-
JJ Haines Describes How Mindfulness Shaped His Life And Career In Japan
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… Listen ⇢
-
Valerie Leipheimer Rediscovers The Joy Of Art Through A New Lens: Motherhood
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… Listen ⇢
-
Anand Pandian Asks What Stands Between Us — And What Could Bring Us Together
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… Listen ⇢
-
Aaron Carroll Explains How Questioning The System Became His Life’s Work
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… Listen ⇢
-
Geoff Klein Reflects On The Big Choices And Chances That Shaped His Path
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… Listen ⇢
-
Russ Hanser Seized Opportunity Where – And When – Law And Tech Collided
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… Listen ⇢
-
Elizabeth Doyle Shows How An Amherst Degree Can Lead Somewhere Beautifully Unexpected
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… Listen ⇢
-
John Haskell Chose Russia, And One Forged Signature Changed Everything
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… Listen ⇢
-
Ricky Quinones Has A Grammy, And Yet Still Approaches Music With Humility
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… Listen ⇢
Never Miss An Episode.
Subscribe to get automatic updates when your host, Matt Collins, publishes every new episode.
Matt Collins' Blog 