Barry Lam
Host and Producer, Hi-Phi Nation
Associate Professor of Philosophy, Vassar College
"For years I wanted to better connect philosophy with the public,
and had an idea to create a story-driven philosophy podcast. When I went to a
conference at West Point and heard veteran stories, I felt like I found my
podcast focus. I spent a year recording audio of veterans and service
members talking about how they have used philosophy to come to terms with their
wartime experiences. A summer stipend from NEH allowed me to spend two months
combining my academic research with 15 to 20 hours of recorded interviews to
create a two-part episode, “Soldier Philosophers”.
I was also able to use that NEH-supported episode to leverage more
funding. I got a year-long fellowship from Duke that allowed me to complete the
first season of Hi-Phi Nation. Because podcasts
don't fit within what is funded in mainstream academic philosophy, it had been hard for me to get people to look at my project
seriously. The NEH funding support showed the world that what I was doing had
merit."
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