#204 - Andrew Johnstone (University of Glasgow)

In the six years we have been working on this podcast project, my colleagues and I have not had many ‘crossover’ episodes into social media or ‘what the kids are talking about these days’ topics. The general rule has always been to have a citation upon which we can hang the interview, even if we sometimes deviate from the contents of the paper (book, book chapter, presentation, online materials, live lesson - there are so many opportunities to find a citation). We are also approached cold from time to time with offers of interviews by influencers looking to find avenues of promoting their services through open access podcasts such as Lost in Citations - I accept that we may look like a small outfit from the outside. However, I am not in the business of providing a platform for a thinly veiled, skippable YouTube ad and a discount code disguised as a conversation about the newest commoditized trend in EFL, ESL, EMI, or ESP.

The interview with Andrew Johnstone came about when he asked me to interview him about my specialist topic, World Englishes, for his podcast. In return, I would interview him about one of the podcasts I had listened to on the Japanese fashion industry, which I knew was underpinned by robust sociological research into aspects of the bubble era that are well known but rarely investigated. Yes, it was a crossover of genres, but we shared an interest in the topics. The podcast crossover appealed to me, as the Seemingly Unrelated podcast struck me as one that was an interesting combination of in-depth research and a well-told story, something that I have often found very difficult to do in my own life as an academic who often finds the need to sell his ideas to a skeptical audience.  

We talked about how the stories develop from his own experience of being someone who loves researching on behalf of his own interests that will always help others:

[10:59] Each episode when we sit down to to work on it, questions we tend to ask are, you know, one, what's the what are people familiar with, right? So in this case, most people familiar with what Hello Kitty is, even if they don't necessarily know the name of it. If you put the picture in the thumbnail, they go, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I've seen that thing. And then, what's the thing that they would never have considered it being connected to? No one would have ever thought of Hello Kitty and human trafficking.

Serious topics through the lens of well-known, visible touchstones of globalized Japanese culture? Sounds like a fascinating concept.

I also asked Andrew about how the style of the podcast was a little freer, more PG-13 than Lost in Citations, without ever losing sight of the story that is being told:

[28:41] The tone is going to end up being a little bit looser, a little bit more conversational … there's gonna be all sorts of swears and expletives, and, you know, jumping into some really weird stuff. I mean, if you have a episode where we're specifically talking about sex trafficking, it's gonna be it's that's going to be a rather tough conversation in terms of what you have to describe and explain … that's why we put the warning at the front end on purpose. 

Regular listeners will be happy to hear that we kept the episode swear-free, but we have to acknowledge the seriousness of the topic in relation to the register of the discussion. Open discourse can often lead to topics that discomfort some and elicit emotional reactions. I still recommend the topics in Seemingly Unrelated, as they will definitely stimulate some thoughts (and maybe even a few discussions of your own).

Above all, it’s an interview that explores the joy of following your own interests, from the perspective of what others would like to learn about, too. I believe I can learn from my sempai Andrew’s example.

Go on - have a listen!