Episodes

Thursday May 06, 2021
Thursday May 06, 2021
On this episode, Josie talks with Drs. Ana-Maria Dimand from Boise State University and Juniper Katz from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Drs. Dimand and Katz discuss their experience as early career faculty in the field of public administration. They also discuss the experience of surviving the PhD process and succeeding on the job market during the pandemic.
Subscribe to Academics of PA today! New episodes drop every other Thursday.
Follow the podcast on Facebook and Twitter: @AcademicsofPA
Follow the hosts on Twitter:
Josie Schafer: @SchaferJosie
Bruce McDonald: @academicpiracy
William Hatcher: @ProfHat

Thursday May 07, 2020
Jeremy Hall on Publishing, Networking, and PAR
Thursday May 07, 2020
Thursday May 07, 2020
Josie and Bruce talk with Dr. Jeremy Hall from the University of Central Florida. Dr. Hall discusses his experience choosing public administration and an academic career and his approach to networking within the field. He also discusses his role as co-editor of Public Administration Review, the mechanics of managing a journal, and what editors wish we knew.
Subscribe to Academics of PA today! New episodes drop every other Thursday.
Follow the podcast on Facebook and Twitter: @AcademicsofPA
Follow the hosts on Twitter:
Bruce McDonald: @academicpiracy
William Hatcher: @ProfHat
Josie Schafer: @SchaferJosie

Thursday Mar 26, 2020
Thursday Mar 26, 2020
On this episode, join Bruce for an interview with Drs. Pamela Herd and Donald Moynihan from Georgetown University. Drs. Herd and Moynihan talk about their experience working together and finding collaborations for research. They also discuss the the importance of a research agenda that is both exploitative and exploratory in nature, as well as the challenge of the publishing timeline and the difficulty of work-life balance.
References from the Episode:
- Julian Christensen, Lene Aaroe, Martin Baekgaard, Pamela Herd, Donald P. Moynihan. (2019). Human Capital and Administrative Burden: The Role of Cognitive Resources in Citizen-State Interactions.
- Mark S. Granovetter. (1977). The Strength of Weak Ties.
- Pamela Herd, et al. (2019). Genes, Gender Inequality, and Educational Attainment.
Subscribe to Academics of PA today! New episodes drop every other Thursday.
Follow the podcast on Facebook and Twitter: @AcademicsofPA
Follow the hosts on Twitter:
Bruce McDonald: @academicpiracy
William Hatcher: @ProfHat
Josie Schafer: @SchaferJosie

Thursday Mar 12, 2020
Alasdair Roberts on Intellectual History, Temporal Horizons, and Writing Books
Thursday Mar 12, 2020
Thursday Mar 12, 2020
Join Josie and Bruce for a conversation with Dr. Alasdair Roberts from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Dr. Roberts discusses the importance of taking a historical perspective for the field of public administration and how we can do a better job incorporating that perspective into our research. He also discusses the value of studying law for public administrators, his process to writing books, and the challenges international scholars face when publishing in academic journals.
References from the Episode:
- Alasdair Roberts. (2020). Strategies for Governing: Reinventing Public Administration for a Dangerous Century.
Subscribe to Academics of PA today! New episodes drop every other Thursday.
Follow the podcast on Facebook and Twitter: @AcademicsofPA
Follow the hosts on Twitter:
Bruce McDonald: @academicpiracy
William Hatcher: @ProfHat
Josie Schafer: @SchaferJosie

Thursday Feb 20, 2020
Charles Goodsell on Imposter Syndrome, Sheer Luck, and Your First Academic Job
Thursday Feb 20, 2020
Thursday Feb 20, 2020
On this episode, Bruce talks with Dr. Charles Goodsell from Virginia Tech University. Dr. Goodsell discusses his experience into the academic work, including his struggle with imposter syndrome in graduate school, his challenges on the academic job market, and how he found public administration when assigned to teach it as a new class. He also discusses the role that sheer luck has played on his career, while highlighting the importance of being willing to part ways with the general literature of the field and jumping off a cliff.
References from the Episode:
- Charles T. Goodsell. (1988). The Social Meaning of Civic Space.
- Charles T. Goodsell. (2010). Mission Mystique.
- Charles T. Goodsell. (2014). The New Case for Bureaucracy.
Subscribe to Academics of PA today! New episodes drop every other Thursday.
Follow the podcast on Facebook and Twitter: @AcademicsofPA
Follow the hosts on Twitter:
Bruce McDonald: @academicpiracy
Josie Schafer: @SchaferJosie
William Hatcher: @ProfHat

Thursday Dec 05, 2019
Irene Rubin on Being a Woman in Academia, Managing a Research Agenda, and Finding PA
Thursday Dec 05, 2019
Thursday Dec 05, 2019
On this episode, join Josie for an interview with Dr. Irene Rubin from Northern Illinois University. Dr. Rubin talks about her experience as a woman in academia and the pressure to exceed others that was placed upon her, as well as her approach to working on a research agenda and finding meaningful questions and research. She also discusses her journey to finding public administration as a discipline and her experience as the only female editor for Public Administration Review.
References from the Episode:
- Herbert J. Rubin and Irene S. Rubin. (2011). Qualitative Interviewing: The Art of Hearing Data.
Subscribe to Academics of PA today! New episodes drop every other Thursday.
Follow the podcast on Facebook and Twitter: @AcademicsofPA
Follow the hosts on Twitter:
Bruce McDonald: @academicpiracy
William Hatcher: @ProfHat
Josie Schafer: @SchaferJosie

Thursday Aug 15, 2019
Carolyn Bourdeaux on Teaching, Public Engagement, and Running for Congress
Thursday Aug 15, 2019
Thursday Aug 15, 2019
On this episode, join Bruce and Josie for an interview with Dr. Carolyn Bourdeaux from Georgia State University. Dr. Bourdeaux talks about her experience teaching and training a new generation of public servants, the importance of engagement with the community, and making research accessible to a non-academic market. She also talks about her experience running for Congress in 2018, her plans to run for election in 2020, and the social responsibility of public administration faculty to get involved and make a difference.
Subscribe to Academics of PA today! New episodes drop every other Thursday.
Follow the podcast on Facebook and Twitter: @AcademicsofPA
Follow the hosts on Twitter:
Bruce McDonald: @academicpiracy
William Hatcher: @ProfHat
Josie Schafer: @SchaferJosie

Wednesday Apr 03, 2019
Rosemary O'Leary on the Creative Urge, Appreciation, and Doing Your Own Thing
Wednesday Apr 03, 2019
Wednesday Apr 03, 2019
On this episode, join Bruce and Josie for an interview with Dr. Rosemary O'Leary from the University of Kansas. Dr. O'Leary talks about her experience as a public manager and how she decided to pursue a career in public administration. She also talks about the need to appreciate other areas and methodologies of research and the importance of asking questions before committing to a project.
References from the Show:
- Rosemary O'Leary. (2019). The Ethics of Dissent: Managing Guerilla Government
Subscribe to Academics of PA today! New episodes drop every other Thursday.
Follow the podcast on Facebook and Twitter: @AcademicsofPA
Follow the hosts on Twitter:
Bruce McDonald: @academicpiracy
William Hatcher: @ProfHat
Josie Schafer: @SchaferJosie

Wednesday Mar 20, 2019
Donald Kettl on Trust in Government, Lice, and Having No Plan
Wednesday Mar 20, 2019
Wednesday Mar 20, 2019
Join Bruce and Will in this episode as they talk with Dr. Donald Kettl from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Kettl talks about his writing process and having no academic career plan, instead choosing projects that are both fun for him and useful for practitioners. He also talks about issues of trust in government and how the issue of trust may be one of perspective.
References from the Show:
- Donald Kettl (2013). System Under Stress: The Challenge to the 21st Century Governance.
- Donald Kettl (1986). Leadership at the Fed.
Subscribe to Academics of PA today! New episodes drop every other Thursday.
Follow the podcast on Twitter: @AcademicsofPA
Follow the hosts on Twitter:
Bruce McDonald: @academicpiracy
William Hatcher: @ProfHat
Josie Schafer: @SchaferJosie

Thursday Mar 07, 2019
James Perry on Twins, Taking Risks, and Work-Life Balance
Thursday Mar 07, 2019
Thursday Mar 07, 2019
On this episode, join Bruce and Josie for an interview with Dr. James Perry from Indiana University. Dr. Perry talks about the public service motivation instilled in him by his parents and how his twin brother provided a connection to the practice of public administration that informed his research. He also talks about the difficulty of maintaining work-life balance and the importance of taking risks in careers and research.
References from the Show:
- John Perry, (2010). Blueprint for Building Community: Leadership Insights for Good Government.
- James L. Perry and Lois Recascino Wise (1990). The Motivational Bases of Public Service.
- James L. Perry, Trent A. Engbers, and So Yun Jun. (2009). Back to the Future? Performance-Related Pay, Empirical Research, and the Perils of Persistence.
- James L. Perry. (2019). The Journal of Public Affairs Education at 25: An Agenda for the Future.
Subscribe to Academics of PA today! New episodes drop every other Thursday.
Follow the podcast on Twitter: @AcademicsofPA
Follow the hosts on Twitter:
Bruce McDonald: @academicpiracy
William Hatcher: @ProfHat
Josie Schafer: @SchaferJosie