Shows
The Knowmads PodcastRene Bellwied on Winning the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental PhysicsHello everyone, welcome to season 2 of the Knowmads podcast. Since Season 2 was long overdue, we had to start with someone who’s not just had a remarkable academic journey in physics, but also someone who’s been a great mentor to all his students and really, to everyone who walks into his office. So in this episode, we’re sitting in the office of Professor René Bellwied — a leading experimental physicist and a core member of the ALICE collaboration — which stands for A Large Ion Collider Experiment — one of the major experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider or the...
2025-04-1959 minThe Knowmads PodcastLivia Merrill on psychological impacts on children due to prenatal stressHi Everyone, This is Episode 15 of The Knowmads Podcast.The mother’s Mental health during the time of pregnancy is extremely crucial. Studies suggest that prenatal stress and trauma have the capacity to propagate through generations. Our guest today is a UH graduate student at the Laboratory of early experiences and development studying cognitive and behavioral neuroscience. Livia Merrill’s research studies the impact of prenatal stress on the cognitive development of the new born. She has strong opinions about policies surrounding such tangible research and the dissemination of scientific findings. You’re all in for an ex...
2023-09-0550 minThe Knowmads PodcastKristen Dobbs on juggling passions: A journey of Motherhood, Physics and BeyondHi Everyone, This is Episode 14 of The Knowmads Podcast.Whether you're a parent searching for that delicate equilibrium between responsibilities and aspirations, or someone looking for a force of motivation to go back to school, start a different journey, or simply someone seeking a tale of inspiration, you're in for a treat.From her humble beginnings, serving tirelessly for a non-profit organization in the vibrant heart of Latin America, to the classrooms where she ignited young minds as an educator, and now juggling between being a grad student and a mother. Kristen's journey has been a...
2023-08-2954 minThe Knowmads PodcastChristina D. Griep on language acquisition and early cognitive developmentHi Everyone, This is Episode 13 of The Knowmads Podcast.Most of us who grew up in bilingual or a multilingual homesoften wonder if the new babies in the family will be able to understandthese different language(s). In this episode we dive deep into the fascinatingworld of early language development in children. Our guest todayChristina Diaz Griep is a psychologist from University of Houston where her research involves understanding how children growing up in bilingual and monolingual households navigate the intricate journey of language acquisition. So let's go...
2023-08-2256 minThe Knowmads PodcastNina Nevill on oppression against incarcerated black women in TexasHi Everyone, This is Episode 12 of The Knowmads Podcast.Long after abolishment of Slavery in the US, in the late 1800s the effects are still seen in different forms. The unbalanced dynamics of power between prison authorities and prisoners illustrates hints of slavery even today and remains ignored. Our guest today is a historian from Rice University and in her research she particularly highlights the oppressive experiences of incarcerated black women in the late 20th century in jails in Texas. She talks about various forms of abuse that is witnessed even today in Texas Jails. It’s a...
2023-08-151h 08The Knowmads PodcastAdriana Alcaraz Sánchez on consciousness and altered states of awarenessHi Everyone, This is Episode 11 of The Knowmads Podcast.Have you ever wondered why do we dream, are we conscious whilewe are sleeping? How is our brain able to generate a 3 dimensional visual image every night while our eyes are closed? Our guest today Adriana Alcaraz Sánchez is a philosopher, from University of Glasgow. In new recent work. She talks about objectless sleep awarenessand compares the ideologies of western philosophy regarding consciousness while onesleeps with various different philosophical traditions from other parts of the world.This is an e...
2023-08-032h 05The Knowmads PodcastDaniel Huff on education policy and student debts in America, student body organisations and Dark MatterHi Everyone, This is Episode 10 of The Knowmads Podcast.Political discussions and associated ideologies almost always resolve in thinking about national leaders and the large scale effects of policies that finally lead to geo politics. The conversations often lack the microscopic details and the penetrative effects of policies at the lowest local level, where ‘in principle’ it actually matters. Studies suggest that such discussions ,amongst young students, who are these future leaders, are completely missing in recent times. The drive and necessity of social acceptance and the high sensitivity surrounding these topics renders the young mind extrem...
2023-07-291h 39The Knowmads PodcastAsk us anything!Hi Everyone, This is Episode 9 of The Knowmads Podcast. Right before getting into the double digits of episodes we decided to do an ask us anything episode. Although we weren't able to answer all the questions that you guys had asked we answered ones that were most interesting and kind of captured many details in the questions that we missed. We would like to thank you all for the wonderful questions and support and we're truly grateful. We'll keep doing the ask us anything episodes since it is a great way to get feedback from our audience an...
2023-07-241h 59The Knowmads PodcastAymen on the Essence of Soft Skills during your PhDHi Everyone, This is Episode 8 of The Knowmads Podcast. During the academic stages of our lives we spend most of our time developing tools and skills that aid our research and problem solving ability and this is true for all fields of study. Now most students think that this is it! This is how you can essentially get your dream position. Well what is often missed are the soft skills that are absolutely crucial to provide us that edge over others when applying for jobs. Our guest today is almost at the end of his PhD and...
2023-07-081h 16The Knowmads PodcastAndrew Baldassarre on patriarchal realism and the pedagogical power of pornHi Everyone, This is Episode 7 of The Knowmads Podcast. Every rational human has once in their life thought about the implications of porn on oneself and the society. Gail Dines, an anti-porn sociologist and professor at Wheelock college claims in her work that due to the adverse implications of pornography, it has become a public health issue and perhaps a solution is to enforce a complete ban on the porn industry. Our guest today Andrew Baldassarre is a philosopher and his current work is in response to this idea. He believes that it is important to acknowledge th...
2023-07-011h 33The Knowmads PodcastDeepak Singh Rawat on Literature, fiction and philosophyHi Everyone, This is Episode 6 of The Knowmads Podcast. The path to self-exploration is very unique for everyone. Our passion, ambition and relationships play an instrumental role in shaping our lives. Our guest today found his true expression and self in literature. His humility and empathy allowed him to overcome all the challenges that life threw at him. With exploring literature, friendships, love, life and lots of laughter, this was one of the most heartfelt conversation in a very long time. P.S. This was an online podcast so the listener may experience some glitching onc...
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