REMINDER: We’re running another cohort of SciComm STEP next spring! Applications are live right now on our website (MeteorSciComm.org)! 🥳 

In this fast-paced episode (with a few audio flickers, boo Wyoming wind that knocks out the internet), we make this honest podcast about scicomm with impact a bit #overlyhonest. We tackle: 

• Why we think academia still matters 
• Why people “valuing” scicomm ain’t what we need 
• The truth that professional development is too-often worse than no investment/change at all 
• A tough reality: there’s no one place to go to “level up” your scicomm career if you’re beyond-beginner 
• How we deal with (the unavoidable, we argue) jealousy of being advanced scicomm'ers 
• How to stop getting in your own way with your scicomm project/funding pitches 

Dig in for yourself: 

• What’s a scicomm change you’re going to make in 2024? 
• And, what’s one honest thing about scicomm systems that you think needs to be said out loud?! 

We love you for being part of the Meteor community for another season! 💖 Stay connected with us on BlueSky at @bgmerkle.bsky.social and @vgwschutte.bsky.social.

First - two big announcements: 

1. Our last episode will be a Q&A- send us your questions, ideas, puzzles, and dilemmas by December 1st. 
2. We’re running another cohort of SciComm STEP next spring! Applications are live right now on our website (MeteorSciComm.org)! 🥳 

Truly, yelling and naming is how we process, cope, and then work toward action and change when we’re facing schtuff that’s inequitable, obstructionist, or devalues work in scicomm. We talk through a lot of layers on this one: 

• Naming what is really going on when people and systems undervalue the vital work that makes communities, systems, and good change happen 
• Pushing back to make the work more legible or appreciated 
• Taking a hard look in the mirror: how much of this work do you want to keep doing?  
• Weighing whether someone even knows or intends the disrespect 
• Holding an icy grip on rage in order to move through the spaces we need to operate in 

And all the time, we need community that can validate us when we are angry, and hold space when we are furious. 

We also talk about a couple of books that have been a valuable frame for us: 

• The No Club: Putting a Stop to Women’s Dead-End Work 
• Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger 

Dig in for yourself: 

• What is a systemic scicomm issue that you just need to name right now? 
• And, what’s something you need to yell and stomp your feet about? 

Thanks for listening! Get good and mad! 🤬😤 You can holler at/with us on BlueSky at @bgmerkle.bsky.social and @vgwschutte.bsky.social.

First - two big announcements: 

1. Our last episode will be a Q&A- send us your questions, ideas, puzzles, and dilemmas by December 1st. 
2. We’re running another cohort of SciComm STEP next spring! Applications are live right now on our website (MeteorSciComm.org)! 🥳 

Wanting to get paid real money (plenty of it) is OKAY. Full stop. And, we argue it’s also important if we’re all going to do the collective, hard work of making the world better through scicomm. In this episode, we talk through: 

• Why enjoying getting paid isn’t something to be embarrassed about  
• The caution of worldviews that note “desire is the root of all suffering” 
• A key reframe: anchor jobs are not sell-out jobs; they can be self-determined sponsorship of your passion projects/professional goals 
• Income models are wildly different across realms of scicomm and other types of media/creator jobs; that’s not just okay, it’s great 
• Funding at the systems change/program-building level is hard to access, unpredictable, often exclusive, and rarely sustainable 

Dig in for yourself: 

• Tell us about the dollars that you’d make a difference with! 
• Or, what is something about money that you need or want to know right now? 

Thanks for listening! Money, honey; let’s actually talk about it. 🍯💰Connect with us on BlueSky at @bgmerkle.bsky.social and @vgwschutte.bsky.social.