Robert Putnam, in his book Bowling Alone (2000), told of the breakdown of connections across American communities. People were no longer joining bowling teams, but bowling alone. People still made things – they were still ‘machers’ – but the skills of connecting had falling away – there were fewer ‘schmoozers’. Machers and schmoozers, or maching and schmoozing, are activities academic writers know about. Sitting alone at a keyboard trying to write something, this is the work of the macher. It can be a lonely business, as the CRAC Report said in 2023 (https://www.ukri.org/publications/crac-vitae-doctoral-training-in-the-arts-and-humanities-report/). But going to conferences, giving or receiving advice, editing the work of other people, being a good colleague – these are all schmoozing activities, or ‘networking’, if you prefer that word. Maching and schmoozing are both vital for academic writing (as they are for a good society, as Putnam noted), and it is worth thinking about our own skills at each end of that spectrum. Sheine and Julian talk about both in this episode.
","author_name":"Julian Stern"}