The Philosophers' Cocoon

My Interview on Personal Finance with PhDs

Readers of this blog may be interested in my recent interview with Dr. Emily Roberts as part of her ongoing podcast Personal Finance for PhDs. The financial dimensions of graduate school are rarely discussed here or elsewhere in the philosophy blogosphere, but that doesn't make them unimportant. Quite the opposite in fact!

Anyway, in this interview, I give the raw numbers and gritty details of what it was like to live on a base stipend of $15,000 per year as a graduate student living in Knoxville, TN. Among other topics, we discuss the mindset required to save money on such a meager salary, some fundamental tips for minimizing expenses, and what financial habits persist post-PhD. On the whole, I'm very please with how the interview turned out, and I'd encourage anyone looking for some pointers of the financial aspects of graduate school to give it a watch or listen. It may also be of use to people who want to demonstrate to others that graduate student living does not have to be a case of narrowly surviving from one paycheck to the next.

Wisdom at Work: Philosophy Beyond the Ivory Tower (podcast)

David Storey (Boston College) has an interesting looking new podcast entitled, Wisdom at Work: Philosophy Beyond the Ivory Tower. The podcast interviews philosophers who work outside academia, with a goal to "trace pathways out of academia" and "provide a map for students who major in philosophy--or get a MA or PhD--but either don't want to pursue an academic career, or simply can't due to the catastrophic job market." A list of past interviews is here, and David is interested in any suggestions regarding future guests!

Five Questions podcast (by Kieran Setiya)

This new podcast looks pretty cool. The first episode, five questions for David Velleman (NYU & JHU), is now up!

Ethical Theory Review (new interview series)

This is just a quick note that Bradford Cokelet (University of Kansas) is launching a podcast interview series on new and forthcoming books in moral and practical philosophy. The series, Ethical Theory Review, is scheduled to begin this month with an interview of David McPherson (Creighton) on his new book Virtue and Meaning: A Neo-Aristotelian Perspective (Cambridge University Press). The series' current tentative schedule can be viewed here. Anyone interested in being interviewed or proposing an interview can find relevant contact information here!

Reductio: Adventures in Ideas (new podcast)

This is just a quick note that Andrew Lavin (Butte College, Feather River College, CSU Chico) has a new philosophy podcast for a general audience entitled Reductio: Adventures in Ideas. There are already episodes on Leibnizian monads, Zeno paradoxes, and other interesting stuff!