Feel like going down a new rabbit hole you've probably never thought about before? Then listen to Research Rabbit Holes - an interview podcast in which we go down a different rabbit hole each episode. Literature, politics, history - it's a new guest and a new topic every time.
From Lincoln to Trump – the Transformation of the Republican Party and the Civil Rights Movement (Interview with Dr. Tim Galsworthy (Lincoln Bishop University))
How did we get here? In today’s episode, Dr. Tim Galsworthy (Lincoln Bishop University) and I are chatting about the Republican Party: How did the party of Abraham Lincoln become the party of Donald Trump? Tim’s book The Republican House Divided: Civil War Memory, Civil Rights, and the Transformation of the GOP takes us back to the 1960s and explores the connections between the civil rights movement, Republican conservatism and the myth of the lost cause.
Tune in if you want to learn more about the power of remembrance culture, law and order in political campaigning and Gone With the Wind.
00:00 - 07:18 Introduction
11:50 – 20:03 Remembrance culture in the United States and the myth of the lost cause
20:04 – 29:02 How the GOP used Lincoln’s memory
29:03 The GOP and the civil rights movement
40:41 – 51:03 Who transformed the Republican Party?
51:04 – 1:02:35 Why did progressive Republicanism fail?
1:02:36 Civil War remembrance today
Follow Tim’s projects here:
https://www.lincolnbishop.ac.uk/staff/dr-tim-galsworthy (https://www.lincolnbishop.ac.uk/staff/dr-tim-galsworthy)
https://bsky.app/profile/timgalsworthy.bsky.social (https://bsky.app/profile/timgalsworthy.bsky.social)
https://www.instagram.com/timcgalsworthy/ (https://www.instagram.com/timcgalsworthy/)
14 Sept 2026
Pain and creativity: How do people write about trauma? (Interview with Justina Šumilova (Lithuanian Culture Research Institute))
In 1994, French writer and philosopher Maurice Blanchot wrote about his near-death experience. But this traumatic event had happened 50 years before. How does Blanchot write about something that is impossible to describe? And how can creativity help people dealing with physical and emotional pain? My guest today is Justina Šumilova, who is doing her PhD on absence in Blanchot’s philosophy at the Lithuanian Culture Research Institute. We discuss about fragmentation as a symptom of trauma, society’s hesitancy to deal with “unpleasant” feelings and how creativity and community can help us deal with our own pains.
00:00-08:20: Introduction
08:21-21:16 How does Maurice Blanchot write about pain and trauma?
21:17-31:02 If trauma produces and absence of language, how do people write about their trauma?
31:03-33:48 Sharing your pain with others: a connecting or a disconnecting experience?
33:49-37:23 Physical vs mental pain and society’s attitudes towards it
37:24-42:01 When pain gets romanticized
42:02-49:29 How can we deal with negative emotions?
49:30-57:24 Do creative writing groups help people with chronic pain?
57:25-01:00:15 Three what-ifs
01:00:16-01:03:26 Justina’s current projects
3 Aug 2026
Native American Boarding Schools and Their Marching Bands (Interview with Vincent Veerbeek (University of Helsinki))
Did you know that thousands of Native American kids went to boarding schools that were designed to assimilate them into Anglo-American culture? My guest today is Vincent Veerbeek (University of Helsinki), who is writing his dissertation about the role of marching bands in these schools. Which role did music play in the U.S. government’s assimilation effort? What was life like for the kids at the boarding schools? And were there ways to protect one’s native identity? Tune in if you want to learn more about a piece of U.S. history that’s been neglected for a long time.
00:00 – 09:54 Introduction
09:55 – 27:37 Boarding schools to “restructure indigenous minds”
27:38 – 31:29 The situation today
31:30 – 47:46 What was life at these boarding schools like?
47:47 – 51:50 How did marching bands become so popular in the United States?
51:51 – 1:03:20 Marching bands in Native American boarding schools
1:03:21 – 1:05:37 The role of other extracurricular activities
1:05:38 – 1:11:48 Stereotypes and PR
1:11:49 – 1:13:22 How good was the music, actually?
1:13:23 – 1:16:53 How long did the boarding schools exist?
1:16:54 – 1:20:00 This or that?
1:20:01 – 1:23:02 Vincent’s future projects
You can follow Vincent’s projects here:
· https://www.helsinki.fi/en/about-us/people/people-finder/vincent-veerbeek-9448669 (https://www.helsinki.fi/en/about-us/people/people-finder/vincent-veerbeek-9448669)
· https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincent-veerbeek/?locale=en (https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincent-veerbeek/?locale=en)
If you want to learn more about the topic: · https://boardingschoolhealing.org/ (https://boardingschoolhealing.org/) (The official website for NABS, the Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. They are the main advocacy organization doing work related to boarding school history on a national level in the US. Their website is an important resource that includesmaps, background information, etc. as well as a database with digitized primary sources.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OtfBPE4u1U (A PBS documentary that gives an overview of boarding school history and adds some visuals to the story.)
25 Jun 2026
How Volcano Tourism Helped Colonize Hawaii (Interview with Henri Keskinen (University of Turku))
Colonialism through tourism? In this episode, we talk about the kingdom of Hawaii, and how it was slowly turned into the 50th American state. My guest is Henri Keskinen (University of Turku), who writes his dissertation about the evolution of colonialism through American interest groups in Hawaii. Tune in if you want to learn more about volcanoes, political coups and weird gift shops.
00:00 - 03:54: Introduction
03:55 - 12:09: Cultural appropriation and the tourism industry
12:10 - 18:59: The colonization of Hawaii and the role of missionary work
19:00 - 32:32: Exhibitions, Othering & resistance
32:33 - 37:26: The California-Hawaii relationship
37:27 - 46:27: How Hawaii lost its sovereignty
46:26 - 59:17: The situation today: tourism, diglossia & the sovereignty movement
59:18 - 01:03:52: This or that?
01:03:53 - 01:07:02: Henri’s future projects
You can follow Henri’s research here: https://www.utu.fi/en/people/henri-keskinen (https://www.utu.fi/en/people/henri-keskinen)
13 Jun 2026
Black Male Vulnerability in Fiction Written by African American Women (Interview with Tuula Kolehmainen (University of Turku))
Toni Morrison and Alice Walker are just two of many famous African American authors whose novels focus mostly on the experiences of black women. But how do they actually depict black men?
My guest today is Dr. Tuula Kolehmainen (University of Turku), whose research explores how these writers depict the vulnerability of their male characters, as a way to resist common stereotypes, such as the macho or the violent man.
We also talk about Tuula's next project, which focuses on stand-up comedy. Tune in for an episode about contemporary literature, gender and the American comedy scene.
00:00-07:01 Introduction
07:02-19:23 Common stereotypes and black male vulnerability
19:24-33:01 What is intersectionality and how does it affect black men?
33:02-41:32 Stereotypes in other media
41:33-55:20 Can we always have empathy with fictional characters?
55:21-01:13:17 Stand-up comedy, gender and controversial jokes
01:13:18-01:14:32 This or That
01:14:33-01:18:25 Conclusion & Tuula's future projects
You can follow Tuula's projects here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tuula-kolehmainen-b5848a55/https://www.instagram.com/teekolehmainenofficial/
And here's a snippet of her doing stand-up comedy 😊:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tubx7v_WxEM
11 May 2026
U.S. Prisons and the Loss of Institutional Trust (Interview with Henry E. James (University College London))
Today's episode is about crime and punishment: Why are 20% of all prisoners incarcerated in the United States, if only 5% of the world's population live there? Henry E. James (University College London) is writing his PhD thesis about the loss of institutional trust in America. In this episode, we talk about how people lost their belief in the government's ability to do the right things, about mass incarceration and the "broken windows" theory.
00:00 - 08:16 Introduction: The loss of institutional trust in the last few decades
08:17 - 19:22 The punitive turn & why so many people are incarcerated in the U.S.
19:23 - 34:28 "Broken windows": Does a stronger police presence help reduce crime?
34:29 - 37:30 American prisons vs European prisons
37:31 - 48:46 College programs as a way of reintegrating prisoners
48:47 - 50:17 Henry's future projects
Follow Henry's projects here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/social-historical-sciences/americas/research/research-students/henry-e-james
4 May 2026
We ❤️ Robots: Blade Runner, West World and Why We Feel Bad for Wall-E (Interview with Jiacheng Mo (Heidelberg University))
Are robots the better people? In his PhD project, Jiacheng Mo (Heidelberg University) analyzes artificial minds in anglophone literature. Today, we talk about whether robots dream of electric sheep (pun intended), empathy tests and the (non-)human mind.
00:00 – 02:22 Introduction
02:23 – 10:50 Why we have empathy with robots
10:51 – 20:07 Frankenstein, Blade Runner and other literary artificial minds
20:08 – 32:40 What’s the difference between (literary) humans and robots?
32:41 – 36:41Why we need stories in our lives
36:42 – 39:23 Jiacheng’s future projects
Follow Jiacheng's projects here: instagram.com/frankmjecheng
23 Mar 2026
When AI Revives the Dead: Grief, Capitalism and True Crime (Interview with Dr. Jenny Kidd & Dr. Bethan Jones (Cardiff University))
What if you could chat with someone who's no longer alive? It sounds dystopian, but several websites already offer their customers to create so-called deathbots - AI avatars of deceased people. I talked to Dr. Jenny Kidd and Dr. Bethan Jones (Cardiff University) about the ethics of digital afterlives, how AI could change our ways of grieving and our attitudes towards death in general, and how true crime victims are exploited with AI deathbots.
00:00 - 04:15: Introduction
04:16 - 16:16: MyHeritage's Deep Nostalgia tool & the ethics of bringing old family photos to life with AI
16:17 - 19:09: Is "The Substance" becoming a reality thanks to AI?
19:10 - 26:09: How to influence your own commemoration with a pre-mortem avatar
26:10 - 32:27: How authentic are these avatars?
32:28 - 36:26: Grief & capitalism
36:27 - 40:54: AI & the exploitation of true crime victims
40:55 - 44:09: Deathbots giving testimony in court
44:10 - 48:47: Will AI change how we grieve?
48:48 - 55:26: Reviving serial killers and holocaust victims with AI
55:27 - 01:01:28: Jenny's and Bethan's current & future projects
You can follow Bethan on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:7cwwdtps5lzr7gwsbfbxyuzs and on her website: https://bethanvjones.wordpress.com/
And you can follow Jenny on her website: https://profiles.cardiff.ac.uk/staff/kiddjc2 and on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-kidd-92999638a/?originalSubdomain=uk
16 Mar 2026
Haunted by the Soviet Past: Trauma in Contemporary Russian Literature (Interview with Lara Righi (University of Verona))
In this episode, we’re looking at the other side of the Iron Curtain: we’re talking about Soviet trauma in the form of undead creatures that haunt contemporary Russian literature, about Soviet Westerns, and the question whether the USSR was a colonial empire. Lara Righi, PhD candidate at the University of Verona, talks with us about post-memory, the relationship between Russia and Belarus, and Great Patriotic War aka World War II.
00:00 – 10:17: Introduction
10:18 – 24:18: Gothic themes in contemporary Russian literature
24:19 – 29:54: Sasha Filipenko and Marija Stepanova
29:55 – 41:11: The USSR – a colonial empire?
41:12 – 54:12: Filipenko’s A Former Son
54:13 – 1:06:25: Soviet Westerns
01:06:26 – 01:09:21: Lara’s future projects
27 Oct 2025
The US turns 250 - What Can We Expect? (Interview with Dr. Alexander "Xan" Karn (Colgate University))
It's time to party! 🎉 Next year, the US turns 250 years old. The celebration of the so-called "Semiquincentennial" has been in the planning phase for 9 years at this point - but we don't know what to expect, because what started under the Obama administration has slowly morphed into a MAGA project. Historian Dr. Alexander "Xan" Karn talks with us about how anniversaries shape our memory of historic events, about American patriotism and the distortion of history by "memory trolls."
If you want to learn more about Xan's research & future projects, you can follow him on Mastodon (@xankarn@mastodon.online) or on his website xankarn.net.
00:00 - 06:21: Introduction: The 250th birthday of the Army in 2025 and the No Kings protests
06:21 - 13:58: What is the Semiquincentennial and why should we care?
13:59 - 21:15: The Hollywood-ification of history and liberal kitsch
21:16 - 30:10: The MAGA version of history
30:11 - 35:44: Behind-the-scenes drama in the planning process
35:45 - 40:45: What is a memory troll?
40:46 - 01:01:03: Is non-traditional patriotism possible in a politically divided country?
01:01:04 - 01:04:49: Past birthdays of the United States and why this one is different
01:04:50 - 01:07:38: Hamilton - a MAGA musical?
01:07:39 - 01:10:21: Xan's future projects
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