Category Archives: Podcast Episode

#82: Adapting to New Majors and New Models with Alyssa Gorkin ’24, Psychology

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While Alyssa came to Reed planning to study economics and eventually go to law school, she ended up writing a psychology thesis on social anxiety, drinking motives, and alcohol use in gender-diverse communities. In this episode, Alyssa shares about her experience discovering clinical psychology at Reed and taking on a complex statistical analysis project that, despite her best efforts, didn’t always cooperate with her intentions.

Tune in to hear Alyssa reflect on how she learned to let go of preconceived notions of the “senior thesis,” how she has been continuing her psychology research post-grad, and how her senior year taught her to occasionally step away from the computer and touch grass.

Reed community members can read Alyssa’s thesis, “So What We Get Drunk: Social Anxiety, Drinking Motives, and Drinking Outcomes in an Emerging Adult Gender Diverse Community Sample,” online in the Electronic Thesis Archive.

This is the last episode that our student producer, Ace Lackey ’27, will produce for the podcast. We’re sad to reach this end, but excited for Ace to start their senior year next year, and who knows, maybe they’ll be back to do a mini-episode for us while they’re working on their thesis.

#81: Memorials and Cultural Memory with Emilie Kelly ’25, Anthropology

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Ace sits down with Emilie Kelly ’25 to discuss Berlin’s war memorial Neue Wache, or New Guardhouse, the centerpiece of Emilie’s anthropology thesis. Following a semester abroad in Berlin, Emilie became fascinated by the cultural rituals surrounding war memorials, and how these memorials––and the administrations that govern them––play an important role in constructing our collective memory.

Tune in to hear Emilie and Ace explore the complex relationship between history and memorialization, from past regimes to the rise of authoritarianism around the world today. In addition, Emilie reflects on how her archival research, ethnographic fieldwork, and cohort-style thesis experience at Reed came together in her thesis––a project which, as she and Ace put it, “doesn’t need to be perfect; it just needs to be done.”

Emilie’s thesis, “Changing of the Guards/Changing of the House: Nationalism and Memory at Berlin’s Neue Wache,” can be found in the Reed library Thesis Tower. Her thesis adviser notes that her thesis was only the second one in anthropology and in the college to include a chapter/section expressed in graphic art.

Emilie was also a 2022 President’s Summer Fellow at Reed, which supported a project which she called the Grand Trans-American Cornhole Quest. You can learn more about her project and watch the movie that she produced from it on the Reed Magazine website.

Learn about Emilie’s current projects on her website, Viewfinder Comics, or on Instagram.

#80: Discovering Strychnine in the Lab and in the Archive with Lucas Forshee ’25, Chemistry

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Ace chats with Lucas Forshee about his thesis on the molecule strychnine, which, despite being poisonous, was used as a stimulant for athletes in the 1904 Olympics. Lucas shares a bit about the chemical composition of strychnine, why it’s such a complicated molecule, and why it’s so fascinating to researchers.

But Lucas’s research didn’t just take place in the chemistry lab: a big part of his project was developing a written history of strychnine. Tune in to hear Lucas reflect on synthesizing the humanities and science in his thesis, and how this process gave him a renewed love for writing and a desire to return to graduate school (eventually).

Reed community members can read Lucas’s thesis, “Strychnine: History and Synthesis,” online in the Electronic Thesis Archive.

#79: Bleakness and Hope in McCarthy’s Blood Meridian with Caleb Stanco ’25, English

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In this episode, we hear from Caleb about the central theme of violence in McCarthy’s 1985 novel Blood Meridian and its relevance to modern times. Responding to the grimness of McCarthy’s book, set in the 19th-century American southwest, Caleb explores questions such as: What is the significance of violence in society, and how can we resist its inevitability? How can we make meaning, as readers, to respond effectively to violence in our society today?

Tune in to hear about Caleb’s process of literary analysis, how his background in Religious Studies showed up unexpectedly in his thesis, and how he found glimmers of hope amidst the bleakness of McCarthy’s novel and, at times, the modern world.

Reed community members can read Caleb’s thesis, “American Theodicy: Blood Meridian and the Problem of Violence,” online in the Electronic Thesis Archive.

#78: A Horticultural Approach to Restorative Justice with Rhiannon Weakley ’24, Psychology

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In today’s episode, we hear from Rhiannon about restorative justice, therapeutic horticulture, and how their intersection can present alternatives to the carceral justice system for young adults. Rhiannon shares about the experience of working in a gardening program at the juvenile justice complex in Northeast Portland and how this experience profoundly changed Rhiannon’s life. Tune in to hear more about how gardening can cultivate belonging, community, and confidence for young people, as well as how this research might lead to long-term policy changes in the future.

Reed community members can read Rhiannon’s thesis, “Planting the Seeds of Belonging: Restorative Justice and Therapeutic Horticulture with Justice-Involved Youths,” online in the Electronic Thesis Archive.

#77: Student Movements in Lebanon with Lucas Allam ’25, History

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In this episode, Lucas joins our host and producer Ace to explore the history of student protests in 20th-century Lebanon. Together, they unpack why these movements can only be fully understood through the lens of class politics and the social forces that shaped them.

Tune in for a wide-ranging conversation on the inseparability of class from broader struggles such as the Palestinian movement, Arab nationalism, and resistance to tuition hikes, as well as the challenge of adapting a thesis in the wake of major global political events. Lucas also shares practical insights on organizing research notes, navigating archival work, and how a thesis can evolve beyond Reed—his now taking shape as a book.

Reed community members can read Lucas’s thesis, “Class in the Maelstrom: Class Conflict and Nationalism on the Lebanese Campus from the Six-Day War to the Civil War (1967–1975)” online in the Electronic Thesis Archive.

#76: What Makes a Good Birth? with Liz Organ ’24, Anthropology

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The idea for Liz Organ’s thesis, “The Makings of a Good Birth,” emerged from a moment of doubt about career paths and a deep frustration with how often women are ignored in the birthing process. What began as a casual discovery of the differences between doulas and midwives, and whether this could be a potential career path, turned into an interview-based anthropology project examining how birth is experienced, remembered, and shaped by culture, history, and power.

Drawing on conversations with nine people, the thesis traces the evolution of American birthing culture, and explores different anthropological birth care models and individuals’ personal experience with the medical system. In this episode, Liz also reflects on the challenges of researching a highly specialized topic without a dedicated advisor in medical anthropology, and on learning to let interviews guide the research. Tune in for reflections on centering people’s stories, the rewards of interviewing family and friends, and why education, autonomy, and support are ultimately essential to a good birth.

Reed community members can read Liz’s thesis, “The Makings of a Good Birth” online in the Electronic Thesis Archive.

#75: Aquaculture Adaptations with Hannah Goodman ’24, Sociology

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In this episode, we hear from Hannah, a sociology major whose thesis journey crossed disciplines but always circled back to climate change. Her project draws on eighteen interviews with oyster farmers working along Maine’s coastline—one of the fastest-warming in the world.

Starting with a question about gender divides between different fishing methods, Hannah found herself pulled toward climate justice and the ways aquaculture communities adapt through strong networks, shared knowledge, and community-driven problem-solving. Tune in for insights into interdisciplinary research, the behind-the-scenes of an interview-heavy project, the tangible impacts a Reed thesis can have, and of course what Hannah really thinks about oysters.

Reed community members can read Hannah’s thesis, “Climate Change Adaptation Strategies in Maine Oyster Aquaculture” online in the Electronic Thesis Archive.

#74: Writing the Weird with Claire Navratil ‘25, English

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In today’s episode, our producer Ace sits down with Claire, an English major with a creative writing concentration, to discuss weird fiction, the Reed library—and what may or may not lie beneath it—and the complexities of being a college student in the modern era. The elevator pitch of Claire’s creative writing thesis? Imagine a college that eats people, complete with a student reporter chasing the truth, a dash of ritual sacrifice, and a healthy helping of moral ambiguity.

You won’t want to miss Ace and Claire’s conversation about how literary subgenres can critique capitalism, the difficulty of self-imposed deadlines, the importance of romanticizing one’s life, and the idea that sometimes you have to be the one to go looking for the answers that they don’t want you to find.

Reed community members can read Claire’s thesis, “To Reap What is Sown” online in the Electronic Thesis Archive.

#73: Afterlives of the American Frontier Myth with Henry Kendrick ’24, English

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In this episode, we hear from Henry, an English major whose thesis journey took a few unexpected turns: from exploring Pacific Northwest regionalism to diving deep into the world of literary naturalism. Henry unpacks how authors Jack London and Frank Norris challenged historian Frederick Jackson Turner’s “frontier myth,” reimagining the American frontier not as a vanished landscape but as an evolving cultural, economic, and imaginative force.

Tune in to hear about survival narratives, Social Darwinist ideas, and what happens when you have to scrap half your thesis to start again (spoiler: it’s not fun, but it’s worth it). Henry reflects on the highs and frustrations of the Reed thesis process, the art of negotiating with an advisor, and the unexpected joy of discovering how to make seemingly unrelated ideas work together.

Reed community members can read Henry’s thesis, “Naturalist Afterlives of the Frontier Myth” online in the Electronic Thesis Archive.