The hardest part of a doctorate is not the coursework. It is the moment the cohort disappears, the dissertation begins, and the quiet isolation hits all at once.

Madeline Rowe, PhD and Richard unpack what really happens after structured support fades, why so many PhD students experience a shift from belonging to burnout, and how peer relationships can matter more than formal advising when it comes to surviving the long middle of doctoral work.

Madeline shares how a politically charged undergraduate course first pulled her toward academic freedom, higher education policy, and the systems that shape what gets researched, taught, and said on campus.

Richard adds his own path through admissions and advising, where student-by-student problem-solving eventually pushed him toward policy work and a PhD of his own.

Together, they explore:

Madeline also discusses balancing a doctorate with a master’s in public policy, navigating different academic identities, and learning to trust the evidence that her research was meaningful. Richard reflects on teaching while writing a dissertation, the pressure to meet competing responsibilities, and the institutional policies that shape students’ lives.

If you are a graduate student, doctoral advisor, higher education professional, or anyone interested in PhD completion and student belonging, this candid conversation offers a thoughtful look at what helps scholars persist ... and what can quietly push them away.

Trust is not something you ask for; it is something you prove, one visible act at a time.

Dr. Richard Roman breaks down why the fastest way to rebuild trust in a person, team, organization, or institution is often the least flashy one: showing up, following through, and closing the loop.

Using Hallie Thompson's real-world experience from a Missouri town, a campaign, and her own consulting work, Richard maps trust across four levels (individual, team, organizational, and civic) and connects it to the research behind what actually changes minds and behavior.

If you've ever wondered why mission statements, listening tours, and polished messaging so often fall flat, this episode shows you what works instead. You'll discover:

Richard also puts hard numbers on the current trust crisis, including Pew's finding that only 17% of Americans say they trust the federal government most of the time or always. That matters far beyond politics because when the top layer of trust is depleted, every layer below it starts from a weaker baseline.

This episode is essential listening for leaders, managers, founders, organizers, CHROs, and anyone trying to repair trust that has already been damaged, or avoid breaking it in the first place.

If you need a practical framework for turning abstract trust language into real behavior, this one will give you exactly that.

What if the fastest way to rebuild trust in politics, science, and your community was not to persuade harder, but to listen better?

You’ll discover:

This episode is essential listening for anyone interested in science policy, civic engagement, political trust, community building, local government, systems change, and public service.

Keywords:

Trust is the invisible economy that holds organizations, communities, and even families together, but what happens when it breaks? In this episode, Dr. Richard Roman examines why people stop trusting institutions not because the facts changed, but because the relationship broke down first.

Roman also reveals why personal stories are powerful but not the same as proof, and why a good outcome does not automatically mean an intervention caused it.

From public health to healthcare, HR, government, and leadership, this episode gives you a clear framework for spotting trust breakdowns, understanding what fills the vacuum, and building systems people can actually verify.

If you lead people, care for patients, make policy, or simply want to understand why trust erodes so quickly, this conversation will change the way you think about evidence, credibility, and institutional failure.

She was told her son would never talk, never live independently, never function without lifelong care. She refused to accept it.

In this episode, Tracy Slepcevic, bestselling author of Warrior Mom, founder of the Autism Health Summit, and one of the newest members of the federal Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, speaks with Richard Roman to trace the fault line between the families who lost trust in the healthcare system and the institutions that stopped listening.

From the 1986 Vaccine Injury Act to the design of her own counter-institutional conference, Tracy reveals what happens when a parent's self-trust becomes the only foundation left, and what it takes to build something new from the wreckage.

A conversation about accountability, institutional design, and the question every system should be asking: was this built to serve, or built to protect?

In this episode of Fault Lines, Dr. Richard Roman explores why financial struggle is often not a knowledge problem, but a trust problem.

Richard sits down with Holly Morphew, accredited financial counselor and founder of Financial Impact, to explore the powerful connection between self-trust, money mindset, and long-term financial freedom.

Holly shares the personal story behind her work, including how a health crisis, $67,000 in credit card debt, and years of financial anxiety shaped the coaching philosophy she uses to help others today.

Together, they unpack why so many high-achieving professionals still feel unsafe around money, how our earliest money scripts influence adult behavior, and why financial education should be treated as a public good.

Holly also explains the difference between financial advising and financial coaching, why she sees money as an infinite game, and how her simple but effective system helps people build assets, increase income, and create sustainable habits.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by your finances, struggled with debt, or wanted a healthier relationship with money, this conversation offers practical wisdom and a human perspective on what it really takes to build wealth.

Learn more about Holly’s work at financialimpact.com.

In this episode, host Richard Roman explores a powerful idea: trust in organizations is not built by certainty, but by imagination.

Building on insights from a prior conversation with Rae Greiner, he attempts to illustrate why the best leaders don’t just verify behavior: they develop the judgment to understand people in context.

Richard breaks down the difference between rule thinking and case thinking explains the “certainty trap” that causes organizations to over-rely on process and data, and makes the case for a more human approach to leadership, one grounded in empathy, humility, and the willingness to revise your judgment when new information appears.

If you lead teams, shape culture, or want a more compelling framework for understanding why trust breaks and how it can be rebuilt, this episode offers a sharp, thought-provoking lens on the real work of leadership.

Listen now to rethink what trust really requires and how to build organizations that are sturdier under pressure.

Host Richard Roman welcomes Rae Greiner, associate professor and editor of Victorian Studies, to explore how 18th- and 19th-century novels trained readers to think beyond simple rules and certainty, and why trust, sympathy, and moral judgment are far more complicated than they first appear.

The conversation traces the rise of the sentimental and Gothic novel, the shifting relationship between reason and feeling, and how writers like Jane Austen, Dickens, Emily Brontë, and Henry James use narrative to test our assumptions about truth, morality, and human behavior.

Dr. Greiner also breaks down Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments and explains why sympathy is not just a feeling, but a process of imagination, interpretation, and case-by-case judgment.

Along the way, we discuss unreliable narrators, the ethics of withholding judgment, and how literature reflects the messiness of real life.

If you’ve ever wondered why stories can make us cry, laugh, distrust, or rethink what we believe, this episode offers a fascinating look at how fiction shapes the way we understand ourselves and others.

In this episode, Dr. Richard Roman explores a powerful question: what happens when boys grow up without healthy initiation, mentorship, and emotional permission?

Building on a prior conversation with Dan Doty, Richard examines the science behind masculine identity formation, the “boy code,” and the developmental cost of emotional suppression in men.

Using research from psychology, anthropology, and public health, this episode breaks down why rites of passage, intergenerational mentorship, wilderness experiences, and structured vulnerability matter so much for boys and men.

Richard connects these findings to urgent real-world issues including male loneliness, depression, suicide risk, help-seeking avoidance, and the collapse of male mentorship networks.

You’ll learn:

If you care about men’s mental health, fatherhood, mentorship, youth development, or the future of healthy masculinity, this conversation offers a grounded, evidence-based perspective on one of the most important social issues of our time.

Listen now to hear why the initiation gap matters, and what it will take to build stronger boys, healthier men, and more connected communities.