Focal Point Podcast

For the Arroyo brothers, the past year has been unlike any other in their lives. Taking a gap year before starting their running careers at MIT, the brothers have been learning how to coach themselves while also discovering some new routes in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. They've also spent some of their free time on some passion projects that they've set aside for down time just like this. Hos...

William Aniol spoke with Villanova long stick midfielder Jonathan Taylor '19 about his ongoing sophomore season with the Villanova lacrosse team. From Taylor's own battle with coronavirus at the start of the season to the daily battles he has against some of the best players in the Big East during practice, Taylor has had a season to remember. Host: William Aniol, Siddhartha Sinha Guest: Jonathan...

5-star recruit and Stanford commit Harrison Ingram sits down with Siddhartha Sinha to discuss the basketball recruitment process, SPC vs. AAU competition and what he expects from his first college basketball season. Host: Siddhartha Sinha Guest: Harrison Ingram Producer: Siddhartha Sinha

While colleges secured the commitments of seniors around the nation this past school year, juniors Ian Mize and Miller Trubey got ahead of the game, securing offers from Princeton lacrosse and Loyola Chicago volleyball respectively. Ian sat down with Sai Thirunagari (1:30) and Miller spoke with SeMaj Musco (8:52) to discuss their journeys to early commitment and what drove them to make this all-im...

In the niche sports of water polo and wrestling, seniors Jack Palmer, Leo Ohannessian and Cooper Ribman have separated themselves as elite talents in the sport, with Palmer and Ohannessian committing to Santa Clara and UC Santa Barbara respectively for water polo and Ribman signing with Harvard for wrestling. To get to the bottom of how they dedicated themselves to their sports, Luke Piazza sat do...

Recently crowned SPC track and field champions Kit Colson and Michael Vanesko sat down with Siddhartha Sinha a few weeks before their championship meet to discuss their Lions track and field careers as well as their commitments to Yale and Middlebury, respectively. Colson also recalls his initial thoughts after breaking the school's longstanding 100-meter record, and Vanesko explains how pole vaul...

Whether it's The Office , Taylor Swift or a hoard of fellow teammates, senior Blake Hudspeth will always find a way to finish a crew workout, and that attitude is what drove him to commit to MIT to row crew for their heavyweight team next year. Sitting down with Sai Thirunagari, Hudspeth discusses his family's history with the sport, his personal objectives for next year and the beauty he finds in...

Soccer has been a part of senior Knobel Hunt's life for as long as he can remember. Whether it's his numerous ties to FC Dallas or his loyalty to FC Bayern Munich, the beautiful game has been one of Hunt's defining extracurriculars. Next fall, Hunt will be adding another set of loyalties, having committed to SMU to play soccer for the next four years. Hunt spoke with Robert Pou about his lifelong...

In a special Senior Section episode of the Behind the Column Podcast, new Focal Point leaders and Managing Editors Toby Barrett and Peter Orsak interview Siddhartha Sinha (1:05) and Jack Davis (19:40), respectively, on their columns in their final edition of The ReMarker , lessons they’ve learned at St. Mark’s and what lies ahead. Hosted by Managing Editors Toby Barrett and Peter Orsak

In the Senior Class’s final cycle of the newspaper, Managing Editor Siddhartha Sinha opens the podcast with newly named Issues Editor Myles Lowenberg to reflect on a column he wrote in March about Fight Club and its relevance to today’s world (2:00). Then, it’s on to Brand Manager Cooper Ribman, who spends his first and only appearance on the podcast to address Stanford University’s recent decisio...

At long last, the man behind all of the columns — Opinions Editor Alam Alidina — joins the podcast to explain both his connection to an under-the-radar Leonard Cohen song and why there are so many music columns in this month's paper (1:45) before Assignments Editor Sai Thirunagari demonstrates his encyclopedic knowledge of One Direction, Eagles, Nirvana and more (14:40). To wrap up the music colum...

Managing Editor Jamie Mahowald kicks off the new year of columns with a personal story about prison reform (0:35) before Endzone Editor William Aniol talks about his storied relationship with fantasy football and the upcoming Super Bowl (18:55). And Senior Editor Cristian Pereira returns to discuss the Capitol Riots and his work on Page 2 this year (32:38).  Hosted by Managing Editor Siddhart...

Jamie Mahowald, Cristian Pereira and SeMaj Musco join Siddhartha Sinha to react to the events that took place on January 6, 2021, a day that will go down in history as the day Americans breached The Capitol.

Perspectives Editor Luke Piazza opens up about what gardening means to him (0:30) before Executive Page Editor Jack Davis reflects on the recent volleyball season (15:32). Finally, Senior Editor Cristian Pereira is back to talk life, technology and college application timelines (25:05). Hosted by Managing Editor Siddhartha Sinha.

Editor-in-chief Robert Pou returns to talk about his love for football (2:15). Then, he hands it off to host and managing editor Siddhartha Sinha to talk about his leadership column (10:57) before 10600/Culture Section Editor Axel Icazbalceta gives us a peek into the pigeon-raising life. That's right, pigeons. Like the birds (17:11). And to bring us home, Senior Editor Cristian Pereira talks piano...

On this first episode of Behind the Podcast, Managing Editor Siddhartha Sinha talks about the ideas motivating the podcast. Then, he sits down with Editor-In-Chief Robert Pou (4:53), Managing Editor Jamie Mahowald (15:49), Deputy Endzone Editor SeMaj Musco (30:09) and Senior Editor Cristian Pereira (44:09) to talk about everything from protests in sports to dogs eating everything. Hosted by Managi...