The Green Room

After a short hiatus, we are back! Welcome to ‘Episode 17’ of The Baylor Line’s flagship podcast, The Green Room. Host Jonathon Platt meets with f ormer 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, w...

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 and Abby Hea...

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 Texas Hun...

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 Columbia Public Schoo...

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, congressional races...

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 callings. P...

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 foreign servi...

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 East,...

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 small town...

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 lead a...

Welcome to 'Episode Seven' of The Baylor Line's flagship podcast, The Green Room .  On this episode, host Jonathon Platt meets with Booking Producer at Bloomberg TV, Amanda Hayes Roark .  Just a few years into post-grad life, Amanda has already charted an impressive path through some of the top names in journalism. From her early start as a production assistant on "Morning Joe" to media booking at...

Welcome to ‘Episode Six’ of The Baylor Line's flagship podcast, The Green Room.  In this episode, host Jonathon Platt introduces Dr. Felipe Hinojosa, the John and Nancy Endowed Chair in Latin America and Professor of History at Baylor University.  Born and raised in Brownsville, Texas, Felipe brings a unique perspective shaped by his upbringing in the Texas-Mexico borderlands and his academic focu...

Welcome to ‘Episode Five’ of The Baylor Line's flagship podcast, The Green Room.  In this episode, host Jonathon Platt is joined by Dr. Coretta Pittman, Associate Professor of English and Baylor’s Vice Provost for Community Engagement. With warmth, clarity, and depth, Dr. Pittman discusses what it means to foster a university community that reflects the full richness of its members’ backgrounds, e...

Welcome to ‘Episode Four' of The Baylor Line's flagship podcast, The Green Room.  In this heartfelt conversation, host Jonathon Platt sits down with his longtime mentor and personal hero, retired Director of Baylor’s Ministry Guidance Program and Professor of Religion, Dr. Jeter Basden.  His leadership helped shape generations of students preparing for lives of service, guiding them through the di...

Welcome to 'Episode Three' of The Baylor Line's flagship podcast, The Green Room .  In this episode, host Jonathon Platt sits down with two Baylor legends and authors of Soon and Very Soon, Robert Darden and Dr. Stephen Newby.  This conversation isn’t just about music – it’s about the history and cultural commentary of gospel music. Bob and Stephen unpack the legacy of the great Andraé Crouch, the...

  Welcome to episode two of The Baylor Line's flagship podcast, The Green Room.  In this episode, host Jonathon Platt sits down with former United States Marine Corps Reservist Alexandra Benda to explore a career that spans continents, combat zones, and the corridors of power. With a degree in Great Texts and over 13 years of military experience, Alexandra now serves as a Deployment Strategist at...

Welcome to the official 'Episode One' of The Baylor Line's flagship podcast, The Green Room.  In this episode host Jonathon Platt is joined by author and public defender Jeanne Bishop live at The Baylor Line's BookTalk event on May 16 commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing. In it, the two unpack behind-the-scenes details of Jeanne's book on the attack, Grace from the Rubbl...

Welcome to the first episode of our new podcast, The Green Room. We'd originally planned a May launch for this show, but when news happens and you work at a news organization... you gotta adapt. So, consider this Episode 0 with more coming soon. This go around, I'm joined by Dr. Steve Gardner , a respected economist and professor emeritus at Baylor University. I asked Steve for this conversation i...

Nine years ago, Dolores Lozano claims she was violently assaulted by a Baylor football player and her boyfriend at the time. In 2016 she filed a lawsuit against the university, claiming that – despite having gone to administrators and football program leaders – her alma mater had been negligent in its handling of her reports of domestic violence and, as a result, violated her rights under the Titl...

Joanne Cummings is the director of Baylor’s Middle East Studies program and teaches in the BIC and Political Science department. She has also been instrumental in the development of an interfaith minor here at Baylor. A retired diplomat, her experience is wide-ranging. She was most recently the Foreign Policy Advisor (POLAD) to CJTF-OIR, based in Baghdad. She has also served extensively in the Mid...

You’ve probably seen Dr. Peter Hotez on the news before, being interviewed, sited, or – sometimes – skewered. He’s made a name for himself in the fight against anti-science and was a constant presence as a primetime source during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Hotez is the founding Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology at...

Dr. Beth Allison Barr is the James Vardaman Endowed Professor of History at Baylor, having also served as graduate program director of the history department and associate dean of the Baylor Graduate School. She’s a 1996 graduate of the very same history department in which she now teaches. She earned her masters and doctorate at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research focuses on...