This week, join us for our own retrospective on the year, and a look forward to next. We'll talk a bit about all the data in a year of GLaD, the highs and lows of Work/Life Balance in a year of "too much yes", the NYT Spelling Bee, and all the new and awesome Geography and Data that came with the year.

As always, let us know how your year in GLaD went by emailing us at [email protected]

Until next year!

Today, we’re talking about what some would characterize the “topic” of the XXIst Century (others might perhaps not!): Digital Twins. Are we excited about them? Are our eyes so rolled that they’ll never recover? Or is this excited Vs eyeroll dichotomy not very helpful at all? Above all, what even are Digital Twins?

- Here is the Commentary Rachel mentions (free access):

Malleson, N., Franklin, R., Arribas-Bel, D., Cheng, T., & Birkin, M. (2024). Digital twins on trial: Can they actually solve wicked societal problems and change the world for better? Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 51(6), 1181-1186. https://doi.org/10.1177/23998083241262893

- The DT project for a bridge in Amsterdam, by The Alan Turing Institute: https://www.turing.ac.uk/about-us/impact/bridging-gap-between-physical-and-digital

- AI for continuous environmental project mentioned by Levi: https://waterinnovation.challenges.org/winners/ai-algal-monitoring/

- Larger scale aquatic “digital twin” project at Turing, mentioned by Levi: https://www.turing.ac.uk/research/research-projects/probabilistic-programming-aquatic-ecosystem-models

In this episode your fearless co-hosts, Dani, Levi, and Rachel, talk about visibility and making a place for oneself in the worlds of research and academia. We chat about brands (do you need one?), clout (is it a thing?), and whether there's agreement about what it means to be an academic duck (maybe?). We've also got advice and lots of GLaD banter.  

Today, we’re tightening our laces, checking our syllabi, and coming to terms with the coming term. Do you plan ahead? Or let the waves of work wash over you? Join Dani, Rachel, and Levi to chat about what it's like going back to school. 

As always, let us know what you think by emailing us at [email protected]. We read every email, and if there's anything you're keen to hear us discuss, we'd love to hear it!

If the academic life course were a sport, what would it be? Marathon? Hurdles? Bobsled? Find out how your GLaD co-hosts answer that question in this episode, as we discuss academic life course events, the various burdens that assail us at every stage, and how we manage (or don't).

Today, we’re giving you a sneak peek behind the editor’s desk at a peer-reviewed journal. Many academics publish, but organizing reviews, reproduction materials, and making the first (and final) call on a manuscript can be a very unique experience. We hope to answer your questions about life as an editor, and talk a little bit about efforts we’ve seen (or done) to make the process a little bit fairer, faster, and better.

Let us know what you liked at [email protected] We love hearing from you about questions or ideas for who you'd like to hear on GLaD. Thanks for listening! 

For this episode, we’re joined by David O’Sullivan to talk about his forthcoming book, Computing Geographically: Bridging GIScience and Geography.

We talk about how the book came together, what's in it, and also how "computing geographically" fits into the bigger picture of geography, (David's) life, and data. There's lots about David's disciplinary origin story, career trajectory, and how geographical analysis and computation align with the discipline of geography.

This is also the episode in which Rachel opens with a comment about our new recording platform and then proceeds to record using her headphone mic, with the result that she sounds as if she's talking into a tin can. Apologies in advance.

Today, we have a second “a day in the life of…” conversation, where we interview GLaD folks to get the scoop and the behind-the-scenes view on what it is like to live their life.

This time, we’re chatting with Dr Darla Munroe. Darla is director of research at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, leading efforts to support and coordinate the collective body of knowledge produced through the Institute’s work and fostering research strategies to advance its policy and educational activities. She is a geographer with research interests in economic-environmental interactions, especially forested ecosystems at the urban-rural interface globally.

Let us know what you liked at [email protected] We love hearing from you about questions or ideas for who you'd like to hear on GLaD. Thanks for listening! 

In this episode your GLaD team gets into the holiday spirit with an energetic conversation about how we're feeling about cities in 2023—because, let's face it, cities have had a bit of a hard time these past few years. Maybe their purpose is changing? Maybe it's a blip? Or maybe cities are just as awesome as they've always been.

For this extra special holiday episode, Rachel, Dani, and Levi are joined in their virtual studio by three fantastic guests: Elizabeth Delmelle from City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania, Özge Öner from Land Economy at the University of Cambridge, and Jon Reades from the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) at UCL.

Listen to find out who is Team City and who is more...Team Cities Kind of Suck Right Now...

Today, we’re trialing a new episode format: “a day in the life of…”, where we’ll be interviewing GLaD folks to get the scoop and the behind-the-scenes view on what it is like to live their life. As inaugural guest, we have the pleasure of welcoming to the studio a rock star of maps: Professor James Cheshire. Join us for a conversation spanning from James' origins and first steps into mapmaking all the way his current dual life as the director of a data science institute and successful book author.

Remember we now have a mailbox where you can reach us with comments, suggestions, critique and praise, and maybe even hot takes! Send your thoughts to [email protected] and, while you're at it, give us a rate wherever you listen to GLaD, it's single best thing you can do to help the podcast (that, and telling your friends about it!).

Rachel, Levi, Dani.