In this episode, host Dr. Lauren Siegel, joined by Dr. Rami Shamseen, interviews Dr. Agnieszka Rydzik (University of Lincoln) about her research on how increasing use of technology in hospitality affects workers’ experiences, especially since the pandemic accelerated tools like QR-code ordering and self-service systems. Drawing on dozens of interviews with workers and industry stakeholders, she discusses how technology can intensify work, reduce staffing, create new pressures when systems fail, and shift customer frustration onto employees, often without enough training. Agnieszka also explores how these changes can reduce meaningful human interaction with customers, coworkers, and suppliers, contributing to disconnection and stress, while affecting workers differently by role and workplace.

01:25 Pandemic Tech Acceleration

03:57 Defining The Research Focus

04:35 Peak Times Staffing Pressures

08:09 Training And Tech Troubles

09:48 Why Hospitality Matters

12:03 Tech Reduces Human Connection

14:05 Invisible Workplace Tech Shifts

17:00 Gen Z Tech Reality

17:34 Human Connection Over Apps

18:01 Worker Centric Tech Rethink

18:29 Hospitality Futures Tool

20:39 Bartender Audio Narrative

22:19 Dehumanization and Manners

29:01 Guidelines for Better Practice

In this episode, hosts Dr Lauren Siegel and Dr Wenjie Cai welcome visiting researcher Dr Ian R. Lamond (University of Greenwich, March 2026) to discuss their work on “death spaces,” storytelling, and rituals. Ian describes their book Death and Events and autoethnographic reflections from death-industry practitioners and death scholars, sparked by a case where tourists photographed an Indian funeral. Ian shares their move into celebrancy—focused on LGBTQIA+ ceremonies, gender-affirming renamings, themed weddings/funerals, and non-human companion rituals—and links this to narrative, performance, and research. Ian shares an impactful experience from attending the São Paulo Pride event. connecting this to the need for ongoing queer resistance and legacy. They also outlines creating Leeds rainbow plaques and trails marking queer history, and defines events as ruptures that reveal power and enable change.

02:40 Studying Death Stories

04:19 Tourists at Funeral

06:06 Death Industry Insights

07:06 Celebrancy New Career

14:03 Rituals and Liminality

16:53 Living Funerals Trend

17:43 Sao Paulo Pride Story

22:09 Queer Legacy Projects

28:01 Critical Event Studies

32:10 Comedy and Farewell

Ian's edited book: Death and Events

Upcoming: International Critical Autoethnographic Perspectives on Death

In this episode, hosts Dr. Lauren Siegel and Dr. Rami Shamseen speak with Dr. Agnieszka Rydzik(University of Lincoln) and Dr. Maria Gebbels (University of Greenwich) about their forthcoming book, Central and Eastern European Women Academics in the UK: Making Britain Home (out 20 March 2026). Originating from reflections on the 20th anniversary of the 2004 EU expansion and stereotypes about Eastern European women, the project gathered 29 first-person chapters by 30 authors, spanning PhD students to professors, to “give voice” to personal yet political experiences of migration, academia, language, and belonging. Contributors use diverse formats beyond essays, including poems, photography, collage, paintings, soundscapes, and dialogue.

01:27 Origin Story and EU Migration

02:49 A Personal Political Anthology

05:52 Trust and Writing Vulnerably

06:51 Authors' personal stories

15:25 Creative Formats and Methods

23:12 Language Identity and Accents

24:06 Diversity Across Backgrounds

26:19 Surprises Hope and Belonging

29:20 Who the Book Is For

30:22 Closing Thoughts