This podcast is an open-ended conversation with Dr (Captain) Bikram S. Bhatia about how he became interested in researching seafarers hours of rest and work. From family expectations to workplace realities, it is Bikram's search for meaning and purpose.

It is a lesson in understanding that our questions and our curiosity cannot be separated from our research. The formal and the informal; the subjective and the objective; the researcher and the research are always in a dance.

I always imagined this conversation to be a cafe chat between two ex-mariners - informal and replete with stories of past ships. 

I could have titled this podcast many things:

👉 A personal conversation with a social scientist 

👉 The inside story of ‘objective research’

👉 The myth of the scientific method (a great reading)

👉 Stop saying I'm unbiased

👉 The power of storytelling 

But I chose to call it ‘The Confessions of a Researcher’. 

From enclosed space fatalities to seafarers fatigue and mental health, the maritime industry tries to hard to claim authority and win trust through evidence-based research. And yet, it is often in our vulnerabilities and our stories that we bring people together and create opportunities for unlearning, learning and change. 

I found this conversation with Bikram deeply personal and relatable to my own life stories. I hope someone standing their midnight watch in the middle of the ocean will listen to this podcast and find meaning and hope in this story. 

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