Author of “Schadenfreude: A Love Story” and columnist for Slate.com, TheAwl.com, and Chronicle.com, Rebecca Schuman talks about how this interview came to be as well as her most recent college employment history (04:50), her post-academic employment (18:50), the story behind her new book and writing for Slate.com (27:15), growing up in Oregon (36:50), traveling in Germany (41:55), working in NY publishing (44:40), getting the Ph. D. in German Studies and the job market for that field (46:40), her mom’s musical connections (01:09:45), and some Random-Ass Questions (01:11:45).

Closes with a rave on the 1964 movie “One Potato, Two Potato” (01:19:10).

Links:

Rebecca Schuman's homepage

Schadenfreude, A Love Story

Rebecca Schuman for Slate.com

Rebecca Schuman for The Awl

"Thesis Hatement"

American Council of Learned Societies

The Dissertation Coach

Adjunct Teaching Pools

Kafka and Wittgenstein

Modern Language Association