Academic Aunties

04/10/2023

AAAHHH! This is a HUGE day for Academic Aunties! In today's episode, which we are releasing to coincide with the release of Sara Ahmed's latest book, "The Feminist Killjoy Handbook," Academic Aunties gets to have a long and generative and inspiring convo with Sara herself!!!! We talk about the academic aunties in Sara's life, feminist killjoy maxims, 'paper feminist killjoys', and many, many more!

https://www.academicaunties.com/

Also, go read the "Feminist Killjoy Handbook!" It is an awesome book!

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20/09/2023

How is your September going? On the latest episode, Ethel and Nisha listen to your voice memos and talk about the false urgency of deadlines, exhaustion and ways to cope! Listen now on your fav podcast app and at

We are back to school! So why do we feel so exhausted? On the season 4 premiere Ethel and Nisha listen to some academic aunties audio diaries about how September is going so far. We talk about why there are so many deadlines at this busy time of the year…

04/07/2023

We have a really important episode out now. Yilin Wang is an award winning writer, poet, editor, and translator based in Vancouver, and recently has been passionately working on translating the works of 19th century feminist poet, Qiu Jin. So it came as a bit of a shock when she found out that the British Museum–that big national institution, holder of stolen artifacts, and symbol of British colonialism–had been using her translations in a major exhibit without credit, and importantly, without permission.

In this special “emergency” episode, we talk to Yilin about her fight to get the British Museum to own up to and rectify their mistake, and the broader systemic issues of erasure and academic theft that translators and writers constantly face.

And we talk about how listeners can help by contributing to her legal fund to get the British Museum to make things right and ensure this never happens again.

https://www.academicaunties.com/episodes/namethetranslator/

Donate to the cause here: https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/british-museum-copyright-moral-rights-infringement/

I'm a Chinese Canadian writer, poet, and translator. My book of poetry translations, The Lantern and the Night Moths, is forthcoming with Invisible Publishing in Spring 2024. www.yilinwang.com

05/04/2023

So cool to have been featured in Sociological Review's list of the six best podcasts on monarchy, the royals, empire and class podcasts to listen to!

Laura Clancy rounds up the top six new podcasts on monarchy, covering everything from whiteness to colonial legacies.

02/12/2022

New podcast episode out! It seems like academics would rather talk about their s*x lives than talk about their salaries. So in today’s episode, we talk to Dr. Rebecca Major about one of the biggest taboos in academia: money. We talk about how hard it is for first-gen academics to make ends meet, and the bougie norms of academia that make it difficult for them to talk about these struggles.

Academics would rather talk about their s*x lives than talk about their salaries. So in today's episode, we talk to Dr. Rebecca Major about one of the biggest taboos in academia: money. We talk about how hard it is for many first-gen academics to make ends meet, and the bougie…

16/11/2022

How we appear, our dress, our hair, our style, how we carry ourselves are all things that we as marginalized academics are being judged against. Do we look the part of the academic? Do we want to? To talk about this we welcome Dr. Nadia Brown, a Professor of Government and the Director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at Georgetown University, and Dr. Danielle Lemi, Tower Center Fellow at the Tower Center at Southern Methodist University.

They recently released an amazing book, Sister Style, The Politics of Appearance for Black Women Political Elites, that unpacks the politics of appearance and respectability. We talk about this book and how their study of Black women political elites mirror the experiences we have in academia.

How we appear, our dress, our hair, our style, how we carry ourselves are all things that we as marginalized academics are being judged against. Do we look the part of the academic? Do we want to? To talk about this we welcome Dr. Nadia Brown, a Professor of Government…

19/10/2022

Many academics have pets. For host, Ethel Tungohan, most of her academic life from postdoc until very recently involved her beloved cat, a long haired Maine C**n named Cornelius, who was her sidekick, my best friend, my confidante.

We said goodbye to him on October 4, 2022. So for this episode, Ethe; honours Cornelius by talking about academic pets with Academic Aunties producer, Dr. Nisha Nath and returning guest, Dr. Sule Tomkinson. Throughout this episode, you’ll also hear voice memos from listeners sharing stories of their pets. Thanks to Chad Cowie, Kristine Alexander, Megan Cloutier, Rita Dhamoon, Megan Gaucher, Justin Leifso, Stepanie Silverman, and Melanee Thomas for sharing your stories!

Many academics have pets. For me, most of my academic life from my postdoc until very recently involved my beloved cat, a long haired Maine C**n named Cornelius, who was my sidekick, my best friend, my confidante.We said goodbye to him on October 4, 2022. So for this episode, I…

21/09/2022

Dr. Debra Thompson, talks about her poignant, profound and powerful book, The Long Road Home: On Blackness and Belonging, about her journey back home. She weaves together insights on the politics of race and racialization and Black identity while discussing family history, growing up in Oshawa, and her experiences, in academic spaces in Chicago, in Ohio, in Portland, and in Canada.

Dr. Debra Thompson (), talks about her poignant, profound and powerful book, The Long Road Home: On Blackness and Belonging, about her journey back home. She weaves together insights on the politics of race and racialization and Black identity while discussing family history, growing....

07/09/2022

New episode!

Back to school is usually a fun time because it signals new beginnings. But this year it feels different. Confusing and maybe a bit frightening. After two years of the pandemic, there's this sense of forced normalcy even though the pandemic is certainly not yet over. And what about the…

13/04/2022

Get your elbows up! Listen to the latest episode (and our season finale) of Academic Aunties with an amazing guest, the ultimate academic auntie, Joyce Green! This is probably one our best interviews yet, so visit academicaunties.com or subscribe in your favourite podcast app to listen!

11/04/2022

Happy Monday everyone! If you're starting the week and wondering what the point is in fighting these fraught academic spaces, remember what Joyce Green, the ultimate academic auntie says: transformation is possible and look how far we've already come.

Hear more amazing words of wisdom on our next episode, coming out on Wednesday! Subscribe in your favourite podcast app to get notified as soon as the episode drops. Go to academicaunties.com for more information.

09/02/2022

Our latest episode of Academic Aunties is out! On this episode, Ethel Tungohan talks to Natasha Sofia Martinez and Mariam Georgis about Disney's Encanto. We discuss inter-generational trauma, migration, & our respective immigrant families' reactions! We also link it back to academia's refusal to heed OUR stories. Listen now at

We're talking about Encanto, the newest Disney animated film, featuring songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, about a magical family living in the mountains of Colombia. Why are we talking about a kids movie on a podcast about academia? Well, first, because we loved the film. Second, our aunties, Natasha Sof...

26/01/2022

Listen now at AcademicAunties.com or wherever you get your podcasts!

26/01/2022

On Part II of our pandemic parenting series, we talk to Dr. Yolande Bouka (), Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Studies at Queen’s University. In this episode, we talk about how the pressures of being a parent in academia, and in a pandemic, are hitting us personally. Auntie Yolande talks about prioritizing our health and our needs. In doing so, we are modelling to the people in our lives, including our children, why it is important to advocate for ourselves.

On Part II of our pandemic parenting series, we talk to Dr. Yolande Bouka (), Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Studies at Queen's University. In this episode, we talk about how the pressures of being a parent in academia, and in a pandemic, are hitting us personally. A...

19/01/2022

We’re talking about Pandemic Parenting. We will be talking about the compromises we’ve had to make, the hard decisions we’ve had to take, and also, more importantly, the reminder that we are enough and that blaming ourselves for not being able to be as ‘productive’ means that we let structures off the hook.

In Part I of our 2 part pandemic parenting series, we’re talking with Dr. Sheila Colla (), Associate Professor in the Faculty of Environment and Urban Change at York University, about the expectations of academia while raising kids in a pandemic, and how science isn’t as always as objective as it likes to say it is.

Listen now at

We're talking about Pandemic Parenting. The compromises we’ve had to make, the hard decisions we’ve had to take, and the reminder that we are enough and that blaming ourselves for not being able to be as ‘productive’ means that we let structures off the hook. In Part 1 of our…

30/12/2021

We've updated our website! If you haven't already, check out the new academicaunties.com, browse through all our episodes and learn how you can support the show!

New episodes drop monthly. Listen wherever you get your podcasts! Other platforms Love Academic Aunties? There are lots of ways to support the podcast! Latest Episodes

23/12/2021

On this extended year-end episode, Dr. Rita Dhamoon, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Victoria, and Dr. Nisha Nath (), Assistant Professor in the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies at Athabasca University grab a few drinks with Dr. Ethel Tungohan to talk about remembering who you are outside of the academy, rebuilding your strength, and how maybe it's the institution that has to get it's s**t together.

‎Show Academic Aunties, Ep After Hours - Dec 22, 2021

03/11/2021

New episode out! This podcast episode, called "Hierarchies of sh*t," talks to two brilliant women - Dr. Rita Shah and Dr. Jo Davis-McElligat - who left tenured positions for new jobs. We talk about how to make the leap. What if the new place they go to ends up being just as toxic? How did they weigh in whether to stay or whether to go? We also talked about how they ultimately ended up prioritizing themselves and ended up in places that were far better than their former jobs.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts or at www.academicaunties.com.

We talk a lot about toxic work environments and strategies of survival. But there are moments when you just have to leave. And that is what today’s episode is about.

29/09/2021

In this episode, we are talking about the academic job market. We challenge the notion that academia is meritocratic. We highlight how fraught applying for academics job can be for many marginalized folks, especially those who are first-gen, working-class, racialized, and q***r. We wonder whether typical job market advice, such as moving anywhere there is a job and prioritizing top schools (R1 schools for Americans) over other schools makes sense. And we also address ways to try to take back agency in a fundamentally messed up and inequitable structure.

Joining us is Dr. Mary Anne S. Mendoza (), Assistant Professor of Political Science at CalState Pomona, and Dr. Robert Diaz, Associate Professor in the Women & Gender Studies Institute at the University of Toronto.

Listen now at www.academicaunties.com, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts!

Season 2 premiere! We take a deep dive into The Chair, the new Netflix series starring Sandra Oh about the first woman of colour chair of the English department at the fictional Pembrooke University. Everyone (or at least all academics!) are talking about this new show, created by Amanda Peat and An...

15/09/2021

On the latest an anonymous listener wants some auntie wisdom on how to appropriately show appreciation for a supportive supervisor. Listen to Academic Aunties wherever you get your podcasts!

‎Show Academic Aunties, Ep - Gratitude and Gifts - Sep. 14, 2021

10/09/2021

Happy Friday to all the aunties in our lives!

09/09/2021

06/09/2021

Need some auntie wisdom? Send us your question and we’ll answer it on a future mini-episode! Go to academicaunties.com/ask to send a voice message or message us here or on Twitter at .

Hosted by Dr. Ethel Tungohan. Visit us on Twitter at .

06/09/2021

If you liked our episode on The Chair, check out this podcast by The Thesis Whisperer for a really deep dive!

Four white, female, Australian academics have all the opinions (and feelings) about one of the only TV shows to (almost accurately) represent academic life on the screen.

30/08/2021

"People should be paying attention." Why resonates with so many women of color and why that's important. Listen to the season premiere of Academic Aunties at http://academicaunties.com or wherever you get your podcasts

20/08/2021

We’re trying to make the best of the last couple of weeks of summer. But if you’re looking for some auntie wisdom while we’re on hiatus, check out our bonus episodes!

‎Society & Culture · 2021