Bill Zimmerman, an instructor in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State and host of the Happy Valley Hustle podcast, returns to the show to discuss his experience with a year of remote learning and how he hopes education will look different as schools fully come back in person this fall. He talks about how he managed — or sometimes didn’t manage — Zoom fatigue for his students and for himself and how the time in remote learning might strengthen the desire for in-person connections inside and outside the classroom.

Bill is an eternal optimist, and that sentiment really comes through in this conversation. We also talk about running and how it helps focus our minds that are constantly distracted by our inboxes and social media notifications. 

Links to cool stuff:

• Our first episode with Bill
• Happy Valley Hustle podcast
• Bill on Twitter

We are very excited to have Dr. Josie Ahlquist back on the show to discuss her new book, Digital Leadership in Higher Education. We talk about the book and what leadership looks like during global pandemic and ongoing struggles for racial justice. 

No matter what’s going in the world, Josie stresses that higher education leaders need to show up authentically to their interactions with students. With so much misinformation out there, students need to know that they can trust their institution and its leaders before they will believe what they’re reading in an email or seeing in a video.

Josie also reminds us about the importance of taking time to recognize the difficulty of the work we’re doing right now and the fact that we can’t vent to colleagues or celebrate achievements in the normal ways right now. That’s where the digital hug comes in. Josie talks about how she uses them and the power of building mastermind cohorts that are on part strategy session and one part therapy session.

Links to cool stuff:

• Josie’s first appearance on the show – way back in 2017!
• Josie’s website
• Josie on Twitter
• Josie on LinkedIn

This week, Lougan and new Higher Ed Social host Jenna Spinelle catch up with Jackie about what she’s been up to in her new role at UNC and how the grad school world differs from undergraduate when it comes to enrollment and recruitment. We also talk about how COVID-19 has impacted everyone’s work and non-work lives, including 100% more Animal Crossing and Tiger King than has ever been discussed on the show before.

Links to cool stuff:

• Jackie on Twitter
• Jackie on LinkedIn
• Jenna on Twitter
• Jenna on LinkedIn

Jenna Spinelle is the communications specialist for the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State. She describes herself as a team of one, where she handles digital content and media outreach. She is also host of the Institute’s Democracy Works podcast which is produced in partnership with WPSU Penn State, Pennsylvania’s NPR station. Lougan and Jenna have a great chat about working her work hosting Democracy Works, podcasting and listening to audio books. Also, apologies for Lougan’s audio quality. We’ve had some issues with his microphone and are working to fix it. 

Links to cool stuff: 

• Jenna on LinkedIn
• Jenna on Twitter
• Listen to Democracy Works
• Jenna’s Website

Back in January of 2018, Emma Hawes joined the Higher Ed Social podcast team with episode 97. This week, Lougan sat down with her to chat about how she came to be on the podcast, her unique college experience as a triplet, her love for the Parks and Recreation and other shows we’re watching. 

Links to cool stuff: 

• Emma on LinkedIn
• Emma on Twitter

Ted Fox works at his alma mater, the University Notre Dame, as executive administrator of the Office of the Provost. Before his return to Notre Dame, he worked a ESPN as a production assistant. The group talks about the intersection of podcasting and higher ed, including With a Side of Knowledge, a podcast from Notre Dame that Ted hosts…over brunch.

Links to cool stuff

• Ted on Twitter
• Ted on LinkedIn
• With a Side of Knowledge Podcast
• With a Side of Knowledge Twitter

Photo: HighEdWeb Association

Rather than sit down and talk with a guest this week (totally on purpose), Lougan and Jackie chat about what’s going on in our respective offices this semester. Lougan has worked on a variety of projects this semester including new commercials, a new podcast and some new social media strategies. Jackie’s working with a new team student influencers and Well Said: UNC Chapel Hill’s story telling podcast.

Links to cool stuff

• The New Commercial by Lougan’s Student Worker
• Well Said Podcast: How Gratitude Affects Your Body and Your Brain
• Well Said Podcast: The Irina Project

Ever wanted to start a podcast? Ever wanted to know what happens behind the scenes of Higher Ed Social? This episode is for you! Jackie and Lougan recorded the first live episode at the EduWeb Conference in San Diego, California. They discuss some questions that are frequently asked about creating podcasts at institutions. Unfortunately, we aren’t able to include questions from the audience, but we’re going to try! 

Links to cool stuff

• Blue Snowball Mic
• Zoom H4N digital recorder
• Podcast hosting: Blubrry PowerPress for WordPress, Libsyn, Podbean & SoundCloud
• What does an “Uh” waveform look like?
• Stephen App’s AMAZING tweet storm

This episode of Higher Ed Social was brought to you by Top Hat! Learn how their suite of easy-to-use apps can help you engage your class, adopt incredible next generation textbooks, or to run tests within a secure, digital environment. Visit tophat.com/higheredsocial to learn more. 

Could we refuse a guest who is working on a dissertation about the commercialization and professionalism in podcasts? Kyle Wrather is earning his Ph.D. and is a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Texas at Austin in the Department of Radio, Television, and Film. Kyle is looking at podcasts from 2005 to now and how advertising has been integrated. He discusses how people debate the name podcasting, the adaption of podcasts into tv shows, and how audio blogging was the predecessor for this new format.

Links to cool stuff: 

• Kyle on Linkedin
• Kyle on Twitter

Podcasts Mentioned in this Episode

Ronald D. Moore’s Battlestar Galactica Podcast
British History Podcast
Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History
Hello from the Magic Tavern
Huffington Post Recap
Improvised Star Trek
Jordan, Jesse, Go!
Lore
Media Business Matters
Mission to Zyxx
Mugglecast
My Brother, My Brother and Me
My Favorite Murder
NPR Politics Podcast
Podcast Ain’t Played Nobody
Slate Culture Gabfest
Slate Political Gabfest
Serial
StartUp (Inspired Alex, Inc.)
Bubble
The Daily from the New York Times
The Good Place Podcast
The Weeds from Vox
Trumpcast