Zakiya Whatley's guest appearances

Zakiya Whatley

Breakfast Club 

Meet The Podcasters

Roads Less Taken

Daniele Bolelli

Sal Di Stefano

Eric Zimmer

Harry Morton

Amy Woods

Colin Gray

Chris Williamson

Noah Labhart

Evo Terra

Mollie McGlocklin

Wendy Liu

Skye Pillsbury

Tiffany Yu

Robin Wang

Tony Loyd

OwlTail

Academia seems like a niche path, but recognizing the fundamental commonalities of what you love can help identify incredible alternative paths.  Zakiya Whatley is the co-creator and host of Dope Labs, a science &amp; pop culture Spotify podcast. Having a PhD in genetics and genomics, Zakiya went from being on a tenure track at Gettysburg to pursuing her passions in science elsewhere, starting Dope Labs with her best friend Titi through the Spotify Sound Up accelerator.  In this episode, we'll be diving into why Zakiya left the academia track, and how she's grown the podcast to what it is today.

Academia seems like a niche path, but recognizing the fundamental commonalities of what you love can help identify incredible alternative paths.  Zakiya Whatley is the co-creator and host of Dope Labs, a science &amp; pop culture Spotify podcast. Having a PhD in genetics and genomics, Zakiya went from being on a tenure track at Gettysburg to pursuing her passions in science elsewhere, starting Dope Labs with her best friend Titi through the Spotify Sound Up accelerator.  In this episode, we'll be diving into why Zakiya left the academia track, and how she's grown the podcast to what it is today.

Abandoning a Tenure Track: Zakiya Whatley

Titi Shodiya

Titi Shodiya and Zakiya Whatley host Dope Labs, which is part of Spotify’s growing podcast network.  Dope Labs is founded on the belief that science is for everyone, not just academics locked away in ivory towers. The show is all about revealing the science behind stories and topics that are trending right now - everything from coronavirus, to plant based meat substitutes and even vibranium, the fictional metal from the Black Panther movie. By ditching the usual jargon and replacing it with compelling narratives and on-point pop culture references, Titi and Zakiya are bringing important research to a much wider audience.  In 2018, the pair entered Dope Labs Spotify’s “Sound Up” competition - which is an accelerator program dedicated to lifting and amplifying the voices of women of colour in podcasting. After being selected as finalists from a pool of more than 18,000 applicants, Titi and Zakiya eventually went on to be crowned winners. Since then, they’ve worked with Spotify to produce and distribute Dope Labs. The show is currently in the middle of its third season.  In this interview, James Deeney talks to Titi and Zakiya about winning Sound Up, creating Dope Labs, and the important intersection between science, society, and culture.

Titi Shodiya and Zakiya Whatley host <a href="https://www.dopelabspodcast.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dope Labs</a>, which is part of Spotify’s growing podcast network.  Dope Labs is founded on the belief that science is for everyone, not just academics locked away in ivory towers. The show is all about revealing the science behind stories and topics that are trending right now - everything from coronavirus, to plant based meat substitutes and even vibranium, the fictional metal from the Black Panther movie. By ditching the usual jargon and replacing it with compelling narratives and on-point pop culture references, Titi and Zakiya are bringing important research to a much wider audience.  In 2018, the pair entered Dope Labs <a href="https://newsroom.spotify.com/2020-06-01/spotify-supports-underrepresented-podcasters-with-sound-up-now-in-the-us-uk-and-ireland-germany-australia-sweden-and-brazil/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify’s “Sound Up” competition</a> - which is an accelerator program dedicated to lifting and amplifying the voices of women of colour in podcasting. After being selected as finalists from a pool of more than 18,000 applicants, Titi and Zakiya eventually went on to be crowned winners. Since then, they’ve worked with Spotify to produce and distribute Dope Labs. The show is currently in the middle of its third season.  In this interview, James Deeney talks to Titi and Zakiya about winning Sound Up, creating Dope Labs, and the important intersection between science, society, and culture.

Titi Shodiya & Zakiya Whatley: Making Science Cool Again 