In this week's episode, Simeon Whiting and Michael DeVries talk about their research in this edition of Coffee Chat. We apologise for Mike's audio quality, but we didn't want to lose this fascinating conversation. Simeon has just completed his PhD at the University of Birmingham. His thesis applies trauma theory and collective memory studies to the Reed Sea story. He is interested in trauma, masculinities and how they can shed light on biblical texts, and he has also published work on Exodus commentaries and their curiously narrow views on how the Pentateuch was composed. Alongside his research, Simeon works part-time as a writer, editor and tutor. He likes long-distance running and good coffee. His Twitter handle is: @simeonwhiting

Michael is completing his PhD, also at the University of Birmingham, and an Adjunct Professor at Azusa Pacific University in California. His research is focused on the War Scroll and related material known from the Dead Sea Scrolls. He examines questions of ritual, purification and defilement in these texts. He is a contributor and the co-general editor of the conference proceedings volume Ezra-Nehemiah and the Dead Sea Scrolls (SBL Press, forthcoming) and a contributor to the edited volume Purity in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity: Proceedings from the 10th Schwerte Qumran Meeting (Mohr Siebeck, forthcoming). His Twitter handle is: @mike_devries

Thanks for listening!