Eli Ryder: Fear as an Aperture to Deeper Experience
Eli Ryder is a full time faculty member in the Creative Writing department at ACC. Given that this episode will go live in the last week of October, I thought it fitting to feature Eli not only for his contributions to instruction and programming, but for his work as an author of horror fiction.
Here we talk about his own road to joining the ACC community, his thoughts on the horror genre as both an object of study and as a creative outlet, his views on the role that generative AI might play in the future of fiction, his role the Creative Writing department’s own podcast, and other topics.
11 Sept 2026
Parker Garcia: Student Success Spotlight
Parker Garcia is a recent ACC graduate who found his path to success through the college Honors Program. As you’ll hear, Parker didn’t necessarily see himself as a quote-unquote ‘honors student’ when he first enrolled. But the opportunities that he found in the Honors Program–and later as President of the Honors Student Organization– led to remarkable success in his transfer goal.
19 Aug 2026
Melissa Langley Biegert: "Make an Effort to Honor the Different Perspectives"
Dr. Melissa Langley Biegert is the Director of High School Programs Academic Success at Austin Community College.
While she works to ensure that ACC’s scope and reach extends to a growing population of dual enrolled students taking college courses while still enrolled in high school, Dr. Biegert remains committed to her own curiosity and work as an historian. She has recently published a book entitled “The Family Behind the Girl Scouts of America: Lives of the Kinzie-Gordon Clan”.
As we discuss the book and its origins, Dr. Biegert weaves in a story of her own student journey, and leaves us with a compelling set of connections. The power of a community of support, and of an understanding of a history of that community, infuses the story of Girl Scouts of America founder Juliette Gordon Law, Dr. Biegert’s own story, and the stories of thousands of students currently enrolled at ACC.
23 Jul 2026
All Too Human: The Obsession with 'Obsession' (with L Harter)
On July 31, the School of Humanities and Communications at Austin Community College will kick off our new speaker series, 'All Too Human'. The series aims at introducing humanistic inquiry, as well as the academic disciplines keeping it alive at ACC.L teaches courses in English and the Humanities at ACC.
The event will take place from 6-8pm at ACC's Highland Campus in Bldg. 2000, Rm 1550.
Our speaker, and today's podcast guest, is L Harter. L teaches courses in English and the Humanities at ACC, and will speak on the cultural signifance of the recent films Obsession and Backrooms. Here we talk about how her background and approach to the Humanities align particular well with this topic.
26 Apr 2026
Celebrating Academic Excellence: Brinda Roy and Alex Watkins
On April 25, 2026, Austin Community College hosted its annual Student Research Symposium event, showcasing outstanding original academic work by ACC students across all disciplines. Eleven ACC students were also honored at the annual Curiositas Academic Journal release ceremony, recognizing a carefully selected collection of noteworthy student submissions in the Liberal Arts.
For this episode I was joined by Brinda Roy and Alex Watkins, who respectively serve as faculty leaders for the Symposium and Curiositas programs. We were also honored to speak with Zoila Walston and Ashley Miramontes, two students who have been published in Curiositas.
18 Apr 2026
Madeline Vosch: Empathy Through Memoir
Madeline Vosch teaches courses in Creative Writing, Humanities and Religious Studies disciplines at ACC. We discuss her book ‘Undead: A Memoir of My Suicide’, soon to be published by Beacon Press. The book integrates her interdisciplinary scholarly background and creative voice into a powerful invitation to explore the intersection of profound vulnerability and profound compassion.
Please note that this episode contains discussions of self-harm and suicide.
7 Apr 2026
Bryan Port: Fostering Impactful Civic Leaders
Bryan Port serves as the Director for the Center for Government and Civic Service at Austin Community College.
Bryan and his team bring civic engagement to life in new and innovative ways, and I invite you to learn about what they offer both to ACC’s students and the broader Austin community.
9 Mar 2026
ACC's Character Education Initiative: Kelly Greenwood, Ted Hadzi-Antich, Arun Johns and Grant Potts
My guests today are Arun John, Kelly Greenwood, Grant Potts and Ted Hadzi-Antich, and they’ll be talking about their work on the Character Education Initiative at Austin Community College. I think this work has the potential for profound impact on the way that we think about both teaching and learning, and invite you to imagine the possibilities along with us.
This episode features discussion of Claire Elise Katz' "Stolen Valor: How the Humanities '@ Work' Are Hidden in Plain Sight".
6 Mar 2026
Ted Hadzi-Antich: Learning Via the Great Questions
Ted Hadzi-Antich is a government professor and one of the founders of the Great Questions Seminar at ACC. Here you’ll learn about how the Seminar focuses on the fundamental elements of close readings of source texts, open ended discussion, and classroom community. By the end, I think you’ll find it easy to see why this pedagogy has captured the attention of media outlets ranging from the New York Times to the Chronicle of Higher Education, along with major four-year universities who have been surprised and inspired by what our faculty and students achieve together.
21 Jan 2026
Grant Potts: ‘The Humility We Need to be Good Thinkers’
Dr. Grant H. Potts serves as Dean of Curriculum Management at Austin Community College,, overseeing award plans and scheduling in accordance with state and federal reporting requirements. He is a Professor of Philosophy, former Chair of the Philosophy, Religion, and Humanities department, and has served in various leadership roles at ACC and in national organizations dedicated to the study of religion and to community college teaching and learning.
We discuss his approach to teaching, the value of religious studies as a preparation for a surprising range of personal and professional endeavors, and the cultivation of intellectual virtues as a goal for liberal arts education.
14 Jan 2026
Matty Martinez-Mandell: 'Anyone Can Be a Peace-Builder"'
Matty Martinez-Mandell serves as coordinator for the Peace and Conflict Studies Center at Austin Community College. We discuss the role that the center plays in promoting peaceful resolutions to conflicts of all kinds, the ways in which Matty’s distinctive academic background informs their work, and a few upcoming center events that merit your consideration.
25 Nov 2025
Prudence Arcenaux: 'What's That Person's Story?'
Through poetry and prose, language becomes a vehicle for connecting readers directly with the thoughts, beliefs and lived experiences of authors.
My guest today is Prudence Arceneaux, who guides students as Chair of the Creative Writing Department at Austin Community College. In addition to teaching Creative Writing courses, Prudence directs ACC’s literary magazine, The Rio Review, as well as the annual Balcones Literary Prize. She is also an accomplished poet in her own right, having published several volumes including Proprioception, recently released through the Texas Review Press.
Our discussion addresses her academic journey, the risks and rewards of participating in a community of writers, and the role of creativity both within and outside of her discipline.
12 Nov 2025
Matt Kliewer: 'It Takes a Lot of Empathetic and Compassionate Listening'
Matt Kliewer is a Humanities instructor at Austin Community College and a scholar in the field of Native American and global Indigenous literature, film and media. Matt and I will lead a discussion following a screening of the Jim Jarmusch film Dead Man at the Austin Film Society’s cinema on November 13 at 7pm. Here, we take the opportunity to discuss his field and work, and to see what it looks like in real time by discussing a different film–2013’s Rhymes for Young Ghouls, written and directed by Jeff Barnaby. The film discussion comprises the second half of this interview, and delves into many of its plot points–spoilers lie ahead.
28 Sept 2025
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28 Sept 2025
Jason Epps: 'We Must Support Students With Real Fears'
Jason Epps is a faculty member in the Philosophy department at Austin Community College. Jason is deeply interested in stoicism, an ancient movement that’s enjoyed a resurgence of popular interest in recent years. He uses it as a vehicle for teaching philosophy as both as an intellectual discipline and a way of assessing how we choose to live.
This discussion was recorded in November 2024, shortly after the publication of Jason's Op-Ed in the Austin American Statesman, a major daily newspaper in the area. As you’ll hear, he felt compelled to address a form of criticism aimed at higher education that had emerged shortly after the presidential election. This criticism took aim at the fact that some faculty at some higher ed institutions attempted to actively address distress that they perceive in their students surrounding the political moment, in some cases cancelling class meetings, allowing for extended deadlines on assignments, or pre-empting planned class activities to instead facilitate discussions of student concerns.
This kind of criticism bears consideration, because its target is not restricted to any particular political moment. Interesting questions arise here: To what extent, if any, should student fears about a given political or cultural event change the goings-on of the classroom? Do instructional adaptations in the face of such events distract from the proper function of higher education? What should an institution that is primarily aimed at teaching and learning do in response to the emotions that its students bring with them?
Today you’ll hear the perspective of a teacher who believes that, to borrow from the title of his own editorial, “We must support students with real fears.”
28 Sept 2025
Allison Bumsted: 'It's About Understanding Who We Are'
Allison Bumsted is a faculty member in the Humanities department at Austin Community College. In addition to teaching multiple sections of the Introduction to Humanities course to dual credit students each semester, Allison is an active working scholar in her own right.
As you’ll hear in this conversation, she began her own academic career as a student at ACC, ultimately following her curiosity all the way to Doctoral degree, and most recently to her first book published through the University Press of Mississipi. The book is entitled “TeenSet, Teen Fan Magazines, and Rock Journalism”, and exemplifies a core commitment of Allison’s work as a teacher and scholar. Namely, she invites us to take seriously what people value, regardless of whether the objects of value in question adhere to traditional conventions of ‘high culture’.
During this interview you’ll hear her say that she wants her students to share a communal joy in learning, and this, of course, is what a thriving learning community is all about. It’s my pleasure to share this conversation with Allison Bumsted—let’s dive in.
23 Sept 2025
Matthew Daude: Liberal Arts Can Save the World
Matthew Daude has been a vital presence at Austin Community College for 35 years. Here we discuss a few of the many roles he’s held, including Professor of Philosophy, Chair of the Philosophy Department, and Dean of Liberal Arts—a position he held for 10 years.
Among other topics, we cover his approach to the philosophical discipline, his ongoing intellectual relationship with Aristotle, and his belief that "Liberal Arts Can Save the World". As you’ll hear, he’s quite serious about this idea, and by the end of the episode, I wonder whether you might find yourself inclined to agree.
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