Robert Charette on Researching the Material World

Summary

In this episode, Peoples & Thing host Lee Vinsel interviews engineer, businessman, consultant, author, contributing editor at IEEE Magazine, and former P&T guest Bob Charette about his research method. Charette really excels at finding great and telling numbers for his pieces on technology, business, and public policy, including in his 12-part IEEE Magazine article series and now ebook, The EV Transition Explained. Vinsel and Charette use Bob's June 2023 IEEE Magazine article, “EV Chargers for ALL,” to talk about how Bob uncovers these numbers. In this episode, you'll also hear from graduate students in Lee's Fall 2023 grad seminar Communicating Academic Ideas to Non-Academic Audiences. We were so glad to have them on the show! ICYMI, Peoples & Things has a new newsletter, where you can learn behind the scenes details about the podcast and much more. Check it out here.

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Lee Vinsel

Lee Vinsel is an associate professor in the Department of Science, Technology and Society at Virginia Tech. He studies human life with technology, with particular focus on the relationship between government, business, and technological change. His first book, Moving Violations: Automobiles, Experts, and Regulations in the United States, was published by Johns Hopkins University Press in July 2019.

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