Gradcast

This week, hosts Liam Clifford and Amalie Hutchinson are joined by Alexander Sallas, a PhD candidate in Western's Department of English and Writing Studies. In his dissertation, Alexander talks about the Deus Ex Machina, a special, unpredictable way to end a story. Some people believe that this is not a great way to end a story, but Alexander strongly disagrees. Unpredictable events happen all the time in real life, so why can't they happen in a story? Recorded on May 14, 2024. Produced by Anthony Cruz. Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ (Produced by White Hot).

This week hosts Mark Ambrogio and Liam Clifford are joined by John Kausch, a PhD student in Information Science studying knowledge organization systems and ways to translate knowledge. This episode delves into what an ontology is, John's work on creating a formal model for knowledge translation and wider applications of information science research in other domains. To learn more about John, check out his Twitter page @kausch and Observable Portfolio. Recorded on May 7, 2024 Produced by Maria Khan Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

This week, hosts Mark Ambrogio and Ryan Baxter are joined by Caitlin Fitzpatrick, a Masters of Neuroscience student who is interested in examining the emotional effects of music on older adults with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Tune in to this week's episode for discussions on the two sides of emotion in relation to music, as well as the grander applications of this research. To learn more about Caitlin and her work, check out her LinkedIn page! Recorded on April 30, 2024 Produced by Suzy Lee Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

For our first #BookCast recording, hosts Scott Walters, Amalie Hutchinson, Mark Ambrogio, Garth Casbourn, and Meghan Voll discuss The Idiot by Elif Batuman. Join our book club for a discussion about writing style, dissociation with the world around you, and how we can all relate to being a bit of an idiot.  Note: no spoilers, so if you've read the book already or haven't yet, you'll be able to enjoy this podcast. Recorded on April 9, 2024 Produced by Amalie Hutchinson Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

Join hosts Carly Charron and Liam Clifford in their chat with biology MSc student Lauren Rego. Studying how mitochondria change during hibernation in thirteen-lined ground squirrels, Lauren shares her expertise in squirrel trapping and care, the physiology behind hibernation and what ground squirrels really do all winter.  To learn more about Lauren's work, check out her twitter @laurenrego3 Recorded on April 16, 2024 Produced by Amalie Hutchinson Ground squirrel audio from youtube Ground squirrel photo available here Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

For this special #PostDocsTalk episode, former GradCast managing editor Dr. Ariel Frame joins hosts Amalie Hutchinson and Carly Charron to share his stories and advice on all things post-doc. We chat about finding a position, dealing with setbacks, how to defend work/life balance, and the trick of striving for your ideals while keeping expectations low (or at least manageable). To find Ariel on social media--though don't expect any comments--look for @arielframe on everything.  Recorded on April 9, 2024 Produced by Amalie Hutchinson Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

This week, hosts Mark Ambrogio and Liam Clifford interview MLIS student Aleesa Prendergast. Aleesa shares about some exciting projects she's done for her coursework, including investigating old tomes of fairytales and determining how libraries can be made more accessible for all.  Recorded on April 9, 2024 Produced by Amalie Hutchinson Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

In the third installment of interviewing LIS Ph.D Candidate Alex Mayhew, we turn to Alex’s work on Aging Justice. Approached through a bio-ethical and health justice perspective, Alex makes the bold claim that aging should not only be treated at the same level as disease, but that it is necessary in order to expand capacity and quality of life for older people. Read Alex’s article here! Additional articles mentioned in the episode: "Just Because I'm 90 Doesn't Mean I'm Ready to Die - Or Disposable" "Why I hope to Dies at 75" López-Otín et al. (2013). "Hallmarks of Aging: An Expanding Universe" Listen to Alex's previous episodes: 234 | Cataloging without Plato 441 | From Books to Bits Recorded on April 2, 2024 Produced by Suzy Lee Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

This week, Amalie Hutchinson and Anum Anjum are joined by a fellow GradCast host, Apurva Desai. A Master's student in Health Promotion here at Western, Apurva shares about the three components of health, how qualitative research methods fit his goals of connecting with people, and general wisdom to create healthy habits.  To find out more about Apurva's research journey, check out his LinkedIn profile linked here: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/apurva-desai-uwofans4285091   Recorded on March 26, 2024 Produced by Amalie Hutchinson Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

This week, hosts Anthony Cruz and Carly Charron speak with Riya Sidhu, a PhD candidate in psychology specializing in music cognition. Riya explains the three different projects she's working on to evaluate the factors that influence synchronizing in various contexts, such as during walking or in response to music. These factors include empathy, music training, and dance training and she focuses on talking about groove behaviour. Riya also describes her experience setting up a synchronization study using motion capture technology at the University of Oslo.  Recorded on March 19, 2024 Produced by Jordan VanderBurgt Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

This week, GradCast hosts Meghan Voll and Mark Ambrogio are joined by Farshid Soltani, a PhD candidate in physics studying all about the nature of black holes. If you were ever curious about the science of black holes, the value of both classical and quantum physics, or wanted to know about the mysterious "white hole", tune in to this week's episode! Recorded on March 12, 2024 Produced by Suzy Lee Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

This week, Scott Walters and Meghan Voll interview one of our own producers, Maria Khan. Maria shares about her master's program in clinical science and audiology. She tells GradCast what a degree in audiology looks like and what an audiologist actually does. Maria is involved with other research activities at Sick Kids, and discusses her research with infant screening tests for hearing, and more.  Check out Maria's other producing efforts, the Hear Here podcast at Sick Kids at this link. Recorded on March 5, 2024 Produced by Amalie Hutchinson Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot  

This week, hosts Anum Anjum and Anthony Cruz join Gabriel Jobin, a PhD student with the Drover Research Group working with fundamental chemical reactions to design new and efficient catalysts. We dive into how Gabriel’s research relates to sustainability, life outside of the lab and future directions of addressing global challenges with chemistry. Tune in for Al-uminating chemistry puns! Recorded on February 27, 2024 Produced by Maria Khan Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

This week, hosts Carly Charron and Ryan Baxter speak with Hunter Pharazyn, an occupational therapy student. They discuss the goals of occupational therapy and the unique program offered here at Western. Hunter also describes what led him to this area of work, and what he hopes to pursue in the future.  Recorded on February 20, 2024 Produced by Jordan VanderBurgt Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

This week, GradCast hosts Amalie Hutchinson and Apurva Desai are joined by two guests: Varsha Vasudevan and Mani Ahluwalia, both studying topics in Health Promotion. We chat about holistic health, how graduate students experience resilience, and what mindfulness can do for many aspects of success in university.  Recorded on February 13, 2024 Produced by Amalie Hutchinson Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

For this special #GraduatedLife episode, Meghan Voll and Garth Casbourn are joined by MLIS alumnus Matt Skidmore. Matt tells how his grad degree at Western helped him get his current job as a librarian in Mississauga, and how the things he learned during the degree and on-the-job experience prepared him for what he does now.  Recorded on February 8, 2024 Produced by Amalie Hutchinson Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

Today's episode is a merger of two of our beloved mini-series #JarringQuestions and #GradLife. Join co-hosts Meghan Voll, Mark Ambrogio, and Suzy Lee in this mashup as they talk all about extracurriculars, places (and time periods) they'd love to travel to, and the eternal debate: cats or dogs? Recorded on February 6, 2024 Produced by Suzy Lee Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

Another installment of #JarringQuestions, where you get to learn more about three of our GradCast members as we answer an interesting range of questions pulled from a jar (paper ruffling noises included). This week, Carly Charron, Anthony Cruz, and Jordan VanderBurgt have some hot takes on morning vs. night people, appetizers vs. desserts, people who talk on speaker phone in public, and so much more.  Recorded on January 23, 2024 Produced by Jordan VanderBurgt Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

This week, join hosts Mark Ambrogio and Meghan Voll as they interview Luigi De Angelis Soriano about his recent dissertation exploring the Hebrew book of Ruth and the concept of Hesed, "a Hebrew term that is often translated as loving kindness and connotes loyalty, love, and extraordinary commitment", in the context of Spanish plays, European art, and Latin American poetry. We hear about the interesting story of Ruth, its importance to both Hebrew and Christian traditions, and how it has influenced artistic expression in various forms.  Recorded on January 23, 2024 Produced by Scott Walters Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot This episode features the first Sonnet of Ruth by Gabriela Mistral: Poetry recitation in the original Spanish is read by Luigi De Angelis Soriano The recitation of the English translation is read by Scott Walters

In our first episode of 2024, Amalie Hutchinson and Meghan Voll interview Jacob Evoy, a PhD student in the Women’s Studies program at Western University. Jacob tells us about their oral history research investigating the stories of queer children of Holocaust survivors. Jacob talks to us about what queer experience is, the effects of the Holocaust on these individuals, and how narrative is constructed. Recorded on January 16, 2024 Produced by Maria Khan Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot