RMeS PhD Council - Podcast Details

Shows

Talk Media to MeS03E11: Navigating Complexity through NarrativesIn this episode of Talk Media to Me, PhD Council member Nele Kadastik (RU) talks to PhD candidate Gaia Yonah (VU) about the power and complexity of storytelling. Gaia’s research bridges media studies and psychological analysis, focusing on how narrative structures shape emotional and cognitive responses. More specifically, she explores narrative complexity and how it unfolds in complex narratives, stories that challenge viewers’ understanding through ambiguity, fragmented structure, and interpretive uncertainty.Learn more about the VU Story Lab: https://vu-storylab.nl/2025-06-0437 min

Talk Media to MeS03E10: Visualizing the InvisibilizedIn the tenth episode of Talk Media to Me, PhD Council member Keerthi Sridharan (UL) talks to Miriam Matthiessen (EUR) about visualizing invisibilized supply chains in inland shipping, the tangled nature of field work and method in media studies, and how to balance democratized knowledge production with institutional support and equitable labor practices.2025-05-0540 min

Talk Media to MeS03E09: Memes in the Art WorldIn the ninth episode of Talk Media to Me, PhD Council member Merit Zimmerman (EUR) sits down with dr. Idil Galip (UvA) to talk about the growing prominence and status of memes in the art world, the "memetic turn" in media research, and their shared excitement for Severance and The White Lotus.2025-03-2138 min

Talk Media to MeS03E08: Bridging the Digital DivideIn the eighth episode of Talk Media to Me, PhD Council member Maud Rebergen (RUG) interviews her colleague Alexander Smit (RUG) on his dissertation research about how low-literacy adults experience the digitalized society and what policymakers can do to better include this marginalized group.2025-02-2536 min

Talk Media to MeS03E07: Strategic Unknowns in the USIn the seventh episode of Talk Media to Me, PhD Council member Bjorn Beijnon (UvA) and his colleague Roselinde Bon (HU) talk about the prominent political role that big tech companies seem to be taking currently in the United States. They discuss how the second term of Trump is setting the stage for more political control through tech, and how occurrences such as censorship are used by big tech companies as strategic unknowns. 2025-01-2434 min

Talk Media to MeS03E06 Children and MediaIn the sixth episode of Talk Media to Me, PhD Council member Bjorn Beijnon (UvA) talks to Nick van Hummel (RU) about his research on children and their media usage. They discuss how identity is socially and relationally constructed by children when interacting with media. Simultaneously, they also explore how differences in the fields of Media Studies and Social Sciences can be bridged in doing research on this topic.2024-10-2024 min

Talk Media to MeS03E05: The Return of Habbo HotelIn the fifth episode of Talk Media to Me, PhD Council member Maud Rebergen (RUG) and her colleague Nathalie Fridzema (RUG) talk about their history with Habbo Hotel, an online game from their youth which has recently been making a big comeback. They also discuss their media months, which (at time of recording in July) revolved around HBO's House of the Dragon and the European Football Championship.2024-09-0337 min

Talk Media to MeS03E04: Researching war and mediaIn this episode of Talk Media to Me, council members Nataliia Vdovychenko (TU) and Dennis Jansen (UU) discuss their lives as media scholars studying the intersection of war and media, in Ukraine and the Netherlands respectively. Why is it important and meaningful to study such a topic? How do you keep yourself sane when dealing with such heavy subject matter? They also talk about their 'media month', which at the time of recording in late June was still very much about the new instalment of the Mad Max franchise: Furiosa. (You can now stream it on HBO Max!)2024-08-2234 min

Talk Media to MeS03E03: Fan fiction and Chinese social media In this third episode of Talk Media to Me, PhD council member Zheyu Shang (UL) and her colleague Ye Jiang (UL) talk about fan fiction and fandom on Chinese social media platforms. They start with an impressive piece of fan fiction work that creates a romantic relationship between Tomie (the heroine of a Japanese horror manga series Tomie) and Iron Man (from the Marvel Universe). Ye shares her experiences as a fan fiction reader, creator, and researcher. From fan fiction, they further discuss how fan fiction production and fan community behaviors become more influenced by platform rules and state r...2024-05-2123 min

Talk Media to MeS03E02: Representation and diversityIn this second episode of Talk Media to Me, council members Bartosz Zerebecki (EUR) and Bjorn Beijnon (UvA) talk about their media month. What kept them busy in February and March? As media scholars, they ask themselves what diverse representation in media actually means. Going back to their childhood memories, they talk about queerness in media, diversity in blockbuster movies, and para-social relationships with movie and television characters.2024-04-0233 min

Talk Media to MeS03E01: Uncritical media consumptionWe have rebranded ourselves! In this first episode of the new season, council members Dennis Janssen (UU) and Bjorn Beijnon (UvA) talk about their media month. What kept them busy in December and January? As media scholars, they ask themselves if it is possible to change your experience of media consumption: can media scholars still watch/read/play/listen to media 'uncritically'? Does that ruin the experience? Is it ethically correct to be an 'aca-fan' in media studies? You'll hear all about it in this pilot episode.2024-01-3037 min

Talk Media to MeS02E09 RMeS/NICA special: Thomas PoellThis is the third of three special episodes that were recorded during the RMeS/NICA career event in June 2023. In this episode, Bjorn Beijnon (UvA) interviews Thomas Poell, Professor of Data, Culture & Institutions at the University of Amsterdam. Thomas tells about his journey as an academic scholar and gives tips and tricks on how to thrive in academia. How do you know if academia is the place where you want to work in? How do you get recognized within a university as a starting scholar? In this episode Thomas provides some tips, tricks, and practical suggestions for these questions.2023-08-2825 min

Talk Media to MeS02E08 RMeS/NICA special: Karin van EsThis is the second of three special episodes that were recorded during the RMeS/NICA career event in June 2023. In this episode, Bjorn Beijnon (UvA) interviews Karin van Es, Associate Professor of Media and Culture Studies at Utrecht University. Karin shares her academic journey and how she found the balance in working with people in- and outside academia. How do you make sure that your research stays connected to world? What can researchers do to rightly manage all potential stakeholders in a research project? Karin provides in this episode some tips, tricks, and practical suggestions for these questions.2023-07-3127 min

Talk Media to MeS02E07 RMeS/NICA special: Pepita HesselberthThis is the first of three special episodes that were recorded during the RMeS/NICA career event in June 2023. In this episode, Bjorn Beijnon (UvA) interviews Pepita Hesselberth, director of NICA and lecturer in Film and Digital Media at Leiden University. Pepita shares her academic journey and which choices she has made to find funding for her research. How do you write just the right PhD proposal? How do you make sure that your research is appealing to NWO? Pepita provides in this episode some tips, tricks, and practical suggestions for these questions.2023-07-0925 min

Talk Media to MeS02E06 Media Appearances: Lejo SiepeBartosz Zerebecki (EUR) interviews Lejo Siepe, a director of the Media Training Center Northern Netherlands. Lejo is a journalist for daily and weekly newspapers, radio and TV programs. He made several documentaries, wrote countless articles, and published four books. In this episode, Lejo gives advice to scholars about connecting media and making scientific research more available to the publics through media.2023-06-2118 min

Talk Media to MeS02E05 Valorisation: Mirko Tobias SchäferBjorn Beijnon (UvA) interviews Mirko Tobias Schäfer (UU), Associate Professor at the Department for Media and Culture Studies, Utrecht University. His publications cover user participation in cultural production, datafication, politics of software design and communication in social media. In this episode, Mirko shares his experiences with the co-creation of knowledge with partners 'in the field'. As one of the co-founders of the Utrecht Data School, Mirko evaluates how you as a researcher build relationships with stakeholders in your research, and how you make sure that your research is also impactful. What are the best ways to find partnerships w...2023-05-2630 min

Talk Media to MeS02E04 Networking: Julia KneerBartek Zerebecki (EUR) interviews Julia Kneer, an associate professor at the Department of Media and Communication at Erasmus University Rotterdam. As a scholar, Dr. Kneer researchers the effects of gaming on violence but she also boasts rich experience in mentoring younger scholars. In this episode, she talks about networking effectively and connecting with others during conferences. Dr. Kneer concludes with some anecdotes about why hats and towels might help you connect with other scholars better.2023-01-0624 min

Talk Media to MeS02E03 Education: Vincent CroneBjorn Beijnon (UvA) interviews Vincent Crone (UU), Senior Fellow at the Teaching Academy Utrecht University. As a fellow, he studies and teaches about the development and training of starting teachers in the humanities and the possible differences in the development of teachers within different disciplines. In this episode, Vincent shares his experiences with the teaching positions that PhD's in Media Studies usually have to take. How do you make sure that you are in charge of the content in your classroom? What are the ways to make students get more ownership over their education? How can you find the rig...2022-12-1224 min

Talk Media to MeS02E02 Blogging: Hermen VisserZheyu Shang (UL) interviews Hermen Visser (UL), the trainer of a course Blogging About Your Research. In this episode, Hermen shares tips for students to start academic blogs and improve blog writing skills. For more information about academic blogging, Hermen provides more practical suggestions in his blog: https://academicblogging.nl/. 2022-11-1316 min

Talk Media to MeS02E01 Introspection: Liesbeth Volbeda & Anita WagnerSeason 2 of the podcast covers different skills that can help early career researcher. In the first episode, Bartosz Zerebecki (EUR) interviews Liesbeth Volbeda (RUG) and Anita Wagner (RUG) who lead a course My Future Career. This episode bridges seasons 1 and 2 and revolves around skills that young researchers need to succeed in their job search. In particular, we explore the role and the meaning of introspection during a PhD program. 2022-10-1322 min

Talk Media to MeSeason 2: Soft Skills a PhD in Media Studies Should MasterThe RMeS PhD council will in the upcoming season of In Media Res interview expert in 'PhD soft skills'. As PhD's in Media Studies you often need to work on other skills beside deepening out your research. How do you make sure that you are being seen in the academic discourse or by popular media? How do you deal with media appearances? How do you keep the right balance between your research and your teaching? In season 2, we will go through all of these skills and learn from the best (non-)academic experts.2022-10-0401 min

Talk Media to MeEpisode 8: Patricia PistersBjorn Beijnon (UvA) interviews Patricia Pisters professor of Media Studies (with specialization in Film Studies) at the University of Amsterdam. As a professor, she has supervised many PhD students, but much has changed in the way people build a career in- or outside academia. In this interview, Patricia highlights her own career path and the specific skills that she had to acquire along the way. She elaborates on the value of teaching but also the importance of staying in contact with the work field that you are interested in. This is the final episode of season 1 of I...2022-07-0634 min

Talk Media to MeEpisode 7: Yosha WijngaardenBartosz Zerebecki (EUR) interviews Yosha Wijngaarden who obtained a PhD in Media and Communication Studies in 2019. Currently an assistant professor at the department of Media and Communication at Erasmus University, Yosha sheds a light on her past research as a PhD candidate and her current research as a postdoctoral researcher at the Arts and Culture Studies department in Rotterdam. In this interview, Yosha addresses what working in the creative industries is like - from the perspective of her research - while also examining how current self-employed academic researchers survive on the job market.2022-05-1330 min

Talk Media to MeEpisode 6: Elisabetta CostaBjorn Beijnon (UvA) interviews Elisabetta Costa, assistant professor at the Department of Media and Journalism at the University of Groningen. As an anthropologist, Elisabetta has researched several communities and the role that media play in their lives. In this interview Elisabetta shares her experiences with doing field work abroad, gaining trust from communities in both online and offline settings, and if it is possible to do ethnographic research without taking media into consideration.2022-04-1635 min

Talk Media to MeEpisode 5: RMeS Winter SchoolIn this special episode, three members of the PhD council interview three attendees of the RMeS Winter School of 2022. First, Jeroen Boom (RU) interviews Rianne Riemens who is currently working on her PhD at Radboud University where she investigates the green ideology of big tech platforms that informs our material reality. Second, Constanza Gajardo Leon (VU) interviews Karla Zavala Barreda on her PhD at the University of Amsterdam which revolves around application ecologies and learning software aimed at young children. Last, Bjorn Beijnon (UvA) interviews Alexander Smit on his PhD at the University of Groningen in which he examines...2022-03-1232 min

Talk Media to MeEpisode 4: Gerwin van SchieBjorn Beijnon (UvA) interviews Gerwin van Schie who is wrapping up his PhD on datafication of race and ethnicity in the Netherlands. Besides working on his PhD, Gerwin works as a lecturer at Utrecht University and works as a researcher at the Utrecht Data School. In this podcast Gerwin sheds a light on race and ethnicity data-driven practices that he has been studying in his PhD and he provides insights in how to be successful in developing and working on a PhD project.2022-01-1736 min

Talk Media to MeEpisode 3: Tim Groot KormelinkConstanza Gajardo Leon (VU) interviews Tim Groot Kormelink who obtained a PhD in Media Studies in 2019. Tim elaborates on his research on consumer habits in their news consumption, but also addresses how he has grown in his career after his PhD defense. As an assistant professor, he discusses his ambitions within academia, but also mentions his vision on the future prospects of current PhDs in Media Studies.2021-11-2634 min

Talk Media to MeEpisode 2: Nicolle LamerichsBjorn Beijnon (UvA) interviews Nicolle Lamerichs who obtained a PhD in Media Studies in 2014. Currently working at the HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, Nicolle elaborates on how her PhD in fandom and poaching of pop culture has helped her to build a career as an academic. Besides giving tips on working as a researcher in various academic institutes, Nicolle also gives tips on working as a research consultant from her experiences at LEGO and Efteling. 2021-10-1232 min

Talk Media to MeEpisode 1: Roel LutkenhausBartosz Zerebecki (EUR) interviews Roel Lutkenhaus who obtained a PhD in Media Studies in 2020. After researching entertainment in education, Roel stepped out of academia and founded New Momentum - a start-up in the South of Rotterdam that develops digital research methods to create (public) media campaigns in collaboration with participatory audiences. Show notes:Geweldig Rotterdam: Sociale Media en Messengeweld (https://geweldigrotterdam.nl/sociale-media-en-messengeweld/)2021-09-1329 min