The Green Room

In this episode of The Green Room , host Jonathon Platt sits with Emily Mills, founder of Lovely Village, and Dr. Jeremy Everett,  founder of the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, in a conversation about their intersection of faith, philanthropy, and the hunger crisis.  Everett emphasized the truth: there is enough food in the U.S. for everyone to eat, yet millions are affected...

In this episode of The Green Room , host Jonathon Platt will not be joining us. Instead, digital editor Kassidy Tsikitas takes over The Green Room for one night, and one night only, for a rewind.  Tsikitas takes us through her favorite moments from The Green Room : the famous Molly Llama [yes, that Molly Llama], former Congressman Chet Edwards, and more gems you might have missed.  Grab...

In this episode of The Green Room , host Jonathon Platt and Dr. Jerry Park , associate professor of sociology, discuss being a minority within a minority, an accidental baptism, and research on racial minorities within religious congregations.  Park reflects on his childhood with his single mom, being one of a few Asian students at Carver High School in Philadelphia, and his baptismal certifi...

In this episode of The Green Room , host Jonathon Platt is joined by members of The Baylor Line team Kourtney Nering, editor-in-chief; Kassidy Tsikitas, digital editor; and Nina Um, executive assistant to the CEO,  to reflect on the year of growth, change, and gratitude for everything they have learned.   The Baylor Line team has all experienced big changes in their past year of life. Ne...

In this episode of The Green Room, host Jonathon Platt and Amira Lewally, supervising producer at A&E, look back on a decision that changed the trajectory of Lewally’s career. A simple creative spark led her to add a film and digital media minor to her college studies, to which she credits her success in the film industry.  What ignited this spark? A summer spent binge-watching Issa Rae’s...

In this episode of The Green Room , host Jonathon Platt and Jackie Baugh Moore, president of the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation, explore the Baugh legacy: Eula Mae and John Baugh’s lives, the founding of Sysco, and looking at things through the lens of love.  Moore reflects on a legacy defined by conviction and compassion. She shares her family stories and decades of faith-driven service....

In this episode of The Green Room , host Jonathon Platt is joined by three culinary entrepreneurs during the Waco Restaurant Week panel hosted by The Baylor Line.   Jake Patterson turned an abandoned Sonic Drive-In into Yaki Texas Teriyaki – inspired by a mom-and-pop teriyaki truck behind his former job at a dealership in Portland.  Danielle Young, owner of Revival Eastside Eat...

In this episode of The Green Room, host Jonathon Platt sits with Dr. Mary Landon Darden , president of Higher Education Innovation, LLC, and Dr. Ray Perryman, president and CEO at The Perryman Group. The group unpacks the focus of The Baylor Line’s article It’s a New World – skyrocketing graduate enrollment and what the future looks like with AI. Their conversations dive deep into the layers of wh...

In this episode of The Green Room , host Jonathon Platt sits with Devin Li and Jaja Chen, 2025 Abner V. McCall Humanitarian Award honorees and co-founders of Cha Community – a Taiwanese and Chinese fusion boba shop. Their story begins in June 2018 at the Waco Downtown Farmers Market with laminated logos and borrowed tables, then known as Waco Cha. Now, Cha Community has pioneered itself into a cor...

In this episode of The Green Room, host Jonathon Platt sits down with Carole Fergusson , Executive Director of Keep Waco Beautiful and founder of Waco Restaurant Week. She discusses the story behind Waco Restaurant Week – how it’s grown, the opportunities for growth, and the purpose of the week.  What began in 2019 as an effort to spotlight local restaurants has evolved into a citywide celebr...

In this episode of The Green Room , host Jonathon Platt talks with the founders of 1953 Tequila – a premium, women-owned tequila brand. Baylor alumna Lindsey Davis Stover and partners Shivam Mallick Shah and Adriana Lopez tell the story of their shared vision turned into community and empowerment.  The year 1953 honors a historical moment when  women in Mexico earned the right to vote. E...

Welcome to ‘Episode 20’ of The Baylor Line’s flagship podcast.  For the first time in The Baylor Line’s history, host Jonathon Platt takes you on the ride of your life around Waco – accompanied by stories gleaned from the forty-years-long byline of Robert F. Darden.  Along the way, Darden shares the tales from decades of rich history – from the scars left by the 1953 tornado, mischievous...

Welcome to ‘Episode 19’ of The Baylor Line’s flagship podcast.  Host Jonathon Platt meets with John David Rainey, EVP & CFO of Walmart. From small town Angleton, his life lesson of leadership begins with how you treat people.  We navigate his career in three major companies: United Airlines – formerly Continental Airlines – during its time of transition in a post-9/11 world, PayPal i...

Welcome to ‘Episode 18’ of The Baylor Line’s flagship podcast, The Green Room . Host Jonathon Platt meets with Dr. Mia Moody , professor and former chair of the Baylor University Department of Journalism, Public Relations, and New Media. Known for mentoring students within the journalism department and in-depth research into image repair, intersectionality, critical race theory, and media framing...

Welcome to ‘Episode 17’ of The Baylor Line’s flagship podcast, The Green Room . Host Jonathon Platt meets with former Congressman Chet Edwards , Baylor’s W.R. Pogue Distinguished Chair of Public Service, and recipient of The Baylor Line’s Babs Baugh Servant Leadership Award. Chet and Jon reflect on 9/11. the weight of that fateful day when America was attacked, what it means to live through m...

Welcome to "Episode", actually hold that thought. No big announcements or dramatic exits – The Green Room will be taking a short summer break to create more content and rest before a busy fall. In the meantime, if your podcast queue needs something good, now's a great time to catch up on recent episodes you may have missed! Ambassador Douglas Silliman on his journey from Baylor to Baghdad – and zo...

Why did Jonathon Platt bring a donut to the interview? Because he knew this conversation would be jam-packed!  Welcome to ‘Episode 16’ of The Baylor Line's flagship podcast, The Green Room.  Host Jonathon Platt sits down with the couple behind some of Waco’s most beloved spots – Pop’s Lemonade, Cheddar Box and Well-Rounded Donuts. Known for their hospitality and deep-rooted faith, Omari...

Welcome to 'Episode 15' of The Baylor Line's flagship podcast, The Green Room.  Host, Jonathon Platt talks with Craig Nash , Senior Editor at Good Faith Media, to explore the quiet, meaningful spaces where faith, storytelling, and community meet.  Nash’s journey starts out as a kid from East Texas who goes on to his roles as a community pastor at UBC Waco, a hunger advocate with Baylor’s...

Sit down, get comfy, and listen in. The Wise Molly Lama is ready to read your cards. The first card she pulls is The Fool . She pauses dramatically. “I didn’t know you were in this deck!”  Welcome to 'Episode 14' of The Baylor Line's flagship podcast, The Green Room.  Host, Jonathon Platt is met with The Wise Molly Lama … I mean … Molly Murchie , a Librarian at the District of Colum...

Welcome to 'Episode 13' of The Baylor Line's flagship podcast, The Green Room.  In this episode, host Jonathon Platt and Lisa Hanna, Head of Public Affairs and Policy Communications at Delta Air Lines, trace a career that began in uncertainty and evolved into a life of purpose and impact.  By her senior year of college, Lisa was reporting full-time for KWTX – covering wildfires, congress...

Welcome to 'Episode 12' of The Baylor Line's flagship podcast, The Green Room.  Host Jonathon Platt meets with Kristin Diwan , a senior resident at the Arab Gulf States Institute. The two dive into how her work as an analyst and geopolitics involving Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, and beyond. This wide-ranging conversation takes you from Central Texas to the Middle East, from mentors to c...

A Baylor alum is spotted in the wild – Jonathon Platt says, “Hey you, tell me a joke!” The alumnus starts out with “John Lennon and a zombie walk into a bar.” And that’s how we got this episode.  Welcome to 'Episode 11' of The Baylor Line's flagship podcast, The Green Room .  Host Jonathon Platt is met with Ambassador Doug Silliman , who has led an impressive career from serving as a for...

Welcome to ‘Episode Ten’ of the Baylor Line’s flagship podcast, The Green Room . In this episode, host Jonathon Platt is met with Joanne Cummings , Director of Middle East Studies and Professor of Political Science, to discuss the politics and misunderstood narratives of the Middle East.  With decades of work in crisis management, intelligence, diplomacy, and civil society across the Middle E...

Welcome to 'Episode Nine' of The Baylor Line's flagship podcast, The Green Room.  In this episode, host Jonathon Platt sits down with Rev. Dr. Eric Mathis, associate pastor at First Baptist Church of the City of Washington, D.C. – a minister, musician, scholar, and Baylor Bear whose life bridges the academic, pastoral, and personal with deep conviction.  From playing in churches in his s...

Welcome to 'Episode Eight' of The Baylor Line's flagship podcast, The Green Room. This time, we’re launching into orbit with one of Baylor’s brightest stars – Howard Chang , a NASA attorney whose work is out of this world.  Host Jonathon Platt sits down with Howard Chang to trace his incredible journey from the neuroscience labs at Baylor to the legal offices of NASA, where he now serves as l...