical assistance on best practices to reduce nonpoint source pollution and incorporate stormwater management techniques. As a primary...

Award-winning novelist Jennifer duBois , assistant professor in the Department of English at Texas State University, joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss her career, creative process and joys of teaching in the MFA program in creative writing at Texas State. duBois has written three acclaimed novels. Her debut, A Partial History of Lost Causes , was the winner of the California Book Award f...

Katherine Warnell and Jennifer Clegg , assistant professors in the Department of Psychology at Texas State University, join the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss their ongoing research into how children learn to lie. Lying is a complex behavior that requires sophisticated social cognition. The liar—in this case, children—have to think about how others are perceiving them, what they know, and wheth...

Merritt Drewery , assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Sciences at Texas State University, joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss her innovative study into using black soldier fly larvae as an environmentally sustainable, high-protein feed source for cattle production. Drewery’s research program focuses on the identification of novel feedstuffs to enhance livestock production...

Matthew McAllister , assistant professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance at Texas State University, joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss the how intermittent fasting can contribute to weight loss and other surprising health benefits. As director of the Metabolic and Applied Physiology Laboratory (MAP Lab) at Texas State, McAllister works with human subjects with a focus on...

Emily K. Brunson , associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at Texas State University, joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss the how vaccination hesitancy is complicating the effort to immunize the U.S. population against the COVID-19 pandemic. An applied anthropologist specializing in medical anthropology, Brunson received an M.P.H. in epidemiology and a Ph. D. in anthropology...

Steve Ison , founder and CEO of Rebecca Creek Distillery , joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss how he made the leap from selling insurance to opening one of the first craft spirits distilleries in Texas. Ison, a 1993 political science graduate of Texas State University, founded the San Antonio-based distillery in 2009, making Rebecca Creek one of the first commercial distilleries opened in...

Hector Saldaña , curator of the Texas Music Collection at Texas State University's Wittliff Collections, joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast for a wide-ranging interview to discuss his more than 20 years working as a music journalist and how that prepared him for the dream job as music curator with The Wittliff, and the amazing materials that may be found in the collection. Saldaña's articles have co...

Acclaimed poet Cyrus Cassells , a professor in the Department of English at Texas State and an instructor in the university's MFA in creative writing program, sits down with the Big Ideas TXST podcast for a wide-ranging interview examining his career, family and creative process. Keenly interested in history and world travel, Cassells talks about his hermitage time spent at a Catholic monastery an...

In March of 2020, Dr. Rodney Rohde , a professor in the College of Health Professions and chair of the Clinical Laboratory Science Program , joined the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss the emerging novel coronavirus and the health threat it posed. Now, more than eight months later, Dr. Rohde returns to the podcast to discuss how much the world medical community didn't know back then, how much mor...

Dr. Sarah Fritts , Dr. Ivan Castro-Arellano and Dr. Sara Weaver discusses the threat white-nose syndrome poses for native bats in Texas and the damaging environmental and ecological consequences that could unfold if the disease continues to spread unchecked. Further reading: Texas Parks & Wildlife taps Texas State team to research white-nose syndrome in bats Study shows ultrasonic deterrents s...

Eugene Lee , Artist in Residence in the Department of Theatre and Dance and director of the Black and Latino Playwrights Celebration at Texas State, discusses why the annual workshop remains an important outlet for marginalized voices in its 18th year. Lee also discusses his career, his evolution as a performer and mentor, and how the BLPC can contribute to healing the unrest and strife afflicting...

Dr. Melinda Villagran , a professor in the Department of Communication Studies and director of the Translational Health Research Initiative at Texas State, discusses the fascinating results of a research study she conducted with Movability to survey the impact of daily work commuting in the Austin area. The research overlapped with teleworking initiatives implemented by many employers in response...

Dr. Shannon Weigum , an associate professor in the Department of Biology and head of the Weigum Research Group at Texas State University, sits down with BIG IDEAS to talk about the recently-established Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, discussing the environment and mindset necessary to encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration.