00;00;00;18 - 00;00;18;21
Speaker 1
Hello and welcome to the Providence College podcast, I'm your host, Chris Judge, and I'm here today with Alex Cannon, a senior here at PC Class of 20 to four when this podcast becomes dated. And he did some really interesting research over the summer that we wanted to bring him on and talk about, but he's also done so

00;00;18;21 - 00;00;33;08
Speaker 1
much other stuff over the last four years. His research is titled Unfair Negative Portrayals of Nuclear Energy in Pop Culture. And Alex, thanks for joining us. Thank you for having me. So I want to start first before we get into your research.

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Speaker 1
What brought you to PC?

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Speaker 2
So I was looking at a couple of different schools. I decided on PC actually because of.

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Speaker 3
Something I think a lot of.

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Speaker 4
People.

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Speaker 3
You know, are kind of indifferent towards.

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Speaker 2
But I actually really love the idea of the Civ program. I thought it'd be really cool to kind.

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Speaker 3
Of see where humanity came from, see where we are now, kind of get that, you know.

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Speaker 2
Worldly view.

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Speaker 3
And see, you know, what's up and.

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Speaker 2
Where I fit.

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Speaker 3
Into.

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Speaker 2
The the greater story.

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Speaker 3
Of things and where things might go as a.

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Speaker 2
Result. I thought that was really cool.

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Speaker 1
So where where are you from?

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Speaker 3
I'm from East Granby, Connecticut, a little town, kind of near.

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Speaker 2
Hartford.

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Speaker 1
OK? I grew up in Milford, which is down near the beach in Connecticut. Very cool. So I came here in five. I did not come because of the program, so we don't have that in common. But you're a theater major.

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Speaker 1
How did how did you get into that?

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Speaker 2
So I started theater.

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Speaker 3
In high school. I'd always done band, I'd always done music, and a couple of my friends told me, Hey.

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Speaker 2
You should audition for the musical.

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Speaker 3
So I think it'd be a fun thing to do over the summer. And it was a really fun thing to do over the summer ended up loving it so much.

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Speaker 2
That I did it all the way out throughout high school.

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Speaker 3
And then when I came here.

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Speaker 2
To Providence College, I was also one of the reasons I chose the school is because I really liked the.

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Speaker 3
Theater program. I'd seen a production of Into.

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Speaker 2
The woods here that I thought was just.

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Speaker 3
Fantastic. And I was.

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Speaker 2
Like, I just.

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Speaker 3
I want to.

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Speaker 2
Be a part of it.

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Speaker 3
So I came in and I was just initially a marketing major, and then I was in marketing and theater double major. And now I'm.

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Speaker 2
Just a.

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Speaker 3
Theater major and I'm on the musical.

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Speaker 2
Theater track. So musicals are.

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Speaker 3
Definitely my thing.

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Speaker 1
What are some of your favorite musicals?

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Speaker 2
Oh, it's a tough question. Beetlejuice is up there.

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Speaker 3
Anyone who's been around me lists.

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Speaker 2
Lately has.

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Speaker 3
Heard me singing from.

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Speaker 2
Beetlejuice to Really.

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Speaker 3
Love Come From Away.

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Speaker 2
Which is a really touching true story about.

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Speaker 3
The 9:11 terrorist.

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Speaker 2
Attacks, which is just so beautiful.

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Speaker 3
And there's a.

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Speaker 2
Picture of it on Apple TV Plus.

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Speaker 3
So anyone who has a I recommend watching it. It's amazing, amazing show. My favorite when I was in is something rotten, which.

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Speaker 2
We did back.

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Speaker 3
Here in 2019. I was a minstrel that.

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Speaker 2
Was like.

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Speaker 3
My favorite performance I've ever been in.

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Speaker 2
I love that show.

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Speaker 1
I want to now kind of direct us towards the research that you did. Mm hmm. But first, I want to figure out how does a theater major get connected with a poly sci professor? Mm hmm. To do this research.

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Speaker 3
So I ended up taking.

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Speaker 2
Dr. Liotta as a.

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Speaker 3
Chemistry in.

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Speaker 2
Currents.

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Speaker 3
What is the chemistry in down? So I wouldn't forget, but I've forgotten the words chemistry and contemporary.

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Speaker 2
Issues class.

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Speaker 3
To fulfill my natural science core requirement. And when we learned about nuclear chemistry, I remember distinctively thinking, Man, I thought anything that was.

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Speaker 2
Radioactive glowed bright.

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Speaker 3
Green, which is not the case. And I remember thinking, Why did I think that? And so I ended up writing my final paper.

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Speaker 2
On the subject all about how popular culture.

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Speaker 3
In general depicts nuclear things and how, you know, the discrepancies in that with the real science.

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Speaker 2
Versus the way it's depicted. And Dr. Liotta basically said this paper is really great. I think that you should try and work further on it, maybe get it published.

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Speaker 3
And she connect me with.

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Speaker 2
Dr..

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Speaker 3
Guadagno.

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Speaker 2
The associate professor of political science.

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Speaker 3
And you know, I have been working on the paper.

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Speaker 2
We applied for research grants over the summer, which we were awarded. And I got to work on it. I got to watch a lot of.

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Speaker 3
Godzilla, The Simpsons.

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Speaker 2
Play some fallout and Call of Duty.

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Speaker 3
And combine that with some extra academic research, and I had.

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Speaker 2
A really cool paper.

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Speaker 3
To be working on over the summer that is almost done now.

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Speaker 1
Tell me about the grant process and how that worked, because it's really interesting at a school like PC, where an undergrad in between their junior and senior years can just apply to get some money from the college to put towards this research.

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Speaker 1
How did that go?

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Speaker 3
It went really well.

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Speaker 2
I started off.

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Speaker 3
By just looking at the strengths of what I already had in my hands. The final paper.

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Speaker 2
That Dr..

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Speaker 3
Liotta, you know, saw the potential in and said.

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Speaker 2
Hey, you should, you know, take this further. And I looked at that.

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Speaker 3
And I, you know.

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Speaker 2
Talked with Dr..

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Speaker 3
Cardinale and he said, you know, you.

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Speaker 2
Could really play up the.

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Speaker 3
Media studies angle of this, and it would.

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Speaker 2
Probably have a pretty good shot at.

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Speaker 3
Being published in some of these other academic media studies journals. And you know, I was like.

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Speaker 2
Sure, let's let's go for it. So we applied for the.

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Speaker 3
Research grant and that was a big part of it. And also saying, looking at some of the other current academic.

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Speaker 4
You know.

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Speaker 3
Research that has been done in this.

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Speaker 2
Area, which is really.

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Speaker 3
Next to nothing and especially in the case of entertainment media.

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Speaker 4
Almost literally.

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Speaker 3
Nothing. And so I think the college.

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Speaker 2
Saw that.

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Speaker 3
You know, this is kind of an untapped.

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Speaker 2
Market, I guess, in the field of academic study that it.

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Speaker 3
Pertains.

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Speaker 2
To.

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Speaker 3
And they, you know, they jumped on it.

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Speaker 2
They said, yes, well, the word you what you're asking for.

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Speaker 3
And you can work on it.

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Speaker 2
For a couple of weeks over the.

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Speaker 3
Summer, which stretched into a little more than a couple of.

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Speaker 2
Weeks, but.

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Speaker 3
It.

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Speaker 2
Was a great time.

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Speaker 4
I have.

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Speaker 2
A blast.

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Speaker 3
Working on it, and it's been a.

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Speaker 2
Really great experience all the way through, honestly.

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Speaker 1
What did you use those funds for? It's all like this was one of those research projects where you travel or you have to buy lab supplies. This is this is what's also really great about PC is that you could do a research project that isn't in science or you have to go somewhere.

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Speaker 1
So what did you use those funds for?

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Speaker 4
Yeah.

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Speaker 3
Some of the funds were initially used for, you know, buying some of.

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Speaker 2
The movies to watch through YouTube.

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Speaker 3
And subscription to Disney Plus to watch The Simpsons ordering the different various video games that I wanted to look.

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Speaker 2
At. Because, you know, media studies, the whole idea is that you watch.

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Speaker 4
Or.

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Speaker 2
Play.

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Speaker 3
Or culminate the entire thing so that you have the same understanding as it as a true fan of the.

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Speaker 2
Series would.

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Speaker 3
And so that was where some of the funds went. Some of the other funds went to basically just, you know, the time that it would take for all this stuff. You know, I got.

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Speaker 2
Paid a stipend.

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Speaker 3
To work on it, but that was pretty much all the funds that I needed, which is also maybe one of the.

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Speaker 2
Reasons why the college was like, Yeah, go for it. Cool.

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Speaker 3
You can have a really great paper without, you know, having to pay for too much travel or anything.

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Speaker 1
It would be cool if libraries were able to start renting out video games on consoles, because that would be really fun, and you can get movies and music and books, obviously digitally from libraries. Let's let's let's step this up.

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Speaker 1
Come on. Well.

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Speaker 3
Tell me about it. one of the things that I.

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Speaker 2
Actually focused on in my paper dedicated about a whole page to is really talking about.

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Speaker 3
Video games and the level of potential impact that they would have.

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Speaker 4
And a lot.

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Speaker 3
Of my papers actually spent saying like, Hey, you know, I know.

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Speaker 2
This is a popular.

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Speaker 3
Entertainment.

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Speaker 2
This is stuff that people.

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Speaker 3
Consume anyways, but it.

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Speaker 2
Has a.

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Speaker 3
Significant potential to.

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Speaker 2
Influence people.

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Speaker 3
And in that regard, video games, you know, not only have the visual component and the storytelling component, but they.

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Speaker 2
Also have the.

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Speaker 3
Gameplay and the direct interaction.

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Speaker 2
With the player.

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Speaker 3
And video games that have more.

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Speaker 2
Serious story.

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Speaker 3
Or tones. I think, ah, you know, when studied academically have just as much to them as any novel or film or anything else. You know, a well-made video.

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Speaker 2
Game has all.

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Speaker 3
Of those components and even an additional component.

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Speaker 1
So from a street financial perspective, video games are the largest industry in the entertainment industry, as it is. So, yeah, it has a huge reach. Mm-Hmm. That is somewhat untapped. In a way.

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Speaker 3
It's it's interesting, too, because video games are moving to a much more affordable way of pricing and just monetization in general because a lot.

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Speaker 2
Of stuff is.

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Speaker 3
Free to play now. So as long as you have, you know, the console.

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Speaker 2
Or whatever.

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Speaker 3
Then.

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Speaker 2
It is free to play anyways. So why not have libraries be.

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Speaker 3
There to make technically everything for.

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Speaker 1
The Call of Duty, the war zones in the Fortnite? Like all, that's free to play, and then you're talking about like a subscription service like Game Pass and for $15 a month, if you don't get the discount that always pops up every so often you get hundreds of games right on your console.

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Speaker 2
Yeah, perfect.

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Speaker 1
Do you think through pop culture, possibly or through other means, will the impression of new nuclear energy as a negative ever recover from the stigma of war and reactor failures and things that have kind of been parodied in entertainment?

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Speaker 3
Sure.

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Speaker 2
That's a great.

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Speaker 3
Question, because I think.

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Speaker 2
To get there first, you have to acknowledge the problem.

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Speaker 3
Which is actually one of the things that my paper kind of seeks to unearth. At least, you know, from my personal means.

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Speaker 4
Because.

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Speaker 3
I think what's happened is there's a concept of common sense in.

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Speaker 2
Media studies and pop culture, which is basically.

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Speaker 3
You know.

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Speaker 2
The idea that people take.

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Speaker 3
Something and internalize it, and it's just a given something that's taken for granted. The idea that a skunk smells bad.

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Speaker 2
Or that.

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Speaker 3
Red means to stop when in a car. And I think that.

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Speaker 2
Nuclear.

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Speaker 3
As a general term, whether it's.

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Speaker 2
Referring.

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Speaker 3
To the energy or the weaponization, is something that's dangerous.

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Speaker 2
Deadly, catastrophic out of.

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Speaker 3
Control and, you.

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Speaker 4
Know.

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Speaker 3
Potentially going.

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Speaker 2
To cause these horrific.

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Speaker 3
Mutations.

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Speaker 2
And until people realize that they have that.

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Speaker 3
You know, kind of bias towards nuclear stuff that I think has either been instigated.

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Speaker 2
Or at least perpetuated.

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Speaker 3
By some of this entertainment media, then they're never going to, you know, start coming back the other way and saying, Hey, maybe nuclear is not quite as.

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Speaker 2
Bad as.

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Speaker 4
You know.

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Speaker 2
It's portrayed to be.

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Speaker 1
Let's talk about some of those examples that have portrayed nuclear in not such a positive light. Obviously, The Simpsons is the most popular, and you cover that. In your research?

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Speaker 4
Yes.

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Speaker 1
Tell us a little bit about what their impact over the last. It's got it's 30 years now. They've done with Mr. Burns's nuclear plant short.

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Speaker 3
So The Simpsons has been around for.

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Speaker 2
About 30 years. They're at their most popular right when they started.

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Speaker 3
Around in 1989 to 1990. And the show famously has, you know, Homer Simpson as this bungling idiot, and he's in charge of the nuclear plants safety inspection.

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Speaker 2
He is the.

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Speaker 3
Person that's supposed to be making sure everything's safe at the plant. And there has been multiple instances.

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Speaker 2
Throughout the show where he.

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Speaker 3
Does things that are just.

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Speaker 2
Super stupid, super reckless.

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Speaker 3
And one of these.

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Speaker 2
Is actually.

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Speaker 3
Starting at the very beginning of the show, an intro which is in every single episode.

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Speaker 2
Up until season 32.

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Speaker 3
When they ditched the intro. And it shows Homer, you know, leaving work, and he accidentally sticks a plutonium rod in the.

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Speaker 2
Back of his shirt as he's.

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Speaker 3
Leaving. And then later in the intro, he.

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Speaker 2
Takes it out of his shirt as.

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Speaker 3
He's driving and then, you know.

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Speaker 2
Haphazardly throws.

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Speaker 3
It out the window. And it's that kind of a thing which.

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Speaker 2
Is corroborated over.

00;11;36;14 - 00;11;41;26
Speaker 3
So many different episodes that Homer is just not safe to be around a nuclear plant. And then Mr. Burns.

00;11;41;26 - 00;11;44;16
Speaker 2
This Scrooge character who's really greedy just doesn't care.

00;11;44;16 - 00;11;45;11
Speaker 3
At all about nuclear.

00;11;45;11 - 00;11;45;26
Speaker 2
Safety.

00;11;47;05 - 00;11;49;24
Speaker 3
And then, you know, things like Blinky, the.

00;11;49;24 - 00;11;52;21
Speaker 2
three eyed fish who was caught in a little.

00;11;52;21 - 00;11;55;19
Speaker 3
Pond right outside of the plant where they're dumping the waste into it.

00;11;56;02 - 00;11;59;13
Speaker 2
And it just there's like a myriad of.

00;11;59;13 - 00;12;03;02
Speaker 3
Examples in The Simpsons alone for a bunch of different reasons.

00;12;04;08 - 00;12;04;16
Speaker 4
That.

00;12;04;16 - 00;12;06;25
Speaker 3
Are, you know, say that nuclear is dangerous and.

00;12;06;26 - 00;12;07;28
Speaker 2
Specifically that people.

00;12;07;28 - 00;12;11;24
Speaker 3
Aren't fit to handle. The responsibility that comes with nuclear energy.

00;12;12;08 - 00;12;20;20
Speaker 1
Elaborating on the reactor, nuclear energy, side effects, poor reputation. You studied a lot into Godzilla.

00;12;20;27 - 00;12;21;11
Speaker 4
Yes.

00;12;21;15 - 00;12;26;15
Speaker 1
Tell me a little bit about the portrayal of energy in the Godzilla movies.

00;12;26;17 - 00;12;27;05
Speaker 2
You got it.

00;12;27;06 - 00;12;32;18
Speaker 3
Godzilla is the most loaded of them all. 1945 Obviously, at the end of.

00;12;32;18 - 00;12;33;14
Speaker 2
World War two, we.

00;12;33;14 - 00;12;36;11
Speaker 3
Had the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

00;12;36;12 - 00;12;38;22
Speaker 2
I think a lot of people see Godzilla and say, like.

00;12;39;03 - 00;12;43;02
Speaker 3
Oh, he's, you know, a metaphor of that. It came out nine years later. This film that's all.

00;12;43;02 - 00;12;44;11
Speaker 2
About a giant nuclear.

00;12;44;19 - 00;12;47;12
Speaker 3
Monster attacking Japan. I think that's a reflection of that.

00;12;47;12 - 00;12;48;14
Speaker 2
But what a lot of.

00;12;48;14 - 00;12;50;03
Speaker 3
People don't know and what's really interesting.

00;12;50;03 - 00;12;51;05
Speaker 2
Is actually earlier.

00;12;51;05 - 00;12;52;04
Speaker 3
That same year, in.

00;12;52;04 - 00;12;54;03
Speaker 2
1954, before the first Godzilla.

00;12;54;03 - 00;13;03;22
Speaker 3
Film came out, there was some nuclear testing in the Pacific islands by the United States and outside of the predetermined danger zone.

00;13;04;22 - 00;13;07;21
Speaker 2
There was a Japanese fishing vessel called the Lucky Dragon.

00;13;08;03 - 00;13;08;20
Speaker 3
Where a.

00;13;08;20 - 00;13;09;07
Speaker 2
Nuclear.

00;13;09;07 - 00;13;11;12
Speaker 3
Testing, you know, incident occurred and.

00;13;11;12 - 00;13;12;16
Speaker 2
Basically they were exposed to a.

00;13;12;16 - 00;13;15;29
Speaker 3
Lethal amount of radiation. A bunch of fish in that area were contaminated.

00;13;15;29 - 00;13;16;10
Speaker 2
The well.

00;13;16;10 - 00;13;17;12
Speaker 3
Water was contaminated.

00;13;17;12 - 00;13;18;03
Speaker 2
Stuff like that.

00;13;18;14 - 00;13;21;08
Speaker 3
And a bunch of Japanese people died. And this was basically seen as like the.

00;13;21;08 - 00;13;24;09
Speaker 2
third attack on Japan. A lot of people said.

00;13;24;29 - 00;13;25;22
Speaker 4
And.

00;13;26;27 - 00;13;28;25
Speaker 2
Godzilla, the very first Godzilla movie.

00;13;29;09 - 00;13;47;20
Speaker 3
Basically, you know, showcases this one to one with Godzilla himself. Although he's not shown fulfilling the role of the nuclear testing with this giant explosion happens and everything is contaminated. And then further, Godzilla has gone on in subsequent movies after the Chernobyl.

00;13;47;20 - 00;13;49;25
Speaker 2
Disaster to directly.

00;13;51;03 - 00;13;53;24
Speaker 3
Comment on that kind of stuff in The Meltdown, and Godzilla.

00;13;53;28 - 00;13;54;09
Speaker 2
Actually.

00;13;54;09 - 00;13;57;19
Speaker 3
Had meltdowns in the movie theaters where his own.

00;13;58;03 - 00;13;58;13
Speaker 4
Heart.

00;13;58;13 - 00;13;58;22
Speaker 2
Which is.

00;13;58;22 - 00;14;00;14
Speaker 3
Often likened to a nuclear.

00;14;00;14 - 00;14;01;06
Speaker 2
Reactor core.

00;14;01;19 - 00;14;06;00
Speaker 3
Goes thermonuclear and he kind of, you know, explodes on the inside in this giant meltdown.

00;14;06;16 - 00;14;08;28
Speaker 2
And Godzilla really has just.

00;14;08;28 - 00;14;09;15
Speaker 3
Become.

00;14;09;15 - 00;14;09;28
Speaker 4
A.

00;14;10;16 - 00;14;16;24
Speaker 3
Nightmarish depiction of anything nuclear and its potential, you know, most.

00;14;16;24 - 00;14;17;17
Speaker 2
Hyperbolic.

00;14;17;17 - 00;14;20;12
Speaker 3
Extent to the danger that.

00;14;20;12 - 00;14;22;16
Speaker 2
It could could potentially hold.

00;14;22;22 - 00;14;37;02
Speaker 1
As we mentioned earlier, a large part was also based on video games. Of your research and some of that, I assume, is Call of Duty and the Modern Warfare series gets into it a lot. Are the black ops series gets into it a little bit?

00;14;38;09 - 00;14;40;25
Speaker 1
Metal Gear. The Fallout series.

00;14;41;05 - 00;14;41;12
Speaker 4
Mm hmm.

00;14;41;15 - 00;14;49;09
Speaker 1
Well, tell us a little bit about the video game side of basically the fallout of nuclear warfare and how that.

00;14;49;18 - 00;14;50;05
Speaker 2
Sure.

00;14;50;18 - 00;14;51;20
Speaker 4
Addressed the Fallout.

00;14;51;20 - 00;14;52;04
Speaker 2
Series is.

00;14;52;04 - 00;14;53;01
Speaker 3
Really interesting.

00;14;53;01 - 00;14;59;20
Speaker 2
Because it sets itself entirely after a giant nuclear holocaust has happened, so.

00;15;00;03 - 00;15;02;05
Speaker 3
All the nukes were launched. The entire.

00;15;02;05 - 00;15;02;13
Speaker 2
World.

00;15;02;13 - 00;15;08;00
Speaker 3
Has been scorched. And you basically inhabit this wasteland, which is burned beyond.

00;15;08;00 - 00;15;08;17
Speaker 2
Repair.

00;15;09;07 - 00;15;09;27
Speaker 3
And inhabited.

00;15;09;27 - 00;15;11;19
Speaker 2
With a bunch of nuclear.

00;15;11;24 - 00;15;12;20
Speaker 3
Abominations.

00;15;13;01 - 00;15;19;07
Speaker 2
Which are all out to kill you and all completely ridiculous. Scientifically, there's.

00;15;19;16 - 00;15;20;09
Speaker 3
Humans which are.

00;15;20;09 - 00;15;23;11
Speaker 2
Referred to as ghouls, which basically look like walking corpses.

00;15;23;24 - 00;15;25;02
Speaker 3
That are, you know, not.

00;15;25;02 - 00;15;25;18
Speaker 2
Killed by the.

00;15;25;18 - 00;15;26;14
Speaker 3
Radiation but.

00;15;26;14 - 00;15;27;06
Speaker 2
Survived by.

00;15;27;06 - 00;15;28;06
Speaker 3
It. And some are even killed.

00;15;28;06 - 00;15;29;26
Speaker 2
By it, which is just totally.

00;15;29;26 - 00;15;31;07
Speaker 3
Ludicrous in a scientific.

00;15;31;07 - 00;15;31;25
Speaker 2
Perspective.

00;15;32;12 - 00;15;32;25
Speaker 3
And.

00;15;33;16 - 00;15;36;05
Speaker 2
In Call of Duty specifically, there's a recurring.

00;15;36;15 - 00;15;37;04
Speaker 4
Reward.

00;15;37;05 - 00;15;37;07
Speaker 3
A.

00;15;37;07 - 00;15;39;11
Speaker 2
Medal that you get if you kill.

00;15;40;04 - 00;15;41;11
Speaker 3
30 enemies without tying.

00;15;41;11 - 00;15;43;28
Speaker 2
Yourself, which is really difficult to do.

00;15;44;22 - 00;15;46;00
Speaker 3
Anyone who's listening, who hasn't.

00;15;46;00 - 00;15;53;19
Speaker 2
Played it, that's like, you know, super, super difficult to do. If you accomplish this feat, you get a nuclear medal, which.

00;15;54;03 - 00;15;55;27
Speaker 3
Only makes sense in the case that you know.

00;15;56;09 - 00;15;57;18
Speaker 2
You're called nuclear for.

00;15;57;18 - 00;16;02;23
Speaker 3
Having done this amount of, you know, death and destruction. This amazing level.

00;16;02;23 - 00;16;04;05
Speaker 2
Of lethality is.

00;16;04;22 - 00;16;07;08
Speaker 3
Rewarded by saying, Hey, you know, you're a.

00;16;07;08 - 00;16;08;10
Speaker 2
Nuclear level.

00;16;08;10 - 00;16;11;13
Speaker 3
Threat kind of thing. So it, you know, is really a culmination of.

00;16;11;29 - 00;16;12;12
Speaker 4
All these.

00;16;12;12 - 00;16;14;23
Speaker 3
Different elements in this one metal and Call of.

00;16;14;23 - 00;16;15;16
Speaker 2
Duty that says.

00;16;15;29 - 00;16;19;03
Speaker 3
Hey, you're the most dangerous thing out there. You're a nuclear thing.

00;16;20;09 - 00;16;30;29
Speaker 1
Is this where you went from? This is going to be a two hour research project to much longer because you decided to pick like 360 our games. Then a bunch of campaigns that are at least ten hours each.

00;16;31;00 - 00;16;33;06
Speaker 4
Yeah, those.

00;16;33;06 - 00;16;44;12
Speaker 3
The video games took me a while to complete. The Simpsons was the longest thing that I was like, Oh, you know, I'll watch, I'll watch some Simpsons. And then it was like, Man, there's so many very quick anecdotes.

00;16;44;12 - 00;16;45;23
Speaker 2
Which are such beautiful.

00;16;45;23 - 00;16;52;19
Speaker 3
Examples, and it really became, you know, watch almost the entirety of The Simpsons, which is more than, you know.

00;16;53;19 - 00;16;53;28
Speaker 4
I think.

00;16;53;28 - 00;16;54;10
Speaker 3
20.

00;16;54;23 - 00;16;56;11
Speaker 2
It's a lot. It's a lot. I don't have the.

00;16;56;11 - 00;17;02;25
Speaker 3
Exact number, but watching all of The Simpsons was a really long time. But I, you know, I've.

00;17;03;02 - 00;17;03;13
Speaker 2
Searched.

00;17;03;13 - 00;17;06;05
Speaker 3
Up some specific things that I knew I wanted to get to and I watched.

00;17;06;05 - 00;17;07;06
Speaker 2
Insofar as certain.

00;17;07;19 - 00;17;08;23
Speaker 3
Moments and.

00;17;09;08 - 00;17;09;23
Speaker 2
But a lot of the.

00;17;09;23 - 00;17;10;20
Speaker 3
Video game things.

00;17;10;20 - 00;17;11;20
Speaker 2
Actually the.

00;17;11;21 - 00;17;15;09
Speaker 3
Examples came from things that I knew could happen, like the nuclear.

00;17;15;09 - 00;17;15;21
Speaker 4
Medal.

00;17;16;04 - 00;17;19;02
Speaker 3
I'm ashamed to say during my playtime I didn't get a single nuclear medal.

00;17;19;02 - 00;17;20;17
Speaker 4
But you know.

00;17;20;17 - 00;17;22;15
Speaker 3
I tried and something else was.

00;17;22;15 - 00;17;25;18
Speaker 1
Playing YouTube videos. You could see what happens. Yeah.

00;17;26;03 - 00;17;26;19
Speaker 3
Definitely.

00;17;27;06 - 00;17;37;12
Speaker 1
Thank you for that great recap of your research. I want to go back to your theater experience. Sure. Here's a piece you wrote a play in the middle of a pandemic.

00;17;38;00 - 00;17;38;08
Speaker 4
Yup.

00;17;38;16 - 00;17;40;24
Speaker 1
Use Zoom to produce the play.

00;17;40;28 - 00;17;41;06
Speaker 4
Mm-Hmm.

00;17;41;17 - 00;17;58;21
Speaker 1
I watched it yesterday. It's a really insightful play about high school students confronting racism and the different roles some people play in in a situation that could happen at a high school. What brought that to life?

00;17;59;03 - 00;18;01;10
Speaker 3
Sure. Well, John.

00;18;01;10 - 00;18;04;19
Speaker 2
Garrity, who retired actually just this last year.

00;18;04;19 - 00;18;07;16
Speaker 3
Is one of the most brilliant theater people that I know that.

00;18;07;16 - 00;18;09;13
Speaker 2
I've ever worked with. And he basically.

00;18;09;13 - 00;18;11;06
Speaker 3
During the pandemic wanted to.

00;18;11;06 - 00;18;15;13
Speaker 2
Showcase new student works. So he had this idea for a writers.

00;18;15;13 - 00;18;19;00
Speaker 3
Summit that was basically going to be any, you know, theater student that wanted.

00;18;19;00 - 00;18;20;05
Speaker 2
To could write a play.

00;18;20;05 - 00;18;27;15
Speaker 3
And we would, you know, do a Zoom production of it. And I reached out to him and asked, Hey, could I be the stage manager for it? Because, you.

00;18;27;15 - 00;18;28;19
Speaker 2
Know, I would get to have the.

00;18;28;19 - 00;18;31;15
Speaker 3
Stage managerial experience of doing it over Zoom, doing it with.

00;18;31;22 - 00;18;32;05
Speaker 4
Multiple.

00;18;32;05 - 00;18;32;26
Speaker 3
Smaller things.

00;18;32;26 - 00;18;35;06
Speaker 2
I thought that'd be really cool. And he said, Oh, actually, I was.

00;18;35;21 - 00;18;38;11
Speaker 3
Hoping you would write one of them. And I, you know, I.

00;18;38;11 - 00;18;40;24
Speaker 2
Had never thought of playwriting before, but I said, Sure, I'll.

00;18;41;06 - 00;18;42;03
Speaker 3
You know, I'll give it a shot.

00;18;42;24 - 00;18;45;04
Speaker 2
And the idea for the play itself.

00;18;45;17 - 00;18;49;27
Speaker 3
Activism kind of came about from my own experiences.

00;18;49;27 - 00;18;50;21
Speaker 2
I went to a very.

00;18;50;21 - 00;18;51;00
Speaker 3
Small.

00;18;51;01 - 00;18;53;03
Speaker 2
High school is very public high school.

00;18;53;03 - 00;18;56;20
Speaker 3
The smallest public high school in the state of Connecticut. And it was a great.

00;18;56;20 - 00;18;57;14
Speaker 2
School, but.

00;18;57;25 - 00;18;59;06
Speaker 3
We were definitely not.

00;18;59;14 - 00;19;00;06
Speaker 2
Diverse.

00;19;00;07 - 00;19;01;24
Speaker 3
And one of the things that I actually.

00;19;01;24 - 00;19;03;04
Speaker 2
Talked about with John throughout the.

00;19;03;04 - 00;19;03;18
Speaker 4
Whole.

00;19;04;02 - 00;19;05;11
Speaker 3
Of writing this play.

00;19;05;22 - 00;19;06;15
Speaker 2
Is he was like, I.

00;19;06;15 - 00;19;08;24
Speaker 3
Just I don't feel that some of the premises.

00;19;08;24 - 00;19;11;03
Speaker 2
Of this are realistic. And I said, Well.

00;19;11;03 - 00;19;17;13
Speaker 3
This did not happen at my school. Similar things happened at my school and I had experiences.

00;19;17;13 - 00;19;18;13
Speaker 2
Where people were just.

00;19;19;02 - 00;19;19;11
Speaker 3
You know.

00;19;19;11 - 00;19;21;01
Speaker 2
Really out of touch because there just.

00;19;21;13 - 00;19;21;28
Speaker 4
Weren't.

00;19;22;14 - 00;19;24;08
Speaker 3
You know, there wasn't that life experience.

00;19;24;08 - 00;19;25;09
Speaker 2
There weren't people that.

00;19;25;24 - 00;19;26;11
Speaker 4
Thought or.

00;19;26;11 - 00;19;27;09
Speaker 2
Acted that way.

00;19;27;26 - 00;19;32;07
Speaker 3
And to a certain extent, you know, I was like, this, you know, this is realistic.

00;19;32;07 - 00;19;37;16
Speaker 2
I lived this to a certain extent, and the play is all about.

00;19;37;16 - 00;19;39;25
Speaker 3
Performative wokeness from.

00;19;40;10 - 00;19;44;21
Speaker 2
You know, white people preaching to the choir about some of these issues.

00;19;44;21 - 00;19;48;18
Speaker 3
And as a white person myself, I was like, You know, what story can I.

00;19;48;18 - 00;19;50;20
Speaker 2
Tell that would relate to the college's.

00;19;50;20 - 00;19;52;17
Speaker 3
Action statement and the themes that we're trying to.

00;19;52;17 - 00;19;53;04
Speaker 2
Speak to?

00;19;53;20 - 00;19;55;19
Speaker 4
And I.

00;19;55;20 - 00;20;00;29
Speaker 3
You know, I'm really proud of it. I don't want to boast, but I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I've gotten a.

00;20;00;29 - 00;20;04;21
Speaker 2
Lot of positive feedback about it. But it was a great.

00;20;04;21 - 00;20;05;27
Speaker 3
Experience, and.

00;20;06;17 - 00;20;11;26
Speaker 2
I'm really proud of the play itself in that production, especially directed by John Garrity.

00;20;12;13 - 00;20;17;26
Speaker 1
How much did your, well, your actors help you in the writing of the play?

00;20;18;26 - 00;20;19;21
Speaker 2
two of the actors.

00;20;19;21 - 00;20;25;29
Speaker 3
Were my direct roommates who you might think have had more of an influence on it, but they actually had no influence on it.

00;20;26;25 - 00;20;28;07
Speaker 2
I, you know, I was like, Hey.

00;20;28;07 - 00;20;28;19
Speaker 3
You know, if.

00;20;28;19 - 00;20;29;03
Speaker 2
You guys.

00;20;29;12 - 00;20;32;29
Speaker 3
Want to help me and all of you or any, you know, have any ideas.

00;20;32;29 - 00;20;33;01
Speaker 2
Or.

00;20;33;01 - 00;20;35;12
Speaker 3
Suggestions, and they brought, you know, a level.

00;20;35;12 - 00;20;37;03
Speaker 2
Of character to the characters.

00;20;37;28 - 00;20;38;26
Speaker 3
In the way that, you know, they.

00;20;38;26 - 00;20;41;16
Speaker 2
Embody them physically. But they basically.

00;20;41;16 - 00;20;42;22
Speaker 3
Said, Hey, you know, this is.

00;20;42;22 - 00;20;44;04
Speaker 2
Your script. I don't want to.

00;20;44;25 - 00;20;45;03
Speaker 4
You know.

00;20;45;03 - 00;20;48;16
Speaker 2
Overstep the they. They liked the script. They were like, I like.

00;20;48;20 - 00;20;54;21
Speaker 3
Where you're going with it. They were hands off and maybe they just, you know, had their own things going on. But I'll.

00;20;54;21 - 00;20;55;21
Speaker 2
Take it as the flattery.

00;20;55;21 - 00;20;57;09
Speaker 3
Comment for the angle they tried.

00;20;57;09 - 00;20;57;17
Speaker 2
To give.

00;20;57;17 - 00;20;58;12
Speaker 3
It was like, You know.

00;20;58;24 - 00;20;59;18
Speaker 2
We love it where it is.

00;20;59;18 - 00;21;01;07
Speaker 3
Don't don't have us touch it.

00;21;01;08 - 00;21;01;17
Speaker 2
So.

00;21;01;23 - 00;21;24;23
Speaker 1
So you you were able to produce this over Zoom entirely? Yes. Which leads us to the last 20 months or so or 18 months, whatever it's been. What were some of those challenges? I mean, a lot of the things you do are really in-person things that you need to be with other people in the same room.

00;21;24;27 - 00;21;36;14
Speaker 1
You're you're in the pep band. Yeah, you're a theater major. Doing plays is kind of the thing. So what were some of those challenges and how did you address them?

00;21;36;22 - 00;21;38;21
Speaker 4
So a lot of the challenges.

00;21;38;21 - 00;21;43;15
Speaker 3
That have been, you know, had to be dealt with over the past 20 months or so.

00;21;44;05 - 00;21;46;06
Speaker 2
The attitude that I tried to take with it is.

00;21;46;18 - 00;21;52;13
Speaker 3
You know, we're wearing the mask, we're not seeing one another. It stinks, you know? I think that is not ideal.

00;21;52;24 - 00;21;56;27
Speaker 2
It really stinks. But I was so proud of all the work we've.

00;21;56;27 - 00;22;01;16
Speaker 3
Done and throughout the whole thing. I would always just, you know, clench my fist forward and say.

00;22;01;16 - 00;22;02;15
Speaker 2
Hey, we're persevering.

00;22;02;15 - 00;22;03;26
Speaker 3
We're doing art in a pandemic.

00;22;03;26 - 00;22;10;16
Speaker 2
Anyways, because in a lot of ways, pissy pushed through and. Did a lot of really great stuff, and.

00;22;10;16 - 00;22;11;27
Speaker 3
I was talking to some of my friends from.

00;22;12;08 - 00;22;12;16
Speaker 4
Other.

00;22;12;16 - 00;22;14;18
Speaker 2
Colleges, other institutions, and they're like, we're.

00;22;14;18 - 00;22;15;15
Speaker 3
Not doing anything, and.

00;22;15;15 - 00;22;22;28
Speaker 2
I was like, That's that's awful, but we got to start out. I did a radio play with Patrick Saunders, and that was great.

00;22;22;28 - 00;22;24;10
Speaker 3
Echo's voices from the Void.

00;22;24;10 - 00;22;25;14
Speaker 2
I thought that was great.

00;22;26;18 - 00;22;31;03
Speaker 3
I got to work on the Writers Summit, as I mentioned just a minute ago. And then in the spring, we did.

00;22;31;03 - 00;22;36;08
Speaker 2
Our big musical. We did a musical where there was a lot of technical aspects, a lot of.

00;22;36;08 - 00;22;38;02
Speaker 3
Recording in isolated.

00;22;38;02 - 00;22;40;03
Speaker 2
Studios, the way that a movie would be shot.

00;22;40;03 - 00;22;42;02
Speaker 3
From the ground up with these different scenes that are then.

00;22;42;02 - 00;22;42;24
Speaker 2
Stitched together.

00;22;43;08 - 00;22;46;05
Speaker 4
And I mean, that was crazy.

00;22;46;05 - 00;22;47;18
Speaker 2
I mean, there was literally we.

00;22;47;18 - 00;22;48;13
Speaker 3
Were standing in different.

00;22;48;13 - 00;22;49;19
Speaker 4
Rooms able.

00;22;49;19 - 00;22;50;19
Speaker 2
To be maskless because.

00;22;50;19 - 00;23;01;08
Speaker 3
We were in different rooms, talking with our, you know, scene partners and acting and emoting without seeing the person's face sometimes. And that was just an amazing experience.

00;23;01;09 - 00;23;05;08
Speaker 2
All of it was just really, really great. Although I will say this year.

00;23;05;08 - 00;23;06;25
Speaker 3
Going forward, we've been able to have.

00;23;06;25 - 00;23;07;29
Speaker 2
Some opportunities where.

00;23;08;12 - 00;23;10;01
Speaker 3
We don't need to have the masks on.

00;23;10;09 - 00;23;13;14
Speaker 2
Outside, especially eager to see more people be with more.

00;23;13;14 - 00;23;14;14
Speaker 3
People. And that's such.

00;23;14;14 - 00;23;15;21
Speaker 2
A special.

00;23;15;21 - 00;23;17;22
Speaker 3
Thing. I mean, I I can't.

00;23;17;22 - 00;23;19;02
Speaker 2
Wait for it to be.

00;23;19;12 - 00;23;24;25
Speaker 3
You know, hopefully at some point knock on wood back to normal. But you know, I was I.

00;23;24;25 - 00;23;29;03
Speaker 2
Was really proud of all the stuff we're able to do over this past year despite the circumstances.

00;23;29;19 - 00;23;42;16
Speaker 1
And you mentioned that radio play. We did have Dr. Oberoi and Patrick Saunders on the podcast in September. So if anyone wants to go back and and learn how that came about, we did do an episode with them.

00;23;42;21 - 00;23;44;24
Speaker 3
I listen to it the other night. It was awesome. Great.

00;23;45;28 - 00;23;50;05
Speaker 1
You also are very interested in travel. Tell me about some of your travel over the years.

00;23;50;10 - 00;23;50;24
Speaker 4
Sure.

00;23;51;26 - 00;23;59;06
Speaker 3
I have gone to Disney a lot. I've gone on to the White Mountains in New Hampshire a lot. I went to Canada, Quebec.

00;23;59;06 - 00;23;59;18
Speaker 2
City a.

00;23;59;18 - 00;24;02;19
Speaker 3
Few times in high school. My favorite.

00;24;02;19 - 00;24;05;04
Speaker 2
Place I've ever traveled to, though, was actually through the.

00;24;05;04 - 00;24;07;17
Speaker 3
Honors program my freshman year. We went.

00;24;07;17 - 00;24;09;17
Speaker 2
To Peru and we got to go to.

00;24;09;17 - 00;24;10;04
Speaker 3
Lima.

00;24;10;04 - 00;24;11;08
Speaker 2
And Machu Picchu.

00;24;11;08 - 00;24;17;28
Speaker 3
And we stopped over in Panama. And that was just such an amazing experience. My parents, you know.

00;24;18;10 - 00;24;20;05
Speaker 2
Encouraged me to go. My first year.

00;24;20;20 - 00;24;21;08
Speaker 4
And so.

00;24;21;08 - 00;24;22;08
Speaker 2
Glad I did because.

00;24;22;08 - 00;24;25;26
Speaker 3
You know, my sophomore and junior year didn't happen at all. And this senior.

00;24;25;26 - 00;24;28;02
Speaker 2
Year, they're going to Santa Fe, I believe.

00;24;28;22 - 00;24;30;13
Speaker 3
But you know, it's not an abroad trip.

00;24;31;19 - 00;24;34;16
Speaker 2
And I got to go to South America, which is a.

00;24;34;16 - 00;24;37;15
Speaker 3
Continent that wasn't one, you know, that I had initially.

00;24;37;15 - 00;24;37;27
Speaker 2
Thought that.

00;24;37;29 - 00;24;39;20
Speaker 3
Would be going to, you know, I want to go see.

00;24;40;04 - 00;24;42;28
Speaker 2
See, Europe, Asia. But the culture.

00;24;42;28 - 00;24;44;20
Speaker 3
Down there was just so amazing. And to.

00;24;44;20 - 00;24;45;00
Speaker 2
Actually.

00;24;45;00 - 00;24;45;17
Speaker 3
See.

00;24;45;17 - 00;24;46;23
Speaker 2
Machu Picchu itself.

00;24;46;23 - 00;24;47;22
Speaker 3
one of the wonders of the.

00;24;47;22 - 00;24;48;04
Speaker 2
World.

00;24;49;11 - 00;24;50;08
Speaker 3
Just being in such.

00;24;50;08 - 00;24;50;28
Speaker 2
A completely.

00;24;50;28 - 00;24;53;10
Speaker 3
Different environment than I'd ever been in before.

00;24;53;10 - 00;24;57;20
Speaker 2
It was amazing like that. That experience was just absolutely.

00;24;58;15 - 00;24;59;20
Speaker 3
Phenomenal in every way.

00;25;00;20 - 00;25;04;05
Speaker 1
You also have mentioned that you are on the e-sports team.

00;25;05;04 - 00;25;06;07
Speaker 3
I was on the e-sports team.

00;25;06;20 - 00;25;09;26
Speaker 1
And you played Super Smash Brothers. Who is your main?

00;25;10;13 - 00;25;13;06
Speaker 2
I still play Super Smash. Safarov would.

00;25;13;06 - 00;25;14;21
Speaker 3
Probably my friends would say.

00;25;14;21 - 00;25;21;23
Speaker 2
Sephiroth is my mate, but I like to play Steve with the Alex Alz for, you know, no surprise there, because.

00;25;21;27 - 00;25;23;13
Speaker 3
Then the announcer says my name when I win.

00;25;25;02 - 00;25;33;27
Speaker 1
All right. Just have to get that one in there. Sure, I want to thank you for joining me. This has been great. We learned a lot about you, learned a lot about your research. It's been a really fun conversation.

00;25;33;27 - 00;25;34;24
Speaker 1
Thanks for coming over.

00;25;34;26 - 00;25;36;13
Speaker 3
Awesome. Thank you so much for having me.

00;25;36;23 - 00;25;49;13
Speaker 1
And thank you for listening to the PC podcast. You can subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts, including your smart speaker. Episodes are also available on our YouTube page. Please rate and review the show so more people can find the podcast again.

00;25;49;21 - 00;25;51;23
Speaker 1
Thanks for listening and go friar's.