The GLaD Podcast

This episode is part of our ongoing and occasional series on, “A Day in the Life of…” where we talk to folks about what exactly it is that they do (sadly, the evidence across episodes is starting to indicate that much of the answer is meetings and email). Like, how did they decide what they wanted to be when they grew up? And—just as interesting (we think)—how do they organize that crazy basket of activities that makes up “work?” What does a typical workday, week, or year look like? We're pretty excited to have Sarah Williams in our virtual studio with us for this episode. Sarah is a Professor in Urban Planning at MIT and she’s also Director of the Civic Data Design Lab and the Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism. Join us to hear what she has to say!

Today, we’re talking about embeddings. Unless you’ve been living… well, I don’t know where, you might have heard of the term generative AI. At the core of this technology is an obscure idea, word embeddings, that powers much of its magic. Embeddings work for text, but not only so. They also work for imagery and other types of geospatial data. This idea is taking force in certain circles, and we thought it’d be worth spending some chat time with this! Join us for a (hopefully) "lay enough" conversation about one of the most interesting ideas in geo-data that the last few years have produced.

You think balancing babies and a career is tough; try recording a podcast episode about the topic! Kidding. Sort of. In this episode, Dani, Levi, and Rachel are joined by special guest, Elisabetta Pietrostefani, from the University of Liverpool, for a wide-ranging conversation about babies and (academic) work. The complicated decisions around whether and when to have kids. Things we wish we'd thought of. Tips for navigating different stages of kid and career. One of the most interesting things about this episode, we think, is just how tricky it was to navigate the conversation—an important takeaway lesson!

For this episode, join Dani, Rachel, and Levi for a discussion about Academic Love Languages. Does getting public recognition make you feel warm and fuzzy? Or would you rather the freedom to curl up in a quiet office, reading and writing? We're all different, and it helps to be aware of what makes us (and others) feel valued, cared for, or supported. So, how do you show your colleagues that you value them? And, what makes you feel valued as a colleague? Join us for a spirited discussion about whether such a thing exists and let us know your academic love language by emailing us at thegladpodcast@gmail.com

Happy new year!!! We know, we know, we’ve been in 2026 for a while already (already too long?). But this is the first episode we recorded this year, the first one with Levi as a dad (yay!), and one where the “year” itself will somewhat feature. So we find it apt to start with a cheerful approach. The reason behind this episode is that I’m such a sucker for “best of…” and “what’ll happen in…” compilations. Like the best sci-fi, they tell you a lot more about the present, its hopes and anxieties, than about the year they either review or speculate on. And that’s always interesting to me. So Dani spent most of December listening to “hot takes” from all sorts of podcasts… And here at GLaD HQ, we’re all made of the “hot take” stuff. So, possibly several weeks “late” (in time is overrated!), here it is: our hot takes for 2026.

Come for the catchy episode title, stay for the wide-reaching discussion about spatial data, visualization, and cartography. We're joined this time by Anthony Robinson , from Pennsylvania State University, for a conversation about what cartographers do, what cartography looks like in the 21st century, what makes a map, and the challenges of "personal cartography." We've even got some requisite hot takes on spatial analysis and data (...and cartography!).

Today, we’re joined by a close friend of the podcast (someone some of us personally credit with changing our lives forever!), Serge Rey , to talk all things open, open source, and academia. Serge is Professor for Geography at San Diego State University and BDFL for the PySAL project. He’s been one of the most outspoken voices advocating for closer adoption of the open source ethos in academia, so we thought who better to unpack the open conundrum.

On this episode, we talk with Prof. Krzysztof Janowicz, Professor of Cartography and Geoinformation Science at the University of Vienna. Prof. Janowicz is an expert in GeoAI, and has been researching the field over his entire career. Join us to learn a bit more about GeoAI—the nuts and bolts of what GeoAI is, whee it came from, and where the fast-paced field is going. Learn with us about the basics of foundation models and representation learning, and think through how GeoAI can help your research or practice. As always, we welcome feedback, episode suggestions, and questions from listeners at thegladpodcast@gmail.com . And, please rate and review us on your favorite podcast app—every bit helps!

Today we’re “repeating” special guest. We enjoyed so much talking to Wenfei Xu anbout mobile phone data in our last episode (Episode 25: What we talk about when we talk about mobile phone data), that we decided to bring her on board again. But there’s a twist: this time, we’re returning to our “A day in the life of…” series, where we explore the behind-the-scenes view of what it is like to be a GLaD researcher. Wenfei i Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara. An urban planner by training, Wenfei has worked a lot with mobile phone data, but also has a super interesting story to how she arrived at that research interest. Come the fancy data, stay for engaging conversation about hopping between academia and industry, traversing disciplines, and… an Exhibitions entry in your CV.

Here's an episode all about data—mobile phone data, to be exact. What are we talking about when we talk about using “mobile phone data” in our research? How are these data generated? Who produces them? What is this data good for…and maybe not so good for? How is it accessed and used? So many questions! To help provide some answers, in this episode Rachel, Levi, and Dani are joined by special guest, Wenfei Xu, Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at UC Santa Barbara.

AI is now definitely changing how we live our (geography) lives. Join Rachel, Dani, and Levi for a chat about how Artificial Intelligence is emerging in our GLAD lives. How is it being used "in the wilds" of teaching, research, coding, publishing, and beyond. Should you be farming out your peer reviews to a computer? Vibe coding with your friend Claude? Setting out on AI-generated running routes? And, as always, do we really need more papers faster than ever before? We chat through this, with some advice and reflections on where AI might change our own practice and how it's certainly changing the way academia (writ large) works. Let us know what you think at thegladpodcast@gmail.com . Did we miss something about AI that you now can't live without? Have we missed your favorite anecdote about a deluge of digital dreck? Send us an email! Resources we discussed: Nature's recent editorial on peer review and AI https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00894-7 Harper Reed's post on how to code well with LLMs https://harper.blog/2025/04/17/an-llm-codegen-heros-journey/ Ethan Mollick's "reasoned optimism" about thinking with AI https://www.oneusefulthing.org/ Simon Willison's blog tracking the frontier of LLMs https://simonwillison.org

Join us for the second part of our conversation about the academic job market! This half, we'll talk a bit about the nuts and bolts of putting together your application and the process from applying to interviewing for (and maybe even getting) the job! Caveat: we're mostly familiar with the US and UK academic job markets and we stick to what we know best in this episode! Let us know what you think by sending us an email at thegladpodcast@gmail.com or leaving us a review on whatever podcasting app you use! it really helps us out.

Everything you (n)ever wanted to know about getting an academic job in geography or geography-adjacent fields. In this episode your friendly—and pretty experienced at applying for academic jobs—co-hosts talk through the academic job market. Where to look for jobs, timing, what to expect, and how to apply. Caveat: we're mostly familiar with the US and UK academic job markets and we stick to what we know best in this episode!

Today, we’re talking about time management. Or, rather, the lack thereof (both time, and management). It feels like we’re always over-committed. Always running behind. 24h a day sounds like so much and feels like so little. Why? Fasten your seatbelts, let’s find out!

In this episode we talk to Geoff Boeing , streets and urban form expert, mastermind behind OSMnx, and urban planner at USC. We talk (a lot) about disasters and cities, street networks, and open source software. Several callbacks to previous episodes, including our Vibe Check on Cities and Computing Geographically with David O'Sullivan episodes. Also Davis and Weinstein (2002), " Bones, Bombs, and Break Points: The Geography of Economic Activity " and the New York Times on trash, streets, and urban form .

This week, join us for our own retrospective on the year, and a look forward to next. We'll talk a bit about all the data in a year of GLaD, the highs and lows of Work/Life Balance in a year of "too much yes", the NYT Spelling Bee, and all the new and awesome Geography and Data that came with the year. As always, let us know how your year in GLaD went by emailing us at thegladpodcast@gmail.com Until next year!

Today, we’re talking about what some would characterize the “topic” of the XXIst Century (others might perhaps not!): Digital Twins. Are we excited about them? Are our eyes so rolled that they’ll never recover? Or is this excited Vs eyeroll dichotomy not very helpful at all? Above all, what even are Digital Twins? Episode notes - Here is the Commentary Rachel mentions (free access): Malleson, N., Franklin, R., Arribas-Bel, D., Cheng, T., & Birkin, M. (2024). Digital twins on trial: Can they actually solve wicked societal problems and change the world for better? Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 51(6), 1181-1186. https://doi.org/10.1177/23998083241262893 - The DT project for a bridge in Amsterdam, by The Alan Turing Institute: https://www.turing.ac.uk/about-us/impact/bridging-gap-between-physical-and-digital - AI for continuous environmental project mentioned by Levi: https://waterinnovation.challenges.org/winners/ai-algal-monitoring/ - Larger scale aquatic “digital twin” project at Turing, mentioned by Levi: https://www.turing.ac.uk/research/research-projects/probabilistic-programming-aquatic-ecosystem-models

In this episode your fearless co-hosts, Dani, Levi, and Rachel, talk about visibility and making a place for oneself in the worlds of research and academia. We chat about brands (do you need one?), clout (is it a thing?), and whether there's agreement about what it means to be an academic duck (maybe?). We've also got advice and lots of GLaD banter.

Today, we’re tightening our laces, checking our syllabi, and coming to terms with the coming term. Do you plan ahead? Or let the waves of work wash over you? Join Dani, Rachel, and Levi to chat about what it's like going back to school. As always, let us know what you think by emailing us at thegladpodcast@gmail.com . We read every email, and if there's anything you're keen to hear us discuss, we'd love to hear it!

If the academic life course were a sport, what would it be? Marathon? Hurdles? Bobsled? Find out how your GLaD co-hosts answer that question in this episode, as we discuss academic life course events, the various burdens that assail us at every stage, and how we manage (or don't).