PhDivas

Treat yourself! Xine and Liz talk about class and race in the consumerist makeup heaven that is Sephora. Lupita Nyong'o is now the face of Lancome, but our PhDivas have grown up struggling with representation in cosmetics. It's bittersweet finally being able to enter the rarefied realm of beauty... And as academics we're not supposed to care or talk about it.

(FYI Liz loves the Jardin perfume series from Hermes, while Xine's signature fragrance is Tom Ford Black Orchid and is now obsessed with Helmut Lang's Cuiron)

Black Power, Yellow Peril! What happens when Bruce Lee's inheritor is a young African American man from Harlem? Liz and Xine discuss the classic Motown martial arts film The Last Dragon in relation to Bruce Lee's iconic Enter the Dragon. We discuss cultural appropriation, alliance, and adaptation between Blacks and Asians with a focus on Black and Asian American masculinity. Mentions include the work of scholar Vijay Prashad, Jet Li in Romeo Must Die, John Cho in Selfie, Aziz Ansari and Kelvin Yu in Master of None.

#ByeScalia -- black scientists clap back. Liz and Xine discuss Supreme Court Justice Scalia's comments about Blacks benefiting from going to "lesser schools," affirmative action, Abigail Fisher, diversity in university branding, and the history of science. We speak from the heart: Liz on the hurt from these comments and Xine trying to support Liz as a friend.

160+ Asian American & Pacific Islander Groups File Legal Briefs with U.S. Supreme Court in Support of Affirmative Action #edu4all #NotYourWedge: http://asianamericancivilrights.org/160-aapi-groups-file-legal-briefs-with-u-s-supreme-court-in-support-of-affirmative-action

We encourage you to support awesome black women scientists like the ones we have listed below:

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein (@IBJIYONGI)

Danielle Lee, The Urban Scientist (@DNLee5 https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/urban-scientist/about/)

Jedidah Isler, TED Fellow (@JedidahIslerPhD https://www.ted.com/talks/jedidah_isler_how_i_fell_in_love_with_quasars_blazars_and_our_incredible_universe?language=en)

"It looks like I'm missing my girlfriend!" Liz and Xine have a 2 body problem since Liz is at UNC Chapel Hill and Xine is still at Cornell. We talk about the 2-or-more body problem (family and friends are bodies too!). Xine also explains Star Wars to Liz: are we Jedi or Sith? Other topics: books we want to read, The Wiz, #ThanksgivingwithBlackFamilies.

We are still working out the kinks of recording apart from each other -- apologies for the delay and sound quality!

Xine and Liz respond to a listener's question: can someone appropriate their own cultural identity? Xine confesses that she's an Asian person who has never been to Asia. Liz muses about her relationship to her own blackness. Food, fashion, hip hop. Power and history. What's authenticity? Who gets to own culture?

Discussing "truth" across the STEM/humanities divide! Liz explains p-values to Xine. Xine teaches Liz what close reading means. Together, Xine and Liz examine the shifting standards of evidence in popular culture and recent events around police brutality.

‘‘I don’t care to speak to you anymore.’’ Nicki Minaj to her interviewer from New York Times magazine. (!)

Liz and Xine bow before the throne of Nicki Minaj and discuss her role in the current climate of pop culture, racial discourse, and feminism.

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is how to mentor and be mentored in return. Liz and Xine reflect on their PhD experiences and give advice to early career graduate students...eating Sour Patch Kids along the way. What do we wish we knew? Thanks for all of our mentors! #academickindness

"Go back to Hong Kong! Speak English!" Liz interviews Xine about Toronto and multiculturalism, racial consciousness, video games, and her general attitude of defiance in her life and her study of literature. Stay tuned for end of the episode where you will also learn something about Xine that causes her friends a lot of anguish.

Happy belated birthday, Xine!

Liz talks about her dissertation defense aka why Xine went to the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology at 9am on a Wednesday

We are starting a new short format called "Footnotes" to come out between our regular long Thursday episodes! Tidbits, bloopers, and answers to your questions.