The juice and the squeeze

Julia and Jonathan have been thinking a lot about online teaching. Not claiming to be experts they share what’s worked well and what they are excited about for the coming term. Office hours? Casual interactions? Small group discussions? We’ve got ideas for you. Bonus: hear how Julia learned about controlled burns (yes, it’s related). Theme music courtesy of The Bobby Dazzlers

Interested in what a job at a small liberal arts college (SLAC) is like? Julia shares about her job (spoiler: she likes her job just a little) and offers advice on things to consider when applying for a similar job. Pssst: teaching experience helps. (And, follow-up reply to an email where the hosts reject a listener’s suggestion that it is entirely their fault they have a difficult relationship wi...

With many (all?) conferences online for the foreseeable future, Julia and Jonathan talk about the pros and cons of online conferences, using SIPS (which Julia just attended) as a jumping off point. How do we fight “Zoom fatigue”? What advantages do online conferences offer and how can we take advantage of them? Theme music courtesy of The Bobby Dazzlers

Turns out, life isn’t always easy. Julia and Jonathan explore some ways that we can help ourselves, and others, when we are going through difficult times (academic and otherwise), including the importance of modeling dealing with disappointment for our trainees (and colleagues) and having a network of people to turn to for support. Theme music courtesy of The Bobby Dazzlers

Julia and Jonathan have a short show this week so you have time to listen to one of the other great podcasts by Black academics linked to in our show notes. Theme music courtesy of The Bobby Dazzlers

Mentoring is one of those things in life that is super important but that most of us don’t get much training about. Julia and Jonathan talk about how mentees can seek out effective mentors (understanding everyone differs in their flexibility), and things mentors can do to be more helpful. And a friendly reminder that you’re never to young to have a mentor, or to be a mentor. Theme music courtesy o...

Julia and Jonathan are excited about registered reports. They discuss pros (many) and cons (none?) and try to provide an overview of the process for newbies. Also, find out the best food to cook in your waffle maker (hint: it may not be a waffle). Theme music courtesy of The Bobby Dazzlers

Jonathan and Julia—and special guest Violet Brown—muse over sharing sciency things that AREN’T code and data (such as knowledge about statistical analysis or writing grants). What is the best way to share this knowledge, who’s our audience, and why bother? Plus, find out whether you are in Jonathan’s scientific generation or not. Theme music courtesy of The Bobby Dazzlers Special Guest: Violet Bro...

Julia and Jonathan catch up on FU from Julia’s “self correcting” episode and dive into talking about why and how we share our data and code. What are the pros and cons? Will you be helping your future self? Spoiler alert: your hosts are more convinced by the pros. Plus, lots of interesting links to supplement your listening. Theme music courtesy of The Bobby Dazzlers

In this episode, Julia describes the process of finding and correcting a major error in one of her published papers. A programming mistake had generated a pattern of data that was, in fact, completely untrue. Julia shares how she discovered the error, the temptation to conceal it, and the process of disclosing it to her co-authors, the journal it was published in, her tenure committee, and others....

Things feel a little crazy at the moment but listening to podcasts can only help. Right? RIGHT? Julia and Jonathan share how they are approaching teaching and maintaining sanity during coronavirus lockdown. Slack, Zoom tea time, faux commutes, and Julia’s speakeasy (password: “password”). Theme music courtesy of The Bobby Dazzlers

Scientific talks are the topic and Jonathan and Julia offer a wide ranging set of thoughts on topics ranging from practice to laser pointers to imagining Julia sitting in the back row of your audience. In an unexpected moment of honesty Jonathan admits to usually wearing pants (AND trousers, by the way). Theme music courtesy of The Bobby Dazzlers

Sometimes things don’t go according to plan, and sometimes this is OK. Jonathan and Julia talk about how we react when our plans don’t work out and offer a bit of specific advice for graduate school applicants. Julia doubts that ALL dolphins are friendly and helpful, and Jonathan shares about the time he was almost a wrestler. Theme music courtesy of The Bobby Dazzlers

IMposter or imPOSter? However you pronounce it, Julia and Jonathan take on the topic of imposter syndrome, which as it turns out isn’t really a syndrome. Everyone experiences this to various degrees but gosh it can be hard to talk about. Maybe we can change the world by being more intentional about supporting each other in both our successes and not-knowing-and-it’s-OKings. Theme music courtesy of...

Julia and Jonathan dive into the topic of writing, including when in a project we tend to write, some common challenges, and approaches that have worked for them (and which may, or may not, work for you). Some handy tricks involve phrases like “reverse outlining”, “word vomit”, and “parenthetical REF”. Jonathan has the most boring game ever to help him write. Challenge for the week: Find a paper t...

F/U related to Julia’s tenure and weaponry, and Jonathan’s sleep deprivation, before moving into discussing seasons of the academic year. How do we use these to help us plan and take advantage of when we have the most energy? Weekly challenge: send someone you know (which might be your future self) a nice note to encourage them. Speaking of mail, keep sending your email. Theme music courtesy of Th...

To bring 2019 to a close Julia and Jonathan offer unsolicited advice on a wide range of topics, including health, finances, and computers. Don’t say we didn’t warn you! Julia gets an important phone call related to her career (insert suspenseful music). Theme music courtesy of The Bobby Dazzlers

Jonathan and Julia talk about how we get our research published. What do we think about when picking a journal? When in the process do we pick a journal? What’s the deal with preferred/nonpreferred reviewers? The squeaky wheel gets the grease, but when’s a reasonable time to start squeaking? Theme music courtesy of The Bobby Dazzlers

Winter is here, prompting a discussion of clothing and coziness before getting into the how and the why of organization systems (especially to-do lists and calendar-related things). Breaking things down into meaningfully-sized chunks is good (with a real-world example from manuscript writing). Good calendar hygiene is important. Theme music courtesy of The Bobby Dazzlers

Jonathan and Julia tackle the topic of things that distract us from what we are dHEY look a squirrel!!! There’s a balance between being focused and having the freedom to explore. If there are too many things in your closet, they won’t fit neatly, and you might just have to get rid of something. Jonathan loves the IRB. Theme music courtesy of The Bobby Dazzlers

Sometimes it works to just go to a conference and wander around, but more often having a strategy is useful. Probably trying to do EVERYTHING will not be a winning strategy. Networking just means making friends with people who are interested in similar things as you and makes conferences way more fun. One of your hosts is much more likely than the other to strike up conversations with nearby stran...

Julia’s favorite holiday is approaching and we all wish we could attend her Halloween party. Follow up to a listener email about how to handle new requests for work prompts a long discussion about how we choose what projects to work on in general. We should all be saying “no” to a lot of things but don’t. Theme music courtesy of The Bobby Dazzlers

Among all of the facts, focusing on positive ones (instead of negative ones) can help keep us in a good mental place. Julia both loves and hates running and is grateful to the mysterious woman who encourages her. A double-edged challenge for next time: reframe something positively to ourselves, and reframe something positively for someone else. Theme music courtesy of The Bobby Dazzlers

After a brief diversion for f/u we have a quick chat about the importance of having a website if you’re an academic. Taking time off from work (during the day, week, or year) seems VERY important for both happiness and productivity. But it's hard to do. Join the resistance and sharpen your saw (all credit to Julia's mom). We would all like to handle email the way Donald Knuth does but that's proba...

How do we know what we are bad at, and what do we do about it (if anything)? Tupperware containers, face recognition, mental math, and grantwriting make the list. One of us may or may not have been a childhood chess prodigy. Sometimes just jumping in and doing something (like writing a grant or learning a programming language) is helpful at reducing anxiety. Deciding what kind of bad we are seems...