The Somewhat Graduate: Recent Episodes
Ben & Eli
Ben and Eli are two first year graduate students embarking on a journey to obtain their Ph.D's. Tune in as they document their experiences for your listening pleasure.
Ok guys, ya boi Ben here. I may have goofed it a bit and not gotten around to editing this bad boy for a while. Disregard the fact that i mention it being pre-Thanksgiving. Pretend I said Christmas? That’d be cool.
Anyways, Ben went “glamping” in a national park and developed a new appreciation for all things modern while living in a glorified shack. The park was pretty dope though, so I guess alls well that ends well.
The boys then discuss back pains and how they feel old when they hurt their backs. Its a bit ironic though because most old people don’t still have to deal with homework. I guess we’re just lucky though.
Ben then goes into a long rant about not getting along with a lab mate. and no, its not his fault she doesn’t appreciate his witty charm and fun personality.
We then get a little existential about where we want to end up after graduate school and discuss what the point of all of this is gestures to the shit storm surrounding himself
And we bring it on home with a story about a stubborn professor in a “fun” environment and a music recommendation.
In this week's episode, Ben and Eli catch up on each other's progress during adviser selections. Ben's found himself a hot spot in the lab of a young, flashy professor known for science pow-wows. Meanwhile, Eli's pulled different directions as he struggles to find his place along the experiment-computation spectrum. After being lured into a presentation by an enticing display of breakfast tacos, Ben makes a hasty and awkward exit, his spirits only to be lifted after pissing next to a Nobel Laureate. The conversation then takes a weird turn to bird talk (they're cool) and then boats (they're bullshit) before once again targeting those doctors who don't have PhD's. Also, Ben's got a great story demonstrating, in perhaps the most creative and endearing way, how dogs truly are man's best friend.
Isn’t it great to feel like a real human? Ben starts this week off by being thankful that he finally gets to feel like one even though he is in grad school. Also, his grilfriend’s parents listen to the show now, so were gonna fucking cut that cussing right outta here. Welcome to a family-friendly podcast.
Ben is upset that he has to be good at school for the school to give him extra money. Basically the world is against him.
The boy’s then get into the main topic for today: The advisor selection process! Before you ask: No, its not going super great. Neither is homework. Which if you are wondering: It is great to still be worrying about homework at the age of 23.
Towards the end, they talk about weird activities outside of grad school, anxiety from what are supposed to be fun activities, and Ben’s favorite: APPLE.
In this episode, Ben and Eli start by discussing the importance of appearance in appeasing potential profs, specifically by the use of unnecessary, non-prescription glasses. Despite his charm and good-looks, Ben's yet to get paid and most of his classes are being cancelled, begging the question of whether he's really a student. That said, his top choice PI invited him to his place for bbq, so you could say it's getting pretty serious nonetheless.
Classes have started to pick up, and Eli once again struggles with simple user interfaces and software while Ben doesn't agree that his professor's self-termed "kindergarten calculus" is indeed elementary. Fortunately, equipped with multiplexed google calendars and Eisenhower matrices, the boys are still poised to overcome their course loads. To end the episode, Ben recounts the criminal activities of an enigmatic campus-based vapist that transpired earlier that week.
In this week’s episode, the boys discuss how awful it is when people expect you to be a productive human being. They then discuss a few different power moves going on in their lives without really acknowledging that they currently have no power whatsoever. Oh well; mama mia, here we go again.
Ben then complains about how he wants to travel more. Thank goodness he is embarking on the well-known-to-be-lucrative grad student life. Those guys sure have the big bucks.
Theres then a quick side tangent about the school part of school, but no one is actually here for that. tl;dr: school sucks; summer rules.
After 15 minutes of pure entertainment, ya boys finally get into some followup from the last episode. They start by discussing how people may see Ben rolling, and they may be hatin’, patollin’ even, tryna catch him ridin’ dirty. But they won’t.
They then turn to the main topic: How they both pretend like they keep their lives organized.
In this week’s episode, Ben starts out as a bit of a grumpy Gus as he explains why he is jaded about not getting the love he thinks he deserves. Eli should have been a good noodle the past few days by going to orientation, but opted out to take one out of Styx’s playbook and come sail away.
The boys also try to be healthy, but hijacking your girlfriend’s Pintrest can only do so much. Also fuck moving.
When we finally get to the main topic, ya boys talk about what they look for in a PI and in joining a lab. Will professors love their dashing good looks and charm? Or will there be no roses left for them when the grad student draft is over? They don’t know, and its definitely not freaking them out.
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Welcome to The Somewhat Graduate! A podcast made by graduate students for graduate students or people considering graduate school.
Tune in to this exploration into the life and times of two broke, overworked, under-appreciated, yet devilishly handsome first year grad students as they begin their journey to obtaining PhD's.
In this first episode, Ben and Eli begin discussing why they chose to go to graduate school over making real money by heading right into industry. They also share some of their trepidations and thoughts before the rubber really hits the road.
We hope you like this episode, and if you did, feel free to share it with your friends or anyone you know in graduate school!