Advertise on podcast: The Hayseed Scholar Podcast

The Hayseed Scholar podcast has come to a close. In this farewell episode, Brent's brother Kyle hosts it and they chat about the podcast and why Brent is closing it down. Two friends of the pod, Matt McDonald and Jelena Subotic, also join to mention what they liked and what they (Jelena) did not like about the podcast. Brent closes by asking Kyle, who is a LinkedIn rockstar, about the changing landscape of social media and reaching beyond an academic audience, before the two of them sign-off for good. For those reading these notes, Brent wants to reiterate his thanks to everyone for listening and to all the guests who have been on the podcast and shared their life stories with him, and everyone, over the years.  

Dr. Benjamin de Carvalho joins the Hayseed Scholar podcast. Ben was born in Switzerland to a mother from Norway and a father from Brazil. Ben talks about how that transpired, growing up in Norway, and how a Fulbright brought him to the United States in the late 90's. Ben recounts his time at the New School for his first Master's,  moving to Cambridge for his M.Phil and PhD, and ending back in Norway at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, or NUPI, where he remains gainfully and happily employed, and thriving, to this day.  Ben's impact on International Relations, and its history, includes his pathbreaking work on the 'Big Bangs' of IR with John Hobson and Friend of the Pod Halvard Leira in their 2011 Millennium article, the genesis of which he shares with Brent. It also includes his role, along with a critical mass of others, in founding the Historical IR section of the International Studies Association. Ben closes with how he approaches writing, both on his own and also with collaborators like Dr. Professor Leira, his love of cooking, and more! 

Professor Jason Ralph joins the Hayseed Scholar podcast. Brent has known Jason's work for two decades, but only fairly recently met him in person. Jason grew up in the village of Norton Canes in South Staffordshire near the West Midlands of England.  His father had worked in the coal mines years prior, but then started a business where all of Jason's family would eventually work. The original plan was to get a teaching degree focused in physical education, but that didn't quite work out. Jason's intellectual turn happened in a number of locations - working back at his father's business during breaks while reading the newspapers, in the US during a stint at 'Camp America', which put him close to UMass-Amherst, and then in Wales at Aberystwyth, where he would get his Bachelor's and then Master's, concluding with a PhD in War Studies at King's College London. But it was equal parts critical theory and security, as well as strategic studies and intelligence, that inspired Jason's interests.  Jason's earlier work was on American Exceptionalism and the ICC, including a Review of International Studies article that Brent would read and begin to know Jason's research through. Jason talks about breaking into academia through positions at Exeter, and then Leeds, where he remains to this day. He reflects on his approach to writing, what he does to unwind, how playing the guitar helps with both, and more!

Associate Provost and W. Harold Row Professor of Global Politics Jamie Frueh, of Bridgewater College, joins the Hayseed Scholar podcast. Jamie and Brent have been friends for over 15 years, meeting at the ISA-Northeast conference in 2009. Jamie is also the only (other) person on this podcast besides Brent who is from Iowa, and Jamie also hosts his own podcast, The Teaching Curve. Jamie talks about growing up in Des Moines, with parents who both encouraged his curiosities and educational journey. Jamie was on his high school's debate team, which enabled him to travel throughout Midwest a bit. He talks about the decision to go to Georgetown University to pursue a degree and then career in the Foreign Service.   While that didn’t quite pan out, his protesting of apartheid in college did lead him to South Africa, where he taught at Catholic mission schools in more rural, predominantly Black areas of the country. It was a transformative trip for a bunch of reasons, including that being the setting where he discovered his love of teaching.  We go through how Jamie figured out how to apply for graduate study, and what role Thomas Kuhn played in that. We cover how he ended up and then stayed at American University, his experiences on the market, his enriching experiences at Bridgewater, his development of the ISA-Northeast Pedagogies workshop, how he unwinds, how he approaches podcasting, and more! Listen to Jamie’s podcast The Teaching Curve: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1976329 And on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG5L5ARIehIiSZkjVA816OefQqY8kTZru&si=A1xJsKjFN58uOJ5W

Professor Sebastian Kaempf of the University of Queensland joins the Hayseed Scholar podcast this week. Seb grew up in Germany, with the fall of the Berlin Wall happening when he was entering his teenage years. While it had a big impact on him,  he distinctly remembers his parents’ emotional reactions to that moment. He also was a conscientious objector and thus did not serve in the German military but his service was in some ways even more challenging as he notes here. Seb talks about going to uni in Germany before transferring to the LSE for his Bachelor’s and Masters, heading towards the academic track being trained for his PhD under Nick Wheeler and Alastair Finlan at University of Aberystwyth Wales. His first gig on a post-doc working with Alex Bellamy at UQ where he has been ever since. He discusses how the Theaters of War film project came about, what that was like, how he approaches writing, his co-hosted podcast with Al Stark, Higher Ed Heroes, what he does to unwind, and how he and friend of the pod and Hayseed Scholar co-host Matt McDonald will likely become the next big indie rock band as they are currently playing venues in Brisbane where they have achieved almost cult status at this point. 

 Professor Lene Hansen of the University of Copenhagen likely needs no introduction to most listeners of this podcast. She has worked within what would be called the Copenhagen school or securitization theory, emphasizing within that school the overlooked lens of gender. Her work on discourse analysis is famous for being a key contribution to the development of especially interpretive methods in the 2000s and 2010s, and her more recent work in visual IR and visual/image analysis. She talks about growing up on an island, Langeland or Long Island, off the coast of Denmark, riding horses and playing sports while also being a great student (as she said she ‘had to be’ with parents who were teachers at the school), attending uni first at the University of Southern Denmark then the University of Copenhagen. Taking a course from Ole Waever on IR and French philosophy got her interested thereafter in poststructural IR and doing research on European security architectures.  She talks about an impactful visiting professor position at Yale University in the late 1990s, as well as some of the background to her famous works like the 2000 Millennium article on gender in securitization and Security as Practice the 2006 book. She concludes reflecting on how she approaches writing, selecting images to analyze, and how she relaxes and recharges  through exercise and cooking. As this episode was getting ready to launch, it was announced that Professor Hansen just won the 2024 ISA Susan Strange award! This award 'recognizes a person whose singular intellect, assertiveness, and insight most challenge conventional wisdom and intellectual and organizational complacency in the international studies community'. MANY congratulations Professor Hansen! https://www.isanet.org/News/ID/6384/2023-2024-Award-Recipients

Huss Banai of Indiana University is an individual Brent considers himself incredibly fortunate to call a friend.  He joins the Hayseed Scholar podcast to tell his amazing story and journey through life and academia. Huss was born in Iran and grew up in Northern Tehran until his family moved to Canada when he was 15. In Iran, Huss and his family experienced the war with Iraq, the fallout from the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (his father worked with Afghan refugees during that time), and with a dad who worked for a business promoting Japanese Exports, electronics and video games. The transition to living in Canada was a bit bumpy for Huss until he had a key bit of counsel and guidance from a high school teacher. Huss talks about going to York University as an undergrad, working on the set of The Fog of War with Errol Morris and Robert McNamara, his experiences as a Master's student at LSE and working on the editorial team of Millennium, and pursuing a PhD at Brown University. He talks about his experiences on the market, working at Occidental and now Indiana, his approach to writing, his love of gardening, and more! 

Dr. Erica Simone Almeida Resende of the Brazilian War College joins the Hayseed Scholar podcast. Erica grew up in Brazil but, as she phrases it, 'in between worlds'. There was her Brazilian home, and there was her German school, which she explains has situated her as a sort of 'bridge' moving between the Global North and Global South. Erica went to law school and worked for a law firm in the 1990s, but changed gears and pursued graduate degrees in Political Science and International Relations. In this period of her life, she started attending ISA meetings which she 'loved' going to. She shares what the Brazilian academic market process is like, her love of travel, how her German schooling shapes her enjoyment of 'administration', how she approaches writing, and more! 

Professor Jarrod Hayes joins the Hayseed Scholar podcast. Jarrod was born in Colorado, but moved to Utah at a young age and grew up there for a bit before relocating with his mother to just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. In high school, he found he enjoyed doing research especially with science and technology, and so he went to the University of Colorado to pursue a degree in Astrophysics. But at Colorado he also enjoyed studying International Relations because it seemed to cover the 'big things' he had long enjoyed thinking about (a la Carl Sagan). He would get a PhD at USC, working with Pat James, and realized at an ISA meeting that he wanted to divert from going into the government and foreign service to instead pursue a career in academia. Jarrod talks about his time at OU in Norman, then moving back to Atlanta and a job at Georgia Tech where he got promoted and tenured. He and his wife Professor Janelle Knox-Hayes would end up in Cambridge where they are today with their beloved daughters and dog. Jarrod concludes the show by discussing with Brent his love of weightlifting, hobbies with his daughters, how he approaches writing, and what it has been like for him and Professor Knox-Hayes to be the Heads of a Residence House, Burton Conner, at MIT.

Dr. Oumar Ba of Cornell University visits the Hayseed Scholar podcast. Dr. Ba grew up in Senegal, attending his first school at an early age near the Senegal-Mauritania border. He developed an interest in politics in high school and at his first university (Cheik Anna Diop in Dakar) where he pursued Geography. Oumar moved to the United States in early 2001, taking a Greyhound Bus from New York to Ohio. Following a series of jobs, including one at an auto manufacturing plant, he would return to academia pursuing a Master's in International Affairs and Political Science at Ohio University. It was there he worked on his thesis, exploring topics in International Law under the guidance of Professor Andrew Ross. He then went to Gainesville to pursue his PhD, and where he met friend of the pod Professor Aida Hozic. Dr. Ba reflects on his time at Morehouse College, an HBCU where he worked in his first tenure track job, and the interview (during the pandemic) and then recent move to Cornell. He reflects upon his experience of his book being the subject of the 2019 ISA-Northeast circle, discusses his approach to writing ('chaos'), and what he does to recharge and unwind. Dr. Ba and Brent conclude with a discussion on the World Cup.

Professor Rita Abrahamsen joins the Hayseed Scholar podcast. Rita grew up on a small island off the coast of Southern Norway. She was a good student, very interested in the world with parents who had been the Merchant Marines, and a father who had served during World War II. She talks about the subjects she enjoyed in school, the decision to go to university and pursue journalism, and her career in journalism, especially radio, working  including serving as an anchor for the Norwegian Broadcasting Company. Her purpose in graduate school was to get more training to become a foreign correspondent, but at Swansea she pursued a PhD with training in both African politics and International Relations. She tried out the market, and after a few interviews,  landed a Lecturer position at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. She reflects upon those years at Aber and its dynamic intellectual environment, the British academy, and her rapidly expanding research profile throughout that time. She concludes by talking about her move to Canada and helping build out the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at Ottawa, her approach to writing, what she does to recharge (and how she's hoping to get back to running), and more!   

After months, and perhaps years, of cajoling and haranguing the Hayseed Scholar, friend of the pod (ep14) Matt McDonald finally convinced Brent to turn the tables and become a guest on the  podcast. Matt interviewed Brent at the end of the International Studies Association conference in Montreal, in Matt's hotel room. This was after Matt had enlisted throughout the week a host of conspirators who helped him lobby Brent to be interviewed. Over a few beers and with much good cheer, they chat about Brent's growing up in Iowa, attending Chicago Bears games as a kid, having two teachers as parents, and how golf shaped his college decision-making. They discuss Brent's journey through graduate school, the PhD, and his positions at the University of Kansas and now the University of Utah. Often pounding the table like some 1930s-era dictator, Brent discussed what the tenure process was like for him at KU, the difficult but also life-changing move to Utah, walking with Chase pups for all kinds of reasons, how he approaches writing and how he unwinds and recharges by going back to Iowa and seeing his family. Matt and Brent first connected in 2010 when Brent reached out to Matt about his IPS article, and that prompted a discussion here about how and why Brent has sent those complimentary emails to scholars.  A number of F-bombs were dropped, razzing of Jelena Subotic, Tony Lang, and Chris Agius ensued and friend of the pod and special guest Cian O'Driscoll made an appearance towards the end of the conversation.  It’s a whirlwind discussion and one Brent remains self-conscious about, but also a rewarding experience for him in chatting with, and about, longtime friends in this vocation. 

Professor Debbie Lisle of Queens University, Belfast, grew up in North Vancouver, in an environment of 'liberal feminism' which gave her a sense of possibility in life, but it was an interesting journey thereafter. Debbie chats with Brent about her decision to go to McGill for college, playing soccer throughout her undergrad and Master's years, and an in-between period of working at a lumber store and then traveling the world including to Southeast Asia and South Africa. Those months of traveling in her early 20s shaped for Debbie the major threads of research she would pursue throughout her academic career. This started at Victoria, where 'chance played a role' when she took a seminar with Rob Walker that would get her thinking of academia as a career. She went to Keele in the UK for PhD, working initially with David Campbell and then, when he left for Newcastle, finishing with Andrew Linklater. She talks about how critical IR, especially in the UK, had a different dynamic back in the late 90s and early 2000s,  before it 'exploded' onto the scene and branched into different streams of research. Debbie reflects on getting a job at Queens, being a working parent, how she handled the criticism of a harsh review of her first book, incorporating it for her second book, and her approach to writing. She closes the conversation discussing her recent health challenge and how she has worked through it in the past year. 

Professor Ann Towns of the University of Gothenburg visits the Hayseed Scholar podcast. Professor Towns grew up in Sweden, and was interested in playing music and especially performing classical music as a child. But by the time she was in high school, she wanted to broaden her horizons, and get out of not only her town but Sweden. That led her to Kansas, where she finished high school in an exchange program. She lived outside of a small town, and she reflects on the different contexts in the rural US compared to Sweden - religion, expectations on teenagers, and the social environment of that time and place. She went to Nebraska for undergraduate, and she talks about the classes she took, the music scene in Lincoln, and what she wanted to do after college. Professor Towns traveled to Peru after college, and ended up working for an NGO that helped those who suffered from political violence. She talks about going to the Univ of Minnesota for graduate school, some post-docs she took after her PhD, going on the market and working at the University of Delaware, her experience at the ISA-Northeast Circle in 2009, and then eventually going back to Sweden where she is now. She concludes with how she approaches writing, what she does to decompress, and more! 

Professor Helen Kinsella joins the Hayseed Scholar podcast. Professor Kinsella grew up in Ithaca, New York, and she reflects on what that was like, plus a reluctance or indifference to going to college. She eventually chose Bryn Mawr and she talks about what an  amazing environment she experienced there. Professor Kinsella also spent some time at Reed college, then after college she went to Seattle and worked with victims of domestic abuse, and working with children in a variety of contexts there, being in Seattle in the early 1990s around the vibrant cultural community there. She discusses going to the Humphrey school for her Masters, working with the UN, heading on for her PhD thereafter, and then getting a tenure track  job at Wisconsin alongside discussing her first few publications.  Prof Kinsella discusses her approach to writing,  the challenges of keeping up with ‘debates’ in IR, doing yoga and F45, and more! Read more about Prof Kinsella's work at her website: https://www.helenmkinsella.com