About Yeah, I Got an F#%*ing Job With a Liberal Arts Degree
A podcast that explores the liberal arts as an educational system emphasizing inquiry, personal development and innovation that is foundational to a healthy, inclusive, and progressive society. Cal Poly Humboldt College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences Dean and environmental historian Jeff Crane, hosts a wide range of guests whose experiences as students of the liberal arts have shaped their lives in school, as professionals, and in their lives outside of their careers.
Presented by Cal Poly Humboldt's College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
Episode 71: Aaron Hanlon Looks at the Humanities Bid for Relevance
Dr. Aaron Hanlon (https://www.colby.edu/people/people-directory/aaron-hanlon/), Professor of English and Co-Chair of Colby College's Department of English, joins the show to discuss his piece for The Chronicle of Higher Education entitled Social Justice Was the Humanities Bid for Relevance. It Failed. (https://www.chronicle.com/article/social-justice-was-the-humanities-bid-for-relevance-it-failed)This essay was written in response to the Report on the State of Scholarship in the Humanities and the Humanistic Social Sciences (https://cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-wpfsx/wp-content/uploads/sites/51/2026/06/State-of-Scholarship-Report-final.pdf) and the controversy around it.
The conversation focuses on the messaging around the humanities from the humanities as well as the coordinated and intentional devaluing of the humanities by state and federal governing bodies
Works Cited:
Social Justice Was the Humanities Bid for Relevance. It Failed. by Aaron Hanlon (https://www.chronicle.com/article/social-justice-was-the-humanities-bid-for-relevance-it-failed)
Report on the State of Scholarship in the Humanities and the Humanistic Social Sciences (https://cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-wpfsx/wp-content/uploads/sites/51/2026/06/State-of-Scholarship-Report-final.pdf)
The Dean's December by Saul Bellow (https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/05/25/reviews/bellow-december.html)
Permanent Crisis: The Humanities in a Disenchanted Age by Paul Reitter and Chad (https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo81816415.html) Wellman (https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo81816415.html)
Yeah, I Got an F#%*ing Job with a Liberal Arts Degree is produced by Abigail Smithson. You can email the us with any questions @ podcasts@humboldt.edu
Music by Silverman Sound Studios (https://www.silvermansound.com/)
This show is created and supported by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt and is recorded on campus in beautiful Arcata, California.
31 Aug 2026
Episode 70: Maysan Haydar Believes in a More Compelling Story About the Humanities
Dr. Maysan Haydar (https://artsci.case.edu/faculty/maysan-haydar/) is an Assistant Professor of History at Case Western Reserve University. Her areas of expertise include twentieth century immigration and acculturation patterns by peoples from Muslim-majority countries, military history, and Islamic and Middle Eastern history.
She joins the show to discuss her time as the 2022-2024 Pforzheimer Foundation Fellow at the American Academy of the Arts & Sciences (https://www.amacad.org/), where she worked on policy and the state of public humanities within the Humanities, Arts, and Culture program area. She is also on the staff Academy staff for the Humanities Indicator (https://www.amacad.org/humanities-indicators), which provides nonpartisan statistical information about all aspects of the humanities: from early childhood reading, through undergraduate and graduate education in the humanities, to employment and humanities experiences in daily life, such as reading and visits to museums.
We also discussed her general takes on the value of the humanities, across the board!
Works Cited:
American Association of Colleges and Universities (https://www.aacu.org/about)
Yeah, I Got an F#%*ing Job with a Liberal Arts Degree is produced by Abigail Smithson. You can email the us with any questions @ podcasts@humboldt.edu
This show is created and supported by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt and is recorded on campus in beautiful Arcata, California.
14 Jul 2026
Episode 69: Lee Bebout is back with more about faculty/admin dynamics!
Three time returning guest Lee Bebout (https://search.asu.edu/profile/1761453) is back on the show to discuss Come to the Dark Side: The Dangers of Pathologizing Administration in Higher Ed (https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/career-advice/advancing-administrator/2026/01/20/dangers-pathologizing-administration), an essay he and Jeff recently co-authored, published in Inside Higher Ed. It is written as the second part of a larger series, with the first essay titled What We Mean by 'Shared" Governance' (https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/career-advice/2025/09/24/what-we-mean-when-we-say-shared-governance-opinion), which was featured on episode 59 (https://open.spotify.com/episode/45b4HwQvPj0FMgENWYRabB?si=kUAVUliMTlGy0nFvjGTQbA) of this show. Both essays look at the relationship between faculty and administration at universities and colleges and how it can be approached differently, working towards improvement. Abigail, the producer of this show, joins as well to ask the questions and share her thoughts.
Lee was first on the podcast way back in episode 13. You can listen to that here (https://open.spotify.com/episode/0gELaeAAzS2h7rEB0e0TPK?si=jzSp8JtSRcqreUCtZa-VEA).
Please share, rate and review, wherever you get your podcasts!
Works Cited:
Come to the Dark Side: The Dangers of Pathologizing Administration in Higher Ed (https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/career-advice/advancing-administrator/2026/01/20/dangers-pathologizing-administration)
What We Mean by 'Shared Governance' (https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/career-advice/2025/09/24/what-we-mean-when-we-say-shared-governance-opinion) (https://www.silvermansound.com/)
Yeah, I Got an F#%*ing Job with a Liberal Arts Degree is produced by Abigail Smithson. You can email the us with any questions @ podcasts@humboldt.edu
This show is created and supported by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt and is recorded on campus in beautiful Arcata, California.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
5 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
11 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 55 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
83
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
71
Contact Yeah, I Got an F#%*ing Job With a Liberal Arts Degree
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of Yeah, I Got an F#%*ing Job With a Liberal Arts Degree?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
