Review of 2024 (Episode 58)

Episode Transcript
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Sarah McLusky (00:01):
So apparently my listeners also love yacht rock.
Now, yacht as in the boats. Ihave no idea what yacht rock is,
so if anybody can tell me whatyacht rock is, please get in
touch
Together I do think we arechanging the research
conversation, just a teeny, tinylittle bit with every episode

(00:28):
Hello there. I'm Sarah McLusky,and this is Research Adjacent.
Each episode, I talk to amazingresearch adjacent professionals
about what they do and why itmakes a difference. Keep
listening to find out why wethink the research-adjacent
space is where the real magichappens.

(00:49):
Hello and welcome to ResearchAdjacent. I'm your host, Sarah
McLusky, and this is almost thevery last episode of 2024. The
last two episodes are going toland right in the middle of the
festive period. And as you mightalready know, if you've listened
for a while, I don't like toland guest episodes during the
holiday because it just doesn'tfeel right that I can't promote

(01:10):
them properly. So instead, youhave just me, and as I did last
year, at this time, this episodeis going to be a review of 2024.
This one's going to come outjust before Christmas. And then
the next episode is actuallygoing to come out on Hogmanay,
as we call it in Scotland, orNew Year's Eve, 31st of

(01:31):
December. And that is going tobe a look ahead to what is
coming down the line for thepodcast and for the other work
that I do in 2025 and there aresome exciting things coming, so
do definitely list that episodeif you can, as well as this one.
But for now, here's a little bitabout what you can expect from
this episode. First of all, I'mgoing to give you a few

(01:53):
reflections from me on how thepodcast has evolved this year.
I've got a little recap on someof the stats and some of the
most listened to episodes in2024 and also some of my
personal most memorable moments.
So reflections on the podcast in2024. Well, some of you might

(02:17):
know I launched the podcast inJanuary 2023 so we are just
coming up to the podcast'ssecond anniversary, and in
January, we will hit our 60thepisode. Now that, to me, is
remarkable. I know I've saidthis before, but I really didn't
expect the podcast to go on thislong, partly because I'm those

(02:39):
people who know me well, willknow that I'm not always very
good at sticking with things,and partly because when I
started, I really didn't know ifanybody would listen or if it
would resonate with people. Butas far as I can tell, you keep
listening, and every so often Iget lovely feedback. And like
most people, I think I am asucker for lovely feedback. So

(03:00):
here we are still going. Andthis year, I think last year, I
really reflected a lot aboutwhat it was like to just create
the podcast, to kind of figureout all the practical stuff that
the difference of being suddenlybeing very visible.
This year, I feel is a littlebit like the year that the

(03:23):
podcast grew up. So last yearwas almost like a kind of
awkward teenage phase. We didn'tquite know what it was going to
grow up to be, and that kind ofgiddy excitement has passed. I
feel now that I know what I'mdoing. I think if I listen now
back to some of the earlyepisodes, I cringe a little bit
because I think my style hasdeveloped a lot, and what's also

(03:46):
happened over that time as wellis I've started to understand
what it is that people want tolisten to as well. And one of
the most common feedback that Iget from people is just that the
podcast helps them to feel seen.And as so many of my guests talk
about the kinds of researchadjacent roles that my guests do
are often a little bitinvisible, and stuff that goes

(04:10):
on behind the scenes, and so toactually shine a light on that
just helps everybody to feel alittle bit more appreciated. So
I love that that is resonatingwith people now, that isn't to
say that it's not still hardwork, em, finding and scheduling
guests. There have been a coupleof times this year where I've

(04:31):
realized that I hadn't made paidattention to that, and we got to
sort of a cliff edge where Ididn't have any guests lined up.
So finding and scheduling theguests takes a while, editing
the audio, writing the shownotes, all of it, it takes, all
takes time and effort. I guess Ihave just got, it's all got a
little bit more routine as I'vegone through and I feel like I

(04:54):
know what I am doing a bit more.Speaking there about finding and
scheduling guests, I am alwaysreally open to suggestions for
new guests. So if you do haveany suggestions, you'll find a
link in the show notes where youcan put in either suggest
yourself or suggest somebodyelse with their permission. And
also, there's a page on thecontact page on the Research

(05:17):
Adjacent website as well, you'llfind a link to the form there.
In the 2023 episode, I talked alot about the sudden visibility
that came with creating thepodcast, and this year, I think
I've gotten used to that a bitmore. But what has been really
lovely this year is that some ofthose new connections that I

(05:37):
made in 2023 have turned intoboth friends and colleagues, and
that has been amazing. And whatI've also found is that because
of the podcast, lots of peoplewho are in this world have sort
of gravitated towards me, whichhas been fantastic. And in the
next episode, I'll tell you abit more about what I am going

(05:59):
to try to do, to help, tosupport the people who are now
coming to me because they feelseen and their experience is
recognized, and I'm a helpingkind of person. So I've got some
ideas for what I could do there.
Another thing that I have begunto realize as I have gone

(06:21):
through, is that what I am doingis a bit like a research
project. And I guess you cantake the person out of the PhD,
but maybe can't take the PhD outthe person. And so I think I
still think a little bit like aresearcher. And essentially,
what I'm doing is collectingcase studies of people, and I

(06:41):
think that perhaps more thananyone else, I have an insight
into the working lives of theresearch adjacent community. And
what that has led me to startdoing is as I've recognized some
of the things that are commonchallenges that come up and that
has, and some of the solutionsand the things that people want

(07:04):
to change. You know, the magicwand question, the things that
people want to change about thisworld, and all of that has led
me to start pulling togethersome ideas and some resources. I
have started writing a book. Ithink I mentioned that before,
it's about a third, maybe abouta half done, halfway done. Maybe
it'll come out next year. Weshall see. And then I have

(07:27):
started an online community forresearch adjacent freelancers,
and I've started to develop sometraining offers as well. I'm not
going to talk a lot about thosein this episode, but if you're
listening to the next episode,looking ahead to 2025 I will
talk more about those then.
But for now, back to this year,I do want to mention a little

(07:48):
bit about stats, but before Ido, I have previously talked
about why podcast stats are notalways that helpful, partly
because they're a bit slippery.And there's, you know, is it
downloads? Is it streams? Whathappens if somebody listens and
then stops listening halfwaythrough? It's all very
complicated, and also sometimesstats are irrelevant. And

(08:09):
obviously there's lots of reallymassive podcasters out there,
which I am not a massivepodcaster out there, people have
millions of followers anddownloads. But what's actually
more important to me is thepeople who are listening are
people who really get somethingout of it. So I would rather
have five people who get it andreally find some value than 5000

(08:32):
random people where it's justcome up as the next thing on
their feed. But the stats aredefinitely useful for me, at
least, because they help meunderstand whether the podcast
is resonating with people, andthey also help me to see which
episodes people are listening tothat sort of thing as well which
platform they're using. And thatkind of thing does help me. So
it is not all about the metrics,but as we are coming up on our

(08:55):
second anniversary, some thingsthat's kind of interesting, of
what's happened this year. Thisyear, there have been 24
episodes, 23 guests in total.What is interesting in terms of
followers, so that's likesubscribers in all the podcast
platforms, is that those havealmost doubled during the course
of 2024 so we've now got nearly400 of you subscribed, which is

(09:20):
amazing.
And then LinkedIn, especiallythe Research Adjacent podcast,
LinkedIn page has really grownhugely. It's grown about 300%
from about 300 listeners to 300followers to over 1000 now. And
I was very excited. Some of youmight have seen the post on
LinkedIn. I was very excitedwhen we hit 1000, because it

(09:43):
just starts to make it feel likethis endeavor is worthwhile. And
so, yeah, that was really niceto reach that milestone. Other
things as well you might notknow. I think I mentioned it
last year, that you get aSpotify Wrapped for podcast
creators, just like anybody wholistens on Spotify gets their

(10:06):
music Unwrapped. So what it toldme about the podcast was some of
these are interesting. It's beenstreamed in 22 countries.
Unsurprisingly, the UK is thehighest one. But 22 countries,
that's amazing. So hello toanybody who's listening anywhere
else around the world, I'd loveto know where you are, so feel
free to get in touch if youwould like to let me know.

(10:27):
Some of the other things ittells you, though make no sense
to me. So apparently, and maybeyou know who you are, my
listeners also love yacht rock.Now, yacht as in the boats. I
have no idea what yacht rock is.So if anybody can tell me what
yacht rock is, please get intouch and let me know. And also,

(10:48):
top with my listeners was Diaryof a Wimpy Kid audio books. So
I'm loving the diversity there.So again, if that's you, I'd
love to know my daughter lovesshe's a bit older now, but she
did love Diary of a Wimpy Kid soI'm with you there.
So yeah. So lots of interestinginsights there from Spotify, and

(11:10):
what it also tells me this isn'tas much from Spotify, but from
my podcast stats are whichepisodes have been the most
listened to this year, and thetop episode this year has been
Anthony Kavanagh, which Anthonyis a patent attorney. He was
episode 44 which came out inMay, and so clearly, yeah, lots

(11:30):
of people interested in thatidea of the legal side of the
research adjacent world. And Iwas really grateful to get
Anthony on, because that's anarea I do not have many contacts
in at all, but he had seensomething that was shared on
LinkedIn by another guest who heknew, Orla Kelly. So that's how

(11:50):
Anthony got in touch with me.These are, these are purely
stats. So this isn't, I don'twant to give any impression that
I'm playing favorites with anyof these episodes, because it
would be like trying to choosebetween children. So these are
purely numbers. Second top wasJohn Elvin. His episode 35 was
out in January. Then we've gotNaomi Tyrrell, who is a research

(12:12):
consultant, and her episode cameout in March, Kath Burton, who
works in the publishingindustry. And then all the lots
of the others then were prettysimilar once we got to feed to
listener numbers there sointeresting, those episodes had
come up on top in terms ofnumbers of listeners. And that's

(12:33):
helpful to me, because it givesme an idea of some of the kinds
of episodes that people mightwant to listen to in the future.
And definitely, as I alreadysaid, get in touch if you've got
some guests. But definitely,there are some gaps that I want
to fill. I haven't had anybodyyet on who works in the policy
world. I've got a couple ofleads on that, so we might have
something lined up. But if youyourself listening, are in the

(12:58):
policy world, or if you knowsomebody who is then I would
love to hear from you. And also,I haven't, I don't get many
people, I think it's just thenature of the people, I don't
get a lot of kind of behind thescenes people, so people who do
things like finance, funding,that side of stuff. I would love
to get them on. So again, ifthat's you or somebody you know,

(13:18):
please do get in touch.
So moving on from the stats,I've got a few things that stood
out for me as a personalhighlights. And again, I don't
want this to seem like I youknow that it doesn't mean that
the other episodes weren'timportant to me, because I all

(13:41):
of my guests, I am so amazinglygrateful that they gave me their
time and that they trusted mewith their stories. So that is
certainly not the case. Butthere's a few things what I've
gone for here, just some of thethings that stood out in my
memory. A big highlight for mewas that in August, we reached
the 50th episode of ResearchAdjacent, again, as I've said

(14:05):
already, I never thought we'dget this far. So I thought,
well, I'm going to take theopportunity to get in touch with
some past guests and see whatthe podcast has meant to them,
and putting it together reallywas quite emotional for me, I
was so touched by the feedbackthat I got from past guests. And

(14:25):
so if you haven't alreadylistened to that episode, go
back and have a listen. I thinkit's really lovely to reconnect
to some of those previous guestsand to hear about the things
that have happened after beingon the podcast, which was great.
Other conversations that havestayed with me, and the first

(14:46):
one I want to mention is episode48 which was with Helen White
and Danni Elster, who areexperts by experience and who
help Peaches Womb CancerResearch Trust to include the
opinions of people who areexperts by experience, people
who have got lived experience ofthe conditions that are being
researched. That was reallyimportant one for me, because,

(15:09):
partly because that's a lot ofthe work that I've done in my
life has been around thatinvolvement and public
engagement side of things, butalso I'm a big advocate for
saying that we need to thinkabout research teams rather than
researchers. And when we thinkabout research teams, I think
it's really important that weinclude people for whom this is

(15:31):
their life. And the quote thatcomes from disability activism,
but nothing about us, withoutus, and that is one of the
reason why that conversationwith Helen and Danni was really
important to me, and also it wasjust, it was just really nice.
It's quite nice doing that.
I've learned it's quite nicedoing double episodes, because
my next memorable moment is adouble episode as well. And that

(15:54):
was when I had Susan Shanks andAlice Millard, who are the
archivists, who came on to sharewhat they do, and I found that
really interesting, partlybecause it's a topic that I just
don't know very much aboutpersonally. So it was really
interesting to hear about someof the things that they've found

(16:16):
in the archives that they'rehelping with. And I also because
it made me laugh. I particularlyloved Susan's comment about how
future archivists will becursing the previous generations
because they won't be able toaccess files from the 1990s
which isn't even that long ago.And she said, if you imagine it
open an old file and being like,Oh no, it's Word 2005. You'd get

(16:39):
that little paper clip poppingup. I can't remember what it was
called, but yeah. So that justmade me laugh. That comment, and
another conversation that reallymade me laugh a lot was the
conversation that I had withJohn Elvin. I recorded it
towards the end of 2023 and thenoften, when I there's often be a
bit of a gap between where Irecord something and when it

(17:00):
comes to be put out. And Iforgot how much John and I
laughed when we recorded thatepisode. So going back to that
was really lovely. And also Ilove the stat from John, which I
have verified, not that I don'ttrust him. Of course, I trust
you, John. Um, but the stat thatless than 30% of what we
consider research is done inuniversities, and the other 70%

(17:23):
is being done in otherorganizations. So the idea
that's one of the reasons Iwanted this podcast to be about
research, not just about highereducation, because there's so
much more to research than justuniversities, and so I love that
conversation with John. I lovedgetting Kath Burton in the
publisher because I'd wanted toget somebody in from publishing.

(17:45):
And again, it's not world, butI've got very many connections
in myself, so I loved hearingabout her life. And then I think
this made into the Sam Steeleepisode came out at the start of
this year, but actually recordedit at the end of 2023 so I think
I mentioned this last year aswell. But Sam Steele now works
as a research center manager,but she used to be a producer at

(18:06):
Radio One during the 1990s whenshe worked with the DJ Steve
Lamacq, and it just made me feela teeny bit closer to all of
those musicians that I haveidolized throughout my life, and
I just really just from apersonal geek girl perspective,
loved hearing from Sam. I alsoreally enjoyed revisiting the

(18:28):
Catch Your Breath exhibitionthat I created with David
Wright, the exhibition curatorwho was on just a month or so
ago, and it took a fair bit ofarm twisting but persuading my
lovely friend Helen Riding tocome in and share her story
about working in the NHS,because, again, I'd wanted to
get somebody in from the NHS fora while. So thank you to Helen

(18:50):
for being willing to do that,even though she was very
nervous. And finally, a mentionfor my favorite podcast art of
the year, which was a couple ofepisodes ago, Jeni Smith, um,
but partly the credit goes toJeni, because she gave me
amazing photos to work with. Soif you haven't seen that
artwork, then I'll put links inthe show notes, and you can go

(19:13):
and find it.
Other notable podcasty momentsin 2024 are that Well, I'm sure
you can imagine the podcast isfar from the only thing I do,
but what it did happen is thatputting myself out into the

(19:34):
world, both as Research Adjacentand as a podcaster, led to some
really interesting thingshappening in 2024. The first one
is that episode (, guest OrlaKelly trusted me to help her to
create the Academic Adventurespodcast, which came out in
spring of this year. Iinterviewed 10 people who

(19:55):
combine academic work withentrepreneurial ventures. And if
you haven't listened to it yetand that sounds like something
you're interested in, then it'sdefinitely worth downloading,
getting it in your ears. I thinkfor you as a research-adjacent
community, the most relevantepisode is the episode with Anne
Muir, who is definitely one ofus, definitely a

(20:17):
research-adjacent so I'll putlinks to those in the show
notes, you can go and check thatout.
Other things this year as well.I guessed it, on the Diversity
in Research podcast in May,talking about something which I
think we need to talk aboutmore, which is the fact that the
research-adjacent world is veryfemale dominated. And that's not

(20:38):
to say that I think that'snecessarily a bad thing, but I
think sometimes we perhaps needto think about, if we say a male
dominated workplace is a badthing, then maybe we have to
look into whether a femaledominated workplace is
automatically better, andperhaps what it says about the
status of these roles and howthey are seen, that that it is a

(21:03):
world that is very female led,but I think there's huge
positives about that as well,but I just think we're maybe
don't talk about it enough. Sothat was the Diversity in
Research podcast, worth a listento.
And then in September, I wasinvited to be part of Leeds
University webinar panel onpodcasting and research culture,
and that was really fun. Werecorded it live with four other

(21:27):
three other guests, and then itwas chaired by Andy Tattersall
from University of Sheffield,and that has since been released
as an episode of the ResearchCulture Uncovered podcast. So if
you haven't heard that one, I'llput a link to it in the show
notes as well.
So I think that is 2024 done anddusted. I will consider this my

(21:49):
ta-da list for the podcast. Ifyou don't know what a ta-da list
is, as in ta-da! then go andcheck out the very first episode
of 2024 when I talk about that,and the next episode, which, as
I say, comes out on Hogmanay, orNew Year's Eve in Scotland, as
we call it in Scotland. And thenI will be sharing my to do list

(22:11):
for 2025 and I hope you willcome along and join me then. For
now thank you so much for beingwith me on this journey in 2024
whether you have just listenedto one episode, or whether you
have listened to all of them.Thank you. I don't take your
attention for granted, and itreally is a privilege to be
entrusted with the stories of myguests. And I'm really grateful

(22:34):
to them for giving up their timeas well to be part of my little
pet project. Together I do thinkwe are changing the research
conversation just a teeny, tinylittle bit with every episode.
So for that, if you're listeningin real time, happy, festive,
fun, holidays, whatever it meansto you. And thank you so much

(22:59):
for listening. See you nexttime.
Thanks for listening to ResearchAdjacent. If you're listening in
a podcast app, please check yoursubscribe and then use the links
in the episode description tofind full show notes and follow
the podcast on LinkedIn orInstagram. You can also find all

(23:20):
the links and other episodes atwww.researchadjacent.com.
Research Adjacent is presentedand produced by Sarah McLusky,
and the theme music is by LemonMusic Studios on Pixabay. And
you, yes you, get a big goldstar for listening right to the
end. See you next time.

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Review of 2024 (Episode 58)