#1249 Melissa Shew: Women and Intellectual Joy

May 4, 2026

Melissa Shew, Philosophy PhD and teaching-lead at Marquette University, explores what she calls intellectual joy and why women face barriers to it. Short takes on invisible emotional and cognitive labor, bias in evaluations and visibility, the authority and credibility gaps, and practical fixes like amplification and access. Thoughtful, quick snapshots of obstacles and cultural changes that matter for thinkers.

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ANECDOTE

Use Exam Waiting Time To Reflect Not Obsess

Melissa asks students to reflect on the period between taking an exam and getting results to shift focus from outcomes to learning.
She urges using that interim to examine mistakes and strengthen confidence as a knower rather than obsessing about grades.

INSIGHT

Time Shrapnel Destroys Women's Deep Work

Time confetti or time shrapnel destroys women's deep work because constant interruptions fragment attention.
Melissa emphasizes post-COVID return-to-office mandates worsen this by forcing commutes and reducing autonomous deep-focus time.

ANECDOTE

Musician's Creative Getaway Preserved Deep Work

A musician leader asked her spouse for a creative getaway as a holiday present to preserve deep work time.
Melissa used this story to illustrate how protected, uninterrupted time can be transformational for creative work.

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Dr. Melissa Shew has her PhD in Philosophy from the University of Oregon. She is currently the Associate Director of Teaching Excellence at Marquette University, where she is also the Faculty Director of their Executive MBA Program. She is the author (together with Kimberly Garchar) of Philosophy for Girls: An Invitation to the Life of Thought.

In this episode, we talk about women and intellectual joy. We first discuss discrimination and bias against women in academia. We talk about what intellectual joy is, and the barriers women have to deal with in academia and at work. We discuss how we can break down those barriers and increase intellectual joy. We also talk about emotional labor, dishonesty at work, and intellectual disempowerment and epistemic injustice.

A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS/SUPPORTERS: PER HELGE LARSEN, BERNARDO SEIXAS, ADAM KESSEL, MATTHEW WHITINGBIRD, ARNAUD WOLFF, TIM HOLLOSY, HENRIK AHLENIUS, ROBERT WINDHAGER, RUI INACIO, ZOOP, MARCO NEVES, COLIN HOLBROOK, PHIL KAVANAGH, SAMUEL ANDREEFF, FRANCIS FORDE, TIAGO NUNES, FERGAL CUSSEN, HAL HERZOG, NUNO MACHADO, JONATHAN LEIBRANT, JOÃO LINHARES, STANTON T, SAMUEL CORREA, ERIK HAINES, MARK SMITH, JOÃO EIRA, TOM HUMMEL, SARDUS FRANCE, DAVID SLOAN WILSON, YACILA DEZA-ARAUJO, ROMAIN ROCH, YANICK PUNTER, CHARLOTTE BLEASE, NICOLE BARBARO, PAWEL OSTASZEWSKI, NELLEKE BAK, GUY MADISON, GARY G HELLMANN, SAIMA AFZAL, ADRIAN JAEGGI, JOÃO BARBOSA, JULIAN PRICE, HEDIN BRØNNER, FRANCA BORTOLOTTI, GABRIEL PONS CORTÈS, URSULA LITZCKE, SCOTT, ZACHARY FISH, TIM DUFFY, SUNNY SMITH, JON WISMAN, WILLIAM BUCKNER, LUKE GLOWACKI, GEORGIOS THEOPHANOUS, CHRIS WILLIAMSON, PETER WOLOSZYN, DAVID WILLIAMS, DIOGO COSTA, ALEX CHAU, CORALIE CHEVALLIER, BANGALORE ATHEISTS, LARRY D. LEE JR., OLD HERRINGBONE, DAN SPERBER, ROBERT GRESSIS, JEFF MCMAHAN, JAKE ZUEHL, MARK CAMPBELL, TOMAS DAUBNER, LUKE NISSEN, KIMBERLY JOHNSON, JESSICA NOWICKI, LINDA BRANDIN, VALENTIN STEINMANN, ALEXANDER HUBBARD, BR, JONAS HERTNER, URSULA GOODENOUGH, DAVID PINSOF, SEAN NELSON, MIKE LAVIGNE, JOS KNECHT, LUCY, MANVIR SINGH, PETRA WEIMANN, CAROLA FEEST, MAURO JÚNIOR, TONY BARRETT, NIKOLAI VISHNEVSKY, STEVEN GANGESTAD, TED FARRIS, HUGO B., JORDAN MANSFIELD, CHARLOTTE ALLEN, PETER STOYKO, DAVID TONNER, LEE BECK, PATRICK DALTON-HOLMES, NICK KRASNEY, RACHEL ZAK, DENNIS XAVIER, CHINMAYA BHAT, RHYS, ALEX MACLEOD, HAIDAR, JULIEN PORCHER, ROBERT SUNDSTRÖM, AND JON STEWART!

A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PRODUCERS, YZAR WEHBE, JIM FRANK, ŁUKASZ STAFINIAK, TOM VANEGDOM, BERNARD HUGUENEY, CURTIS DIXON, THOMAS TRUMBLE, KATHRINE AND PATRICK TOBIN, JONCARLO MONTENEGRO, NICK GOLDEN, CHRISTINE GLASS, IGOR NIKIFOROVSKI, PER KRAULIS, ADAM HUNT, ANTHONY DI LORENZO, AND JOÃO BARBOSA!

AND TO MY EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS, MATTHEW LAVENDER,SERGIU CODREANU, AND GREGORY HASTINGS!