After Amherst

After Amherst is a podcast that features stories of Amherst College graduates. Together, we reflect on our lives since we last collided on campus, the impact a liberal arts education has made on our lives, college memories, and our hopes and ambitions for the road ahead.After Amherst is an independent alumni project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Amherst College.

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Episodes 98

Jeremy Kugel Uses Humor To Create Connections We’ll Never Forget
5d ago · 56:19
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 to dissolve self‑consciousness, spark vulnerability, and create intimacy in places that are usually serious, including the world of finance. We talk about where that instinct came from, how he’s carrie
JoJo Thirasilpa Pushes His Learning To The Edges Of Land, Sea, And Sky
8d ago · 51:52
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 Marathon des Sables, trained as a scuba instructor, and recently earned his pilot’s license. That means he seeks knowledge in places where many of us would find discomfort. Jojo reflects on how explo
The Pod Has A New Name: After Amherst
8d ago · 1:15
I've been interviewing exclusively people with an Amherst connection for several years now. It's time the podcast's name reflects that.
James Glazer Discovered What Matters After Losing What Mattered Most
8d ago · 1:21:44
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's true for all of us: the most finite resource any of us have is time. In that awakening, he rethought his career path, his definition of success, and the way he wanted to spend his time. Influenced b
Keya Khayatian Found His Voice and the Power of Storytelling
8d ago · 1:06:31
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” and discovering Amherst College, where he came into his own and developed the confidence that comes from failing and trying again. He shares what makes a storyteller’s voice unmistakable, how he advoc
Tarsha Echols Is A Portrait Of Resilience
8d ago · 53:05
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 Covid turned out to be severe pneumonia and life‑threatening blood clots. She flatlined, slipped into a coma, and somehow came all the way back. Tarsha talks about the resilience she developed early in li
Jo Park Shows How Observation Becomes A Way of Seeing Ourselves
8d ago · 54:25
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 shape identity. We also explore Jo’s research into the creative work produced by Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II, including the rock gardens whose arrangements reveal how people cre
Edward Lees Built A Life Balancing Markets, Nature, Poetry, And Self‑Discovery
8d ago · 41:52
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, two practices that ground him and give him outlets for inspiration. Edward also reflects on a more personal dimension of the last several years: understanding autism within his family and recognizing s
Matt “Rudy” Ronfeldt Reminds Us That Clarity Begins With Space To Listen
8d ago · 52:42
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 monastery, and a vow to make compassion his North Star reshaped everything that came after. That included walking away from the foundation that physics had provided and pursuing a career in education
Peter Tothy Treats People, Not Cancer
8d ago · 50:29
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 counselor at Amherst College to his clinic in northern Indiana, he has learned how to treat people with honesty and deep empathy. Or, as he puts so emphatically in the context of his life's calling, Peter tre
Bill Bares Redefines Success For The Second Half Of Life
8d ago · 52:07
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 designing a more relational, community‑centered future — much the way he sits at the center of jazz ensembles as a pianist. In this conversation, Bill talks candidly about the psychological forces tha
Kate Lewis Shows How A Liberal Arts Mind Thrives At The Center Of Big Tech
8d ago · 54:29
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 too, bringing her editorial acumen into one of the most influential technology companies on the planet. Kate exudes the power of optimism, curiosity, and good old fashioned cheerfulness. She makes a
Sara Keen Explains Why Alignment Starts with Seeing People Clearly
8d ago · 1:10:04
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 respect for other people’s perspectives. Professionally, Sara has spent more than 20 years helping organizations work through complexity, aligning teams, repairing strained partnerships, and guiding leaders
JJ Haines Describes How Mindfulness Shaped His Life And Career In Japan
8d ago · 55:13
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 Lehman collapse, and now his role as Managing Director and Country Manager for Japan at ING. He reflects on the curiosities that first pulled him toward Japan, the self‑awareness practices that have shaped
Valerie Leipheimer Rediscovers The Joy Of Art Through A New Lens: Motherhood
8d ago · 50:18
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 professional calling. Along the way, she enjoyed a long detour through Florence that sparked a deep love of Italian culture. She has passed her passion for arts and culture to her 17‑year‑old son, wh
Anand Pandian Asks What Stands Between Us — And What Could Bring Us Together
8d ago · 48:30
Anthropologist Anand Pandian joins me to explore the everyday walls—physical, social, and mental—that shape modern American life. Drawing from his book, Something Between Us, he explains how the boundaries built into our homes, cars, and information sources make it harder to imagine living in community with people who might think differently or come from another place. We talk about what it takes to lower those barriers and create better ways to coexist. Anand also reflects on Ayya’s Accounts: A Ledger of Hope in Modern India, his book about his family's ancestral homeland told through his gra
Aaron Carroll Explains How Questioning The System Became His Life’s Work
8d ago · 52:11
Aaron Carroll has spent his entire life following the instincts Amherst sharpened, especially the belief that learning never really stops. In this conversation, he traces the path from his first‑floor Morrow dorm room (where Bruno's pizza arrived through the window) to a career shaped by a liberal arts way of thinking. Aaron talks about the moment in residency when he nearly left medicine and how questioning assumptions became the through‑line of his work. We explore how the habits he built at Amherst show up everywhere: in the way he communicates complex ideas, in his drive to understand syst
Geoff Klein Reflects On The Big Choices And Chances That Shaped His Path
8d ago · 47:20
Fans of the pod will know how often my college classmates’ lives have unfolded in ways none of us could have predicted back in the mid‑1990s. Geoff Klein is a perfect example of that non‑linearity. After Amherst, he nearly landed at Leo Burnett before being told (accurately) that he seemed more interested in film than advertising. That observation set off a chain of reinventions: working for Seth Godin in New York, heading to Temple Law without any intention of practicing, and ultimately moving to Los Angeles to work in the story department at major studios like Paramount and MGM. Just when it
Russ Hanser Seized Opportunity Where – And When – Law And Tech Collided
8d ago · 1:03:26
Russ Hanser arrived at Amherst as a self-described nerd with big ambitions: maybe law, maybe journalism, maybe even director of the CIA. His liberal arts education sharpened his thinking and ultimately launched him into a career shaping telecommunications and technology policy at the highest levels. Today, Russ serves as Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Chief Legal Officer of NCTA – The Internet & Television Association. In this episode, he reflects on how early interests in politics and computers converged into a career navigating spectrum policy, AI governance, broadband access, a
Elizabeth Doyle Shows How An Amherst Degree Can Lead Somewhere Beautifully Unexpected
8d ago · 56:26
Elizabeth Doyle is one of the proprietors of Doyle & Doyle, a purveyor of antique and vintage jewelry based in New York City. We talk about her wonderfully serendipitous path from Amherst College to the Gemological Institute of America, and then into building a jewelry business that has now spanned decades. Her journey is a delightful example of the good things that can happen from saying 'yes,' learning by doing, and staying open to whatever unfolds. Elizabeth also gives a window into what makes her so good at her work. It's so liberal arts. She knows the chemistry, histories, and stories of
John Haskell Chose Russia, And One Forged Signature Changed Everything
8d ago · 1:20:10
John Haskell has spent over 20 years living in Russia, a decision that began as a calculated professional bet in the post-Soviet 1990s and became, almost accidentally, a permanent life. John walks us through what it has meant to build a family, a business, and a sense of home in a place most Americans only know through headlines, and why the reality on the ground often looks very different from what we imagine from afar. We talk about the moment that anchored him there: a near-surreal episode involving forged documents, vanished partners, and a company secretly sold out from under him. Out of
Ricky Quinones Has A Grammy, And Yet Still Approaches Music With Humility
8d ago · 51:17
Ricky Quinones has spent his life exploring and expressing music across genres, geographies, and stages, from Amherst to New York, including Broadway, and Grammy-winning collaborations. Ricky opens up about his musical evolution, the artists who shaped him, and why the blues remains the emotional and structural foundation of everything he plays (and, surprisingly, what he sometimes hears in the music of JS Bach). We talk about the lessons learned from proximity to greatness, playing alongside artists like Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, and India.Arie (with whom he won a Grammy). Ricky reflects ca
Sonia Nagorski Reads Earth’s Past To Help Predict And Improve Its Future
8d ago · 44:26
As a very amateur geologist, I've been looking forward to catching up with Sonia Nagorski ever since my podcast project started. That's because she's a geologist whose work focuses on understanding Earth’s history and what it can tell us about the world we humans are shaping today. Perhaps not surprisingly, she and I share a sense of wonder about the mind-bending qualities of Earth time and the pleasures of connecting to the geology right under our feet. We talk about her two decades living and teaching in Alaska, the sense of community that comes from life at the edge of wilderness, and her r
Mike Gold Makes The Case For Big Swings That Lead To Practical Good
8d ago · 46:50
Mike Gold has built a life defined by range. He ran an art gallery in New York. He scaled an animation studio to nearly 200 artists. He has built backend systems for massively multiplayer online games, collaborated with DARPA on next-generation engineering tools, and even mined gold on a beach in Nome, Alaska. Mike traces the throughline that unites these pursuits: he loves learning, assembling strong teams, and building systems that improve the human experience. Today that compass points to two long-term missions: helping more children learn to read earlier, and reducing serious sports injuri
Asim Ahmed Reflects On Caregiving, Infectious Disease Sleuthing, And The Soundtrack Of His Life
8d ago · 50:50
Asim Ahmed has three passions: the detection and workings of infectious diseases, sports (especially his hometown St. Louis teams), and music, and in this wide-ranging conversation, he shows how each one has shaped his life. We talk about his one-of-a-kind custom jerseys (clever mashups of teams, players, and music references), his journey from pediatric infectious disease (ID) in academic medicine to metagenomic diagnostics in biotech, and the “detective work” mindset that drew him to ID in the first place. We also close with something deeply personal: Asim reflects on the reality of caring f

Episodes

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More Society shows

After Amherst

Episodes 98

Jeremy Kugel Uses Humor To Create Connections We’ll Never Forget

JoJo Thirasilpa Pushes His Learning To The Edges Of Land, Sea, And Sky

The Pod Has A New Name: After Amherst

James Glazer Discovered What Matters After Losing What Mattered Most

Keya Khayatian Found His Voice and the Power of Storytelling

Tarsha Echols Is A Portrait Of Resilience

Jo Park Shows How Observation Becomes A Way of Seeing Ourselves

Edward Lees Built A Life Balancing Markets, Nature, Poetry, And Self‑Discovery

Matt “Rudy” Ronfeldt Reminds Us That Clarity Begins With Space To Listen

Peter Tothy Treats People, Not Cancer

Bill Bares Redefines Success For The Second Half Of Life

Kate Lewis Shows How A Liberal Arts Mind Thrives At The Center Of Big Tech

Sara Keen Explains Why Alignment Starts with Seeing People Clearly

JJ Haines Describes How Mindfulness Shaped His Life And Career In Japan

Valerie Leipheimer Rediscovers The Joy Of Art Through A New Lens: Motherhood

Anand Pandian Asks What Stands Between Us — And What Could Bring Us Together

Aaron Carroll Explains How Questioning The System Became His Life’s Work

Geoff Klein Reflects On The Big Choices And Chances That Shaped His Path

Russ Hanser Seized Opportunity Where – And When – Law And Tech Collided

Elizabeth Doyle Shows How An Amherst Degree Can Lead Somewhere Beautifully Unexpected

John Haskell Chose Russia, And One Forged Signature Changed Everything

Ricky Quinones Has A Grammy, And Yet Still Approaches Music With Humility

Sonia Nagorski Reads Earth’s Past To Help Predict And Improve Its Future

Mike Gold Makes The Case For Big Swings That Lead To Practical Good

Asim Ahmed Reflects On Caregiving, Infectious Disease Sleuthing, And The Soundtrack Of His Life

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Episodes 98

Jeremy Kugel Uses Humor To Create Connections We’ll Never Forget

JoJo Thirasilpa Pushes His Learning To The Edges Of Land, Sea, And Sky

The Pod Has A New Name: After Amherst

James Glazer Discovered What Matters After Losing What Mattered Most

Keya Khayatian Found His Voice and the Power of Storytelling

Tarsha Echols Is A Portrait Of Resilience

Jo Park Shows How Observation Becomes A Way of Seeing Ourselves

Edward Lees Built A Life Balancing Markets, Nature, Poetry, And Self‑Discovery

Matt “Rudy” Ronfeldt Reminds Us That Clarity Begins With Space To Listen

Peter Tothy Treats People, Not Cancer

Bill Bares Redefines Success For The Second Half Of Life

Kate Lewis Shows How A Liberal Arts Mind Thrives At The Center Of Big Tech

Sara Keen Explains Why Alignment Starts with Seeing People Clearly

JJ Haines Describes How Mindfulness Shaped His Life And Career In Japan

Valerie Leipheimer Rediscovers The Joy Of Art Through A New Lens: Motherhood

Anand Pandian Asks What Stands Between Us — And What Could Bring Us Together

Aaron Carroll Explains How Questioning The System Became His Life’s Work

Geoff Klein Reflects On The Big Choices And Chances That Shaped His Path

Russ Hanser Seized Opportunity Where – And When – Law And Tech Collided

Elizabeth Doyle Shows How An Amherst Degree Can Lead Somewhere Beautifully Unexpected

John Haskell Chose Russia, And One Forged Signature Changed Everything

Ricky Quinones Has A Grammy, And Yet Still Approaches Music With Humility

Sonia Nagorski Reads Earth’s Past To Help Predict And Improve Its Future

Mike Gold Makes The Case For Big Swings That Lead To Practical Good

Asim Ahmed Reflects On Caregiving, Infectious Disease Sleuthing, And The Soundtrack Of His Life