In this week’s episode of The Buzzcast, entitled “Loveless Learning,” our host, Saachi Bhatia, discusses the myth that Georgia Tech (GT) students tend to prioritize financial success over their passions and the enjoyment of learning—and the underlying relation of this phenomenon to Dark Academia. The school, known well as an extremely rigorous institution, emphasizes professionally-centered goals for its already career-focused students. This has led to the sense that GT students overly emphasize studying to the point of their personal detriment. Saachi, in an exhaustive effort to hear the sides of this myth, interviews GT student Keerthi Konuganti who graciously provides us personal insight into her motivations at Tech and anecdotes about her experiences, as well as Sarah Mulqueen, an expert on Dark Academia who reveals the nuances the genre. The discussion tends to the genre’s revelance to the college experience and GT students’ passion for learning, and utilizes Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, and the novel’s Bennington College, to inform our understanding of Dark Academia and how Georgia Tech fits and doesn’t fit its ideals. This episode explores Dark Academia, individual passions, and how students choose what they study. Informative, engaging, and thoughtful, our host invites listeners to consider their passions and motivations.

Works Cited: A, 7, 10

BuzzCast is a podcast hosted by Connor Sempf and talks about all things related to Georgia Tech. The podcast actively invites students, faculty members, and alums to share their experiences living and learning in the heart of Atlanta. Topics covered on BuzzCast range from campus aesthetics to clubs and activities to Greek life to research facilities and opportunities… On this episode of BuzzCast, “Tech Tunnels,” the host, Connor, brings the listeners along to investigate a myth floating around the south side of Georgia Tech’s campus: a series of scary and mysterious underground tunnels. To unveil the shroud around the mystery, Connor invites Stone Bonner, a current student at Georgia Tech who lived in the apartments built right above the underground tunnels, to share his experience living there and about the rumors he had heard from students around him. Stone connects the myth to Dark Academia, an aesthetic/art style that quickly rose in popularity in recent times. A quick and concise overview of Dark Academia is included in the episode; thus, no prior knowledge of the topic is necessary. An understanding of the plot of The Secret History by Donna Tartt is recommended, however. The episode focuses on this, at the first, peculiar connection between the myth and Dark Academia and investigates the deeper effects it inflicts upon the analytical and technical minds of the students around campus.

Works Cited: A

Our podcast is Tech Time Capsules. The beginning of the podcast has intro music from Pink Panther. We chose the theme because of the mysterious nature of our podcast. Our host, Trent, and co-host, Jeff welcome us to the podcast episode. The episode is called “Taken” which represents the topic of the stolen Ts around Tech. Trent goes over the history of the T stolen from Tech Tower. He then talks about how most “T”s around campus have either been scraped off or painted over. Trent invites Jeff to talk about another secret event that happened at another campus. Jeff talks about the cop car placed on MIT’s main campus building. Jeff continues to talk about the unique tradition that occurred and how it defines the school now. Both hosts talk about the different experiences that they’ve had with missing Ts. A break for the audience occurs which features Simply Satie by Michael Dulin. Trent welcomes us back and talks about what makes the tradition “forbidden”. Jeff then talks about how one event in the Secret History could define a college forever. Jeff talks about how the group tried a bacchanal which led to serious consequences. They murdered a farmer and decided not to report themselves to the police. Jeff talks about how the murder could affect the reputation of Hampden College. Trent replies by saying it depends on if the police discover that the group murdered not only the Bunny. Trent talks about how Georgia Tech is now known for stealing Ts. Trent goes a little deeper into how some things define a campus for a millennium. Finally, Trent thanks the audience for listening as the Pink Panther music fades back in.

Works Cited: A, 9