Do You Even Science Simon Landry

Writing the acknowledgements, giving thanks to the people who have helped you along the way, is a surprisingly difficult part of completing your thesis. It’s also usually the last thing you do. In this episode, Simon talks about the difficulty and importance of knowing how to end a project, goes over his notes from a meeting with Toronto city councillor Joe Mihevc on why Canada should decriminalize all drugs, and talks about the importance for scientists to consider the science as a flawed but wonderful process. Finally, in this last episode of Do You Even Science, we end with our acknowledgements. Thank you to everyone who came on the show and to everyone who took the time in their busy lives to listen to us.

In this episode, Simon talk with his Mirjam Guesgen (who met at the workshop organized by BBC superstar science journalist Matt McGrath from episode 2!) about her journey from academic researcher to award winning journalist. Their conversation, like Mirjam's journey, covers a lot of ground. From her doctoral research with sheep in New Zealand to her post-doctoral research with cows in Canada, there have been many surprising stops along the way. In their discussion, Mirjam shares advice for budding science journalists and perspectives on the realities of working in the industry.

In this episode, Simon talk with his friend Yasmin Beydoun about her path to becoming a speech-language pathologist. Their conversation takes them everywhere from meeting at a nerd camp for entrepreneurial neuroscience students in Halifax to her clinical training with linguistic minorities. We also learn about the complexities around swallowing, how standardized tests can keep out marginalized communities from becoming healthcare professionals, and the politics of school speech assessments.
 
Are you a SLP or SLP-in-training with similar experiences? Have you attended academic camps and connected with great people from different areas of study? Have you worked with an SLP that changed your life? We would love to hear about your experiences! Tweet us @DYES_podcast.

In this very special episode, Simon co-hosts with his partner Nicola while Deena is away at an international conference. Simon gives an update on his job hunt and explains the difference between tenure-track professor and course instructors. Nicola talks about her experience with radical career change, having gone from electrical engineer to psychologist working with individuals with borderline personality disorder. They finish by discussing what it’s like, the pros and cons, of being in a couple with two PhDs.
Are you with a person that has a PhD? Have you experienced some challenges that we didn’t mention? Or maybe you’re interested in someone who is in grad school or has a PhD. What does that feel like, to be with someone who spent so long in school when you haven’t? We would love to hear about your experiences! Tweet us @DYES_podcast.

Our failures don't need to define us - cliche, we know! Listen as Simon and Deena share some of their failures while in academia and as far back as high school. Also, Simon's good friend Dom shares what she views as failures during her PhD and, "against all odds", becoming a faculty member in a prestigious liberal arts university in New York. Deena shares the perspective from an interview she came across that allowing oneself to be vulnerable and share failures comes from a place of privilege.
What are your thoughts on publicly sharing failures? What are some of your failures and how did you handle the situation and grow (or not grow) from it? Tweet us @DYES_podcast.
Link to the "Failure CV": https://www.princeton.edu/~joha/Johannes_Haushofer_CV_of_Failures.pdf
Link to Interview on public sharing of failures + privilege: https://www.conditonallyaccepted.com/2017/03/04/failure/

Green Rush or Green Goblin - The varying potencies of cannabis legalization. Listen to Part 1 of Simon and Deena's discussion about drug use in Canada. Topics include: decriminalization vs legalization; Fact Check on cannabis laced with fentanyl; apparent East-Coast trend of lacing cannabis with Windex; the varying drug policies re: cannabis by province; and harm reduction techniques. In an upcoming episode, Part 2, Simon and Deena take drug policy questions to the leader of their constituency and dispel more drug myths.
What are your thoughts on drug policies across Canada? Should policies be consistent across provinces? Why or why not? Have you heard/seen media reports of cannabis laced with fentanyl? Tweet us @DYES_podcast. We'd love to hear your thoughts!