Bryan and Steve discuss challenges with following unclear, conflicting, or unchecked policies in academic environments. They discuss difficulties with understanding these and also discuss strategies they’ve employed to handle these challenging situations in academia.

Bryan and Steve discuss challenges and ramifications of instances of poorly set expectations between graduate students (i.e., advisees) and faculty (i.e., advisors). Hopefully the stories resonate and possibly even give some tips for how to handle these if they relate to your academic situation. Enjoy!

Bryan and Steve discuss the hypothetical scenario of federal funding for research suddenly drying up. What might happen at universities? How would faculty react? Who knows if we're right or not, but hopefully it offers food for thought. Enjoy!

Bryan and Steve discuss their experiences in receiving (and sometimes making) excuses related to working with others. When is a "yes" a "yes"? When is it really a "no"?

Bryan and Steve discuss their concerns with the peer review process that research papers currently follow and offer some food-for-thought suggestions for changing the process (none of which are likely to actually happen). Despite their grouchy tone, they recognize the value that this process provides for research, so take their thoughts with a grain of salt. Hope you enjoy!

Bryan and Steve discuss their thoughts on sharing research ideas or not. They talk about risks associated with both sharing and withholding ideas. Enjoy!

Professor and Associate Dean Denise Simmons of the University of Florida joins us to discuss her experiences with being “FOIA’d” (Freedom of Information Act). This conversation is really eye opening about the processes and emotions that may follow a FOIA request related to a given study. Enjoy!

Professor Matt Morris (University of Colorado Boulder) joins us to discuss his journey to academia via a first career in the military and second career in private industry. We haven't had the opportunity to talk much with teaching faculty, so his perspective is a nice change of pace from most of our prior focus areas. Enjoy!

Bryan and Steve discuss the value of playfulness in academic discussions. They talk about the benefits they’ve observed in having playful conversations that are not aimed at specific objectives or outputs. They talk about how these discussions have led to rich collaborations despite the seemingly wasteful effort spent on discussing topics that are not immediately productive. Enjoy!

Professor Vineeth Dharmapalan (Assistant Professor, University of Hawaii at Manoa) talks about his recent move from a mostly teaching-focused institution to one with more research focus. He also discusses some of the professional and personal reasons that guided his move, as well as some of the challenges experienced in the process. Enjoy!