Talk Shows and Jazz Hosts

I grew up in the era of early talk shows, and transistor radios. My sister and I were latchkey kids, and our schools were often on double session. I’d get home early in the afternoon, and ignore my chores until the last minute, so I could watch soap operas and talk shows. I outgrew the ever-more-scandalous shows pretty quickly. But some part of me always wanted a microphone of my own.

And in those days before the internet, the radio was my friend. I guess I’ve always been a bit of an insomniac. I remember listening to the radio next to my pillow, late into the night. There were a few late-night jazz shows that I could get long-range. Those hosts were the baddest cats around. I desperately wanted to be like them, crooning into the mic, spinning their thoughts on Monk, and Bird, and Miles.

I suppose that this new feature channels some of those teenaged wishes. When I started to think about AISWR! I knew that I wanted it to be interactive, and engaging. I wanted to collect the best resources available, and offer features that would highlight all sorts of exciting people in the world of social work research, in a dynamic way.

So, I’m launching “Rigorously Relative,” which is a series of ongoing interviews with social work researchers. Initially, I wanted to include only direct practice social workers. But there are a lot of great researchers out there, and I want to include anyone who can inspire us to engage in the work.

My first interview is with Ben Capistrant of Smith College. His interactive self-guided modules for learning R programming will become a resource for the AISWR! website. We had a great time chatting about research and data science (and dogs), and I hope you enjoy it, as well.

Gina G., 9/29/2020