Research Rabbit Holes

Epizode

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  Pain and creativity: How do people write about trauma? (Interview with Justina Šumilova (Lithuanian Culture Research Institute)) 14.09.2026 1h 3min

  In 1994, French writer and philosopher Maurice Blanchot wrote about his near-death experience. But this traumatic event had happened 50 years before. How does Blanchot write about something that is impossible to describe? And how can creativity help people dealing with physical and emotional pain? My guest today is Justina Šumilova, who is doing her PhD on absence in Blanchot’s philosophy at the Lithuanian Culture Research Institute. We discuss about fragmentation as a symptom of trauma, society’s hesitancy to deal with “unpleasant” feelings and how creativity and community can help us deal with our own pains. 00:00-08:20: Introduction08:21-21:16 How does Maurice Blanchot write about pain and trauma?21:17-31:02 If trauma produces and absence of language, how do people write about their trauma?31:03-33:48 Sharing your pain with others: a connecting or a disconnecting experience?33:49-37:23 Physical vs mental pain and society’s attitudes towards it37:24-42:01 When pain gets romanticized42:02-49:29 How can we deal with negative emotions?49:30-57:24 Do creative writing groups help people with chronic pain?57:25-01:00:15 Three what-ifs01:00:16-01:03:26 Justina’s current projects
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  Native American Boarding Schools and Their Marching Bands (Interview with Vincent Veerbeek (University of Helsinki)) 03.08.2026 1h 23min

  Did you know that thousands of Native American kids went to boarding schools that were designed to assimilate them into Anglo-American culture? My guest today is Vincent Veerbeek (University of Helsinki), who is writing his dissertation about the role of marching bands in these schools. Which role did music play in the U.S. government’s assimilation effort? What was life like for the kids at the boarding schools? And were there ways to protect one’s native identity? Tune in if you want to learn more about a piece of U.S. history that’s been neglected for a long time.00:00 – 09:54 Introduction09:55 – 27:37 Boarding schools to “restructure indigenous minds”27:38 – 31:29 The situation today31:30 – 47:46 What was life at these boarding schools like?47:47 – 51:50 How did marching bands become so popular in the United States?51:51 – 1:03:20 Marching bands in Native American boarding schools1:03:21 – 1:05:37 The role of other extracurricular activities1:05:38 – 1:11:48 Stereotypes and PR1:11:49 – 1:13:22 How good was the music, actually?1:13:23 – 1:16:53 How long did the boarding schools exist?1:16:54 – 1:20:00 This or that?1:20:01 – 1:23:02 Vincent’s future projects You can follow Vincent’s projects here:·       https://www.helsinki.fi/en/about-us/people/people-finder/vincent-veerbeek-9448669·       https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincent-veerbeek/?locale=en If you want to learn more about the topic: ·       https://boardingschoolhealing.org/ (The official website for NABS, the Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. They are the main advocacy organization doing work related to boarding school history on a national level in the US. Their website is an important resource that includesmaps, background information, etc. as well as a database with digitized primary sources.)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OtfBPE4u1U (A PBS documentary that gives an overview of boarding school history and adds some visuals to the story.)
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  How Volcano Tourism Helped Colonize Hawaii (Interview with Henri Keskinen (University of Turku)) 25.06.2026 1h 6min

  Colonialism through tourism? In this episode, we talk about the kingdom of Hawaii, and how it was slowly turned into the 50th American state. My guest is Henri Keskinen (University of Turku), who writes his dissertation about the evolution of colonialism through American interest groups in Hawaii. Tune in if you want to learn more about volcanoes, political coups and weird gift shops. 00:00 - 03:54: Introduction03:55 - 12:09: Cultural appropriation and the tourism industry12:10 - 18:59: The colonization of Hawaii and the role of missionary work19:00 - 32:32: Exhibitions, Othering & resistance32:33 - 37:26: The California-Hawaii relationship37:27 - 46:27: How Hawaii lost its sovereignty46:26 - 59:17: The situation today: tourism, diglossia & the sovereignty movement59:18 - 01:03:52: This or that?01:03:53 - 01:07:02: Henri’s future projectsYou can follow Henri’s research here: https://www.utu.fi/en/people/henri-keskinen 
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  Black Male Vulnerability in Fiction Written by African American Women (Interview with Tuula Kolehmainen (University of Turku)) 13.06.2026 1h 18min

  Toni Morrison and Alice Walker are just two of many famous African American authors whose novels focus mostly on the experiences of black women. But how do they actually depict black men?My guest today is Dr. Tuula Kolehmainen (University of Turku), whose research explores how these writers depict the vulnerability of their male characters, as a way to resist common stereotypes, such as the macho or the violent man.We also talk about Tuula's next project, which focuses on stand-up comedy. Tune in for an episode about contemporary literature, gender and the American comedy scene.00:00-07:01 Introduction07:02-19:23 Common stereotypes and black male vulnerability19:24-33:01 What is intersectionality and how does it affect black men?33:02-41:32 Stereotypes in other media41:33-55:20 Can we always have empathy with fictional characters?55:21-01:13:17 Stand-up comedy, gender and controversial jokes01:13:18-01:14:32 This or That01:14:33-01:18:25 Conclusion & Tuula's future projectsYou can follow Tuula's projects here:https://www.linkedin.com/in/tuula-kolehmainen-b5848a55/https://www.instagram.com/teekolehmainenofficial/And here's a snippet of her doing stand-up comedy 😊:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tubx7v_WxEM
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  U.S. Prisons and the Loss of Institutional Trust (Interview with Henry E. James (University College London)) 11.05.2026 49min

  Today's episode is about crime and punishment: Why are 20% of all prisoners incarcerated in the United States, if only 5% of the world's population live there? Henry E. James (University College London) is writing his PhD thesis about the loss of institutional trust in America. In this episode, we talk about how people lost their belief in the government's ability to do the right things, about mass incarceration and the "broken windows" theory.00:00 - 08:16 Introduction: The loss of institutional trust in the last few decades08:17 - 19:22 The punitive turn & why so many people are incarcerated in the U.S.19:23 - 34:28 "Broken windows": Does a stronger police presence help reduce crime?34:29 - 37:30 American prisons vs European prisons37:31 - 48:46 College programs as a way of reintegrating prisoners48:47 - 50:17 Henry's future projectsFollow Henry's projects here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/social-historical-sciences/americas/research/research-students/henry-e-james
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  We ❤️ Robots: Blade Runner, West World and Why We Feel Bad for Wall-E (Interview with Jiacheng Mo (Heidelberg University)) 04.05.2026 39min

  Are robots the better people? In his PhD project, Jiacheng Mo (Heidelberg University) analyzes artificial minds in anglophone literature. Today, we talk about whether robots dream of electric sheep (pun intended), empathy tests and the (non-)human mind.00:00 – 02:22 Introduction02:23 – 10:50 Why we have empathy with robots10:51 – 20:07 Frankenstein, Blade Runner and other literary artificial minds20:08 – 32:40 What’s the difference between (literary) humans and robots?32:41 – 36:41Why we need stories in our lives36:42 – 39:23 Jiacheng’s future projectsFollow Jiacheng's projects here: instagram.com/frankmjecheng
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  When AI Revives the Dead: Grief, Capitalism and True Crime (Interview with Dr. Jenny Kidd & Dr. Bethan Jones (Cardiff University)) 23.03.2026 1h 1min

  What if you could chat with someone who's no longer alive? It sounds dystopian, but several websites already offer their customers to create so-called deathbots - AI avatars of deceased people. I talked to Dr. Jenny Kidd and Dr. Bethan Jones (Cardiff University) about the ethics of digital afterlives, how AI could change our ways of grieving and our attitudes towards death in general, and how true crime victims are exploited with AI deathbots.00:00 - 04:15: Introduction04:16 - 16:16: MyHeritage's Deep Nostalgia tool & the ethics of bringing old family photos to life with AI16:17 - 19:09: Is "The Substance" becoming a reality thanks to AI?19:10 - 26:09: How to influence your own commemoration with a pre-mortem avatar26:10 - 32:27: How authentic are these avatars?32:28 - 36:26: Grief & capitalism36:27 - 40:54: AI & the exploitation of true crime victims40:55 - 44:09: Deathbots giving testimony in court44:10 - 48:47: Will AI change how we grieve?48:48 - 55:26: Reviving serial killers and holocaust victims with AI55:27 - 01:01:28: Jenny's and Bethan's current & future projectsYou can follow Bethan on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:7cwwdtps5lzr7gwsbfbxyuzs and on her website: https://bethanvjones.wordpress.com/And you can follow Jenny on her website: https://profiles.cardiff.ac.uk/staff/kiddjc2 and on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-kidd-92999638a/?originalSubdomain=uk
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  Haunted by the Soviet Past: Trauma in Contemporary Russian Literature (Interview with Lara Righi (University of Verona)) 16.03.2026 1h 9min

  In this episode, we’re looking at the other side of the Iron Curtain: we’re talking about Soviet trauma in the form of undead creatures that haunt contemporary Russian literature, about Soviet Westerns, and the question whether the USSR was a colonial empire. Lara Righi, PhD candidate at the University of Verona, talks with us about post-memory, the relationship between Russia and Belarus, and Great Patriotic War aka World War II.00:00 – 10:17: Introduction10:18 – 24:18: Gothic themes in contemporary Russian literature24:19 – 29:54: Sasha Filipenko and Marija Stepanova29:55 – 41:11: The USSR – a colonial empire?41:12 – 54:12: Filipenko’s A Former Son54:13 – 1:06:25: Soviet Westerns01:06:26 – 01:09:21: Lara’s future projects
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  The US turns 250 - What Can We Expect? (Interview with Dr. Alexander "Xan" Karn (Colgate University)) 27.10.2025 1h 10min

  It's time to party! 🎉 Next year, the US turns 250 years old. The celebration of the so-called "Semiquincentennial" has been in the planning phase for 9 years at this point - but we don't know what to expect, because what started under the Obama administration has slowly morphed into a MAGA project. Historian Dr. Alexander "Xan" Karn talks with us about how anniversaries shape our memory of historic events, about American patriotism and the distortion of history by "memory trolls."If you want to learn more about Xan's research & future projects, you can follow him on Mastodon (@[email protected]) or on his website xankarn.net.00:00 - 06:21: Introduction: The 250th birthday of the Army in 2025 and the No Kings protests06:21 - 13:58: What is the Semiquincentennial and why should we care?13:59 - 21:15: The Hollywood-ification of history and liberal kitsch21:16 - 30:10: The MAGA version of history30:11 - 35:44: Behind-the-scenes drama in the planning process35:45 - 40:45: What is a memory troll?40:46 - 01:01:03: Is non-traditional patriotism possible in a politically divided country?01:01:04 - 01:04:49: Past birthdays of the United States and why this one is different01:04:50 - 01:07:38: Hamilton - a MAGA musical?01:07:39 - 01:10:21: Xan's future projects