The Professor Is In

So many PhDs who didn’t get the job you dreamed of struggle with regret about past decisions, especially the one to do the PhD in the first place, but also choices about programs, or jobs, or sacrifices made along the way. You call them all “mistakes.” In this episode, Karen and Kel dig into that pattern and advocate instead for the radical honesty of sitting with your choices, and knowing you made the best decision you could based on the information you had. Replacing regret with grieving opens space for you to feel your strength to make a new decision now with the new information and experiences you’ve gained. This means embracing the truth of “not knowing” (a hard thing for academics!) You didn’t know then what would happen, and you don’t know now what CAN happen – but you have so many skills waiting for their chance to shine.

[Become a subscribing member for just $3.99 a month and get access to our subscriber only goodies like free webinar recordings, AMAs, the chance to suggest topics, access to the podcast video from our house in Oregon, and — new from this week – live videos with Karen and Kel on Friday mornings, all on our dedicated podcast member page on Mighty Networks!]

In this episode we share a 2-part practice from Kel and a saying from Karen’s mom, to help you challenge your toxic relationship to the academy and gain clarity about how best to move forward. Kel tells you how to draw a mental map (or a physical map) of your work spaces so you can check in on your own bodily and emotional reactions to get a more precise sense of where things “hurt” in your job; and then, how to bring in a talisman of joy to remind you that you can feel joy and that you’re entitled to. This 2-part practice helps you reclaim agency vis-a-vis your work and get accuracy about what parts you love or hate and need to change. Then we turn to Karen’s mom’s aphorism: don’t be a victim of your lesser talents. We talk how your view of your talents (ie, skills) can evolve from greater to lesser (and vice versa) as your life values change – and letting them change is the key to moving forward!

[Become a subscribing member for just $3.99 a month and get access to our subscriber only goodies like free webinar recordings, AMAs, the chance to suggest topics, access to the podcast video from our house in Oregon, and — new from this week – live videos with Karen and Kel on Friday mornings, all on our dedicated podcast member page on Mighty Networks!]

First off, it’s our first podcast episode on the new platform and with a new editor, the amazing Stephanie-Blair Watts of Firehouse Visuals in Detroit.

Check out Stephanie-Blair’s incredible, mind-blowing work in graphic design, photography, music promotion, and styling, as well as audio and visual editing at the website and on Instagram. We are beyond thrilled to be working with her.

OK, to the episode: Karen and Kel dig deep into the struggle of changing your relationship to the academy, whether you decide to leave it or not. Hitting rock bottom means, reaching the point where you will no longer accept abuse or exploitation. For some that will mean moving on to a non-academic career. For some that will mean setting firm boundaries within the academic career you already have. In fact: a lot of times people leave the academy while still enmeshed in a toxic relationship with it, and stay trapped in a cycle of bitterness and regret. Karen says some hard truths about adjuncting, and we talk about being the friends who, seeing you stuck in an abusive relationship, encourage you, with increasing urgency, to leave.

[Become a subscribing member for just $3.99 a month and get access to our subscriber only goodies like free webinar recordings, AMAs, the chance to suggest topics, access to the podcast video from our house in Oregon, and — new from this week – live videos with Karen and Kel on Friday mornings, all on our dedicated podcast member page on Mighty Networks!]

In this episode, the final one we record on the Himalaya platform (the podcast will continue, just on a different platform - follow our social media for links) we talk about the need for a hard reset in the face of the devastating Fall increase in covid infections and the further collapse of the academic career. A hard reset means on one hand, remembering the good systems you might have put in place last March to deal with the pandemic, and bringing them back. On the other hand, recalibrate your relationship to the academy, so that no matter whether you stay or leave, you are operating autonomously and without delusional beliefs in the academy's "goodness" and academic exceptionalism. This starts a new series on concrete advice to leave the academy.

In this episode, the final one we record on the Himalaya platform (the podcast will continue, just on a different platform – follow our social media for links) we talk about the need for a hard reset in the face of the devastating Fall increase in covid infections and the further collapse of the academic career. A hard reset means on one hand, remembering the good systems you might have put in place last March to deal with the pandemic, and bringing them back. On the other hand, recalibrate your relationship to the academy, so that no matter whether you stay or leave, you are operating autonomously and without delusional beliefs in the academy’s “goodness” and academic exceptionalism. This starts a new series on concrete advice to leave the academy.

Recorded the day after the Vice Presidential Debate, this episode delves into Imposter Syndrome and how way too often, women and especially women of color individualize and personalize what are actually structural obstacles meant to impede their success. Drawing inspiration from Sonya Renee Taylor, Karen and Kel talk about how to stay centered in your authenticity and refuse the messages of “not belonging.”

Recorded the day after the Breonna Taylor verdict was announced, this episode talks about productivity. if you can’t get your work done right now, it’s ok. If you CAN work, why can you work? Why are white people so “ok” in the face of this anti-blackness? And more broadly, who does productivity serve? Karen and Kel talk about the dangers of chasing belonging in a system that despite its gaslighting stories about itself, does not exist to save or protect or nurture you.

With the COVID collapse of academic hiring, catastrophic weather events, and the appalling slide into fascism in the US, more and more of us are forced to confront realities that we never expected, that are painful, and frightening. Drawing from the inspiration of the fabulous actor and gender provocateur Billy Porter, who has shared his process of "slowing down" to connect to his authentic self in a hostile world, Karen and Kel discuss what it means to hit rock bottom and confront the sorrow of things not panning out. With slow and careful attention, it's possible to remember that we don't need particular institutions (ie, academia) to be who we are, and to remember that conversely, desperate scrambling to evade that sorrow keeps us off-kilter and susceptible to exploitation. Once we "stop digging," in the AA metaphor, we can stop rationalizing self-defeating actions (such as adjuncting out of desperation to remain inside an academic fantasy-land) and operate from a place of strength and self-knowledge.

With the COVID collapse of academic hiring, catastrophic weather events, and the appalling slide into fascism in the US, more and more of us are forced to confront realities that we never expected, that are painful, and frightening. Drawing from the inspiration of the fabulous actor and gender provocateur Billy Porter, who has shared his process of “slowing down” to connect to his authentic self in a hostile world, Karen and Kel discuss what it means to hit rock bottom and confront the sorrow of things not panning out. With slow and careful attention, it’s possible to remember that we don’t need particular institutions (ie, academia) to be who we are, and to remember that conversely, desperate scrambling to evade that sorrow keeps us off-kilter and susceptible to exploitation. Once we “stop digging,” in the AA metaphor, we can stop rationalizing self-defeating actions (such as adjuncting out of desperation to remain inside an academic fantasy-land) and operate from a place of strength and self-knowledge.

Recorded while in the middle of catastrophic Oregon fires, this episode departs from advice to talk about coping with the present moment. Instead of lamenting “2020,” Karen and Kel talk about “leaning in” to the discomfort and trauma of our present reality: that all of this misery is the direct result of cause and effect–the logical outcomes of unfettered capitalism, greed, racism, and social abandonment. Coping with the present moment means both ceasing to fight or deny reality, as well as embracing joy and rest wherever it can be found. With inspiration from the teachings of Pema Chodron and the Nap Ministry, we remind listeners and ourselves that creative action (whether its a side hustle, coping with an impossible daily schedule, or agitating for political transformation) can only come from a rested mind.