twitterhood podcast with Dylan Tweney ‘91
During the stellar 2008 edition of the annual Lord Jeff beatdown, err, Williams/Amherst game, Dick Swart asked me why I don’t post to Ephblog more often. It goes back to my natural hesitation to promote a show I do on Ephblog if the only connection to Williams is, you know, me. Well, not this time, as I do not only my first interview with an Eph that is not reunion related, but with a guy who literally lived across the hall from me on the third floor of Williams C in 1986-7, and that is Dylan Tweney of Wired.com.
Now, about this new show, twitterhood. I’ve been playing around with Twitter for only a couple of months, though, thanks to posts from Dylan and Stephen O’Grady ‘97, I’ve known about it for a lot longer. I came up with the idea for the show in the men’s locker room of my gym, stunned that nobody had ever thought to talk to the people who use Twitter. Chronologically, Dylan was the first twitterhood interview I conducted, though he is the third to be posted, the previous two being with Cyan Banister and Guy Kawasaki. Future shows will be with Peter Shankman of Help A Reporter Out/Geek Factory and Jesse Thorn of The Sound of Young America. It’s a weekly show, so if you use Twitter and have a good story, drop me a line.
And for those wondering, I haven’t dropped the Biography show, it just got moved to a Jan 2009 start, and yes, I am very happy that The Invisible Hand has been on the front page of iTunes podcasts since last Tuesday. BTW, if you know of a media buyer who’d be willing to hear a test run of a pitch in return for a decent bottle of Oregon red, let me know ;)
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
Dick Swart, ‘56 and Chris Gondek ‘90, Portland, OR November 8, 2008
Eph Interviews Podcast Class of 1958 Howie Abbott
And in the final episode of this series, I speak with Howie Abbott and we discuss just how big Williamstown actually is, why being on Disciplinary Probation does not lead to potato peeling, and what it meant to “get lucky” in Williamstown every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday night.
This is the end of this series, and I certainly hope you’ve had as much fun listening to the interviews as I’ve had conducting them. I hope both the classes of 1958 and 1988 have a great time next week at the reunion and I am very sorry I won’t be able to attend.
Eph Interviews Podcast Class of 1988 Tom Smith
In this final episode in the class of 1988 reunion series and penultimate episode in this project, I speak with Tom Smith, who is currently Associate Professor of Chemistry at Williams. Learn about stair diving in Hubbell House, why non-Ephs don’t understand why we will start up a conversation with anyone wearing Williams gear, regardless of age or location, and the heartwarming story of a young man from Vermont who went to Williams even though his early memories of the place would drive most right thinking football fans away forever.
The last episode of the project is set to be recorded next week, as I have run into a scheduling issue with the guest, so don’t be saddened if there is no show immediately following this one.
Eph Interviews Podcast Class of 1988 Lisa Mandl
In this penultimate episode of the Class of 1988 series, I speak with my other JA, Lisa Mandl. Find out about the cultural and meteorological differences between Williamstown and Vancouver, BC, how she met her husband (though we are getting only her side of the story) and Lisa clears up one of the little mysteries of my Freshman year. Also, both she and Jody Abzug mentioned the infamous Brews and Screws party at Tyler (which had to change it’s name due to administration policy) Does this party still occur?
And yes, Lisa, your ability to ask penetrating questions is still functioning admirably, as I and my wife have been chewing over your observation (not included in the podcast) that my JA’s were from Kansas City and Vancouver, and I married a woman from Kansas City and honeymooned in Vancouver. Thanks loads. ;)
Eph Interviews Podcast Class of 1958 Phil Wilcox
In this episode of Eph Interviews, I speak with Phil Wilcox about moving from Denver in the 50’s to Williamstown and driving the backroads of New England. Whit Stoddard and Lane Faisal make their first appearance on the show.
Eph Interviews Podcast Class of 1988 Jody Abzug
In this episode, I speak with Jody Abzug and learn about life as an Art History major, the irony of her rugby nickname, and the incidental parts of Williams life that she misses.
Eph Interviews Podcast Class of 1958 Lou Lustenburger
This is interview 15 out of 20, and in this episode, I speak with Lou Lustenburger and learn about the Dragon Wagon, why going swimming in Lasell is much nicer than being interrogated by the President of Amherst, and the benefits of keeping a portrait of Winston Churchill in your law office.
Eph Interviews Podcast Class of 1988 Carter Zinn
In this episode, I speak with Carter Zinn, the CC President from 1987-88, about the efforts to address race relations during his time at Williams, and, on a less serious note, why a 2 gallon tub of low cal Italian salad dressing can be a very dangerous thing for a Freshman to have.
Eph Interviews Podcast Class of 1958 Chet Lasell
In this episode of Eph Interviews, I speak with Chet Lasell about Professor Bob Waite, the press hoopla over his fraternity’s decision to admit African-Americans and the joys of sportswriting for The Berkshire Eagle in 1957, a magical autumn for the Williams football team.
Eph Interviews Podcast Class of 1988 Scott Berman
Ah, the class of 1988. They graduated my senior year, and in this installment of the show, I speak with Scott Berman, who helped throw a rather infamous party in the Infirmary, a party I remember attending. Human sexuality classes, the hour of power and wandering in the outback, it’s all here.
Eph Interviews Podcast Class of 1958 Ed Hughes
This episode of the series is with Ed Hughes, in which we learn about putting ringers in touch football games on the Freshman Quad and what happens when you have to feed your entire fraternity on a Sunday.
Eph Interviews Podcast Class of 1988 Katie Kent
In today’s episode of Eph Interviews, I speak with Katie Kent, class of 1988 and currently Associate Professor of English and Chair of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at Williams. Learn about her memorable first day in Williamstown and what it’s like to be a faculty member at the college you attended.
Eph Interview Podcast Class of 1958 Jack Kent
In this episode, I speak with Jack Kent and learn about the location of the now vanished Williamstown train station, the lectures of Philosophy Professor Bill Miller and a lost opportunity to go trout fishing with Frankie Todd.
If you like these shows, get ready for one a day for a while. I’ve got a lot of interviews scheduled. For instance, tomorrow, I’ll be talking with Jack’s daughter, Katie Kent ‘88, who teaches English at Williams.
Podcast interview: Charles Morris, The Trillion Dollar Meltdown
I mentioned in the post on my own blog that I enjoyed this interview very much, although I don’t think we ever addressed what is the real strength of his book, which is explaining the crisis in layman’s terms. I know here on Ephblog, SIV’s, laundering tranches of sub-prime mortgages through credit rating agencies and credit-default swaps are old hat, but for those of us who don’t deal with this on a daily basis, The Trillion Dollar Meltdown is a good primer by a bearish market observer. I know he enjoyed the interview, and I am thinking about having him back on later in the year.
I mention in the interview that there were a lot of questions I just never got to. Among those questions were:
Feed for Eph Interviews podcast
I’ve been talking about the feed for a while, but it has taken me a while to get around to it. If you want to subscribe, the URL is http://www.heronandcrane.com/Eph_Interviews.xml
Hopefully, a link will appear on the sidebar of Ephblog, so once this post is off the front page, people will still be able to access it.
Update: Ronit asked if I would create a Feedburner account for this feed. Your wish, as they say…
The new feed is feed://feeds.feedburner.com/EphInterviews. This will allow me to get some stats, as well as make it easier to integrate into Ephblog.
Eph Interview Podcast Class of 1958 Jim Murphy
Two in a row? Yes, and in this installment of the class of 58 reunion series, I speak with Jim Murphy. Learn about sheep shearing, the “Fiji Fun House”, motorcycles and how a man’s fortune can turn on a rainy day.
Eph Interview Podcast Class of 1958 Jim Conlan
As I work my way through the class of 1958, I had a chat with Jim Conlan about how different the campus was on weekends when women were around, as well as how to prepare for a pop quiz in Art History.
I do have another interview that I will be posting tomorrow. I’ve been buried with publisher work, as well as doing my May episode of The Invisible Hand. Of course, the April episode engendered no controversy here on Ephblog, so I may post the May one as well ;)
Eph Interview Podcast Class of 1958 Bruno Quinson
This interview is with Bruno Quinson, Class of 1958, in which we learn about the seductive power of Red Sox baseball games, Wall Ball and acting in French.
Bruno was also extremely helpful in suggesting Ephs to contact. I have to complete interviews with 10 members of the class of 1958 by the reunion, and May is going to be a tricky month for me, with a bit of travel. Will I be able to do it?
Eph Interview Podcast Class of 1958 Joe Young
For my money, one of the best things about both Ephblog and these podcasts is getting to know the men I like to call the “Eisenhower Ephs”, those members of classes from the 50’s. Here on Ephblog, we have the Shirley Temple like sunniness of Frank Uible and the dry wit of Dick Swart (Hope you were able to stay warm last weekend, Dick. That’s an Oregon inside joke) The podcast has already featured David H.T. Kane and in this episode, I speak with Joe Young, the current class secretary for 1958.
For any high school seniors who sweated out the Williams application and kept vigil all winter, please note that not everyone had the experience that Joe had getting into Williams, but it does reinforce the power of fortuna, as the Romans would say, in daily affairs;)
Class of 1988 Podcast with Nicole Melcher
The latest in the 1988 Podcast series is with Nicole Melcher, College Council VP in 1987-88, fellow Kansan, and one my J.A.’s (I will hopefully be interviewing my other J.A., Lisa Mandl, quite soon) Talking to your J.A. for the first time in about 20 years is an intensely nostalgic experience, and what you are hearing is about 10 minutes of what was an hour long conversation. Thank you Dave, for helping me get back in touch with Nicole and Lisa.
Class of 1988 interview with Katie Kessler Chatas
Yet another alum podcast, this one with Katie Kessler Chatas. Learn about the weather, bad haircuts at The Clip Shop (Wow, it’s been a while since that business crossed my mind) and the tacky 70’s party at Mission Park. Do they still have that one?
Eph Interview Podcast, Class of 1958 David H.T. Kane
The first interview in the class of 1958 reunion is with David H.T. Kane. It runs 12:57. Hmm, David Kane. Where have I heard that name before?
Whatever happened to business school?
The latest episode of The Invisible Hand is with Rakesh Khurana of HBS talking about his 2007 book, From Higher Aims to Hired Hands: The Social Transformation of American Business Schools and the Unfulfilled Promise of Management as a Profession. Given the number of Ephs who have gone on to B-School, I thought Ephblog would be an interesting place to post this to get reactions.
One question I’d love to hear some feedback on is the at the end, on whether the subprime crisis will lead to a re-evaluation of how business education is framed for students. I remember all of the handwringing that went on after the crash of 87 and the meltdown of Milken and Drexel, and how B-schools were going to “focus on ethics”. Call me cynical, but I think we are due for another round of chair re-arranging on the top deck, if you know what I mean.
The show runs 36:20 and the link is here. I am not including it on the Ephblog player because it is a fairly big file, and I notice that, on my Mac anyway, all posts that I add audio to end up having the mp3 as an attachment.
Eph Interviews: Class of 1988 Reunion, Episode 1: Dave Kane
As Dave has mentioned, I am putting together some interviews for the class of 1988’s 20th reunion, and hopefully some for the class of 1958’s 50th reunion. First on deck is Dave himself, not only answering the questions he provided you yesterday, but also talking about Ephblog itself. The interview runs a shade under 17 minutes.
Ephs, meet Mary Beard
In my Ides of March post, I mentioned that it would be an excellent thing if Williams were to be able to convince Mary Beard to come speak on campus. Those who heard my interview with her know she is one smart and very witty woman. Here is the beginning of her latest post on her blog:
Lets get rid of the fascist Olympic torch I don’t quite understand how we have forgotten that the “Olympic Torch” ceremony was invented by Hitler and his chums. If ever there was an “invented tradition” well worth stamping out, it is this ridiculous, Fascist-inspired waste of money – which sends a Bunsen Burner around the world at tremendous cost for several months before the Games, manned (and womanned) by people dressed up in pseudo-ancient Greek costume, no doubt feeling very silly.
Read the rest of her post here. Whom do I need to speak with to get this woman on campus?
Williams at Oxford Social Network
The site is wiox.org. It has been active since December, but it went live about the same time that EphBlog switched over to WordPress, and I didn’t want to make an announcement while this blog was switching over, for fear that it wouldn’t get out to the readers.
Anyway, if you know anyone who was part of the program, pass this along and let them know it’s out there. I hope it will be the one stop shop for info leading up to the 25th anniversary of the Williams-Oxford program in 2010.
Podcasts for the Ides of March
Keeping up what seems to be a monthly posting, here are two shows I have done on Roman History.The first is with Adrian Goldsworthy talking about his 2006 book, Caesar: Life of a Colossus. It is one of my favorite shows, mainly because it is the first interview I did for Yale, hence my first professional gig. If you like Casear, this is THE book.The second interview is with Mary Beard, talking about her 2007 book, The Roman Triumph. Mary is the Classics editor at The Times Literary Supplement, the author of an incredibly addictive blog called A Don’s Life and is someone Williams should make every effort to get as a speaker.
Caesar: Life of a Colossus Interview [17:49m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download The Roman Triumph Interview: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadDanger, Danger, Danger!! Williams class makes top 10 “Most Dangerous College Courses”.
So, I’m reading my local news website (KGW.com) and came across a story about how a class at Portland State made the Family Security Matters Second Annual “America’s Most Dangerous College Courses”. Ha, Ha, another nutjob think tank handwringing to get publicity. Then, I went to the site to see the full list, and I’m happy to say that dear old alma mater pulled in at number 9.
9. “Body Politics: Power, Pain, and Pleasure” at Williams College.
Feminist Professor Jana Sawicki has created a politically correct, Lefty gem with her Williams College course that promises to discuss such penetrating questions as, “If bodies and pleasures are historically and socially constituted within unequal power relationships, what can or should we do to transform them?” and “Is the body an inevitable source of resistance and rebellion?”
One look at the course description, and PC words and phrases just jump out at you: only academic Leftists use the terms “unequal power relationships.” Unfortunately, most students can’t decipher Lefty propaganda until after they graduate. Here’s a tip: stay out of this class if you want rational discussions on important political concepts that don’t have anything to do with feminist professors complaining about how the “man” tries to control “their” bodies. You’re likely to come out of this class dumb and brainwashed, and that is dangerous indeed.
If you want to marvel in the full list, it’s right here I can’t say it’s a class that I would choose as an elective, but hey, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. Reaction?
Boy, how did we miss this?
Has it been almost 6 weeks since the last update about Ephblog’s favorite CNBC anchor and the Keely Smith to Jim Cramer’s Louis Prima (how does that grab you, jazz lovers?), Erin Burnett? I only mention this because Dealbreaker had linked to a video of EB98 riding around on a hobby horse during a CNBC segment, only to have that video taken down by the no fun editors there. I hoped to find said clip on YouTube, but found this instead. Before watching this, just remember that most Ephwomen are more like our awesome CRASH-B champ, Diana Davis ‘07 (most Ephs know this, but there could some impressionable high school seniors reading this blog, so better safe than sorry). Sing to us, O muse, about recessions.
