Abby Mullen

Category: Life

  • Jeopardy! Postmortem, Part 2

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    Now that almost all my friends from Tape Day have gotten to see themselves on TV, I thought it might be worth a second blog post to reminisce about the experience of watching oneself on Jeopardy! (Sadly, two of our number haven’t seen themselves yet–the planned alternate and the rollover alternate. I’m so excited to…

  • I Lost on Jeopardy!

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    And it was one of the best things that ever happened to me. The Journey I’ve taken the Jeopardy! Anytime test almost every year for the past many years. Nothing ever came of it, nor did I expect anything to come of it. Purportedly, something like 100,000 people take the Anytime test every year, so…

  • Why do podcasts like mine want more listeners?

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    This might seem like a really obvious question: why do I, an academic and independent podcaster, want more listeners? Of course it’s because we want our content in more ears, right? But why do we want our content in more ears? I have two shows right now: one that’s a history podcast called Consolation Prize,…

  • The Halfway Point

    The Halfway Point

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    If we take literally the Bible’s accounting of our days as “threescore and ten,” then today is the halfway point for me: 35. Happy birthday to me. 2020 hasn’t shaken out quite like I expected, but it hasn’t been without its joys and comforts. So here are a few professional-ish things I’m grateful for today.…

  • Top Ten Podcasts of the Year

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    Yeah, I talk about podcasts a lot. One might say I’ve become mildly obsessed with them. But I’ve learned so much from listening to podcasts, and I’ve learned SO MUCH from making them, that I have opinions–a lot of them–about what makes a good podcast and about my favorites. Spotify told me that my top…

  • It’s Going OK

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    Over the past few days, I’ve been wrestling with a bizarre type of guilt: guilt that things are working. Like everyone, I moved my classes online after spring break at George Mason University. I teach two classes in the history department, one a 46-person class called “The Digital Past,” and one a 13-person topics in…

  • Parent-Friendly Professional Development

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    Recently, I asked on Twitter how to make professional development opportunities such as conferences, seminars, and workshops more accessible to parents. I was thinking specifically about summertime development opportunities, which are more likely to be multi-day trips away from home. The responses to my Twitter query confirmed my suspicions: there are no easy answers. Let’s…

  • Opening Day Radio

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    Opening Day, no matter what the weather, is a signal that winter is truly over, and the joyous days of summer are on their way. For me, baseball is a sport meant to be imbibed in one particular way: radio. Don’t get me wrong—going to a ball game in person is a great experience. Everyone…