Extracurricular with Stephanie Vanos and Eddie Geller

Eddie and Steph welcome Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet to the pod! Felipe talks about his work as the Executive Director at Hope Community Center and what drew him to helping immigrants navigate life in Central Florida (12:43). He then unpacks two Supreme Court decisions from this week relating to immigration issues (Mullin v. Al Otro Lado and Mullin v. Doe)(17:04). He shares his very personal reaction t...

Eddie and Steph recognize and reflect upon ten years since the Pulse tragedy here in Orlando. They then discuss Equal Ground’s excellent tour stop in Orlando and the overwhelming number of audience questions relating to public schools and public education.   The guest this week is Dr. Hector Maestre, a wonderful human and OCPS graduate who also happens to be the principal at Boone High School. Lik...

It’s June, graduations are (nearly!) done, and Steph and Eddie are back to the work of podding. They begin the show talking about fundraisers, bittersweet improv shows, and the AT&T corporation. This week, they welcome Jason Garcia of Seeking Rents back to the podcast. Jason starts out by giving an overview of the opaque budget process in Tallahassee and then a primer on how devastating the ne...

Should this podcast become a food podcast? Eddie and Steph debate as they recount their visit to Francesco’s. They decide against it and Steph provides some clarity on the one mil referendum vote and shares some of her graduation remarks before welcoming special guest, Elizabeth Vanos (16:48). Elizabeth talks about how it feels to be a nearly 18-year-old in this world (18:00) and how she often fin...

This week, Steph and Eddie power through their intro because Steph is busy! They do get a little time to talk about weddings, work retreats, daughters, and movie clubs, but it’s all business after that. Today’s guest is Genesis Robison, the Executive Director of Equal Ground Education Fund and Action Fund, Florida’s preeminent Black-led voting rights organization. Genesis began by explaining the w...

Wow, we totally missed this, but the Extracurricular Podcast (neé TBD) is over a year old! We celebrated by dedicating nearly two minutes to commemorate the occasion. (No but really we’re quite proud.) Today we spent our time digging into the blockbuster of a lawsuit: Spar vs Kamoutsas. Eddie begins by asking Stephanie what this lawsuit is all about, why she joined, and what it means to be a plain...

After a two-week hiatus, Steph and Eddie return with Florida Representative from District 44, Rita Harris. We start by going into a bit of Rep. Harris’s background, how she made the decision to go from activism to electoral politics, and how reality differed from expectations of what it would be like to be a member of the Florida House of Representatives (14:20). We then talked over two of the bil...

Steph and Eddie begin this week’s episode with a recap of some OCPS business: Denim Day, a debate about the dress code, and SAFE coordinator cuts. Then they welcome Lee Perry to the podcast (14:20). Lee is a climate activist, campaigner, and podcast host here in Orange County. Lee begins by discussing her background in climate activism and how she works to bring together folks with differing views...

Florida House Representative and U.S. Senate Candidate Angie Nixon is on the pod! But first, Eddie and Steph discuss Attorney General Uthmeier’s recent statement indicating that he will not enforce the Constitution or Florida’s laws and that he will permit public funds to be used for religious charter schools (5:42). They then welcome Rep. Nixon (14:07) who talks about her background and how that...

Steph and Eddie are back from Los Angeles and are at least 10% cooler. After catching up on their trip, their time at No Kings, a discussion on the salaries of legislators, they unpack the ins and outs of making a policy at OCPS. Steph starts by walking through what a policy is (22:49). Then, after a quick diversion into the intricacies of public comment at OCPS (27:15), Steph explains how citizen...

Eddie and Steph welcome Dr. Mara Schiff to the podcast. Dr. Schiff is an Associate Professor at Florida Atlantic University and a former member of the School Board of the School District of Indian River County. She has many qualifications! But we brought on Dr. Schiff to discuss restorative justice and how it applies to our schools. We begin with Dr. Schiff’s background and talk through her time o...

Happy (belated) International Women’s Day! Steph and Eddie celebrate by welcoming a dear friend, and absolute mensch, Susan Windmiller. As the title suggests, Susan makes s**t happen here in the Orange County Democratic Party. We started by getting Susan’s background in government work, how she got started organizing and raising money, and whether we’re too quick to dismiss folks in our party who...

This week, Eddie and Steph welcome Parker Molloy, a writer covering media, politics, and the world around us on her Substack, The Present Age (10:20). Parker begins by explaining her journey to becoming an independent journalist and how watching hours upon hours of Fox News helped shape her thinking.  Next, she explains why it feels like there’s too much news, the tactic of “Flooding the Zone,” an...

Steph and Eddie are back after a week off feeling refreshed and ready to go (eventually). They start off the show with a bit of table setting for our interview—including a definition of EdTech (it’s a portmanteau!). They then dip into Steph’s latest trip to Tallahassee with some legislative updates, a short recap of the latest State Board of Education meeting, and Eddie rants about the importance...

After spending an unusual amount of time discussing sports, Eddie and Steph welcome Louell to the pod to share her perspective as a young person navigating the world and actively trying to make it a better place for everyone (10:46). A junior in high school, Louell walks us through her early influences (shout out to her incredible mom!) and her work as a community organizer. Her values are deeply...

Steph and Eddie kick off the show discussing a local ICE protest, a special election victory in Texas, news that Ron DeSantis is now going to take federal money for taxpayer-funded vouchers, and watching her daughter give public comment. We then move on to the heart of the show: Steph’s takeaways on a recent advocacy trip to our state’s capital, Tallahassee. We start with the fallout from the stat...

After an emotional weekend, Eddie and Steph begin by addressing the murder of Alex Pretti and the ongoing occupation of ICE in Minneapolis. None of us know what comes next, but we hope for accountability of this lawless, reckless administration.  Then we get to our big interview: Aaron Parnas (10:45). We start by digging into how Aaron built such a large platform and what it says about the media,...

To start off the show Steph and Eddie touched on the ICE kidnappings in Minneapolis, the potential impact of ICE in Orlando, an (attempted) banned book that came in front of OCPS, and a quick recap of Eddie’s improv show.   Then, we invited activist and all-around powerhouse Linda Coffin to join the podcast (14:47). Linda has spent years advocating for children and specifically to end the scourge...

Welcome to a new year with Extracurricular! Eddie and Steph welcome 2026 and catch up on current events in public education and in Orange County. They then welcome Venezuelan American Jose Gamboa to the show (15:00). Jose recounts his childhood in La Guaira and how former President Nicolas Maduro rose to power following the death of Hugo Chavez (21:00). Jose shares some of his experiences as part...

It’s the end of the year! Steph and Eddie review 2025 by awarding some Roses, Buds, and Thorns—plus a few confessions! But before that, Steph touches recent school closures and a letter from the State Board of Education. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!  Follow us: Extracurricular Podcast Stephanie Vanos Eddie Geller

It’s time for some REAL journalism on the podcast. This week, Steph and Eddie welcome veteran independent journalist, Jason Garcia. We invited Jason to give us an overview of some of the most enraging scandals to come out of the DeSantis administration starting with Hope Florida (12:45). But things get more juicy—just a few days before recording the podcast, another shoe dropped with an incredible...

This week, our duo starts off by discussing Steph’s exploits at the FSBA (Florida School Board Association) Conference and who got booed during their speech. Eddie and Steph also share their (wildly differing) athletic exploits. Then, we get to Steph’s first solo interview (!) with Hillsborough County School Board member, Jessica Vaughn. Jessica and Steph follow up on a thread from a previous epis...

We’re back after digesting our Thanksgiving dinner and ready to pod! Before getting into the interview, Steph and Eddie discuss the latest with school start times and where we think the community stands (8:40)—and then also a discussion on whether Trump is cooked (15:07).    After the initial chatter, we bring on Eddie’s favorite guest ever to join the pod—Eddie’s dad, Richard Geller (21:22). Born...

Before getting to today's interview, our tenacious podcasters answer the burning question on everyone's mind: What is the Phoenix Declaration? Steph and Eddie share some thoughts about the Florida Board of Education’s recent adoption of this Declaration (5:40), followed by a warm welcome to Rebecca Thompson, a School Board Member in Broward County, Florida. Rebecca fills us in on the current state...

Steph and Eddie open the pod talking about a wide range of issues, from pumpkin dates, to whether yoga causes flat tires, to a brief explanation of Florida’s Sunshine Laws (7:55). They then welcome Chris Mitchell of Statecraft Media to the pod again to discuss his thoughts on the recent election (13:41). He noted that this was the first election in several years where candidates did not overly foc...