Thesis Series Part 4: Refusal, Protection, and the Intelligence of Survival

Current Events and Book Reviews

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2203009/fan_mail/new] In this episode, we catch up on some of the stories and events that have been dominating headlines and conversations lately. We share thoughts on the world's first unnecessary trillionaire, discuss the NBA Finals and possible conspiracy related to a certain file, and briefly touch on a recent surgery and recovery update. The heart of the episode features two literary discussions centered around our friend John Argentsinger. First, John joins us to share his review of a book by Sherman Alexie, exploring its themes, impact, and what stood out to him as a reader. We also turn the spotlight on John himself as our sons offer their own review and reactions to his writing, leading to a thoughtful and entertaining conversation about storytelling, creativity, and the writing process. It's a wide-ranging episode filled with current events, sports frustrations, personal updates, and plenty of book talk. Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/c/HaffbreedzPodcast]

Thesis Series Part 4: Refusal, Protection, and the Intelligence of Survival

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2203009/fan_mail/new] What if silence isn’t agreement? In this episode, we unpack how survival within institutions often requires a strategy people never see — monitoring tone, calculating risk, deciding when to speak and when not to. Refusal doesn’t always look loud. Sometimes it looks like protecting your energy, choosing restraint, and understanding how power actually moves inside systems. This episode also asks a harder question: when institutions celebrate resilience, what conditions made that endurance necessary in the first place? Because there’s a difference between surviving a system and being supported by it. Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/c/HaffbreedzPodcast]

Thesis Series Part 3: When Policies Don't Match Practice

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2203009/fan_mail/new] Part 3 of Fira's Thesis Series examines how the institution can appear supportive on paper but also quietly shifts responsibilities and instability onto Indigenous students. In this episode, we dive into how unclear policies, unequal access to power, and the concept of "self-advocacy" significantly affect the experiences of Indigenous graduate students. When harm is only acknowledged through written rules, daily instability can seem normal, leading to silence as a survival tactic. It raises an important question: if policies promise fairness, how do we reconcile that with the reality on the ground?  Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/c/HaffbreedzPodcast]

Thesis Series Part 2: When Support Is Assumed

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2203009/fan_mail/new] In Part 2 of the Thesis Series, we examine how institutional harm often shows up—not through overt discrimination, but through silence, shifting expectations, and assumed support that never fully materializes. This episode names the structures that place quiet, ongoing pressure on Indigenous scholars: unclear guidance, uneven power, emotional labor disguised as professionalism, and the expectation to endure harm without disruption. Rather than assigning blame, this conversation focuses on clarity—how systems function, who bears the cost of confusion, and why refusal can be an act of protection and survival. This episode sets the foundation for what comes next: turning survival into creation when institutions fail to hold us. Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/c/HaffbreedzPodcast]

Thesis Series Part 1: Survival Before Scholarship

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2203009/fan_mail/new] Before there was a thesis, there was survival. In this opening episode, Fira shares the story of how she arrived at graduate school—not through a carefully planned academic path, but through years of navigating broken systems, community responsibility, loss, and improvisation.  From teaching on the reservation, to moving to Las Cruces after her mother’s passing, to entering a graduate program without Indigenous mentorship, this episode traces the conditions that made the thesis necessary. This conversation is not about individuals or institutions, but about patterns, absence, and what it means to build your own container when support disappears.  This is the beginning—before the language, before the defense, before the scholarship. Support the show [https://www.patreon.com/c/HaffbreedzPodcast]