
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The official podcast of the Society of Graduate Students at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. We aim to showcase the innovative research that graduate students are conducting at Western University and appeal to various audiences including those within and beyond the academic community.
Episodes
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Tuesday Feb 20, 2024
448 | Bouncing Back with Mindfulness in Mind
Tuesday Feb 20, 2024
Tuesday Feb 20, 2024
This week, GradCast hosts Amalie Hutchinson and Apurva Desai are joined by two guests: Varsha Vasudevan and Mani Ahluwalia, both studying topics in Health Promotion. We chat about holistic health, how graduate students experience resilience, and what mindfulness can do for many aspects of success in university.
Recorded on February 13, 2024
Produced by Amalie Hutchinson
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

Thursday Feb 15, 2024
Thursday Feb 15, 2024
For this special #GraduatedLife episode, Meghan Voll and Garth Casbourn are joined by MLIS alumnus Matt Skidmore. Matt tells how his grad degree at Western helped him get his current job as a librarian in Mississauga, and how the things he learned during the degree and on-the-job experience prepared him for what he does now.
Recorded on February 8, 2024
Produced by Amalie Hutchinson
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

Tuesday Feb 13, 2024
#JarringGradLife: Cats vs Dogs, Time Travel, and Extracurricular Extraordinaire
Tuesday Feb 13, 2024
Tuesday Feb 13, 2024
Today's episode is a merger of two of our beloved mini-series #JarringQuestions and #GradLife. Join co-hosts Meghan Voll, Mark Ambrogio, and Suzy Lee in this mashup as they talk all about extracurriculars, places (and time periods) they'd love to travel to, and the eternal debate: cats or dogs?
Recorded on February 6, 2024
Produced by Suzy Lee
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot
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Tuesday Feb 06, 2024
#JarringQuestions4: Make Today Great, Drunken Cucumbers, and Morning Moods
Tuesday Feb 06, 2024
Tuesday Feb 06, 2024
Another installment of #JarringQuestions, where you get to learn more about three of our GradCast members as we answer an interesting range of questions pulled from a jar (paper ruffling noises included). This week, Carly Charron, Anthony Cruz, and Jordan VanderBurgt have some hot takes on morning vs. night people, appetizers vs. desserts, people who talk on speaker phone in public, and so much more.
Recorded on January 23, 2024
Produced by Jordan VanderBurgt
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

Tuesday Jan 30, 2024
447 | Heritage of Hesed: The Hebrew Book of Ruth in Art, Plays, and Poetry
Tuesday Jan 30, 2024
Tuesday Jan 30, 2024
This week, join hosts Mark Ambrogio and Meghan Voll as they interview Luigi De Angelis Soriano about his recent dissertation exploring the Hebrew book of Ruth and the concept of Hesed, "a Hebrew term that is often translated as loving kindness and connotes loyalty, love, and extraordinary commitment", in the context of Spanish plays, European art, and Latin American poetry. We hear about the interesting story of Ruth, its importance to both Hebrew and Christian traditions, and how it has influenced artistic expression in various forms.
Recorded on January 23, 2024
Produced by Scott Walters
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot
This episode features the first Sonnet of Ruth by Gabriela Mistral:
Poetry recitation in the original Spanish is read by Luigi De Angelis Soriano
The recitation of the English translation is read by Scott Walters

Tuesday Jan 23, 2024
446 | Disjuncture & Disruption: Queer Experience, Identity, and the Holocaust
Tuesday Jan 23, 2024
Tuesday Jan 23, 2024
In our first episode of 2024, Amalie Hutchinson and Meghan Voll interview Jacob Evoy, a PhD student in the Women’s Studies program at Western University. Jacob tells us about their oral history research investigating the stories of queer children of Holocaust survivors. Jacob talks to us about what queer experience is, the effects of the Holocaust on these individuals, and how narrative is constructed.
Recorded on January 16, 2024
Produced by Maria Khan
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot

Tuesday Dec 19, 2023
445 | Pianos & Pedagogy: a journey into the Doctor of Musical Arts program
Tuesday Dec 19, 2023
Tuesday Dec 19, 2023
One of GradCast's own, host Ryan Baxter, is interviewed about his studies as a doctoral student in the Doctor of Musical Arts program at the Don Wright Faculty of Music. Ryan chats with us about his program, the balance between research and musical practice, and performing both on campus and in the community. We also discuss Ryan’s diverse passions, including education, distance learning, and truth and reconciliation with the Memegwaanh Indigenous Learning Honour program here at Western. Join hosts Mark Ambrogio and Amalie Hutchinson for this week’s special and insightful episode.
Memegwaanh: Indigenous Learning Honour
Recorded on December 12, 2023
Produced by Scott Walters
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot
Intro and episode feature music by Bach, and the outro features music by Kapustin; performed by Ryan Baxter.

Tuesday Dec 12, 2023
444 | Cruz & Classify: A Study of Cognitive Categories
Tuesday Dec 12, 2023
Tuesday Dec 12, 2023
This week hosts Carly Charron and Anum Anjum speak to one of our GradCast members Anthony Cruz about his PhD work in psychology. Anthony studies the cognitive process of categorization, where we break down information perceived from the environment into smaller components to understand and group them. Tune in to hear some bonus discussions on qualifying exams, clothing for cats, and Anthony's experience as an international student in Canada.
To learn more about Anthony and his work you can check out his website linked here.
Recorded on December 5, 2023
Produced by Jordan VanderBurgt
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot
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Thursday Dec 07, 2023
The Scoop on SOGS 4 | Council
Thursday Dec 07, 2023
Thursday Dec 07, 2023
In our last episode from the special miniseries "The Scoop on SOGS", GradCast host Mark Ambrogio speaks with two other SOGS councilors, Kayla Davies and Evan Sauve. They chat about how council functions for SOGS, how they found their way to their roles and what they enjoy most about them.
To learn more about SOGS council, visit their webpage https://sogs.ca/council/
To follow Kayla's academic journey, you can find her on LinkedIn, and to follow some cool economic tweets, follow Evan on Twitter/X @econ_ev
Recorded on November 29, 2023
Produced by Amalie Hutchinson
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot.

Tuesday Dec 05, 2023
443 | Website Wonders: User Experience at Western Libraries
Tuesday Dec 05, 2023
Tuesday Dec 05, 2023
This week, Meghan Voll and brand-new host Garth Casbourn interview one of our very own producers, Suzy Lee. Suzy shares her experiences in the master of library and information science (MLIS) degree program. The conversation delves into Suzy's co-op placement with the user experience and assessment librarians at Western Libraries.
Recorded on November 28, 2023
Produced by Amalie Hutchinson
Theme song provided by https://freebeats.io/ Produced by White Hot.