Explore every episode of the podcast The Public Scholar

In dieser Folge sprechen wir mit Lisa Niendorf alias FrauForschung über Macht, Hierarchien und strukturelle Ungleichheiten im deutschen Hochschulsystem. Wir schauen darauf, wie sich akademische Machtstrukturen reproduzieren und wie sich Abhängigkeiten und Ausschlüsse aus unterschiedlichen Perspektiven zeigen – von Studierenden und Nachwuchswissenschaftler*innen über wissenschaftliche Mitarbeitende bis hin zu internationalen Forschenden. Befristete Verträge, berufliche Unsicherheit und systematische Ausschlüsse sind dabei ebenso Thema wie die Frage: Wie könnte eine andere Wissenschaft aussehen – und was müsste sich dafür verändern?

In this episode, we're joined by Jenaba Samura, a young researcher, writer, and speaker working at the intersection of Black European studies, gender, and postcolonial thought. We cover a wide range of topics, and at times Jenaba turns the questions back on us, making this a genuine conversation between three of us.

Jenaba is currently working on her PhD thesis, exploring Afro-diasporic travel writing and the construction of a Black European literary geography. Her most recent book, Afrotopia: Schwarze Konstruktionen von Gender und Sexualität (Afrotopia: Black Constructions of Gender and Sexuality), was published last year by Querverlag.

We talk about how Black narratives unsettle dominant European self-images, what it means to write and think from a Black European position, and how to differentiate fiction from non-fiction. Of course, we couldn't resist swapping academic journey stories too. We talked about imposter syndrome, building self-confidence, and the quieter forms of resistance and self-preservation that shape academic life.

Works cited in this episode:

• Afropean by Johny Pitts
• The Sociological Imagination by C. Wright Mills
• James Baldwin: From Another Place, documentary by Sedat Pakay

Is migration as we known it ending? What are the new challenges we have and how can we detect them?

In this episode, we sit down with Professor Nina Glick-Schiller. She has been one of the most influential voices in migration studies and ask her exactly that. A scholar who has spent decades challenging the assumptions baked into how we study human movement, Nina forces us to confront an uncomfortable truth: that academic research can reproduce the very hierarchies it claims to examine. That labeling people "illegal" or "undeserving" is not neutral science it is a political act.

We talk about methodological nationalism, the scapegoating of migrants, border regimes, academic freedom, and what it would mean to study migration on genuinely human terms. We also talk about capitalism, how it shapes all of our lives, and why Nina, despite everything, remains hopeful. Contradictions, she reminds us, are also openings.

This episode has a special format: Hevidar's students joined us in the recording, and their questions are woven throughout the conversation. It was our first interactive episode, and one of our favorites!

The Public Scholar is a non-profit podcast by two social scientists who believe research should speak beyond the academy. If this episode resonates, share it with someone who needs to hear it.

Wer sind Pick-up-Artists und was wollen sie eigentlich? In dieser Folge sprechen wir mit Léandre Chavand, Masterstudent der Soziologie an der Universität Bielefeld, über seine Forschung zu Pick-up-Artists und darüber, wie antifeministische Diskurse gezielt eingesetzt werden, um junge Männer anzusprechen und zu mobilisieren.

Im ersten Teil der Episode sprechen wir außerdem mit Leo über seine laufende Archivforschung in der Stadtbibliothek: Wie nähert sich die Soziologie archivischem Material methodisch? Welche Erkenntnisse lassen sich daraus gewinnen und welche Grenzen hat diese Form der Forschung?

Literatur in dieser Folge:

-Wie konnte das geschehen? Deutschland 1933 bis 1945 von Götz Aly

-Politische Männlichkeit von Susanne Kaiser

-Warum Liebe endet: Eine Soziologie negativer Beziehungen von Eva Illouz

What’s really going on behind gig work and digital platforms? In this episode, we chat with Davis Wiedemann, a young researcher from Germany who’s recently been admitted as a PhD student at Bielefeld University.

We get into big-picture questions about how economic relations have changed over time, the rise (and sometimes fall) of corporations, and what the platform economy means for how we work today. Davis also shares insights from his fieldwork with Uber drivers in Germany, giving us a look at the often unseen realities of gig work—and why it can be so problematic.

Works cited in this episode:

-The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

-The Vanishing American Corporation: Navigating the Hazards of a New Economy by Gerald F. Davis

-Die globale Wirtschaftselite: Eine Legende by Michael Hartmann

What happens when migration and disability intersect? In this episode, we sit down with Claudia Castillo, a Latina PhD student at the University of Illinois Chicago, to talk all things disability studies and migration.

From her personal journey as a migrant and PhD student to her experiences as a mother of a disabled child, this conversation moves between the personal and the political. We also dig into the evolution of disability studies, disability justice, and why these conversations matter right now.

Plus, we highlight Claudia’s recent work, which we reference throughout the episode: https://literatura.unam.mx/nadie-es-ilegal-mexicanas-en-chicago/

In this intro episode, Melisa and Hêvîdar chat about who they are, where they come from, and what The Public Scholar Podcast is all about. Expect a mix of topics, a bit of rambling, and plenty of thoughts on things like early-career researchers, first-gen academics, figuring out how to be a good lecturer, and why scientific communication actually matters.

Cited works:

Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom by bell hooks