Princeton Alumni Weekly Podcasts

On this episode of the Princeton Alumni Weekly’s Book Club podcast, author Michael Kardos ’92 answers our questions about his latest comedic crime novel, Fun City Heist. It’s set in his old stomping grounds, the New Jersey shore, and he made the protagonist a drummer, like himself. As the story unfolds, readers watch beach bum Mo Melnick connect for the first time with his teenage daughter, get ba...

This is the Princeton Alumni Weekly’s PAWcast, where we talk with Princetonians about what’s happening on campus and beyond. For this episode we’re pleased to bring you a recording of PAW’s 2026 Reunions panel, titled How to Make Your Book a Reality. We gathered a terrific group of authors and publishing industry insiders to share their experiences and tips on how you — yes, you — can get the book...

On Part Two of the PAWcast’s look at Princeton’s dating culture, Lia Opperman ’25 continues talking with three graduating seniors about how relationships, breakups, and digital disruptions are shaping student life today. If you haven’t listened to Part One yet, be sure to go back and check it out first. We covered everything from campus-wide dating apps to the broader evolution of romance on campu...

On this episode of the PAWcast, Lia Opperman ’25 speaks with three current seniors about the most perennial of topics in higher education: campus dating culture. Romance has always been a big part of the college experience at Princeton and elsewhere. But in recent years, it’s faced digital disruptions. New apps like Date Drop, Datamatch, and Marriage Pact have appeared alongside the usual Hinges,...

On this episode of the PAWcast, Princeton valedictorian Daniel Yu ’26 discusses his research in African American and gender and sexuality studies and his plans for the future: Next year he’ll begin studying in the U.K. as a Marshall Scholar, working toward a master’s degree in race and gender studies at SOAS University of London with the eventual goal of a public-facing career that contributes to...

On this episode of the Princeton Alumni Weekly’s PAWcast, we bring you a conversation from PAW’s Tiger Travels section, between travel journalist Laura Dannen Redman from the Class of 2003 and Jaqui Gifford ’02, who is currently editor in chief of the gold standard magazine for jetsetters, Travel + Leisure. They say travel journalism is a field in flux, but the lure of adventure will never die. If...

PAW Memorials editor Nicholas DeVito sat down with Doug Eberhart ’80 to discuss Charles Helms ’80. Chuck was a lawyer, teacher, and had a deep faith in his family and Catholicism.

Princeton history professor Sean Wilentz has co-produced a new eight-CD box set of material by singer, songwriter, and Nobel laureate Bob Dylan. It’s called The Bootleg Series Number 18: Through the Open Window, 1956 to 1963, and it contains 165 tracks, many of them never heard before. It also contains 125 pages of liner notes written by Wilentz, who is a scholar of Bob Dylan and his music. Unusua...

On this episode of the PAWcast, Maggie Hoffman ’04 discusses her path to building a podcast and an online presence around that age-old question, which some of us love and some of us hate: What’s for dinner? Previously, Maggie was managing editor of Serious Eats and digital director of the recipe website Epicurious, and she published two books of cocktail recipes. Now, she’s applying what she learn...

On this episode of the Princeton Alumni Weekly’s book club podcast, Suleika Jaouad ’10 discusses ”“Between Two Kingdoms,” her memoir of fighting a rare and aggressive form of leukemia and, afterward, finding a way to rebuild her life and her very sense of self. She also discusses her follow-up, “The Book of Alchemy,” and explains the role journaling has played in her life and her writing. She writ...

PAW Memorials editor Nicholas DeVito sat down with Rob Mancuso ’73 and Mike Mims ’71 to discuss Hendrix “Drix” Neimann ’73. Drix was active in Business Today at Princeton and co-founded New Jersey Monthly Magazine.

On this episode of the PAW Book Club podcast, career journalist Todd Purdum ’82 answers book club members’ questions about his new biography, “Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television.” As Todd’s exhaustive research shows, the Cuban-born star of “I Love Lucy” contributed far more than his widely loved charm and comedic talent to the early television industry — many techniques and practices he p...

PAW Memorials editor Nicholas DeVito sat down with Lanny Springs ’67 to discuss his brother William Springs III ’64. Dick played football at Princeton and was a cattle rancher.

Charmaine Lee ’14’s music might be unlike anything you’ve ever heard before. Lee grew up in a musical family and studied jazz at Princeton along with sociology. She also sang with one of Princeton’s a cappella groups, and the experience inspired her to carve out an innovative niche as a vocalist in the world of auditory art. Right now, she’s on a tour of 60 shows through all 50 states, and she has...

This is the Princeton Alumni Weekly’s PAWcast, where we talk with Princetonians about what’s happening on campus and beyond. At the end of July, a pretty big story appeared on The Daily Princetonian’s website, one that took Raphaela Gold ’26 about a year and a half to report. It was a deep dive into mental health care on Princeton’s campus, and in particular into what happens to students who exper...

On this episode of the PAW Book Club podcast, we talk with Lauren Ling Brown ’12 about Society of Lies, her bestselling novel set almost entirely on Princeton’s campus. It follows the stories of two sisters, one of whom is murdered during Reunions Weekend. The story is entirely fictional, but much within it — including the eating club and secret society conjured by Lauren — sometimes look a lot li...

How is the news media covering the MAGA movement? Four journalists and a Princeton historian during the Princeton Alumni Weekly’s 2025 Reunions panel delved into questions about reporting on Trump voters, whether the press should use the word “lie,” today’s fragmented media landscape, and how even the most explosive investigations don’t spur change the way they used to. Said Kathy Kiely ’77, of th...

On this episode of the PAWcast, Princeton valedictorian Erik Medina ’25 talks about majoring in chemistry and his thesis, for which he researched ways to upcycle plastics. Erik has been accepted into a Ph. D. program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but first he’s taking a year off to teach at his old high school near Miami.

PAW Memorials editor Nicholas DeVito sat down with Steve McNamara ’55 to discuss Bill Miller ’55. Bill was a geologist and landman, but he was well known more for his vintage car racing.

When Milano Buckley ’02 was born, her mother was homeless. She was living in her car, and she kept baby Milano in a basket in the backseat. What followed was an exceptionally unusual childhood that remarkably led Milano to the Lawrenceville School, and then later to Princeton. When Milano became a mother herself, she figured parenting would be a cinch compared to what she’d experienced in her own...

On this episode of the PAW Book Club podcast, we speak with Sash Bischoff from Princeton’s Class of 2009 about her debut novel and our latest book club read, “Sweet Fury.” From the very first page, “Sweet Fury” takes the work of F. Scott Fitzgerald, famously of Princeton’s Class of 1917, and begins to play. A famous actress and film director, characters named Lila and Kurt, are collaborating on a...

PAW Memorials editor Nicholas DeVito sat down with Shelley Slade ’80 and Marie Yovanovitch ’80 to discuss Jennifer Beale Parmalee ’80. Jenni was a journalist in East Africa, covering politics, war, and personal stories.

On this episode, PAW Memorials editor Nicholas DeVito sat down with Elyse Graham ’07 to discuss Professor Victor Brombert, who died Nov. 26, 2024.

On this episode of PAW’s Book Club podcast, we ask bestselling author and playwright Jodi Picoult ’87 about her latest book, “By Any Other Name,” which presents readers with a hypothesis: Could Emilia Bassano, a woman who really lived in Tudor England, have written some of the most famous plays attributed to William Shakespeare? Picoult discusses why she believes it, how her book has been received...

As a volunteer with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Stephen Lamberton ’99 is sharing the story of his father’s death in 1985 in hopes of destigmatizing suicide and helping others struggling with the loss of a loved one. On this episode of the PAWcast, Lamberton describes his journey toward processing his father’s death and discussing it with his own children, as well as the meaning...