Are you into podcasts? Or looking to get into them? You may not know it, but Augustana has its very own podcast called Lives of the Mind.
The podcast is best summed up by their mission statement: “Lives of the Mind explores the passions and pursuits of Quad Citizens who live their lives by their interests through meaningful conversations that cultivate curiosity and encourage lifelong learning.”
The podcast is run by junior Christian Elliott and senior Ethan Conley-Keck. Elliot is the production manager and Conley-Keck is the producer. Conley-Keck spoke more on what the podcast is about.
“A lot of it has been professors working on their research and how they’ve made it their life’s work. We try to find out why, what drives them, what are they doing with it. Really dig deep into their minds,” Conley-Keck said. “We find out a lot more about professor’s personalities and what is near and dear to them, details regular students could probably never learn in normal classes with them.”
Initially an Honors Program project, the Lives of the Mind podcast has expanded to include any Augie student with a passion for curiosity. Before the podcast became what it is today, the creators only interviewed professors about their work. Now, the podcast has rebranded with a broader focus under the guidance of Dr. Kaul.
Dr. Adam Kaul acts as the advisor to the podcast, however it was originally founded by Dr. Cyrus Zargar, who has since left Augustana.
“Any student can reach out to a community leader, professor, or alumni, and set up an interview with them that we will host and structure,” Elliott said.
Before becoming the advisor of the program, Kaul was interviewed on it and remains Elliott’s favorite guest to this day. Kaul discussed his research on the convergence of leisure and death on during the podcast.
Lives of the Mind is partnered with WVIK, a National Public Radio station for the Quad Cities, which is actually owned by Augustana College. The NPR station is where the podcast is recorded and aired. Now that Lives of the Mind is open to the complete Augie student body, Elliott and Conley-Keck encourage anyone who has an interest in interviewing, discussing, and finding more about the lives of interesting people, to join the podcast team.
Meetings are every other Monday at 6:30 p.m. in Olin 302, where plans for future episodes will be discussed. Lives of the Mind plans to put out a new episode on a monthly basis and has big plans for the future. “We want more people to get involved, to get excited, and for everyone on campus to know what Lives of the Mind is. Everyone knows somebody interesting that would make for a good interview and we want those people for the podcast,” Elliott said.
The podcast can be found on Soundcloud, Apple Podcast, and most other podcast platforms. On Twitter, their handle is @livesofthemind and they can be reached through email at livesofthemind@gmail.
