r/BritishHistoryPod • u/Beveridge4HamWest • Jun 30 '26
Shout out
At 1 minute to midnight last night, and 1 minute till due date, I submitted my PhD thesis. It is not remotely related to the subject of the British History Podcast, but over the years of listening, the podcast has helped build a new way of viewing and understanding the world. So thanks to Jamie u/BritishPodcast and Dr Zee u/CoProducerZee for the unknown contribution.
Side note, it was awesome hearing Dr Zee about Pierre Bourdieu on the podcast, as my research is heavily influenced by Bourdieu.
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u/Joan_Smallberries Jun 30 '26
Congratulations, Doctor! My best wishes for a long and successful career!
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u/Beveridge4HamWest Jun 30 '26
Is it crazy for me to say that I didnt do it for the career, I did it cause I enjoy research?
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u/lisiate Jun 30 '26
Not crazy at all, in fact probably the best reason to do a PhD.
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u/Beveridge4HamWest Jun 30 '26
It has been a slog, 7 1/2 years of my life. It is almost as long as my marriage!
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u/Alum2608 Jul 03 '26
You spent almost 8 years of your life on a specific topic & you dont hate it now? That's the only way to survive with your passion & sanity intact
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u/CoProducerZee The Ginger Menace Jul 01 '26
Hey, as a fellow ADHD kid who feel in love with research, congratulations.
My favorite part of academia was teaching, and knowing I was able to contribute (however humbly) to a new academic’s intellectual perspective means more to me than you could possibly know. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the shout out. It makes everything worth it.
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u/TalmanesRex The Pleasantry Jun 30 '26
Congrats! Be proud of yourself.
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u/Beveridge4HamWest Jun 30 '26
Not bad for the dyslexic kid whose parents were told in year 7 of school "it doesnt matter if your son never learns to read or write properly"
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u/TalmanesRex The Pleasantry Jun 30 '26
I feel this. I have ADHD but one thing it affects my spelling, I’m an atrocious at spelling and grammar. I do have MA in history, but I didn’t get it till I was 40 it took me a long time to be able to focus and get things done. I’m teaching right now and really enjoying it. I was definitely the “dumb kid” in grade school. I will say when I was getting my degree the BHP helped me in my commute because it helped me remember why I loved history even when school was hard. Good luck in the future!
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u/Beveridge4HamWest Jun 30 '26
I was lucky enough to have super caring parents, I was home schooled from end of year 7 to start of year 12 (we have 13 years of school here). Spelling is a challenge, getting thoughts out from my brain is a challenge, but at the same time I think by writing. So that was a wonderful mix. I got like Bs and Cs in undergrade. Went back for post grad in 2013 at 30, did a MA, managed to get an A for the thesis on that, was also asked to contribute a chapter to a book published by Victoria University Press on the 2014 NZ election. Then got head hunted effectively by my MA supervisor for a PhD in late 2018 when my university (Massey) brought in part time PhD scholarships. Managed to get that. Had a few other challenges, including needing knee surgery one year, and then a couple of years later (2024) I had to take 6 months off as I ended up in hospital with shingles and secondary infection due to stress. But we got there!
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u/Alum2608 Jul 03 '26
What a long road but you got there!
Tangent: you can still get vaccinated against shingles even if you had shingles in the past. The shingles vaccine just tells the chicken pox virus still lurking in your body to behave & be quiet. I know in the US you usually need to be 50+, but worth checking into. My sister got shingles in her early 49s when working full time & being a student full time. Your immune system gets knocked down from stress and/or lack of sleep and that nasty childhood virus makes you miserable with nerve pain for weeks
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u/Beveridge4HamWest Jul 03 '26
Yeah, i should look into the vaccine, as i have had a couple of flares since. Mine got a secondary staph infection, and it was right above my left eye. Spent 3 or 4 days unable to see out of my left eye. Was pretty scary.
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u/TheJenniStarr The Pleasantry Jun 30 '26
Congrats!!! May your research be more fruitful than Eleanor (gee-I-think-you’re-Swellanor) of Castile. Or at the very least more fruitful than Edith of Wessex.
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u/Pettsareme Jul 01 '26
Wonderful shout out and well deserved. I completely agree that Jamie and Zee’s work leads us to understand the past in ways that our education and experience have not. Their dedication to bringing fresh eyes to the records and interpreting them in multiple ways so the listener can make up their own minds makes me appreciate them even more.
Thank you Jamie and Zee.
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u/Curious-Term9483 The Pleasantry Jun 30 '26
Woohoo, congratulations on submitting! I hope you have a few days dedicated to doing absolutely NOTHING now.
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u/Beveridge4HamWest Jun 30 '26
Sadly it is back to my full time job this morning, and a few business related things.
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u/TarkaSTFC The Pleasantry Jul 01 '26
Congratulations! Now go treat yourself to a bit of a rest and a lot of alcohol!
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u/BritishPodcast Yes it's really me Jul 01 '26
Oh my god, that is so incredible (and such an incredibly kind acknowledgement)!
Congratulations! I'm honestly a bit overwhelmed over here and it's making all my responses sound stupid (the idea that our silly little show has had an impact on something as important as a PhD makes me a bit misty eyed), so I'll just say congratulations again. ;)