Hi everyone. Welcome to the website for my new show John Knows Everything. On this podcast, I will interview professors, students, parents, faculty, staff, and really pretty much anyone who has a compelling story about their college experience. Whether you dropped out after a semester of partying, or are a fully tenured professor surfing the waves of academic life, this show is for you.
On episode one, I talk to Dr. Vicky Ortiz, the chair of the communications department at Indiana University of Pennsylvania – the institution that will one day (in theory) bestow a doctorate upon me. In our talk we go over her childhood, education story, and immigration story. We also discuss IUPs population, challenges/benefits of living in Pennsylvania, and why the heck she wanted to be the lone professor in a family full of medical doctors. It was a great conversation with a truly inspirational professor!
Upcoming episodes of John Knows Everything will include interviews with:
Dr. Gwen Torges, Political Science (IUP)
Dr. Michelle Rodino-Colocino, Communications (Penn State)
Dr. Leo Yan, Philosophy (IUP)
Dr. John Levey, Music (IUP)
Dr. Zackary Stiegler, Communications (IUP)
And Many More!
As my show progresses, I hope to partner with organisations like The Chronicle of Higher Education, National Communication Association, GradeHacker, Grad Coach, Ted/x, as well as any panel, conference, podcast, or Zoom open mic that will have me. These already established brands are all doing some of what I want to do, but due to their professionalism and actually having things at stake, they cannot (or do not?) dive into the subject matter or heart of things the way I will. Even in my simple interviews with professors, we learn things about academia and each other that will seriously impact my listeners.
For too long, academic professionals have been cast as out of touch, Ivory tower-dwelling elites who have their own best interests ahead of their students’. This has not been my experience in college, grad school, or the sequel Grad School Candidacy: The Reckoning (in theatres now). My philosophy is that school is for learning, both to and from the front of the classroom. Education is the only thing that has separated me from a life of complete and utter depravity, and so I owe it to the world to give back now that I am living a simple life of part-time depravity. I have a lot to say about college from the perspective of a GI Bill recipient, too. That experience in and of itself warrants a fine research study or podcast of it’s own, but that’s not where I am currently focused. Compared to a typical bureaucratic experience, it actually went really well. I was also a dropout (twice), attempted law school (pure Hell), and have gone to college in 4 different decades?!!? So while nobody knows “everything,” I think I know enough to be yet another talentless middle-aged hack who has gone to school for so long that the government has finally said “enough,” and so starts a podcast to vent his various disappointments, frustrations, and failings.
If you feel you have a 30-60 minute conversation about college in you, e-mail me the highlights at johnknowspod@gmail.com and maybe we’ll have you on! Namasté!