Recent Episodes

We're back for the 2025–26 school year after taking a hiatus last spring. Today, Ocean shares his thesis experience with us which was focused on studying writers from the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean, especially Édouard Glissant, and tells us why he thinks poetry and art is important.

Ace Lackey '27, our new student producer, produced this episode for us. Welcome to the podcast Ace!

Reed community members can read Ocean's thesis, “ rhizophora” online in the Electronic Theses Archive:
https://rdc.reed.edu/i/ba4917ec-7250-448e-976a-ac001f5b3edc

Explore more interviews with Reed College alumni on our website:
reed.edu/burnyourdraft

#69: Inventing the Future with Ocean Chamberlain '23, Comparative Literature

Emma's economics department thesis explored the effect that Tony awards have on the consumer demand for Broadway shows.

Reed community members can read Emma's thesis, “'It's All About the Green': The Tony Award's Effect on Broadway Show Demand” online in the Electronic Theses Archive:
https://rdc.reed.edu/i/2ec90330-430a-417d-ad4b-b724611a5c60

Explore more interviews with Reed College alumni on our website:
reed.edu/burnyourdraft

#70: Value of a Tony with Emma Bramson '23, Economics

Amelie started out in the biology department at Reed because she wanted to study bacteria and living things, but then she got a chance to start learning from the biochemists on the faculty. They helped her build the bridge from chemistry to life, which led her to switch her major from biology to biochemistry and molecular biology.

Amelie was also the second student producer for Burn Your Draft, working with us from 2021–22, and it was a delight to get to talk to her.

Reed community members can read Amelie's thesis, “MntR: The Mastermind of Manganese Ion Homeostasis” online in the Electronic Theses Archive:
https://rdc.reed.edu/i/9e05e465-0d21-4fb0-9de1-e6d4d2bf1349

Explore more interviews with Reed College alumni on our website:
reed.edu/burnyourdraft

#71: Bags of Chemistry with Amelie Andreas '24, Biochem and Molecular Biology

Arianna focused on the impacts of the closure of a Walmart in her hometown of Albuquerque for her thesis in the anthropology department. She also tells us about how Reed College's Anthropology Student Fund helped to support her research, and how her thesis adviser helped her re-work her initial thesis ideas using a concept from environmental anthropology.

Reed community members can read Arianna's thesis, “One Albuquerque? Crime, Security, and Dispossession in Albuquerque’s Sacrifice Zone” online in the Electronic Theses Archive:
https://rdc.reed.edu/i/ef189f1b-bd01-4124-a2fa-b3921222eea8

Explore more interviews with Reed College alumni on our website:
reed.edu/burnyourdraft

#72: A Vacant Walmart in Albuquerque with Arianna Aguirre '24, Anthropology

In this episode, we hear from Henry, an English major whose thesis journey took a few unexpected turns: from exploring Pacific Northwest regionalism to diving deep into the world of literary naturalism. Henry unpacks how authors Jack London and Frank Norris challenged historian Frederick Jackson Turner’s “frontier myth,” reimagining the American frontier not as a vanished landscape but as an evolving cultural, economic, and imaginative force.

Tune in to hear about survival narratives, Social Darwinist ideas, and what happens when you have to scrap half your thesis to start again (spoiler: it’s not fun, but it’s worth it). Henry reflects on the highs and frustrations of the Reed thesis process, the art of negotiating with an advisor, and the unexpected joy of discovering how to make seemingly unrelated ideas work together.

Reed community members can read Henry’s thesis, “Naturalist Afterlives of the Frontier Myth” online in the Electronic Thesis Archive: https://rdc.reed.edu/i/917eb624-f94d-453a-9638-4975c6123d5f

Explore more interviews with Reed College alumni on our website:
reed.edu/burnyourdraft

#73: Afterlives of the American Frontier Myth with Henry Kendrick '24, English

“Burn Your Draft” is a podcast exploring the year-long senior thesis experience at Reed College, an independent liberal arts and sciences college in Portland, Oregon. Each episode showcases a senior or recent graduate and interviews them about their thesis: what is it, why did they do it, and what comes next. This podcast is a joint production of Reed students, staff, and alumni, and was made possible by a gift from Seth Paskin '90. New episodes released every other week during the academic year. Episodes may contain explicit language and may deal with sensitive topics. The views, information, or opinions expressed on this podcast are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of Reed College.