SKEMA launches its institutional podcast "Makes Sense?"

Unique, educational and in tune with the times... SKEMA Business School is launching its institutional podcast titled "Makes Sense?" – a leap into pop culture to explore social issues.

While the aim is to make the scientific knowledge and expertise produced by its communities even more accessible, SKEMA also intends, through this new podcast, to engage in direct and playful conversations between the academic world and the general public: students, business professionals, and those who are simply curious and have a thirst for knowledge.

The name "Makes Sense?" stands for "it makes sense", referring to SKEMA's primary mission: to share knowledge. It is also a contraction of the well-known sentence "Does it make sense? - with experts, particularly from the academic world, being the most qualified to provide reliable scientific insight.

Why did we choose pop culture? Because it makes illustrating a complex subject very easy. From management to law, from marketing to finance, professors and experts of the SKEMA community will shed light on societal issues in the light of an element of pop culture that brings us all together: a film, an event, a work of art, a trend, a superhero... or a supervillain.

Episode 1: Darth Vader and self-defence

The first episode of the podcast is already available on all audio streaming platforms such as Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Deezer, Spotify... It features the expertise of a SKEMA law professor in an offbeat way with pop culture references including sound effects, music and excerpts from the film.

This first episode asks the question ‘Could Darth Vader have invoked self-defence?’

This is THE question that nobody has EVER asked. To answer it, Kevin Erkeletyan plays the devil's advocate and interviews Olivier Lasmoles, professor of law at SKEMA, ESDHEM programme director and author of the book “Le Droit pénal fait son cinema” (LexisNexis).

In just 15 minutes, through an iconic scene from Star Wars, they shed light on the concept of self-defence, which is often the subject of debate.

The second episode of "Makes Sense?" was released in June, titled “Toy Story and the objects we can't bear to part with” with Hélène Cherrier, marketing professor at SKEMA.

Telling serious stories in an offbeat way

SKEMA's Marketing & Communications department and the Research Development department are leading the “Makes Sense?” project, along with the podcast design agency Calliopé and journalist Kevin Erkeletyan. An initiator of the podcast and in charge of the educational promotion of the faculty's work within SKEMA, he will be one of the presenters.

"By creating the Makes Sense? podcast, we are mobilising pop culture, which is a mirror of our society, to engage in conversation with SKEMA's academic experts and discuss social issues. Providing keys to reading, debating, and looking ahead invites us to rediscover the works that mark our era," explains Fabien Seraidarian, director of Research & Knowledge Transfer at SKEMA Business School.

"We designed Makes Sense? with two objectives in mind: to produce quality information and to forge links with audiences who do not necessarily know us. The podcast is thus a new lever for SKEMA's image and reputation," concludes Cédric Bédini, SKEMA's director of Marketing and Communications.