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Episode 17

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Published on:

8th Feb 2024

Celebrating 100!

Taking this time to celebrate CAL100 – the 100th episode for the Changing Academic Life podcast series (actually 109th episode if we count the nine related work episodes) and thanks to all the people who have been part of making it happen.

To update and correct the information about Dr Paddy Barrett who inspired this podcast:

His original podcast was called 'The Doctor Paradox'. He is a preventive cardiologist not an anaesthetist as I stated. And he is now working in Ireland not the US!

Transcript
Geri:

Welcome to Changing Academic Life.

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I'm Geraldine Fitzpatrick, and this is

a podcast series where academics and

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others share their stories, provide

ideas, and provoke discussions about what

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we can do individually and collectively

to change academic life for the better.

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Welcome to the changing academic life.

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100th episode.

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CAL 100, who would have thought.

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I tell the students in

my PhD course called.

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From surviving to thriving.

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About the importance of taking time to

stop, say at the end of the year or end

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of whatever period, and just look back at

what you've achieved and take some time.

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To savor the accomplishments

and to celebrate them.

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And I was going to let CAL 100 just

go by with the next conversation, but

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I challenged myself to walk the talk.

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So.

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I want to use this short episode just to

celebrate 100 episodes of the podcast.

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And in fact it's more than 100

because during the pandemic, I also

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experimented with a different category

of podcasts that I called related work.

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So there are nine related work podcasts,

and that's where I spent some time,

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just more reflecting myself on a

particular topic, whether it was about

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strengths or finding the sweet spot in

a management and supervision and so on.

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And I've stopped doing those

as separate categories.

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And I'm just now doing any of the solo

episodes or conversation episodes all

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under the same CAL episode number.

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So as the official CAL episode, this is

CAL 100 and there are nine related works.

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That's actually 109

episodes of the podcast.

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And it's interesting for me to

stop and reflect here on, on the

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story of starting the podcast.

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And I had been struck in doing a lot

of doctoral colloquium or early career

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workshops with people at conferences

and just talking to colleagues.

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Just the increasing pressure that

people, it felt like people were

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under in, in academia, in research.

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And my concern about what sort

of culture we were creating

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that was doing this to people.

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And this was the early days of

podcasts, relatively speaking, in

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terms of becoming more popular.

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And I happened to come

across a podcast by Dr.

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Paddy Barrett.

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Who's an Irish doctor

working in the us somewhere.

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I think he was an anaesthetist And he

had a podcast that he now calls the Dr.

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Paddy Barrett podcast.

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And I can't remember what it was

called when he first started.

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That was specifically

focused on clinician burnout.

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And it was really good because it was

about people sharing their stories about,

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you know, the pressures that they were

under and how they were dealing with that.

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And I remember listening to this

podcast and in the middle of it.

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Just having this gut feel

this gut certainty of.

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This is something I could do similarly

for researchers for academics.

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And I don't know how to describe

it because it wasn't an intellectual

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process of, I wonder if I could do this.

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It was a gut thing of

almost like I had to do it.

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I know that it connects to lots

of things that I like doing.

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I've always been a, I guess,

a bit of a people person.

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I have always loved

hearing people's stories.

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And.

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Just.

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I guess listening to people, People will

joke that if I can take a taxi journey

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and I can know everything about the taxi

drivers life by the end of the journey.

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So it was connecting to that

sort of strength and interest.

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And it also connects to my research

perspective as a qualitative researcher,

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which is also very much interested

in, in the real stories of people

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on the ground and not the neat model

version or the neat CV version in the

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case of, of academics and researchers.

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Because I could see the value that people

got say in our workshops or doctoral

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colloquia . When they got to share each

other's stories and often the values of

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those events, wasn't so much when people

talked about their research topic per

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se, but when they shared the fact that

they're all dealing with the same sort

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of stresses or pressures or concerns,

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And so I thought there was a way

of maybe using a podcast format.

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To bring those conversations and stories.

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People's stories.

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To a broader audience so that we could

realize that we're not the only ones

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feeling something or feeling concern.

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And it main thing too, was not just that

we would feel like we weren't the only

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ones, but recognizing that we're all

resourceful people in different ways.

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And we can learn so much from each

other as well about the different

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tips and tricks that people have for

how they navigate the challenges.

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So I had this deep conviction that

this is something I just had to do,

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which is funny because even though

I've got a computer science degree,

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I'm actually not very technical.

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As everyone will tell you, And the

challenge of actually trying to work out.

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What were the tools I needed and the

platforms and just navigating all of the

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technical side was a big deal for me.

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It wasn't fitting to my

natural strengths at all.

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But it.

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It was stuff I needed

to work out how to do.

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In order to, to deliver on this

gut passion that I had to bring

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stories to, . Around academia.

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So the first episode went

rd of July,:

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And.

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I remember going to our big, main

conference, in the computer human

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interaction area in 2016 in may,

and taking that as an opportunity to

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connect to a couple of people to record

a couple of the first interviews.

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And my very first interview was

with the wonderful Carl Gutwin

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who is a good colleague and peer.

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We probably went through our PhDs

around a similar time together.

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And I've wanted to do my first

interview with someone who I felt

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safe with and who I just, you know, I

just loved talking with Carl as well.

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And I'd really encourage you to

go back and listen to that very

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first episode because he's amazing.

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He's really amazing.

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And so since that time

I've been continuing to.

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More opportunistically, I guess.

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Connect to people when I could.

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And that could be at conferences to, to.

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Catch them in and get them

just to tell their story.

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, or if people happen to be

visiting our institution, I would.

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nab them as they came through and ask

them would you like to sit down and

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have a chat with me or if I was visiting

other institutions, I might identify some

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people there and just say, you know, would

you sit down and have a chat with me?

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I started off doing the stories,

trying to keep them, trying to do

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the interviews more and keeping

to about 20 minutes, half an hour.

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But I soon found that.

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I don't know, people started to open

up more as the time went on and.

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I know maybe I could shape the

interviews in a much more structured

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way, but I guess I'm more interested,

maybe reflecting my qualitative

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research background in, in seeing the

stories that emerged with prompting.

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I always know why I want

to talk to someone what's

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interesting about their story.

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But I'm always surprised by what comes

out and even with people who I think I

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know, well, just talking to people in a

different way, you learn different things.

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And so while it has been more

opportunistic, I hope I've been

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able to bring a range of different

people at different career

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stages in different institutions.

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Different countries, different

cultural backgrounds working in

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industry, working in industry research,

working in academia and so on.

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There are a couple of the interviews

have also been with people who might

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call more experts in their field.

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And I'm thinking here, for example

of the discussion with Michael Bungay

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Stanier about taming the advice

monster, and just a different way of

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how we can help support people and

help them develop their own expertise.

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And, also discussions with Oscar

Trimboli about better listening skills.

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And I think these speak to a lot of the

skills that we all need within our work.

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So it's been my honor and privilege.

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To have been.

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Part of bringing so many

different people's stories.

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To a broader audience.

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And as I said, I also experimented

with some more solo formats and.

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This is something that I struggle

with in the podcast is I don't

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want them to be about me.

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I'd want them very much to be about

the people that I'm talking with.

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But I'm also recognizing that.

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You know, through experience

and through training.

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I also perhaps have things to share

or my own experiences to share.

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As part of a learning journey and

certainly coming from a position

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of not having got it all right.

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And always being a learner.

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I think that the experiences.

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In the conversations with people

and hearing similar sorts of things

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again and again, and again, it was

also part of my motivation for going

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and doing an additional master's

degree in applied positive psychology

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and coaching psychology, because I

very much felt like that provided.

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An evidence base and a toolkit

to help address many of the

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challenges that people are facing.

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And.

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And again, the privilege of being able to

play them out and share those with people

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through, for example, the leadership

development course Austen Rainer and

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I co-facilitate for informatics Europe.

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And there is an episode with Austin,

just talking about his own story.

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And also another episode where we

talk about the leadership course.

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And also running various other

workshops and courses and facilitation

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and mentoring and coaching for

people and speaking with people.

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And doing, doing talks in

that, on these sort of topics.

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Because I am really concerned about how we

can change academic life for the better.

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And recognizing that change

needs to happen both from the top

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down, bottom up and middle out.

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That we can all have a part to play in it.

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And whether it's just in the way we

recognize and greet and acknowledge

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the people that we work with day to

day, or whether we're in more positions

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of power, where we can influence

policies and structures and processes.

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But I really do believe we can all do

something to be part of changing it.

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I'm encouraged as we've reflected in

some of the past episodes also about.

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Many of the initiatives happening at

national geographical international

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levels around rethinking forms of research

assessments that often contributing to

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the pressures that, that people are under.

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the emphasis on promoting wellbeing for

the importance of good science, because we

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can't bring our best selves to our work.

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If we're burnt out, worn out , stressed

out or playing the academic game of

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getting yet more papers yet more.

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Funding grants to list on our CVs.

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So.

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I'm also encouraged that there's

change happening at multiple levels.

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And , I'm very grateful to you, the

listener , I, as I said, sometimes,

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Over the course of this doing the

podcast has been a lot of work.

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I often have a little chuckle to myself

when you listen to other people's

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podcasts and they thank all the

producers and the, you know, all the

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different people who have different

roles to play in getting the podcast out.

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And, I just have a

little chuckle because.

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It's me.

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And, so as I said, it's been a learning

curve to try to work out how to process

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audio and how to put together podcasts

and moving to a different platform in

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the past year for processing these.

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But all that work is so worthwhile

because of the feedback that I hear

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from you about how they connect.

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How they encourage you, that

there are different ways of doing

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academia, how it encourages you in

hearing different people's stories.

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That, that you are not the only person

engaging in a particular issue or

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challenge how it encourages you to take

a stance or to be part of making change.

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So I'm really grateful

to you for listening.

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I'm particularly grateful to those

of you who've taken the time just to.

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To write and share the ways in which

a particular episode has connected.

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Or whatever.

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Because that really helps.

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It also helps me get a sense of.

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What I should try to focus on more.

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So I won't go on too long here.

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What I would ask.

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Is, as a call, as I said, I'm not very

comfortable with the self promotion or

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with social media promotion for this.

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And I'm trying to grapple with this

for myself, because at the same time,

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I do want to see these conversations,

get out to respect the time and

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vulnerability and honesty of the

people who share their stories with me.

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I feel like I have a responsibility

to, to get their stories out.

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I also know, given that the, from

the feedback I've heard that it does

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connect, that it can make a difference.

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How do I increase the reach of this?

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So I want to ask you if you would be part

of helping to promote this by sharing it

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with your colleagues, with people in your

faculty, with your students, by making

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some of these parts of your conversations.

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It could be where you might listen

to an episode together and discuss

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it, or, send me, messages, email,

whatever, with ideas that you have

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for what else you'd like to hear.

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And I'd also like to make a

call to ask you, what's your gut

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saying, like I'm saying that I

started this purely on a gut-feel.

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What's the, what's the yearning

in the back of your mind

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beyond your job description.

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About what you think you could do.

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What's what's the idea germinating

in your head or in your gut?

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About what could be

done, that's different.

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And whether that is.

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Just starting up some sort of peer

support group in your own institution or.

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Or being part of some sort of

facilitating some sort of working group

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or whatever, like what, what is the idea.

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The contribution that you can make.

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What's the thing that you're saying.

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Oh if only someone did.

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Or someone should do.

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What about you?

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If not you doing it.

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Who who would do it if

you've got the idea?

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Go for it.

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And if not now, then when.

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So I just want to courage

you and empower you to say.

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Go with that feeling of how you

can contribute and how you can

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be part of making a difference.

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And.

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Don't over think it.

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Just get started.

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Yeah, cause I guess that's the story

of the podcast just getting started

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And I have had lots of help along the way.

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I'm very grateful to people in my group.

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Who've just contributed

different tips and tricks.

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Around some of the tools,

some of the platforms.

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The support of the human computer

interaction group at TU Vienna for

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paying for some of the licenses

for some of the platforms.

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Cause it's not cheap either.

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I'm particularly grateful

to my partner, Mark.

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Who's also been very supportive

in helping me with it with some of

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the more technical side of things.

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And thanks to Dara Emerson, who's

been helping to develop a new website.

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We have a temporary new

website up at the moment.

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And when the final new website

is up, there will be more ways to

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connect to playlists that collate

episodes that are covering similar

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themes, because there've been so many

interesting, different themes that have

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emerged across all of the podcasts.

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Whether it's about navigating different

career stages, navigating tenure

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track, dealing with burnout, managing

boundaries different ways of playing

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out leadership and so on and so on.

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So the new website, when it is

up, will provide better ways of

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searching and navigating the podcasts.

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In the meantime though , some of the

transcripts from the older episodes

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aren't available at the moment.

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That's all on the to-do list.

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If you do need one in particular, just

email me and I can post it to you.

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And while we're on the topic of the

transcripts, I'd also like to thank

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Sabrina Burtscher, Silke Buchberger,

Katharina Werner, and Raphael.

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Vrecar from our group for helping

with the backlog of transcripts

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from the older episodes.

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Even though we have some automatic

transcription tools, they still need an

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awful lot of work to correct their errors.

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So keep an eye open for the

new new website, not just the

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new, temporary new website.

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And finally just to close, I, I want to

repeat my gratitude to all of the people

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who've sat down and had a chat with me.

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Who've shared so powerfully and

generously and honestly their own stories.

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And I'm grateful to you as well because

you make it worthwhile in being part of

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the community for how we can all together,

change academic life for the better.

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So, thank you.

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And I'm just really, really

amazed and happy to be here,

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celebrating the 100th CAL episode.

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Yay.

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You can find the summary

notes, a transcript and related

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links for this podcast on www.

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changingacademiclife.

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com.

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You can also subscribe to

Changing Academic Life on iTunes,

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Spotify and Google Podcasts.

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And you can follow

ChangeAcadLife on Twitter.

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And I'm really hoping that we can

widen the conversation about how

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we can do academia differently.

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And you can contribute to this by rating

the podcast and also giving feedback.

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And if something connected with

you, please consider sharing this

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podcast with your colleagues.

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Together, we can make change happen.

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About the Podcast

Changing Academic Life
What can we do, individually and collectively, to change academic life to be more sustainable, collaborative and effective? This podcast series offers long-form conversations with academics and thought leaders who share stories and insights, as well as bite-size musings on specific topics drawing on literature and personal experience.
For more information go to https://changingacademiclife.com
Also see https://geraldinefitzpatrick.com to leave a comment.
NOTE: this is an interim site and missing transcripts for the older podcasts. Please contact me to request specific transcripts in the meanwhile.

About your host

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Geraldine Fitzpatrick

Geraldine Fitzpatrick (Geri Fitz), is an awarded Professor i.R. at TU Wien, with degrees in Informatics, and in Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology, after a prior career as a nurse/midwife. She has International experience working in academic, research, industry and clinical settings. She is a sought-after facilitator, speaker, trainer and coach who cares about creating environments in which people can thrive, enabling individual growth, and creating collegial collaborative cultures. She works with academics and professionals at all levels, from senior academic leaders, to mid and early career researchers, to PhD students. She is also a mentor for academics and has been/is on various Faculty evaluation panels and various International Advisory Boards. An example of a course is the Academic Leadership Development Course for Informatics Europe, run in conjunction with Austen Rainer, Queens Uni Belfast. She also offers bespoke courses.