Pomona College Sagecast

Erica Nelson ’08 made waves in the world of astrophysics when she and her colleagues published new theories about the origins of galaxies and the formation of supermassive black holes. She sits down with Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy Phil Choi to talk about how Pomona College helped her become an astrophysicist and why the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope is changing our und...

Mikey Dickerson ’01 entered his career during the rise of Big Tech. He spent nearly nine years working at Google as a site-reliability engineer, served as the founding administrator of the United States Digital Service and now works as a consultant helping governments, corporations and nonprofits improve their digital systems. He talks with Professor of Economics Gary Smith about the future promis...

Don Daglow ’74 is a pioneer in video game design and programming. He’s credited with helping develop some of the first role-playing and world-building computer games and was honored with a Technology and Engineering Emmy Award in 2008. He talks on Sagecast with Assistant Professor of Computer Science Joe Osborn about how his time at Pomona College helped inspire his work at the forefront of the di...

Nate Dailey’s life turned upside down after his hometown of Paradise, California, was ravaged by one of the deadliest wildfires in the state’s history. Since losing his family’s home, he’s gone on to work in wildfire hazard planning and develop computer models to detect overgrown areas at risk of burning out of control. He sits down on Sagecast with Pomona College Professor of Environmental Analys...

Aditya Sood '97 is the president of the film and television production company Lord Miller and is credited with helping produce many major motion pictures, including The Martian , Deadpool and the animated film series Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse . He sits down on Sagecast with Pomona College Assistant Professor of Media Studies Ryan Engley to discuss Hollywood's changing business l...

Oona Eisenstadt is a professor of Religious Studies specializing in Judaism at Pomona College. She discusses on Sagecast her research on the history of antisemitism and how it manifests in present day society. This episode was recorded in September 2023. Hosted by: Marilyn Thomsen and Travis Khachatoorian Audio Engineer: Erica Tyron Transcript: https://www.pomona.edu/sites/default/files/sagecast-O...

Chinasa Okolo ’18 is a fellow at the Brookings Institution in the Center for Technology Innovation. She discusses on Sagecast her work towards creating a more equitable global landscape of artificial intelligence development, and AI governance issues arising in the wake of rapid technological advancement. Hosted by: Marilyn Thomsen and Travis Khachatoorian Audio Engineer: Erica Tyron Transcript: ...

Dr. Michael Sequeira ’73 is the public health officer for San Bernardino County. He discusses on Sagecast his trailblazing career in emergency medicine, decision-making as a health leader during the COVID-19 pandemic and the deadly impacts of the growing fentanyl crisis. Hosted by: Marilyn Thomsen and Travis Khachatoorian Audio Engineer: Erica Tyron Transcript:  https://www.pomona.edu/sites/defaul...

Mietek Boduszynski is an Associate Professor of Politics at Pomona College. He discusses on Sagecast what he learned during his past year working at the Pentagon as a US policy advisor on the war in Ukraine. Hosted by: Marilyn Thomsen and Travis Khachatoorian Audio Engineer: Erica Tyron Transcript: https://www.pomona.edu/sites/default/files/Sagecast-1125-23-MietekBoduszynski.txt Video Teaser:  htt...

Leah Donnella ’13 is an editor for NPR’s Code Switch, a podcast focusing on difficult conversations about race. She discusses on Sagecast how her reporting around the country has shaped her perception of the role of journalists and how her Africana studies degree at Pomona College helped pave the way for her career in radio journalism. Hosted by: Marilyn Thomsen and Travis Khachatoorian Audio Engi...

Rose  Portillo ’75 has built a career in theater, film and television for  more than four decades. Her creativity has flourished as an actor,  writer, director, educator at Pomona College and visual artist. She  shares with the Sagecast audience how she has embraced her Latin  identity along the way. Hosted by: Marilyn Thomsen and Patty Vest Produced by: Kris Vargas Editorial Assistant: Lorraine H...

Cryptocurrency keeps garnering headlines for all the wrong reasons. What exactly is crypto—how is it "mined" and what determines its value? Is crypto collapsing? Pierangelo De Pace, chair of the Department of Economics at Pomona, shares his research. Hosted by: Marilyn Thomsen and Patty Vest Produced by: Kris Vargas Transcript:https://www.pomona.edu/sites/default/files/Sagecast-11-15-22-PierangelD...

Assistant Professor of Philosophy Ellie Anderson discusses her research on the philosophy of selfhood, love and sexual ethics. She also explains her approach to “public philosophy” in social media channels such as TikTok, YouTube and her co-hosted podcast “Overthink.” Hosted by: Marilyn Thomsen and Patty Vest Produced by: Kris Vargas Editorial Assistant: Lorraine Harry '97 Transcript: https://www....

In this episode of Sagecast, historian and long-time Pomona professor Gary Kates shares what sparked his interest in the European Enlightenment. As a scholar of the French Revolution, he also tells us what conditions are most likely to result in such historic upheavals. Hosted by: Marilyn Thomsen and Patty Vest Produced by: Kris Vargas Editorial Assistant: Lorraine Harry '97 Transcript: https://ww...

In this episode of Sagecast, art historian and assistant professor  Rosalia Romero shares with us her passion for Latin American art and the  art of the borderlands. Romero also talks about the role of murals in  contemporary art and about her work as a curator for the upcoming  Mexicali Biennial. Hosted by: Marilyn Thomsen and Patty Vest Produced by: Kris Vargas Editorial Assistant: Lorraine Harr...

Ryan Engley, assistant professor of media studies and co-host of the Why Theory podcast joins us for the final episode of this Sagecast season.  Engley unpacks for us the intersection of psychoanalysis and media studies, where he focuses his research. He also chats about his love for television and seriality, as well as the importance discussing mental health in his courses. Hosted by: Mark W...

Head Coach of the Milwaukee Bucks and 2-time NBA Coach of the Year (2015, 2019), Mike Budenholzer '92 joins us to talk about his journey from Division III basketball at Pomona-Pitzer to the NBA. Hosted by: Mark Wood and Patty Vest Produced by: Jeff Hing Transcript: https://www.pomona.edu/sites/default/files/sagecast-MikeBudenholzer-051221.txt Video Teaser: https://youtu.be/1HrqHDauNaQ

Interdisciplinary scholar and filmmaker, Joanne Nucho discusses her research interests which include critical infrastructure studies, urban studies and environmental inequality—and what she calls “post-grid imaginaries.’ She is the author of the book Everyday Sectarianism in Urban Lebanon: Infrastructures, Public Services and Power. Hosted by: Mark Wood and Patty Vest Produced by: Jeff Hing Transc...

In this episode, our guest Ken McLeod ’07, policy director for the League of American Bicyclists sheds light on working in Washington D.C. and advocating for bicycling and walking projects across the country. McLeod talks to us about how he hopes to work closely with the Biden Administration and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg in creating safer and more equitable communities. Hosted by:...

This week, our guest is Politics Professor Sara Sadhwani, who studies the growing impact of Asian Americans in the American political scene, with a special focus on Indian American communities. In this conversation, Professor Sadhwani discusses, among other things, the role of “descriptive representation” in the electorate and the importance of Indian American voters in a number of swing states. H...

This week we’re talking with Adam Rogers ’92, senior correspondent at WIRED Magazine and author of two books, The New York Times nonfiction bestseller Proof: The Science of Booze and the soon-to-be-released Full Spectrum: How the Science of Color Made us Modern. Our conversation ranges from the origins of color perception in an ancient microbe to the difficulty of writing about science in a time o...

This week, our guest is Pomona College Professor of Politics Susan McWilliams Barndt, the author of An American Road Trip and American Political Thought and Traveling Back: Toward a Global Political Theory. Our conversation ranges from America’s scrambled political vocabulary to the way distinctive American ideas about such things as freedom and equality are bound up in our national literature abo...

This week, our guest is Pomona College Professor of Economics Gary Smith, who specializes in financial markets and debunking myths in statistical analysis. In this conversation, Professor Smith discusses, among other things, the real-world applications of economics that continue to fascinate him and his collaboration with alumnus Jay Cordes ’93 on several books about misuses of “big data,” includi...

This week we’re talking with Aditya Sood ’97, president of the film production company Lord Miller Inc. As a producer, he’s best known for box-office hit movies like The Martian , Deadpool I and II and Murder on the Orient Express. Our conversation ranges from his early years in Seattle to the story behind the making of the hit movie, The Martian. Hosted by: Mark Wood and Patty Vest Produced by: J...

This week, we welcome Visiting Professor of Anthropology Arlen Chase, who specializes in Mesoamerican archeology. Our conversation with Professor Chase ranges from the origins of his love of archeology in general and of Mayan culture in particular to his groundbreaking fieldwork in a site in Belize known as Caracol. He also discusses his trailblazing use of a technology known as LiDAR, which has t...