Livin' la Viva Voce
38 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 2 years ago -Livin’ la Viva Voce is a series dedicated to bringing academic scrutiny upon a myriad of topics, using the age old art form, the PhD defence. Join us, Meg & Adam, as we put our skills to the test, and construct PhD vivas in under a week on a topic randomly selected by the other. Oh and did we mention? We’ll be drunk whilst presenting!
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Episodes
"Should...High School...bE pAiD?"
January 22, 2022 13:12 - 54 minutes - 56 MBThis week, Meg, Adam, and their new guest Caroline(!) attempt to answer the brief: "should universities be free?" We get this is a touchy - politically-loaded question - so of course we don't give it the respect it deserves!! We take a break to eat sushi instead! Adam Green: @thegreenwords (twitter) Meg Zhang: @MegJZhang (twitter) Katie Green: @katiiiiiiiiiiiie (insta) Caroline Lou Facebook: Livin' La Viva Voce Twitter: @LivinViva Like what you heard? Review! Subscribe! If you...
Delicious Wine and the New Age of Pregnancy
January 14, 2022 16:34 - 40 minutes - 44.5 MBThis week, Meg, Adam, and Aubrey explore human cloning! Aubrey discusses the new age of pregnancy. Meg shares deets on a pro-LGBTQ+/pro-immortality cult. Adam, as per usual, plugs The Guardian. Adam Green: @thegreenwords (twitter) Meg Zhang: @MegJZhang (twitter) Aubrey: @Aubreypithecus (instagram) Katie Green: @katiiiiiiiiiiiie (insta) Facebook: Livin' La Viva Voce Twitter: @LivinViva Like what you heard? Review! Subscribe! If you're into reality TV, check out our Love Island re...
What came first: The PhD Student or the Supervisor?
January 07, 2022 16:44 - 39 minutes - 42.8 MBWe're finally back to our regular scheduled programming! This week, Meg, Adam, and Aubrey attempt to answer: "What came first, the chicken or the egg?" Adam and Aubrey get clinical - Meg goes in a gastronomic direction. Adam Green: @thegreenwords (twitter) Meg Zhang: @MegJZhang (twitter) Aubrey: @Aubreypithecus (instagram) Katie Green: @katiiiiiiiiiiiie (insta) Facebook: Livin' La Viva Voce Twitter: @LivinViva Like what you heard? Review! Subscribe! If you're into reality TV, c...
Prinzessinnentausch: Wieder vertauscht (XXXmas Special)
January 02, 2022 15:49 - 1 hour - 150 MBFirst and foremost, HAPPY NEW YEAR! It has been a while. What with the holidays and COVID, Adam and Meg have been busy relaxing and healing. Anyhoo - enjoy this special recording of Adam, Meg, and Aubrey reacting to Netflix's "The Princess Switch 2" in German with Spanish subtitles! If you want to watch along, all you have to do is sync up with the DUN-DUN at the beginning. Tschüss! Adam Green: @thegreenwords (twitter) Aubrey: @Aubreypithecus (instagram) Meg Zhang: @MegJZhang (tw...
Sacrifice! Sacrifice! Sacrifice!
December 10, 2021 21:27 - 48 minutes - 40 MBIt's the return of Aubrey as our guest supervisor, and our last episode with the lovely Becca! This week, we answer, "what is the deal with human sacrifice?" Adam - as usual - offers some disturbing stats. (Boo!) Meg and Becca get DEEP about motherhood and COVID. (Yay!) If you can't tell by now, it's Meg who writes these episode descriptions ;) Enjoy! [We know the sound quality isn't the best! We've acquired some new equipment and promise our next recording session will be much b...
Look at All These Chickens!!!
December 05, 2021 14:05 - 51 minutes - 55.6 MBAdam, Meg and their guest Becca research and present on whether we should own non-domesticated animals as pets. Meg and Becca play fox and hen. Adam claims that CATS aren't domesticated??? Meg and Becca lose their shit. All in a day's work. [NOTE: we know the audio quality isn't the best! We've acquired some new equipment and promise our next recording session will be much better! Thank you for being patient <3] Adam Green: @thegreenwords (twitter) Meg Zhang: @MegJZhang (twitter)...
Look at All These Chickens!
December 05, 2021 14:05 - 51 minutes - 55.6 MBAdam, Meg and their guest Becca research and present on whether we should own non-domesticated animals as pets. Meg and Becca play fox and hen. Adam claims that CATS aren't domesticated??? Meg and Becca lose their shit. All in a day's work. [NOTE: we know the audio quality isn't the best! We've acquired some new equipment and promise our next recording session will be much better! Thank you for being patient <3] Adam Green: @thegreenwords (twitter) Meg Zhang: @MegJZhang (twitter)...
Digital Abstinence
November 27, 2021 01:28 - 54 minutes - 61.2 MBThis week, Meg, Adam, and their new guest researcher, Becca attempt to answer the question, "How does technology affect children growing up?" Meg explores playground politics (literally). Adam dips a toe into the Metaverse. Becca shares a story about her dad's Facebook usage. Needless to say, hilarity ensues! Adam Green: @thegreenwords (twitter) Meg Zhang: @MegJZhang (twitter) Katie Green: @katiiiiiiiiiiiie (insta) Becca Stout: @becxjoy (tiktok) Facebook: Livin' La Viva Voce T...
Wooly or Won't He?
November 19, 2021 17:39 - 49 minutes - 64.1 MBIt’s the final episode with our lovely guests Aubrey and Bee :( Not to worry! We’ll be back next week with some new folks. Join us as we attempt to answer the brief, “should we bring back mammoths with genetic modification?” (WE DO NOT CONDONE EUGENICS!!!!) Adam Green: @thegreenwords (twitter) Bee Rich: @bee_rich_sci (twitter/insta) Aubrey: @Aubreypithecus (insta) Meg Zhang: @MegJZhang (twitter) Facebook: Livin' La Viva Voce Twitter: @LivinViva Like what you heard? Review! Sub...
Astro-Nots
November 12, 2021 17:19 - 53 minutes - 70.9 MBJoin Meg, Adam, and their guest, Bee this week as they attempt to answer: “Is burying bodies the right way to intern the deceased?” This episode takes you to New Orleans, Space and back! We know…the theme is pretty morbid this week. Good thing we have some hilarious puns. Adam Green: @thegreenwords (twitter) Bee Rich: @bee_rich_sci (twitter/insta) Aubrey: @Aubreypithecus (insta) Meg Zhang: @MegJZhang (twitter) Facebook: Livin' La Viva Voce Twitter: @LivinViva Like what you he...
Cats! (The Ph.D. Defense)
November 05, 2021 16:00 - 51 minutes - 65.2 MBSEASON TWO BABY! (~AIRHORN NOISE~) We are back and drunker than ever. This time...with guests. It's a bit of a different format this season, y'all. Guest supervisors and researchers galore. No worries though - we are still committed to our chief values and missions: DRUNK. COMEDY. PHD. PODCAST. This episode, we explore and attempt to answer the following questions: "Why are cats assholes?" And, of course, can we play rock, paper, scissors virtually? Answers coming right meow. Adam...
Zipline
October 01, 2021 11:00 - 31 minutes - 35.5 MBThis is the last episode of the first season! Congrats, you made it! Adam's talk, "The Longest Stuff" is not about Billy Joel. It's about zip-lines, and other heartwarming things. But really, thank you for downloading and listening! This podcast has been a great way for us as a long-distance couple to hang out, and to cheer us up as PhD students about our respective crumbling industries! Check out our sister podcast, Love Island La Viva Voce. Subscribe. Leave a review. Share it wit...
Yonkers
September 24, 2021 11:00 - 33 minutes - 37.2 MBWe imbibed! So this week, Meg's talk, "Yonkers, or Rather Ten Miles North: The Armour-Stiner House" is half about the New York locale, and half about kettle chips. SPECIFICALLY the betrayal we experienced consuming Kettle brand's Jalapeño potato chips.
Xanadu
September 17, 2021 11:00 - 34 minutes - 37.6 MBWhat is Xanadu? Glad you asked. Adam's talk this week attempts to answer. Strangely enough, it's mostly a film studies lecture about Olivia Newton-John and roller-skating... (Also, we know, we know! We have since learned that Xanadu is actually from Coleridge's poem, Kubla Khan, and is actually a name for the Chinese city, Shangdu. Oops! We were inebriated and careless with initial research. Forgive us~)
Westminster
September 12, 2021 04:49 - 31 minutes - 34.2 MBOkay. So. We don't get drunk these next four episodes. Instead, we rely upon a certain green substance that is permissible in a state like New York (or a country like Canada!) Meg's talk, "Barking Up the RIGHT Tree: The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show" is, as a result, as much of a ploy to get a Doordash sponsorship as it is about the crazy New York dog competition! Enjoy~~~
Volta
September 03, 2021 17:37 - 28 minutes - 31.7 MBLet's be straightforward here. Adam's talk this week, "Can an Underwater Society Use Electricity?" is a doozy of a floozy. Alessandro Volta, Atlantis, Adventures! Enjoy :) Also this got cut off! If you enjoyed this episode, or any other episodes, 1) check out our sister podcast, Love Island La Viva Voce (weekly recaps of Love Island UK Series 7), 2) Share Livin' La Viva Voce with your friends (and subscribe and/or leave a review!), 3) Follow us on our social media pages, @LivinViv...
Utopianism
August 27, 2021 16:35 - 39 minutes - 44.5 MBThis week, Meg’s talk, “Utopianism: Ideal Cities and World Happiness” explores the intersections between Thomas More’s hit classic, Utopia, optimistic urban planning, and the UN’s weird way of comparing countries like an aging parent does their middling children. This one’s actually pretty well-researched. So if you’re into this podcast for knowledge, this episode is definitely for you!
Tetris
August 20, 2021 11:00 - 43 minutes - 50 MBThe Gameboy? Shifty IP laws? AND the Cold War?! How do these ideas stack up? Why in Adam's talk, "Tetris: A Tale of Joy, Greed, and Humility," of course! (Pun intended.)
Sycophant
August 13, 2021 16:00 - 34 minutes - 39.2 MBWhat do Uriah Heep (Great Expectations), Dr. Jeffrey Steadman (Scrubs), and Waylon Smithers (The Simpsons) have in common? They're all sycophants. This week, Meg chats all about them and the strange scatological, homosocial ties that emerge out of sycophancy (sycophantism???) - from the word's ancient Greek roots to its modern English significance.
Rabid
August 06, 2021 14:04 - 47 minutes - 54.7 MBAdam's talk this week, "Absolutely Rabid: Vaccinating Against Disease" is an outcry for pro-vaccine action! Give it a listen!
Quintuplets
July 30, 2021 16:00 - 45 minutes - 53.2 MBMeg's talk, "I Kid You Not: The Exploitation of Multiple-Birth Children" explores the insane treatment of twins, triplets, etc. by their parents, big entertainment corporations, and even...the GOVERNMENT. It's hard to joke about these kinds of things, so this episode is actually pretty informative. Maybe we'll be back next week with something a little more left-field. Enjoy!
Pneumatics
July 23, 2021 16:00 - 36 minutes - 42.6 MBAdam's talk, "Pneumatics: I Can't Believe They Invented It!" gives a run-down of the history behind pneumatics and hydraulics and ends with a game-show like segment where Adam tests Meg on wacky pneumatics-based inventions from the Victorian period! This episode's...kinda educational??? Good to know we're back on the proverbial wagon. Hope you enjoy!
Open Source
July 16, 2021 16:00 - 36 minutes - 40.6 MBMeg's talk, "Open Up! The Wacky World of Open Source Products" delves into the expansive limits of open source and open collaborative content. This presentation includes rallying against BIG SODA! Recipes included.
Nicaragua
July 09, 2021 16:00 - 35 minutes - 40.4 MBAdam's talk, "Nick a Rag, Wah: An Exploration of Mishearing Words" is all about auditory illusions and mondegreens. It is NOT about the country. There is no educational element to this episode (or let's face it, in this podcast) at all! But hey - at least we're up front about it.
Mid-Season Special
July 02, 2021 16:00 - 53 minutes - 59.5 MBIt's the mid-season special! We're phoning it in this week because we're burnt out and lazy. Hurrah! We talk about ourselves, what we research, what we like to drink, our favourite watering holes, and we share some crazy drinking stories. (And you get to hear us do shots around 30:00!) We'll be back next week with a proper episode. Woohoo!!!
Mastercard
June 25, 2021 16:00 - 38 minutes - 38.2 MBMeg demonstrates why she is a PRO in lateral thinking. Her talk, "What is... the Master Card?" reviews the best cards out there! Playing cards, tarot cards, trading cards, gift cards, greeting cards, e-card -- name a card and Meg and Adam will have discussed it in this episode. But here comes the real question...what /is/ the master card? Listen and find out.
Limoncello
June 18, 2021 16:00 - 37 minutes - 33.1 MBThis week, Adam's talk, "Celebrity Alcohols of the Less Known Variety" is all about Danny Devito, Steven Soderbergh, and Travis Scott's magical spirits. His presentation's original name is way catchier, but we can't mention it here lest we get sued! Such are the trials and tribulations of being a drunk phd podcast... (Shout out to the General Wine Company in Liphook!)
Korriban
June 11, 2021 15:30 - 37 minutes - 33.6 MBNerds, you're in luck! Meg's talk, "Korriban v. Moraband: Controversial Canonicity in the Star Wars Universe" is 40 minutes of ragging on George Lucas's despotic reign! Just kidding - sort of. Meg and Adam get into what it means to be a smaller storyteller operating in a cinematic universe as grand as Star Wars, and how little changes (like the name of the Sith home world) can depreciate authorial agency.
Juggalos
June 04, 2021 16:00 - 38 minutes - 31.7 MBAdam's talk, "Juggalos: Freedom of Expression v. the Right to Safety" unpacks and analyzes the significance of Juggalos - a wonderful, though highly controversial American subculture. If you don't know what this is, PLEASE PLEASE Google Images the words. It is delightfully chaotic.
Imola
May 28, 2021 10:05 - 48 minutes - 39.3 MBOur first episode recording TOGETHER! (Reunited and it feels so good<3) After a week of illness and travel (not COVID, fret not), Meg's talk, "The Lady of Imola: Caterina Sforza" marks the triumphant return of Viva Voce! (The audio may be a little wonky at times this week. We are trying our best in the coming weeks to reconfigure our recording setup :))
High-Def
May 14, 2021 12:30 - 43 minutes - 59.4 MBAdam's talk, "Digital v. Analog: High-Definition Audio, or, Does Vinyl Really Sound Better?" pulls the ol' Bob Dylan...What do I mean by that? Do Adam and Meg, in fact, go electric? You'll find out...
Georgian
May 07, 2021 09:50 - 45 minutes - 70 MBNow I know what you're thinking: "Meg's an eighteenth-century British literature scholar. SURELY - PLEASE GOD - she's gonna talk about Georgian era texts right?" WRONG. It's gonna be about MONKEYS! Here's Meg's talk: "The Curious Case of Curious George."
Fibres
April 30, 2021 20:00 - 49 minutes - 63.1 MBFIBRE! Animal, vegetable, mineral? Turns out...CARS! Adam's presentation, "Carbon Fibre, McLaren, and Life or Death: Has Formula 1 changed the World of Road Safety?" dives into whether the wild ways of professional driving trickle down into your everyday pick ups and drop offs. Check out the John Watson accident that Adam talks about here: https://youtu.be/UPZ_eU8rHWU
Environment
April 22, 2021 23:55 - 41 minutes - 38.4 MBWhat happens when you have to write a presentation on the word, "Environment," and you don't want to get all depressing re: climate change? Well... this. Meg's talk, "Line of Doody: Sh*t Your Gut Says" takes Adam on an exploration of his insides! From bougie probiotic regimens (4 dollar yogurt shops and kombucha) to fecal transplants ("golden syrup"), this one gets a little stinky. (And yeah...we promise we won't stoop to poop ever again!)
Dinosaurs
April 15, 2021 10:34 - 48 minutes - 72.6 MBDid you know that Jim Henson did more than just the Muppets and Sesame Street? That’s right. This week, Adam’s talk, "Are you Listening yet? Dinosaurs, The Simpsons, Family Sitcoms and framing Progressive Politics in relatable sentiments" takes us on a deep dive into the eco-critical significance of the late 90s show Dinosaurs, and the shockingly progressive attitudes of other television series. Are you ready I have your mind blown? Meg sure wasn’t.
Computers
April 11, 2021 00:59 - 50 minutes - 69.9 MBThis week it's Meg's turn to present. Her talk, "The Highly Irrational: Computing Conspiracies in the Modern Age" is all about - duh duh duh - COMPUTER CONSPIRACIES! Ever wanted to know more about the Wingdings 9/11 theory and how Deep Blue annihilated Kasparov at his own game? You'll get all that, and more! Also, Adam gets really deep this episode. (Seriously, what he says is PRO-FOUND.) It's what he studies after all!
Burgundy
April 02, 2021 20:24 - 34 minutes - 31.9 MBIn this episode, Adam presents his paper to Meg, “Burgundy: What can Search Results tell us about human nature?” in which he takes a deep dive into some pretty sketchy sources in search for the EXACT right shade of burgundy. Truthfully, it is hard to remember what else took place because of how blindingly drunk we were - but hey, hope you enjoy!
Antiques Roadshow
March 23, 2021 18:07 - 32 minutes - 30.2 MBIn the inaugural episode, Meg drunkenly presents her talk, "Armchair Archeology: Appraising the Antiques Roadshow in Late-Stage Capitalism" to Adam. Want to learn all about the weird and wacky finds of the show, monetary v. functional use, and the mentally deteriorating effects of Yellowtail Cabernet and lukewarm Bombay Sapphire? Then you're in luck!