Midnight at the Casablanca

Liz Ferguson is the Senior Vice President for Research Publishing at Wiley. For this season finale episode, Paul and Lauren have joined forces to bring you a fascinating conversation with Liz, exploring the changing open access landscape over the past 15 years, the role of learned societies in the publishing ecosystem, the rise of research integrity issues in scholarly publishing, and the rollout of the Research Exchange platform across Wiley's journal portfolio.

Rebecca McLeod is Managing Director of the Harvard Data Science Review, and current President of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. In this candid episode, Rebecca speaks with Lauren Kane about the future of academy-led innovation, navigating race and class divides, and what it means to be a “wartime president.” 


Christian Grubak is CEO of ChronosHub, the Copenhagen-based publishing workflow company acquired by the American Chemical Society in 2023. In this entertaining episode, Christian speaks with Lauren Kane about choosing coding over college, the highs and lows of the cofounder experience, and the key to preserving a startup culture within one of the industry's most revered organizations. 

Abhi Arun took over as the CEO of the publishing services company TNQ in 2016 and led the company to a successful exit in 2014. Following the sale, Abhi took on a new role as CEO of Enago as well as its parent company Crimson Interactive.

Thane Kerner, the co-founder of Silverchair and Hum, has been at the forefront of technological innovation in scholarly publishing from the earliest experiments with digital distribution in the 1990s (think CD-ROMs and PDAs) through the current transformation the industry is undergoing in the age of AI.

Timo Hannay has had a profound impact on scholarly communications, playing a pivotal role in nurturing a generation of startups and new technologies that continue to shape our landscape. In this must-listen interview, Timo speaks with host Paul Peters about founding (and ultimately leaving) Digital Science, his current roles and projects, and his thoughts on the potential impact of AI on education, publishing, and the fundamental nature of conscious beings

Vicky Williams is CEO of Emerald Publishing, the global publisher of academic journals and books. In this candid episode, Vicky speaks with Lauren Kane about the highs and lows of her career journey, navigating Emerald’s sale process to Cambridge Information Group in 2022, and why speaking up in support of science, academic freedom, and DEI is both mission—and business—critical.

Andrew Preston is one of scholarly communications' most prolific entrepreneurs, co-founding three successful startups--Publons, Cassyni, and Signals--and supporting many more as an investor and advisor. In conversation with host and fellow Scholarly Angel Paul Peters, Andrew talks about moving on from his physics postdoc, the lessons he has for tomorrow's startup founders, and the critical role that the people around him have played in both his life and career. 

Dana Compton is Publisher and MD at ASCE, one of the largest technical membership organizations in the US. In this revealing episode, Dana speaks with Lauren Kane on the future of scientific societies, refusing to abandon DEI, and how sitting in traffic might just change your life.

Richard Bennett has held sales and commercial leadership roles at many of scholarly publishing’s largest publishers and most promising startups. In this unfiltered episode, Richard speaks with Paul Peters on their time together at Hindawi, the ups and downs of high profile acquisitions, and why being a parent is the best job in the world.