Hi and welcome back to the podcast “What are You going to do with THAT?". I am Ido Rosenzweig, and for the past three seasons I was the producer and editor of the podcast. If you have followed our previous seasons, you might have known that our usual host – Danni Reches, has decided to take some time off from the podcast in order to focus on her PhD. So, for the time being, I am going to replace her as the host of the show. So welcome to season 4 of our podcast! Today’s episode – which is...

The final episode of season 3 presents our host (Danni) and producer (Ido) gathering together to talk about some of the highlights of the season. Danni and Ido talk about their favorite moments from season 3, congratulate Ido who has (finally) finished his PhD, and say goodbye to Danni who decided to dedicate her focus on her PhD in order to finish it as well. Host: Danni Reches (@DanniReches) Producer and Editor: Ido Rosenzweig (@IdoRosenzweig) Contact us: On Twitter: @What2DoWithTHAT On...

Meet Dr. Mariana Rocha de Souza, a marine biologist who studies the symbiotic relationship of algae with jellyfish and corals. Mariana talks about her journey, which started in Brazil, and how she moved to France for her masters, where she started researching the fascinating symbiotic relationship between jellyfish and algae. Her next stop was in Hawaii for her Ph.D. where she researched another algae symbiotic relationship - this time with corals. Mariana talks about the finding of her...

Estherina Trachtenberg started her way in nursing just because it was the easiest degree to get into and she was always curious about science. Growing up in ultra-orthodox community her educational and academic starting point wasn't very strong. However, her undying thirst for knowledge kept her moving forward and nowadays she is doing a PhD at the Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University. Join us for this episode and listen to Estherina's inspiring story about overcoming challenges...

Dr. Agi Wittich got introduced to Yoga in her early teen years and never looked back. After traveling to India in her early 20s she decided to study Yoga within Academia and did her BA, MA and PhD at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her groundbreaking research resulted in a number of prizes and scholarships for her work. In this episode Agi talks about her own interesting journey, about the connection of women and yoga in general and in Iyengar yoga in particular, including the adjustments...

What does a Kantian philosopher have to do with kinky sex and dominatrix fantasies? Eli Benjamin Israel, a PhD candidate at Temple University in Philadelphia takes a deeper look at the concept of autonomy in the context of the kink community, and especially with regard to rape fantasy role-play. In this episode he explains the philosophical outlook of such interaction. Eli chats with Danni about why and how he got into philosophy, when he actually enrolled for a business degree for his...

Jaroslava (Jara) Barbieri has researched the "De-sovereignisation as an instrument of Russia’s coercive diplomacy in the context of post-Soviet de facto states" before the current Russian aggression against Ukraine. Has the current conflict affected her research? Can she separate her Ukrainian advocacy and activities against fake news from her academic research? In this episode Danni chats with Jara, a PhD candidate at University of Birmingham's School of Government, about her academic...

Netta Schramm is doing her PhD on a unique topic - her research employs performance theory and narratology to read audio-visual archival materials of modern and contemporary Jewish thinkers, and specifically Irving (Yitz) Greenberg, Yeshayahu Leibowitz and Ovadia Yosef. Netta is an advanced PhD candidate focused on modern Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Netta conducted her doctoral research as a Minvera Fellow at Ludwig Maximillians Universität in Munich. She is the...

"I submitted my official withdrawal from my PhD program today." This is how Kamryn Gooden announced on her twitter account 4 months ago about her decision to leave her PhD program after one year. Her viral post was the inspiration for this episode on the untold story of those who have left their PhD unfinished, and decided to withdraw from it. In this episode, Danni chats with Kamryn about her academic journey from undergrad in San-Diego, starting a PhD in political theory in Boston, her...

Hollie McDonnell researches the fairytale of "The Beauty and the Beast" from a feminist perspective. She focuses on the notions of "beauty" and "happily ever after" in several different adaptations of the fairytale, including 2 Disney movies, South-Korean and Japanese dramas, and an erotic story. In this episode she talks about her research as well as about her academic journey that has been done completely at one place: Mary Immaculate College in Ireland. Hollie and Danni chat about the...

Meet Helen Nicholls, a 2nd year PhD candidate at UCL, UK. In this episode Helen chats with Danni about her journey that started with the dream to become a clinical phycologist, and ends (for now) with a PhD at the Division of Psychiatry. Helen shares about her concerns and challenges that have led her to change her course of professional development several time until she has managed to find her true passion of research. In the episode Helen talks about her research on the mental health and...

How important is a catchy title? How about a strong opening sentence or a good abstract? Is a journal's ranking that important? What about tips for better writing and getting over writer's block? In this special episode 50 of our podcast, Danni chats with Prof. Felicia Moore Mensah from Teachers College at Colombia University. Felicia is a co-editor of a top-tier peer review "Journal of Research in Science Teaching", and the author of the book "Like Words Falling onto the Page" (available as...

Jomana Qaddour has a very interesting story to tell. She immigrated from Syria to the US as a child with her parents, she lived most of her life in Kansas, and was "planned" to become an MD. However her passion and interest drove her to a completely different route - joined a JD (law degree) in Kansas. Her legal career took her to Washington DC where she used her networking skills to get into the world of policy and research, which eventually led to doing LL.M and SJD (on which she is still...

Meet Ursula Schmid, a PhD candidate in media and communication at the LMU university in Munich, Germany. In this episode Ursula talks with Danni about her journey that started with a BA in Communication Science with Sociology, and MA in Communication Science at the Institute for Communication Science and Media Research at LMU Munich from 2016 to 2018. After graduating, she initially worked as a market researcher with a research focus on media and advertising effects, only to figure out that...

Meet Pavle Kilibarda - a PhD candidate (perhaps already a Dr. by the time you're listening to the episode) in International Law at the University of Geneva. In this episode, Pavle talks very openly about his academic and personal journey. Including his decision to start a BA in International Relations, as he didn't want to study law - and how he ended up doing an LL.M in International Law at the Geneva Academy for International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. Eventually, he even continued...

Meet Ilona Láng-Ritter, a meteorologist, storm researcher and expert in international projects at the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), and a PhD candidate in Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Helsinki. In this episode, Ilona shares her academic journey that went from leaving her position as a TV meteorologist, to become a researcher at the FMI and doing a PhD. Her research focuses on the impact of non-tropical storms on electricity in Finland. Ilona also talks about her many...

Meet Sandra Wellner, a PhD candidate from the University of Copenhagen and a fellow at the EU funded INNOTARGETS project. In this episode Sandra and Danni talk about the value of traveling abroad for school, as Sandra managed to travel to no less than seven countries during her academic journey. Sandra also talk about the cultural and professional differences between the labs in different countries when referring to her research on antimicrobial resistance. In this episode Danni drank a...

Meet Dr. Guy Cameron, a proud Wailwan (Aboriginal) man living in Newcastle, NSW, Australia. Guy has recently received his PhD (Immunology & Microbiology) from the University of Newcastle, and he is now a postdoc fellow with the Aboriginal Ear Health Group. After he finished his PhD Guy decided to continue studying in the Joint Medical Program at the University of Newcastle which includes a Bachelor of Medical Science & Doctor of Medicine. In this episode Guy talks about his journey...

Meet Dr. Sara "Jacka" Iacopetti, Danni's rugby team's captain, a post doc fellow at the Technion, and a very fresh mother. So Fresh that during the interview she was still pregnant! In this episode Sara talks with Danni about her journey that began with BS and MS in Milano and ended up in doing a PhD in Materials for Electronics in the Technion in Israel. Sara talks about doing an industry funded PhD which actually means that her research was confidential and she is unable to share what her...

Meet Harini Sridharan, a 2nd year PhD candidate from Georgia Institute of Technology and our guest in episode 42 of our podcast. In this episode Danni chats with Harini about changes: Changing place of living - moving from India to Ohio and then to Atlanta; Changing fields of research and practice from chemical engineering, to polymer engineering, and now, as part of her PhD to chemical and biomolecular engineering. Harini and Danni also discuss the importance of diversity and inclusion in...

Warning: This episode contains explicit language, descriptions of sexual activity and references to porn. Listener's discretion is advised. Welcome to the second part of episode 1 of our 3rd season. We continue our talk with Farnosh Mazandarani exactly where we left of. Farnosh goes deeper into her porn research and explains what is popular porn and what is the most popular genera of popular porn that she's looking into. Farnosh also talks about the importance of researching popular porn due...

Warning: This episode contains explicit language, descriptions of sexual activity and references to porn. Listener's discretion is advised. Welcome to the opening episode of season 3. In this episode we host Porn researcher - Farnosh Mazandarani. Farnosh talks about her life as a daughters of Iranian immigrants in the United States, and about being first generation academic in her family. Farnosh also talks about her journey from checking the content on MTV, Nickelodeon, and Disney to doing a...

The final episode of season 2 presents our host (Danni) and producer (Ido) gathering together to talk about some of the highlights of the season. They talk about their favorite answers to the opening questions, the diversity of the guests, inspiring guests, important topics that came up during the episodes, and do some brainstorming about their plans for season 3. Don't worry - the podcast will return for season 3. Host: Danni Reches (@DanniReches) Producer and Editor: Ido Rosenzweig...

In this special collaboration episode, Danni chats with Dr. Vikram Baliga, a.k.a. the plant professor the host of the successful "Planthropology" podcast. Vikram talks about his journey that led him from being lost to finishing a PhD in Horticultural Science at Texas Tech University and becoming an award-winning lecturer in it, owning his own business, being a manager of the university greenhouse, and a successful podcaster. Vikram shares about his passion for plants that started with his MD...