Thank you Carly and Scott for convening us, and to my fellow panelists for their spirit and precious insights.

For academics and other writers like me Medium is a way to break free from the rigid structures of traditional publishing and connect with a broader, more diverse audience.

It also allows us to collaborate in a world that is dominated by units and departments and specialized publications and to combine storytelling and academic research to create content that is engaging and accessible and perhaps a bit unorthodox.

Finally, most of us don’t come to Medium just for academic rigor or just facts or just entertainment but a bit of all, to feel, reflect, and connect. So as writers we can ask: What does this research or idea mean to someone outside my field? How does it impact their world, their work, or their identity?