Avsnitt
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It's the final episode of Severance, and it's really fucking tense! For our final show this season, it's just us: Outie Anitra and Innie Inger, talking about episode 9.
So much happened this episode! So many big reveals, and new plot lines opened. Helly has the most Dystopian Cinderella moment, Mark is Ricken's fanboy, Dylan is taking one for the workers collective and Irv only says a single word (but he makes it count).
We still live in hope for season two - hopefully we won't be in the break room waiting too long!Our office door is always open so please leave your comments in the suggestion box (well, the review section of whatever platform you are on right now).
Send us an email at [email protected] or record a speak pipe message at www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. You might want to tell us about this episode, your theories about what is actually being done at Lumon or speculate on plot points for season two. We'll read them all out in the last show!
For more information about us, visit the (Academic) Workers talk about Severance website.
You can find Anitra on BlueSky and Mastodon as @anitranot
You can find Inger on all the social channels as @thesiswhisperer -
Worker solidarity is the theme of this episode, and in celebration, we invited Anitra's current boss, Geoff Stringer. Don't worry though - he's not going to rat us out to the higher ups.
The team dissect episode: What's for Dinner. This is the episode where Inger had to text Anitra all the way through because it was so damn tense. Plans are made, dreams are broken - most importantly, certain people are at the 'find out' stage of the Fuck Around journey. And we are here for every delicious moment!Our office door is always open so please leave your comments in the suggestion box (well, the review section of whatever platform you are on right now).
Send us an email at [email protected] or record a speak pipe message at www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. You might want to tell us about this episode, your theories about what is actually being done at Lumon or speculate on plot points for season two. We'll read them all out in the last show!
For more information about us, visit the (Academic) Workers talk about Severance website.
You can find Anitra on BlueSky and Mastodon as @anitranot
You can find Inger on all the social channels as @thesiswhisperer -
Saknas det avsnitt?
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You'll never look at mandated company fun the same way after this episode, especially when it becomes clear that inter-departmental politics can get its own body count.
Prof Narelle Lemon, who is now at Edith Cowan University, joins us again to dissect episode seven of Severance. There's so much in this episode - the action is really heating up. Milcheck tries his best to keep a lid on the simmering tensions, and only earns himself a bite from Dylan. There is no Ricken in this episode, but he is till present in his absence.
Everything seems to be heading in a bad direction - but will worker solidarity win out over corporate oppression? We can't wait to find out.Our office door is always open so please leave your comments in the suggestion box (well, the review section of whatever platform you are on right now).
Send us an email at [email protected] or record a speak pipe message at www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. You might want to tell us about this episode, your theories about what is actually being done at Lumon or speculate on plot points for season two. We'll read them all out in the last show!
For more information about us, visit the (Academic) Workers talk about Severance website.
You can find Anitra on BlueSky and Mastodon as @anitranot
You can find Inger on all the social channels as @thesiswhisperer -
Love is in the air in episode six of Severance, where inter-departmental politics is platonic. Sort of. Maybe. Bert and Irv grow closer, Mark and Helly take the work flirt to the next level and Devon has a mysterious encounter in the local park...
Anitra's work colleague and future novel co-writer Chris joins us this week to dissect the many Kier mystery kinda-reveals. He also gives us a word to describe that spooky feeling of buildings that should be full of people, but aren't. A word we all need after lockdown for sure.Our office door is always open so please leave your comments in the suggestion box (well, the review section of whatever platform you are on right now).
Send us an email at [email protected] or record a speak pipe message at www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. You might want to tell us about this episode, your theories about what is actually being done at Lumon or speculate on plot points for season two. We'll read them all out in the last show!
For more information about us, visit the (Academic) Workers talk about Severance website.
You can find Anitra on BlueSky and Mastodon as @anitranot
You can find Inger on all the social channels as @thesiswhisperer -
We saved this one for Anitra's co-worker and Director of Digital Experience, Joyce Seitzinger, because it is the infamous "bring-your-baby-goat-to-work" day episode.
There is also a lot of Ricken in this ep, which gives us an excuse to talk about our favourite academic. Anitra compares Ricken to Yoda while Joyce points out that the comparison works only if Yoda were really really self-involved. Plus, mysterious baby goats.
Our office door is always open so please leave your comments in the suggestion box (well, the review section of whatever platform you are on right now).
Send us an email at [email protected] or record a speak pipe message at www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. You might want to tell us about this episode, your theories about what is actually being done at Lumon or speculate on plot points for season two. We'll read them all out in the last show!
For more information about us, visit the (Academic) Workers talk about Severance website.
You can find Anitra on BlueSky and Mastodon as @anitranot
You can find Inger on all the social channels as @thesiswhisperer -
In this episode we are joined by Inger’s ANU colleague and fellow podcaster Will Grant and we are talking about how no one wants to go into the break room. Like, ever.
We dissect Cobel’s (unasked for) freelancing — ‘wet work’ at Petey’s funeral — and whether or not she is getting any stock options. Will disturbingly points out the ways humans are never very far away from choosing violence.
Our office door is always open so please leave your comments in the suggestion box (well, the review section of whatever platform you are on right now).
Send us an email at [email protected] or record a speak pipe message at www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. You might want to tell us about this episode, your theories about what is actually being done at Lumon or speculate on plot points for season two. We'll read them all out in the last show!
For more information about us, visit the (Academic) Workers talk about Severance website.
You can find Anitra on BlueSky and Mastodon as @anitranot
You can find Inger on all the social channels as @thesiswhisperer -
In Episode Three of Severance, work friendships take a dark turn and we discuss it all with Anitra’s ex-and-current-coworker, Senior Learning Designer Miriam Renoyldson.
Anitra mangles the word 'cishertrowhitemaletriarchy', which Miriam then neatly illustrates by pointing out that all the five founders of the University of Melbourne Business School were white men named John.
We discuss how corporate bingo cards is the ultimate act of symbolic violence, and Inger warns about buying white shirts to power dress at work.
Our office door is always open so please leave your comments in the suggestion box (well, the review section of whatever platform you are on right now).
Send us an email at [email protected] or record a speak pipe message at www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. You might want to tell us about this episode, your theories about what is actually being done at Lumon or speculate on plot points for season two. We'll read them all out in the last show!
For more information about us, visit the (Academic) Workers talk about Severance website.
You can find Anitra on BlueSky and Mastodon as @anitranot
You can find Inger on all the social channels as @thesiswhisperer -
We focus on Episode Two of Severance and are joined once again by our friend and academic wellness expert Professor Narelle Lemon.
We delve into the topic of corporate gaslighting and how the work of MDR is the best description ever of analyzing student experience survey results.
Along the way we touch on the unique grief caused by corporate restructures and deconstruct the strategies used to give purpose to purposeless work.
In much the same way as Ricken outs Mark S for being severed, Inger outs Anitra’s secret past as CD cleaning kit seller of the month.
Our office door is always open so please leave your comments in the suggestion box (well, the review section of whatever platform you are on right now).
Send us an email at [email protected] or record a speak pipe message at www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. You might want to tell us about this episode, your theories about what is actually being done at Lumon or speculate on plot points for season two. We'll read them all out in the last show!
For more information about us, visit the (Academic) Workers talk about Severance website.
You can find Anitra on BlueSky and Mastodon as @anitranot
You can find Inger on all the social channels as @thesiswhisperer -
Welcome to episode one of Academics talk about Severance': the Apple TV show that has a lot to say about Work. We hope this series helps you cope with fact that season two seems to be infinitely delayed, or maybe just stuck on the Severance Floor.
For our first episode, we reunite the band from Academics Talk About the Chair (at least some of us) and delve into Episode One: Helly's sub-optimal onboarding experience.
We are joined by our friend and expert on academic wellness, Professor Narelle Lemon, of Explore and Create Co. We explore the concept of emotional labor, the unique experience that is university onboarding, and the societal fear of older women.Inger talks about waffle slabs a bit too much, while Anitra explains corporate culture building using a ladder, a monkey and a banana.
See you in the break room!
Our office door is always open so please leave your comments in the suggestion box (well, the review section of whatever platform you are on right now).
Send us an email at [email protected] or record a speak pipe message at www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. You might want to tell us about this episode, your theories about what is actually being done at Lumon or speculate on plot points for season two. We'll read them all out in the last show!
For more information about us, visit the (Academic) Workers talk about Severance website.
You can find Anitra on BlueSky and Mastodon as @anitranot
You can find Inger on all the social channels as @thesiswhisperer -
Coming soon to this channel, will be a new series of ‘academics talk about…:
Season one, which you’ll find by scrolling down in this feed, was ‘Academics talk about The Chair’ - the excellent Netflix series about a small liberal arts college starring the wonderful Sandra Oh.
Academics talk about the chair was a Covid lockdown project that kept me, my sister Anitra, and our two academic friends Narelle and Megan, sane during the insane year. Since 2021 I’ve since kept this podcast feed going as a place for my special projects, most recently, 'Your brain on writing'.People have been asking for a new recap series ever since we finished Academics talk about the chair, but it wasn’t until Severance came along that we felt moved to do a second season.
Severance is a dystopian sci-fi series on Apple TV set in an alternative ‘now’ - where workers can opt to have their work self and their home self psychologically split. The severed workers have two selves: an ‘innie’, who is always at work, and an ‘outie’, who is always at home. The innie and the outie occupy a single body, but live in very different worlds.
The company who Severs its workers is Lumon, a global corporation with a history of having its fingers in many profitable pies. Severance is, perhaps, their attempt to create the perfect worker. But honestly, we’re not quite sure what Lumon actually does. Severance is a TV show with a lot to say about the contemporary workplace, modern slavery and the impossibility of worklife balance.
I’m joined, again, in this new series by my Twin Sister: Anitra Nottingham. Both of us are obsessed with Severance, and this pod is a chance to share ALL our thoughts and feelpinions about it…
We’re identical twins who sound eerily alike. We decided one of us is the Innie and the other is the Outie (but you’ve have to tune in to find out who is who!). To make the same sounding voice thing a bit weird, and to make the whole series more fun, we’ve invited a current or former workmate along for each episode.
Ironically, in Severance, a show about work, we are never quite sure what the workers are doing as they stare at numbers on their 1970s style monitors, under the glare of fluorescent lights. We’ll talk other forms of work we see being done - emotional work, invisible work, articulation work, managing up, down and sideways.
We’ll zoom in on the office politics in Severance and connect it to our own histories of workplace dramas. We’ll try to sympathise with management, and see if we can name employee of the week, or rat out the union organisers.
And, because we are obsessed with the only academic character in the show, Ricken, we have a section called Ricken Watch, where we report on his doings for that episode. Finally we wallow in the beauty of the show, singling out our favourite architectural, fashion and sound design moments.If you haven’t watched Severance yet, pop it on your playlist. There are heaps of spoilers coming up! Academic workers talk about Severance will be dropping s
Our office door is always open so please leave your comments in the suggestion box (well, the review section of whatever platform you are on right now).
Send us an email at [email protected] or record a speak pipe message at www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. You might want to tell us about this episode, your theories about what is actually being done at Lumon or speculate on plot points for season two. We'll read them all out in the last show!
For more information about us, visit the (Academic) Workers talk about Severance website.
You can find Anitra on BlueSky and Mastodon as @anitranot
You can find Inger on all the social channels as @thesiswhisperer -
Inger, Megan, Anitra and Narelle continue their episode by episode forensic examination of 'The Chair'. This time we're examining the last episode - The Chair.
In the last episode, unresolved sexual tension (UST) is resolved (sort of). Punishment is delivered (kind of) and, as is the way in almost every contemporary romance novel, every one is Happy For Now (HFN).
Warning - this episode contains Megan's utter disgust about The Kiss amongst other salacious details. BUT we got all our sound problems ironed out - just in time for the Last Episode.
For our fans - we know there's a few: Academics Talk About... is not done! We're having too much fun to stop and it's going to be lockdown for a while yet. As soon as we have decided what show to dissect next, we'll be back. So stay subscribed and see what happens!
The Academics who talk about the Chair this week are:
Inger Mewburn: @thesiswhisperer on Twitter and The Thesiswhisperer blog (you can also listen to her other podcast 'On The Reg')
Megan McPherson: @MeganJMcPherson on insta and twitter (where you can also meet her cats Maximum, Dulcie and Mr Fin. ) You can find out more and see Megan's art on Meganmcpherson.com.auNarelle Lemon:-@rellypops and @wellbeingwhisp1 on Twitter and Instagram - and @rellypops AND @Exploreandcreateco on @Instagram. Visit Explore and Create Co.
Anitra Nottingham (identical twin sister of Inger, which is confusing because she sounds EXACTLY the same - you'll just have to roll with it!). You can find her @anitranot on all the things and her website anitraland.com - her new podcast is available on
If you'd like to share your own views on The Chair email us on
[email protected] or leave us a message on speakpipe.com/thesiswhispererOur office door is always open so please leave your comments in the suggestion box (well, the review section of whatever platform you are on right now).
Send us an email at [email protected] or record a speak pipe message at www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. You might want to tell us about this episode, your theories about what is actually being done at Lumon or speculate on plot points for season two. We'll read them all out in the last show!
For more information about us, visit the (Academic) Workers talk about Severance website.
You can find Anitra on BlueSky and Mastodon as @anitranot
You can find Inger on all the social channels as @thesiswhisperer -
Inger, Megan, Anitra and Narelle continue their episode by episode forensic examination of 'The Chair'. This time we're examining episode four: 'The last bus in town'.
We're joined, again, for this episode by Dr Bertha Chin, senior lecturer from the Swinburne University of Technology in Sarawak, Malaysia. Bertha ups our intellectual heft as a scholar of fan studies and Fandom - and huge David Duchovny fan (he even inspired her to do a PhD in the first place!).
Ji Yoon solves an almost insolvable problem in this episode, but it immediately doesn't matter as she's caught up in the Pembroke Nazi scandal. Yaz is burning bridges and (unbeknownst to Ji Yoon) the older members of the department start to plot a coup. It's getting pretty dark in here... and is Bill the last bus in town as Aunty so wisely says?
Warning - this episode contains a David Duchovny reprising his 'thinking woman's crumpet' moment from the 1990s. Will we swoon? You'll have to listen to find out.
This episode is also a little late because of sound problems - we tried our best to fix them. What can we say? We are all in locked down suburbs, even in Malaysia, and all the neighbours are in lockdown watching Netflix too...
The Academics who talk about the Chair this week are:
Inger Mewburn: @thesiswhisperer on Twitter and The Thesiswhisperer blog (you can also listen to her other podcast 'On The Reg')
Megan McPherson: @MeganJMcPherson on insta and twitter (where you can also meet her cats Maximum, Dulcie and Mr Fin. ) You can find out more and see Megan's art on Meganmcpherson.com.auNarelle Lemon:-@rellypops and @wellbeingwhisp1 on Twitter and Instagram - and @rellypops AND @Exploreandcreateco on @Instagram. Visit Explore and Create Co.
Anitra Nottingham (identical twin sister of Inger, which is confusing because she sounds EXACTLY the same - you'll just have to roll with it!). You can find her @anitranot on all the things and her website anitraland.com - her new podcast is available on
Bertha Chin is on Twitter as @bertha_c and Instagram as @transculturalfangirlIf you'd like to share your own views on The Chair email us on
[email protected] or leave us a message on speakpipe.com/thesiswhispererOur office door is always open so please leave your comments in the suggestion box (well, the review section of whatever platform you are on right now).
Send us an email at [email protected] or record a speak pipe message at www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. You might want to tell us about this episode, your theories about what is actually being done at Lumon or speculate on plot points for season two. We'll read them all out in the last show!
For more information about us, visit the (Academic) Workers talk about Severance website.
You can find Anitra on BlueSky and Mastodon as @anitranot
You can find Inger on all the social channels as @thesiswhisperer -
Inger, Megan, Anitra and Narelle continue their episode by episode forensic examination of 'The Chair'. This time we're examining episode four: 'Don't Kill Bill'.
We're joined for this episode by Dr Bertha Chin, senior lecturer from the Swinburne University of Technology in Sarawak, Malaysia. Bertha ups our intellectual heft as a scholar of fan studies and Fandom - and huge David Duchovny fan (he even inspired her to do a PhD in the first place!).
We enjoy a lot of Bill and Ju Ju time in this episode, although we also find time to sympathise with Ji-Yoon struggling with leadership, Yaz struggling with The Establishment (in the form of Elliot) and Joan letting loose her rage at students who write crappy evaluations.
(some of the sound in this episode is a bit crappy too - apologies. We are all in locked down suburbs, even in Malaysia, and all the neighbours are in lockdown watching Netflix too...)
The Academics who talk about the Chair this week are:
Inger Mewburn: @thesiswhisperer on Twitter and The Thesiswhisperer blog (you can also listen to her other podcast 'On The Reg')
Megan McPherson: @MeganJMcPherson on insta and twitter (where you can also meet her cats Maximum, Dulcie and Mr Fin. ) You can find out more and see Megan's art on Meganmcpherson.com.auNarelle Lemon:-@rellypops and @wellbeingwhisp1 on Twitter and Instagram - and @rellypops AND @Exploreandcreateco on @Instagram. Visit Explore and Create Co.
Anitra Nottingham (identical twin sister of Inger, which is confusing because she sounds EXACTLY the same - you'll just have to roll with it!). You can find her @anitranot on all the things and her website anitraland.com
Bertha Chin is on Twitter as @bertha_c and Instagram as @transculturalfangirlOur office door is always open so please leave your comments in the suggestion box (well, the review section of whatever platform you are on right now).
Send us an email at [email protected] or record a speak pipe message at www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. You might want to tell us about this episode, your theories about what is actually being done at Lumon or speculate on plot points for season two. We'll read them all out in the last show!
For more information about us, visit the (Academic) Workers talk about Severance website.
You can find Anitra on BlueSky and Mastodon as @anitranot
You can find Inger on all the social channels as @thesiswhisperer -
Inger, Megan, Anitra and Narelle continue their episode by episode forensic examination of 'The Chair'. This time we're examining episode three: The Town Hall.
Once again we're joined for this episode by Professor Pauline Reynolds who is a legitimate expert on representations of academics in popular culture. She's even written books and stuff! You can find out about Pauline's research here.
This might be our favourite episode of The Chair and not just because of Joan setting fire to her evals. We discuss 'bill whiplash', IT guys, that admin person who holds everything together and Ji Yoon's amazing day to night outfit - amongst many other things.
The Academics who talk about the Chair this week are:
Inger Mewburn: @thesiswhisperer on Twitter and The Thesiswhisperer blog (you can also listen to her other podcast 'On The Reg')
Megan McPherson: @MeganJMcPherson on insta and twitter (where you can also meet her cats Maximum, Dulcie and Mr Fin. ) You can find out more and see Megan's art on Meganmcpherson.com.auNarelle Lemon:-@rellypops and @wellbeingwhisp1 on Twitter and Instagram - and @rellypops AND @Exploreandcreateco on @Instagram. Visit Explore and Create Co.
Anitra Nottingham (identical twin sister of Inger, which is confusing because she sounds EXACTLY the same - you'll just have to roll with it!). You can find her @anitranot on all the things and her website anitraland.com
Pauline Reynolds is @representingHE on Twitter and you can find out about Pauline's research here.Our office door is always open so please leave your comments in the suggestion box (well, the review section of whatever platform you are on right now).
Send us an email at [email protected] or record a speak pipe message at www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. You might want to tell us about this episode, your theories about what is actually being done at Lumon or speculate on plot points for season two. We'll read them all out in the last show!
For more information about us, visit the (Academic) Workers talk about Severance website.
You can find Anitra on BlueSky and Mastodon as @anitranot
You can find Inger on all the social channels as @thesiswhisperer -
Inger, Megan, Anitra and Narelle continue their episode by episode forensic examination of 'The Chair'. This time we're examining episode two: the faculty party.
We are joined for this episode by Professor Pauline Reynolds who is a legitimate expert on representations of academics in popular culture. She's even written books and stuff! You can find out about Pauline's research here.
This is a romantic episode, but at least one of us remains unmoved by the relationship development between Ji Yoon and Bill. All of us were triggered by the microagressions and sexism in the party scenes... But we still found lots to laugh about. We hope you do too.
Big shout out to the Academic Aunties Pod mentioned in this episode. You can find it here.
The Academics who talk about the Chair this week are:
Inger Mewburn: @thesiswhisperer on Twitter and The Thesiswhisperer blog (you can also listen to her other podcast 'On The Reg')
Megan McPherson: @MeganJMcPherson on insta and twitter (where you can also meet her cats Maximum, Dulcie and Mr Fin. ) You can find out more and see Megan's art on Meganmcpherson.com.auNarelle Lemon:-@rellypops and @wellbeingwhisp1 on Twitter and Instagram - and @rellypops AND @Exploreandcreateco on @Instagram. Visit Explore and Create Co.
Anitra Nottingham (identical twin sister of Inger, which is confusing because she sounds EXACTLY the same - you'll just have to roll with it!). You can find her @anitranot on all the things and her website anitraland.com
Pauline Reynolds is @representingHE on Twitter and you can find out about Pauline's research here.Our office door is always open so please leave your comments in the suggestion box (well, the review section of whatever platform you are on right now).
Send us an email at [email protected] or record a speak pipe message at www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. You might want to tell us about this episode, your theories about what is actually being done at Lumon or speculate on plot points for season two. We'll read them all out in the last show!
For more information about us, visit the (Academic) Workers talk about Severance website.
You can find Anitra on BlueSky and Mastodon as @anitranot
You can find Inger on all the social channels as @thesiswhisperer -
It feels like every academic in the world has a hot take on the new Netflix show 'The Chair'.
Opinions are divided, and, in that academic way we know and love, everyone thinks they're right. We’re a bunch of academics in lockdown here in Australia and we're bored, so we decided to make a podcast about The Chair because, well, why not?
We're taking our cue from projects like ‘Doctors watch Grays Anatomy'. In this podcast we compare our experience and knowledge of how a profession works with a fictional account on the screen. Because we are academics, we will recap the episode in painful detail (oh so many spoilers) and tell you what we think is realistic, what is totally fictional and what the best lines in the show were (and why). Finally we will spend a bit of time on the outfits each character is wearing, because we care about that stuff.
We are four, white, female academics located In Australia, who have done various jobs inside academia, but of course, we can’t claim to have experienced everything. As you can tell, none of us are film studies academics, so don’t expect a deep, informed analysis grounded in the literature.
We're interested in other peoples' take on The Chair - we’re dreaming of you film studies people doing your own podcasts (hint hint). In the meantime, you can write to us and we will include your ideas and opinions in our correspondence section at the end of the show.
We are:
Inger Mewburn: @thesiswhisperer on Twitter and The Thesiswhisperer blog (you can also listen to her other podcast 'On The Reg')
Megan McPherson: @MeganJMcPherson on insta and twitter (where you can also meet her cats Maximum, Dulcie and Mr Fin. )Narelle Lemon:-@rellypops and @wellbeingwhisp1 on Twitter and Instagram - and @rellypops AND @Exploreandcreateco on @Instagram (Narelle and Inger are two of the producers behind the WhisperFest podcast)
Anitra Nottingham - @anitranot on all the things (and identical twin sister of Inger, which is confusing because she sounds EXACTLY the same - you'll just have to roll with it!).
In you'd like to share your own views on The Chair email us on
[email protected]Our office door is always open so please leave your comments in the suggestion box (well, the review section of whatever platform you are on right now).
Send us an email at [email protected] or record a speak pipe message at www.speakpipe.com/thesiswhisperer. You might want to tell us about this episode, your theories about what is actually being done at Lumon or speculate on plot points for season two. We'll read them all out in the last show!
For more information about us, visit the (Academic) Workers talk about Severance website.
You can find Anitra on BlueSky and Mastodon as @anitranot
You can find Inger on all the social channels as @thesiswhisperer
