WJPZ at 50

Today's guest is play-by-play man David Resnick, a 2010 WJPZ alum.  He reached out to us because he wanted to make sure we recognized the All Star sports department he worked with at Z89 - many who have gone on to great success in the sports industry, as you'll hear. As David says, the "Cold War" between WJPZ and WAER had thawed by the time he got on campus, and he got involved in everything he co...

Hey, it’s Jag.  Again, thank you so much for your support of the WJPZ at 50 podcast, which as of today, January 23, 2024, now has almost 13,000 downloads! We’re starting to wind down the series, but wanted to make sure you had a chance to hear from all of the incredible people we’ve talked to, BEFORE we all get together in Syracuse.  So from now until we run out of episodes, probably the middle of...

We can't think of a better guest for our 100th episode than Mr. Jim Gallagher.  He is believed to have spent more hours "in the chair" doing morning drive than anyone in WJPZ history. Today you'll learn how lessons learned in Syracuse served him well in a truly remarkable career.  And we open the episode with a classic station story - a live broadcast from the Denny's on Erie Boulevard when he tri...

Jen Nycz-Conner felt like she applied to every college in the Big East (RIP) before falling in love with the communications program at Syracuse.  Once on campus, she found a fellow freshman with a map.  She and Steve Donovan went to the radio station, met B.B. Good, and the rest is history. Living above the station in Watson as a sophomore, Jen got more involved with the station, and soon became V...

Mike "T-Bone" Tierney may have known more classes in JPZ's history than anyone - having worked at Z89 as a high schooler, undergrad, and grad student.  So it's no surprise many of his contemporaries consider him one of WJPZ's greatest program directors. T-Bone went to Nottingham High School, and saw a recruitment flyer for summer staffers while visiting Bird Library.  He walked in that day, was im...

It's no surprise that Ethan Charlip ended up at Syracuse University.   His New Jersey high school classmates Jacob Belotti and Shruti Marathe were already there when he arrived on campus.   In fact, Shruti told Ethan he'd be at the WJPZ spring recruitment meeting and tasked Jacob with making sure of it. Like so many of us, Ethan immediately found his tribe at the station, quickly earning a reputat...

(Note link to additional content at the end of our show notes.) If we were to pick one alumnus who best represented the warm, welcoming atmosphere of WJPZ, it would probably be Sharon Goodman Michaels, aka "B.B. Good" from the Class of 1993.  Several Z89'ers have come on this podcast to talk about how she welcomed them to the station, and we are thrilled to welcome her to this podcast. Like many o...

Kelly Sutton, '92, is the first female general manager in the history of WJPZ.  And, like many of us, the station launched her into a prolific media career. This Buffalo native went to Syracuse, in part, because of the opportunity to double major in both Newhouse and business.  And when a local radio owner back home promised a summer job, she knew she needed experience.  By the spring, she found Z...

Jordan Capozzi grew up in Syracuse, and like many Salt City Natives, did not know WJPZ was run by college students.   When his high school guidance counselor released how much he liked to talk (sound familiar?) she recommended he look at SU.   When Jordan learned that he could work at Z89, the station was one of his first stops. He got involved in sports, music, and the morning show. Jordan talks...

Many of us have spent time on the air at various radio stations, but if there's one jock the current students know, it's probably Ryan Sampson, '99, the host of the Morning Mashup on SiriusXM's Hits 1. Like many of us, Ryan grew up a news and sports junkie, and considered himself fortunate to get in to Syracuse.  He joined WAER and WJPZ, but had more fun at Z89, where he succeeded Scott MacFarlane...

Today's guest is one of many alumni who took the lessons of WJPZ and applied it to every job she had before and after graduation. Tina Stoklosa is a Philadelphia native who was obssessed with the news growing up.  The first in her family to go to college, she new Syracuse's Broadcast Journalism program was the way to go.   And while TV was always her first love, the camaraderie of Z89 quickly pull...

"Cousin" Danny Corsun shares much in common with many of our alumni - a New York kid who liked sports and went to Syracuse.  But as you'll hear today, his life's journey is as unique as they come. Danny started at WJPZ doing sports, and after the station moved to FM, he found his way to the Crazy Morning Crew. There,  he and the late Larry Barron teamed up for one of the most prominent AM drive sh...

In her current role at LinkedIn and Microsoft, Jeanne Schad (Class of 1994) specializes in employee engagement.  So it's not surprising that she's part of the team that's working to make the WJPZ Alumni Association and Hall of Fame more inclusive. We start with our favorite native Iowan's backstory.  Jeanne's parents owned a radio station, and she had her FCC license before her driver's license!  ...

For episode 89 of this podcast, we wanted to pay tribute to a man who sits on the Mount Rushmore of WJPZ History, Hall of Famer Larry Barron, from the Class of 1987.  As we celebrate his life, career, and mentorship, we are joined by several guests.  Pete Bowers was Larry's high school radio station teacher and advisor, and the man who his partly reponsible for the long list of Michiganders in the...

You might say Shruti Marathe was destined to be General Manager of WJPZ.   She followed other alumni in working at her high school radio station in New Jersey.   And when she got to Syracuse, her peer mentor was none other than Sam Kandell. Shruti, or "Loops," was, like so many of us, taken by the culture and family environment of Z89.  She quickly became an AP on the Z Morning Zoo and learned jus...

Since graduating SU in 1996, Kafele Khalfani has done it all - moving from the advertising world to following his passion to help young people. Today you'll hear about his career in higher education, as well as his time fostering and adopting kids. Kafele saw a brochure for Syracuse University with a picture of Rick Wright at Z89, and he immediately put all his eggs into an orange basket.  He appl...

Eva Zymaris, Class of 2014, has gone from Z89 News Director to Emmy winning reporter in New Haven Connecticut.  And she credits so much of her career success to the WJPZ family. This New Jersey news aficionado quickly learned that Syracuse was the school for her.  As a sophomore, despite her desire to pursue a career in television, she was drawn to WJPZ.  She mentions the culture set by folks like...

Today you will hear two incredible stories from Sal Capaccio, Class of 1995.   The first is his own "origin story."   At 37 years old, he quit his job to follow his dream. He and his wife moved back to his hometown of Buffalo for part time work on the sports station there.  Through hard work, perserverance, networking, and other lessons he learned at WJPZ, he's now a radio and podcast host, as wel...

Today's guest gobbled up every airshift he could, and now makes his living directing commercials, after learning under Ridley Scott. Scott Bergstein came to Syracuse, like many, chasing the sportscaster dream.  When he saw what a soon-to-be-famous sportscaster floormate was doing, he decided to go in another direction.  Leaning into his passion for storytelling, he joined Happy Dave Dwyer's bunch...

WJPZ has formed many deep bonds and friendships - and that is certainly the case for Matt Gehring and Sam Kandell, who served as PD and GM respectively, for the Class of 2018. As you'll hear, their origin stories differ greatly, but they've been thick as thieves since fate brought them together on Boland 8 as freshmen.   Soon, Matt, a self professed music geek, and Sam, a die-hard sports fan, were...

A few days before Banquet 2023, Jag sat down with fellow Massachusetts Native Julie Bruno from the Class of 1985.   Julie's from the small town of Mansfield, and was the first in her family to go to college, and quickly went from being a big fish in a small pond to the opposite. She met people from the far away lands of Long Island and New Jersey, and learned that she (gasp) had a wicked accent.  ...

(Thanks to alum and Newhouse professor Tina Perkins for editing this week's episode.) Mike Murphy, from the WJPZ Class of 1995, has gone from Z89 sports to the face of sports in the state of New Hampshire, having called multiple sports for the University of New Hampshire, minor league baseball, and more. Like many of us, when Mike found out he wasn't good at playing sports, he wanted to work in sp...

Today we visit with Krista LePard, Class of 2012.  She's a Cleveland native who loves getting paid to watch sports.  And her and her husband Clay's career paths brough them  back to her hometown. Krista was more focused on TV when she got to campus, but always looked across the hall and saw how much fun Alex Brewer and the crew were having at WJPZ.  She knew she didn't want to do sports at Z89, sh...

Pete Gianesini, '94, did not technically work at WJPZ as a student.  But nobody would doubt that he's an adopted member of the Z89 family.  He's supported the station and its members from his time as a student, through his long tenure at ESPN, and now in his role as newly-elected President of the Syracuse University Alumni Association. Pete grew up in Connecticut, where his dream job was play-by-p...

"Goofy" Bette Kestin, Class of 1993, and currently Old Navy's Director of Media Strategy and Investment, is today's guest.   This New Jersey native did not join WJPZ until her junior year, but quickly made up for last time, doing everything from commercial traffic to public service.  She jokes that she did jobs "that nobody else wanted."  She was also part of a very small skeleton crew that kept W...