Episode 150: Why are Michael and Massimo moving to Hong Kong?

The Arch and Anth Podcast

On this episode, Dr. Massimo Lando (City University of Hong Kong) hosts the show and interviews Dr. Michael B. C. Rivera (The Arch and Anth Podcast) about the move they're making to Hong Kong, and their reflections on the life they've led together since the launch of the podcast in May 2019.

Michael created The Arch and Anth Podcast on May 13th, 2019, and since then has released 150 episodes. He talks about the early inspirations for creating the podcast and what was involved in the initial preparation. As Massimo was there too for all the time the podcast has been active, they also discuss how production has been integrated into their daily life, particularly over the last few months when COVID-19 required Massimo work from home.

Given that this is Michael's official return home and emigration out of Europe since he's lived there from 2009 till now, we also reflect on his time in the UK and Netherlands. We talk about interpersonal and systemic racism in the academy, and the difficulties for Michael in dealing with ignorance or bigotry on the part of colleagues and even friends working in anthropology and archaeology.

Finally, they discuss the new job Massimo secured in Hong Kong that prompted the move, and the exciting things both he and Michael will be doing in Hong Kong. Tied in with that are a lot of big feelings and expectations, but altogether both of them are really happy with the move and wanted to record this episode to share what's going. The podcast will be taking a brief month-long hiatus as well, and will return on August 10th.

If you want to ask any questions or feedback or just want to show support for the move(!), Massimo can be found on Twitter. The conversation where he was interviewed about his line of work is Episode 50.

You can find Michael on Twitter and Instagram. He was interviewed on the podcast previously on Episode 100 also.

The Arch and Anth Podcast is on Twitter and Instagram, and it has a Facebook page.

If you liked this episode and you want to help contribute to the show, please visit the Patreon page for details on how to do that.