Princeton Alumni Weekly Podcasts

On the surface, Kieran Setiya *02 had nothing to complain about. He had earned tenure as a philosophy professor; he’d published books and journal articles; he enjoyed teaching. But something was missing. “However worthwhile it seemed to teach another class or write another essay, I suddenly was aware, in a way I hadn’t been, of all the things in my life I wasn’t going to do,” Setiya says. He was having a midlife crisis, and he worked through it by talking with friends and digging into philosophical texts. In a new book, Midlife: A Philosophical Guide, Setiya shares what he learned. He spoke with PAW about some of the key takeaways — and the things he still struggles with.

Doctor and health administrator Alicia Brooks Christy ’77 talks about her path through Princeton and remembers her mother, who completed college as a nontraditional undergrad and supported her daughter in college and medical school. “She always believed in me,” Christy says, “which helped me to believe in myself.” (Season 4, Episode 10)

Scott McVay ’55 has written a memoir, Surprise Encounters, featuring vignettes drawn from decades working at universities and foundations and in the sciences. In a recent oral-history interview, he shared stories about his many ties to Princeton, and in the excerpts here, he speaks about a pair of notable Princetonians: former president Robert Goheen ’40 *48 and former provost Neil Rudenstine ’56. (Season 4, Episode 9)

Sebastian Abbot ’98 first heard about Football Dreams, an ambitious Qatari-backed talent search that aimed to identify promising soccer prospects in Africa, when he was an Associated Press correspondent in Cairo. He returned to the subject a few years later, digging deeper into the story by profiling three of the program’s prominent players for a new book, The Away Game: The Epic Search for Soccer’s Next Superstars. The book is Abbot’s first, and writing it was tremendously rewarding, he says. “If you have an idea that you feel passionate enough about and that you sort of can’t stand the idea of a book not being written about that subject, then I would dive in — but do it with eyes wide open,” he says. “It’ll be harder than anything you’ve ever done.”

Aida Pacheco '77 came to Princeton from a predominantly black and Latino high school in nearby Trenton, where teachers said she wasn't cut out for the Ivy League. Her early experiences on campus reinforced that fear. But when Pacheco was on the verge of dropping out, a supportive friend changed her mind. (Season 4, Episode 8)

Anthony D’Amato ’10 has come a long way since he began writing and recording songs in his Princeton dorm room nine years ago. He’s released three full-length albums and toured across the world, and his indie/folk and Americana-inspired music has been compared to the likes of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. In an interview with PAW's Allie Wenner, D'Amato talks about his Princeton roots, the touring life, and what it's like to be on the road in the current political climate. The podcast includes performances of "Honey That's Not All" and "Rain On A Strange Roof." You can hear more from Anthony on Spotify and Apple Music, or on his website, anthonydamatomusic.com

As an undergrad, Bill Farrell ’77 was proud to coach Princeton’s fledgling women’s track and field squad. Decades later, he found similar joy helping classmates to distribute much-needed wheelchairs in South America. (Season 4, Episode 7)

For Simone Schloss ’79, reconnecting with an old boyfriend at Alumni Day turned into a love story, with a 36-year gap in the middle. “You never know how things are going to turn out,” she says. “And it’s great being in love with your best friend.” (Season 4, Episode 6)

Are we entering a new era of the activist athlete? Will the FBI sting have a lasting impact on college basketball? And why is Olympic curling so popular? We talk about these questions and more with Sean Gregory ’98, a senior writer at Time magazine, in the January episode of PAW’s Q&A podcast.

In 2015-16, journalist and author Helen Thorpe ’87 sat in on a high school English-acquisition class for teenaged refugees from across the globe. She watched her subjects’ growth and struggles within their new environment and learned their stories, which mostly included displacement due to war or gang violence in their home countries. As the 2016 presidential primaries gave way to the political ascent of Donald Trump, Thorpe extended her reporting into 2017 and recounts the ways the new administration has affected America’s policy on refugee resettlement. Her book is called The Newcomers: Finding Refuge, Friendship and Hope in an American Classroom, and in this month’s podcast, she speaks with PAW’s Carrie Compton about the process of reporting and writing it.

Owen Curtis ’72 *75 reflects on the differences between ’70s-era Princeton hippies and preps, why TV broadcasters were right to be wary of the Princeton band, and how it feels to be pranked by legendary basketball coach Pete Carril. (Season 4, Episode 5)

John Stewart ’77 came to Princeton with a few family stories in mind, thanks to his mother, who’d worked at Firestone Library, and his father, a former Princeton Alumni Weekly editor. He found a campus that was much different than the one his parents had known, and his memories of the University include the friendships he made at Princeton Inn College (now Forbes). “At the time it seemed quite isolated from the rest of the University,” he says. “When you got back there you sort of stayed put.” (Season 4, Episode 4)

PAW’s Allie Wenner sits down with William Pugh ’20, co-founder of the “Woke Wednesdays” podcast, a new student-produced show that gives Princeton students (and guests) a platform to discuss issues relating to race, social justice, gender, sexuality, and more. Pugh talks about what it means to be “woke,” why he thinks it’s important for young people to speak out about controversial topics, and why he really hopes that people disagree with some of things that are said on the show.

After giving birth to a son as an undergraduate, J.C. Alvarez ’77 stayed in school, juggling the work of a student, mom, and wife. “While it’s not a journey I would recommend for everyone,” she says, “I knew it was the right journey for me.” (Season 4, Episode 3)

Anthropology professor Carolyn Rouse discusses her research trip to interview Donald Trump supporters in rural California, her “Trumplandia” project, the reasons why she hasn’t watched cable TV news this year, and how listening can be “a radical act.”

When Hale Bradt ’52 began reading his late father’s letters from World War II, the words “just grabbed me, viscerally,” he says. After decades of research, including trips to the Pacific islands where his father served, Bradt wrote about how the war reshaped his family. (Season 4, Episode 2)

Mathematician Sasha Fradkin ’06 *11, co-author of the forthcoming book Funville Adventures, discusses the perks of teaching young children (“they’re not afraid of math”) and her tips for introducing higher-level concepts to elementary schoolers.

Valerie Bell ’77, the first black student and first woman to be voted class president at Princeton, recalls the sense of pride she felt when she led her classmates through FitzRandolph Gate at Commencement. (Season 4, Episode 1)

Last month, on the Greek island of Lesbos, when a smoke-filled riot broke out at a camp housing migrants seeking entry into Europe, the first journalists on the scene were Princeton undergraduates — students in a summer global journalism course taught by Joe Stephens, the Ferris Professor of Journalism in residence. Their work made headlines in the English-language version of Kathimerini, a leading Greek newspaper, and The New York Times international edition. We recently spoke with two of the students, Talya Nevins ’18 and Alice Maiden ’19, about the lessons they learned from the course. Stories from the seminar are available at commons.princeton.edu/globalreporting2017.

Samantha Walravens ’90, co-author of Geek Girl Rising: Inside the Sisterhood Shaking Up Tech (St. Martin’s Press), discusses how women are making their own opportunities in the supposedly male-dominated Silicon Valley in an interview with PAW associate editor Carrie Compton. This is the first in a new series of interviews with alumni and faculty.