This week, Kelly and I sit down to talk with Shana Youngdahl, Assistant Professor of English at UMF. She teaches creative writing here at the university, and she also just had a book come out: As Many Nows as I Can Get. It got a starred review in Kirkus and has appeared on multiple “best of” lists, which is all pretty awesome. Oh. Did I mention one of those lists was “New York Public Library Top 10 Best Books of the Year?” Yeah. Kind of a big deal. So it was great to have her on the show and talk

In this episode, Kelly and I are joined by Matt Jacobson, IT Support Services Manager, to talk about the relatively new MakerSpace on campus. Have questions about what a MakerSpace is and why you might want to use one? Here are your answers. And a friendly reminder that if you’re a UMF student, staff, or faculty member, you’ve got access to free 3D printing in the library. Check it out! Right click to download audio file.

In this episode, Kelly and I are joined once again by Michael Johnson, who has another book out, because he’s just that impressive. This one is Can’t Stand Still, a biography of Taylor Gordon. If you’re like me and have no idea who Taylor Gordon was, you’ll find out more in the podcast, but (spoiler) I can let you know he was a famous African American spiritual singer in the 1920s. Check it out! Right click to download audio file.

In this episode, Kelly and I are joined by Michael Schoeppner, Assistant Professor of History at UMF, whose book Moral Contagion was just released by Cambridge University Press(!) It’s a fascinating look at a real problem in history I had no idea existed until this episode, and it’s got some very interesting implications for the present day. Check it out! Right click to download audio file.

Kelly and I are joined by Kristen Case and Stephen Grandchamp of the New Commons Project to talk about what the project is. You’ve heard me talk about the New Commons before, and I was really excited to have the two of them on the show to discuss all the awesome things they’ve been doing. This month the focus turns to the FEDCO Seed Catalog, and they’ll be screening a free showing of SEED tomorrow night on campus. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then you should give the show a listen. If you already know all

In today’s installment of my ongoing podcast, Professor Jonathan Cohen joins Kelly and me to discuss his work in the field of philosophy. He has a new book out (In Nietzsche’s Footsteps), and we talk about what went into the book, who Nietzsche was, and what the place of philosophy in today’s society is. As always, a great discussion, and worth a listen. Right click to download audio file.

In this episode, Kelly and I sit down with Lori Soucie, who works with students with undeclared majors at the Center for Student Development. We talk about her work, “how did you decide what to be,” and pretty much everything in between. It was a great conversation, and I hope you give it a listen. All of us (hopefully) sooner or later end up in a career we’re happy with, but sometimes the path to that career can be rockier. How can you smooth it out? What are ways of approaching things differently if you just can’t seem to find

In this episode, Kelly and I sit down with Jim Melcher, Professor of Political Science at UMF. Jim’s done more interviews with more people than I can possibly list, from local to national news. He runs a yearly Preview and Review of the Supreme Court cases that are most important (check out the latest here), and I’ve really enjoyed going to those each year. We go over everything from Supreme Court appointments to how a political science professor chooses their news sources. Give it a listen! Right click to download audio file.

In this episode, Kelly and I meet with Steven Pane, Professor of Music at UMF, and a veritable fixture at the Mantor Cafe. Besides his deep, lasting love of coffee, we discuss his studies at the university, with particular attention to the experiences he’s had leading travel abroad sessions to Italy. Why would a student want to do travel abroad? What’s it like? What could they expect out of it? Steve’s got some fantastic stories to share, and it made me insanely jealous of the students who’ve been able to go over with him and the other UMF professors. Give

In this episode, Kelly and I meet with Brad Dearden, Associate Professor of Geography at UMF. If you think being a geography professor means you sit around drawing maps with colored pencils all day, you really need to listen to this to find out what they really do. Adventures in Nepal, Guatemala, China, and more. Geography professors are much closer to Indiana Jones than they have any right to be. These podcasts started as a lark to talk about the library and have a fun time, but I’m learning so much about our faculty here at UMF and the research