The Podcast

The Ivory Attic is a podcast about the wonders, weirdness, (and sometimes woes) of academia. In each episode Professors Kurt Andresen and Ian Isherwood bring in a guest from academia and ask them questions about their passions, quiz them about their subjects, talk about their sartorial predilections, and have them try brand new cocktails based on their academic interests. The Ivory Tower may be crumbling, but we plan making the best of it as we rummage through the Ivory Attic. 

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Meet the Hosts

  • Dr. Andresen received his B.A. in physics from Boston University and his Ph.D. in Applied Physics at Cornell University. His research is in the electrostatic properties of biological molecules. In particular, he is interested in how life uses electrostatics to manipulate the packing of DNA in our bodies and how this special packing is utilized by everything from viruses to humans.

A man wearing glasses, a wide-brimmed hat, a patterned neck scarf, and a vintage-style jacket holding a smartphone in an outdoor setting with autumn leaves.

  • Ian Isherwood is Associate Professor of War and Memory Studies at Gettysburg College in the Interdisciplinary Studies Department and an affiliate in the History Department. Most of his scholarly work considers the experience of war and representation in era of the two world wars. Having taught at a college on a famous battlefield for the past thirteen years, Isherwood is also interested in the American Civil War and the connections between that conflict and broader concepts of historical memory in America.

    Isherwood is the author of Remembering the Great War  (Bloomsbury, 2017/Paperback 2020), co-editor of Serpents of War  (Kansas, 2023) with Steve Trout, and The Battalion: Citizen Soldiers at War on the Western Front (Pen & Sword, 2024). He has also written numerous journal articles and reviews. He is currently working on a book concerning the politics of commemoration from the Civil War to the Global War on Terror tentatively entitled Remembering America’s Wars.