The Pre-Made Podcast

Sean Elliott studies enzymes that act as catalysts for change, and lately he has been living through plenty of change himself. He chairs Boston University’s chemistry department at a hard moment for higher education, while also navigating imperfect health, a newly empty nest, and the question so many of us are asking: when is it time to pivot to a career second act? We talk about why a good educat...

It’s fitting that my 94th classmate conversation is with Suzanne Schindler. That's because she has brought so many of us together through the years. She orchestrated our 20th, 25th, and 30th reunions, and if you were under the tent and never felt far from the action, that was by design. Suzanne calls herself a professional worrier: she gets paid to anticipate everything that could go sideways and...

Rich Kwon was the best man at my wedding, and my kids have called him Uncle Rich their whole lives. Still, this conversation crystalized something I had only sensed all these years: Rich notices details that matter, details that I often don't even notice. The kid who studied Calvin and Hobbes panel by panel and applied it to his own doodles became a physician who refines his technique the same way...

Donnis Glover has never fit neatly into one lane. A researcher at heart with a vivid creative streak, I see her as a polymath. She co-founded the Harlem International Film Festival and built a family of digital platforms that give overlooked stories a place to be seen. She really lights up, though, talking about her four children and her commitment to seeing and nurturing them as whole people, eve...

Jordan Edelstein's resume reads like several different careers: video games, blockchain, and now fractional leadership. Curiosity and the confidence to take on something new unites it all. When the learning curve flattens, Jordan knows it's time to look for the next thing to tackle, and he traces that instinct straight back to Amherst. We talk about how he knows when it's time for a change, how he...

Itamar Har-Even admits he was a late bloomer, but boy has he had a remarkable run. Like so many of us, he's had a winding path, post-Amherst College. It ran through Hollywood, then film school, the first internet boom, Wall Street, and a company he built and sold to Alibaba founder Jack Ma. Now co-CEO of global investment firm Ion Pacific, he recognizes his success benefited a lot from timing and...

Leo Bernstein arrived at Amherst with a fear of failure that shaped his academic choices and early career. A layoff at the age of 40, however, forced him to reset. He made a big bet on himself, starting a commercial real estate business that invested in properties the market had overlooked or undervalued. He then founded LineSlip, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform born from his frustration w...

Greg Grunberg’s story is a study in self‑determination. From Amherst College onward, he’s developed what I call a quiet rebel streak that I admire. He possesses an instinct to question rules and identify paths that might not be apparent to most of us. Greg talks about discovering academic and personal freedom at Amherst, rejecting academic and career options he could have pursued but that didn’t f...

Suzette Duncan is a study in resilience and purpose. She graduated from Amherst College and entered a PhD program. But 9/11 happened, and the things she wanted to talk about among her peers and instructors weren't welcome, so she left the program to teach. She was really good at teaching, too, helping young people see themselves more fully. In 2018, everything changed. A cascade of health crises f...

Geoff Swift — California‑born, New England‑made, and now the vice president for finance and administration, as well as treasurer at Bates College — reflects on a life shaped by small institutions and the enduring value of the liberal arts. He traces his path from Amherst as an econ major to economic consulting, Harvard Business School, and ultimately a two‑decade career in higher education, where...

Jeremy Kugel has spent his life turning so many ordinary moments into shared comedy and joy. In doing so, he’s built communities where people feel safe enough to laugh, open up, and create lasting connections. From the Chicken Nugget Hour of Power in Valentine, to Tuesday Night Toothbrush Fest in Stearns, to the Mardi Gras Marathon at Maryland’s dining hall, Jeremy has a rare gift: he uses humor t...

Like many people who pursue a liberal arts education, Jojo Thirasilpa has been drawn to learning and acquiring new knowledge and skills his entire life. Where and how he acquires knowledge and skill is rather unique, however. When not working in finance from his home in the United Kingdom, Jojo competes in Ironmans, has crossed the Sahara in arguably the most challenging footrace in the world, the...

I've been interviewing exclusively people with an Amherst connection for several years now. It's time the podcast's name reflects that.

When I first decided to focus this podcast on fellow Amherst College graduates, my guest for this episode was the first person I thought of. That's because more than anybody else I know, James Glazer has lived intentionally, choosing his life rather than letting anyone else choose it for him. At the age of 30, James lost his father. Through that loss and grief, he came to recognize something that'...

Keya Khayatian’s life reads like the kind of story he now champions in Hollywood: one shaped by the search for identity. Keya traces his journey from immigrating to the U.S. as a child fleeing Iran to becoming a partner and co‑head of Media Rights at UTA, where he represents some of the most influential filmmakers working today. He reflects on navigating his early experiences of feeling “othered”...

Tarsha Echols has lived a life that refuses neat categories. She grew up, in her words, “a hood rat" from Memphis, graduated from Amherst College as a biology and French double major, and went on to build a 28‑year career as a flight attendant, where she has had a front‑row seat to humanity at 35,000 feet. But it’s what happened in 2021 that reshaped everything. What she thought was a bout of Covi...

From the forest pansy redbud she studies each morning to the students she teaches at Penn, Jo Park talks about the power of observation as both a discipline and a source of meaning. She reflects on how gardening during Covid sharpened her ability to see patterns and small transformations, and how that same attentiveness informs her scholarship on Asian American literature and the frameworks that s...

Edward Lees, like many Amherst College graduates, has generally gravitated toward breadth. That first manifested in his academic journey from physics to neuroscience to European studies, and later in a career that has taken him through biotech hedge funds and today into environmental investing from his home in London. To complement that arc, he’s carved out space for the outdoors and for poetry, t...

Matt “Rudy” Ronfeldt grew up possessing a deep curiosity and passion for physics and Buddhism, but graduating from Amherst College having majored in physics left him with a gnawing doubt: whether he wanted to pursue physics professionally. He then did something some of us may only daydream about: he stepped off the grid and into the Himalayas. Months of trekking, six weeks of silence in a Buddhist...

Dr. Peter Tothy (hematology/oncology) has spent nearly two decades guiding patients through some of life's hardest moments, including navigating terminal cancer diagnoses. In this episode, he reflects on the experiences that have shaped him and made him such a compassionate caregiver and advisor. From attending and working at a rustic Adirondack summer camp to being a student and resident counselo...

Bill Bares has lived a life that unfolded almost exactly as he planned it in his early twenties, when he completed a Tony Robbins-branded one‑year, five‑year, and 25‑year plan. That plan resulted in a career as a jazz pianist, scholar, and now Distinguished Professor of Humanities at UNC Asheville. These days, Bill finds his interests shifting to unlearning the habits that made him successful and...

Kate Lewis (nee Westerbeck) has willed every stage of her career into existence. In her childhood, she knew she wanted to work in media. Her very first job after Amherst College landed her at Conde Nast. She then joined Hearts and rose all the way to Chief Content Officer, overseeing some of the most iconic titles in American publishing. When she later set her sights on Apple, she made that happen...

Sara Keen has been a close friend of mine for more than three decades. She has a rare gift: she listens in a way that makes people feel fully seen, and even when she disagrees with them, she remains attentive, kind, and firm yet flexible in her own mind. Whether we’re talking sports, politics, or the messy realities of organizational life, she always brings curiosity, good humor, and a deep respec...

For most of his adult life, JJ Haines has called Tokyo home. He didn't imagine that outcome while at Amherst College, but in retrospect it almost feels inevitable given his long-standing appreciation for Japanese culture. JJ traces the winding path from studying Buddhism and Japanese cinema at Amherst to building a global banking career that took him through risk management, real estate, the Lehma...

Valerie Leipheimer may be the first person in human history who can persuasively and clearly show how much art history and tax law have in common. How'd she come to that conclusion? By way of a path that has taken her from Amherst College, where she studied art history, through law school, and into a serendipitous turn as a corporate tax law summer associate in London that helped her find her true...