Mission Control – writing a Harvard thesis

I just finished my first journal interview for my new job. Dr. Peter Singer at Brookings kindly agreed to be interviewed about his new book, Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century.  It’s a fascinating topic so I had plenty to ask him about – from the globalized business world building US military warbots and “bee-bots” spying on US citizens to whether the 19-year old soldier in Nevada operating the drone in Iraq is a “remote combatant”.

This is one image from Singer’s book website. It’s a one of the “bio-inspired robots, such as tiny insect-like robots that could fly up to windowsills and perch and stare inside or climb up walls or into pipes.”

Or, the SWORDS armed warbot. As Singer notes, it “is a robot armed with the user’s choice of weapons, ranging from machine guns to rockets.”

I have another interview lined up next week — on the UN Peacekeeping efforts and women’s progress in international security fields.

This work is a joy. I set my own hours (it’s part-time), work in my home office (it’s a virtual work group and my editor is in Tokyo), pick my subjects, and get to learn more about material I find appealing, as well as write articles for publication. Very nice, esp. in these difficult economic times!! It’s been quite a journey from my former career to this. I am happy to finally move out of academia (again) into the more enjoyable activity of intervewing interesting people.

This has been a hectic week for job prospects. A joint committee at the State House was interested in me for a Legislative Aide/Research Director position. In addition, I just got off the phone with the Executive Director of a growing online international affairs journal who wants me for a journalist job. I’m psyched about that and was not excited about the L.A. job on Beacon Hill so I took myself out of the running. I’ve also spoken with two other organizations. One brings international visitors to Boston and the other deals with homeless vets. Updates as things progress.

More good news…spring is in the air!

In my own research on job options, I found these resources:

1. DC Public Affairs and Communications Jobs and internships blog. Lots of resources. If you are thinking of working in DC, worth a look.

2. The long-standing Opportunities in Public Affairs (OPA) – breaks jobs down by sector (the Hill, lobbying, communications, government affairs, internships, etc.)

3. Federal government internships, broken down by agency.

4.  The mother lode of all kinds of information and resources is still The Riley Guide.