Dani Shalet

My guest this week is Dani Shalet, one of my former PhD students at the University of Kent. Dani is originally from Pennsylvania and we find out why she doesn’t consider herself to be culturally American any more. She once wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps and become a lawyer and we find out why her father advised her not to follow that path.

We also learn about Dani’s background in martial arts and how she would spend her childhood walking through creeks and lakes to catch snakes, including the time she accidentally killed her father’s snakes, and how she no longer has a fear of animals. We learn why Indiana Jones was once Dani’s hero, and musically we learn about her passions and how she became interested in alternative rock, e.g. the work of Tori Amos.

We find out about the circumstances which led Dani to leave home for Canterbury, and why she chose to stay, and how she found Kent to be a more advantageous environment, where she was accepted for who she was.

Dani talks about her inspirations in her undergraduate days and how she used to do a lot of travelling by herself, and how she has kept in touch with people from those days. We also discover why she started doing kendo in 2002, and Dani discusses her voting history and we discuss the use of social media in finding out what is happening in the news. We also talk about what chimes with our friends on Facebook and about the role of the media in shaping us.

We also learn about the time when Dani appeared in a double page spread in her local paper back in the 1980s when she took part in a karate competition.

Towards the end of the interview we find out why Dani’s memories are not always predominantly positive and whether it is possible to be nostalgic about negative experiences. We discover that she wanted to be an astronaut and why she wasn’t able to follow that path and why she loves to learn and teach. Dani also talks about the research she is carrying out, including work on mythology and video games, and about her PhD which was on science, religion and popular culture.

Please note: Opinions expressed are solely those of Chris Deacy and Dani Shalet and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the University of Kent.