
A podcast for your academic journey—and beyond! Created and produced by Dr. Christina Gessler, the Academic Life podcast is inspired by today’s knowledge-producers around the world, working inside and outside the academy. Support our show by becoming a premium member! newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/academic-life
| Publishes | Weekly | Episodes | 329 | Founded | 6 years ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Listeners | Categories | ArtsEducationBooks | |||

A woman miscarries and is charged with murder. A new mother tests positive for a drug her hospital administers and loses custody of her newborn. Four women are convicted of horrific crimes against children they never touched, based on junk science an... more
Can I Say That: Your Go-To Guide for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is your safe space to learn more about diversity, equity and inclusion, and how you can be a force for change. Most DEI books focus on gender, race or the intersection of those two ... more
In Paper Heroines: Women Writers in Conversation and Community Across the Sea Islands, 1838-1902 (U South Carolina Press, 2026), Dr. Mollie Barnes studies the ways women represented their own and one another's lives in their personal diaries and th... more
Black women have always been the most relentless instigators for change—building a democracy for all. In The Instigators: How Black Women Have Been Essential to American Democracy (And What We Can Learn from Them (Harper, 2026), Atima Omara draws on ... more
People also subscribe to these shows.




You know that feeling after you finish an interesting book and have a million questions you want to ask the author? This podcast asks those questions. Dr. Gessler does a close read and stands in for the reader with thoughtful questions. I can visualize her coming to the interviews, her copy of the book about to burst with sticky notes! I’ve read so many books that I never would have found without This Academic Life.
Dr. Gessler is such an engaging interviewer. Her guests are varied, covering all aspects of life as an academic. She brings out the best in every guest.
Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.










Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.
Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.
| Listeners per Episode | |
|---|---|
| Gender Skew | |
| Location | |
| Interests | |
| Professions | |
| Age Range | |
| Household Income | |
| Social Media Reach |
A thoughtful, academically oriented show that centers on books, pedagogy, and policy across higher education and public life. Episodes often feature scholars, authors, and practitioners discussing research-driven insights on topics like mental health in academia, race and gender in institutions, urban policy, and public health. The conversations tend to blend personal career journeys with practical implications for students, educators, and policymakers, often weaving in archival or historical context and highlighting the real-world impact of scholarly work. A notable strength is the breadth of guest expertise—from novel scholarship to applied practice—coupled with accessible storytelling and sponsor reads that keep the show approachable for... more
Rephonic provides a wide range of podcast stats for The Academic Life. We scanned the web and collated all of the information that we could find in our comprehensive podcast database. See how many people listen to The Academic Life and access YouTube viewership numbers, download stats, audience demographics, chart rankings, ratings, reviews and more.
Rephonic provides a full set of podcast information for three million podcasts, including the number of listeners. View further listenership figures for The Academic Life, including podcast download numbers and subscriber numbers, so you can make better decisions about which podcasts to sponsor or be a guest on. You will need to upgrade your account to access this premium data.
Rephonic provides comprehensive predictive audience data for The Academic Life, including gender skew, age, country, political leaning, income, professions, education level, and interests. You can access these listener demographics by upgrading your account.
To see how many followers or subscribers The Academic Life has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.
These podcasts share a similar audience with The Academic Life:
1. 99% Invisible
2. Freakonomics Radio
3. The Daily
4. The Ezra Klein Show
5. Up First from NPR
The Academic Life launched 6 years ago and published 329 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.
Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.
Rephonic pulls ratings and reviews for The Academic Life from multiple sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and Podcast Addict.
View all the reviews in one place instead of visiting each platform individually and use this information to decide if a show is worth pitching or not.
Rephonic provides full transcripts for episodes of The Academic Life. Search within each transcript for your keywords, whether they be topics, brands or people, and figure out if it's worth pitching as a guest or sponsor. You can even set-up alerts to get notified when your keywords are mentioned.
Recent guests on The Academic Life include:
1. Dr. Luthra
2. Mollie Barnes
3. Atima Omara
4. Dr. Fidan Cheikosman
5. Jaclyn Fiscus-Cannaday
6. Angela Simms
7. Aimee Cliff
8. Caroline Bicks
To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.