Tara Brabazon podcast

Doctor Who is a stunning and innovative force in popular culture and popular memory. But why is Doctor Who popular and what is the role of Peter Capaldi in aligning past and present, memory and politics, television and post-television? Steve and Tara talk about Doctor Who through its history and why this programme matters now, perhaps more than at any point in its history.

Mark Brown joins us from Sydney to present his sonic designs for the development of his artefact. Yet his great work raises a question. What is the artefact? What are the examiners assessing? Steve, Tara and Mark try to limit and shape the examined artefact.

Sunny, Steve and Tara enter the complex area of blackness and Australian identity. What space is available to explore blackness - as a scholar - in doctoral education?

A great challenge of doctoral education is balancing description, analysis and high theory. Anne McLeod discusses how to manage this challenge with Steve and Tara, her doctoral supervisors.

Why has the Wizard of Oz moved so successfully through literature and film - and through time? Mick, Tara and Steve probe the power of the Wizard of Oz and what it reveals about children's media.

Tara Brabazon and Steve Redhead explore the history of the Manchester Institute for Popular Culture at the Manchester Metropolitan University. How was the Institute formed? What were the conditions that made it successful? Can such an Institute emerge again from the contemporary higher education sector?

Mark, Steve and Tara talk about how Mark is building his artefact. The use of light, dark, movement and colour is aligning meaning systems and movement systems.

Mick, Tara and Steve entered Mick's meme research - in detail. We started with Casablanca and probed why it is famous - and why it remains famous.

Sunny, Steve and Tara talk about Sunny's rather fabulous week in the media. We talk about the role of these interviews and articles in doctoral research and how powerful research about race can be transformative for rural and regional Australia.

Anne and Steve talk about the value of side roads in a doctorate - to gain experience and expertise - but also recognize why focus, clarity and a clear spine of argument is integral to a doctorate.