SoundAffect

SoundAffect is a podcast series of conversations with smart people about stuff that affects our world, and how we affect it.

Episodes

037 Sharon Contreras on ensuring a high-quality education for all children

May 17, 2023 • 38 mins

Dr. Sharon Contreras is a lifelong advocate for ensuring all children can access a high-quality, public education. Drawing from her own childhood experiences, her tenure as a high school English teacher and her career progression, which includes being the first woman of color to lead one of New York State’s largest school districts, she is a consistent innovator in public education. On this episode, she relates some of her guiding ...

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036 Daniel E. Dawes, JD on how to overcome deep-rooted challenges in the American health care system

February 24, 2023 • 53 mins

From his childhood on a rural Nebraskan farm to the negotiating tables in our nation’s capitol, Daniel Dawes has combined his lifelong passion for health equity, political acumen and confidence in a collaborative process to create real and powerful changes in the American healthcare system. With contagious hope and a non-partisan process, the widely respected health equity and policy expert leverages his understanding of the root ...

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035 Bakari Sellers on a heavy heart, patience and a lot of work to do

April 1, 2022 • 18 mins

A child of the civil rights movement, a trial lawyer and the youngest individual ever to be elected to the South Carolina Legislature — as well as the youngest African American elected official anywhere in the nation, Bakari Sellers has known great personal loss and earned historic public victories. On this SoundAffect, Megan Hayes speaks with Bakari about cancel culture, the most valuable currency, relationships and being biparti...

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034 Monique Johnson on beating the survival odds, succeeding beyond expectations, and channeling her power to help others

January 14, 2022 • 25 mins

Monique Johnson's drive, dedication and joy are undeniable. Born with diastrophic dysplasia dwarfism and scoliosis, doctors predicted she would not live past the age of 6. Now 36, with a business degree and a law degree, Johnson is a successful entrepreneur and artist who touches the lives around the world with her incredible tale of perseverance and her gifts of humor, painting and motivational speaking. Overcoming obstacles each ...

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033 Baker Perry and Panuru Sherpa on installing the highest weather station in the world.

December 15, 2021 • 32 mins

Host Megan Hayes welcomes Dr. Baker Perry, a high altitude climber and higher education professional who along with a team sponsored by Rolex and National Geographic installed the world's highest weather station on top of Mount Everest. On this SoundAffect he is joined my Panuru Sherpa who helped lead the team.

Transcript

Megan Hayes: Well, it's been a long time since we've been able to record a SoundAffect podcast and I am so very...

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032 Nikki Giovanni on holding on and letting go

April 1, 2020 • 27 mins

A Civil Rights activist and world-renowned poet, Nikki Giovanni's journey led her from Knoxville, TN to the forefront of the late 1960s Black Arts Movement. On the path she fell in love with hospitals and space, befriended gangsters and nuns, and determined that writing is not about keeping score - but it is about making a point.

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031 Poet Engineer Richard Blanco on documenting a bridge generation and achieving artistic success without teenage angst or selling out

June 14, 2019 • 59 mins

Richard Blanco earned his engineering license and MFA in poetry in the same year. Within a short time, he found himself among a group of only five poets who have read their works at a United States presidential inauguration. Through the fame, the newfound career success as a poet, and the book tours and speaking engagements, he keeps it real.

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030 FEMA Administrator Brock Long and App State professor Dr. Shea Tuberty on resiliency

February 5, 2019 • 42 mins

What happens when the FEMA Administrator and a water quality expert and biology professor start talking about resiliency and the effects of climate change? The discussion moves from what it's like being on the front lines of America's worst disasters, to the interplay of environmental, social and economic resiliency, to how Appalachian is cultivating resilient students.

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029 Stewart Harris on free speech, hate speech and protected speech

December 14, 2018 • 41 mins

Constitutional law scholar and radio show host Stewart Harris considers the First Amendment protection of speech and expression, and how they play out on college campuses.

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028 Jesse Jackson on polarization, politics and the power of the everyday citizen

October 26, 2018 • 38 mins

The Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., shares lessons from his experiences as an activist a politician and an advocate, and stories of his days working alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Civil Rights movement, his two runs for president and his current work to encourage young people to vote.

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027 Damon Williams on how to move the needle on campus diversity and inclusion

September 26, 2018 • 54 mins

Dr. Damon Williams, chief catalyst and founder of the Center for Strategic Diversity Leadership & Social Innovation, joins Megan Hayes to talk about leadership, possibility and the imperatives of diversity, equity, inclusion, change and the centennial generation.

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026 Janine Benyus on 3.8 billion-year-old solutions to today’s design challenges

August 15, 2018 • 37 mins

Author and Co-Founder of Biomimicry 3.8 Janine Benyus sits down with host Megan Hayes to explain the art and science of biomimicry and how nature may hold the key to the biggest scientific and social challenges of our time.

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025 Jehanne Dubrow on claiming a space for the military spouse in literature

June 1, 2018 • 33 mins

Prize-winning poet Jehanne Dubrow reads from her books “Dots and Dashes" and "Stateside," and talks with host Megan Hayes about society's view of the military spouse, the power of the arts, grief, mint chocolate bayonets and the importance of a good haircut.

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024 Chitra Divakaruni on bridging cultural and ethnic diversity through storytelling

March 24, 2018 • 18 mins

University Communication's Dave Blanks interviews Chitra Divakaruni about her book "One Amazing Thing." The book was chosen for Appalachian's 2017-2018 Common Reading Program.

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023 100th Podcast Spectacular

January 31, 2018 • 55 mins

Megan Hayes, Troy Tuttle, Garrett Ford and Dave Blanks chat in studio and share their favorite moments in UComm podcast history.

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022 Dr. Nikolas Jordan on getting uncomfortable, taking risks, screwing up...

September 27, 2017 • 24 mins

Dr. Nikolas Jordan, Associate Dean of the Reich College of Education and licensed marriage and family therapist, gets real about getting real, taking risks, screwing up and - very importantly - staying in relationship.

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021 What two South African geographers learned from Nelson Mandela about rugby, restitution and removing monuments

September 14, 2017 • 52 mins

Robert Haswell and Dr. Darrell Kruger, geography scholars from South Africa who now hold leadership positions in local government and academia, respectively, discuss the unifying power of rugby, monuments to a nation's troubled history and lessons learned from Nelson Mandela.

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020 Dr. Nancy Love on lyrics and the First Amendment

April 10, 2017 • 25 mins

Dr. Nancy Love, political scientist who teaches critical, democratic and feminist theory at Appalachian, explores how music motivates, and our responsibility to recognize its power.

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019 Dr. Lee Bird on protecting the First Amendment

April 10, 2017 • 22 mins

First Amendment advocate Dr. Lee Bird urges students at Appalachian State University and on campuses everywhere to engage in dialog, especially when they don’t agree.

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018 FIRE Director Robert L. Shibley talks about freedom of speech at Appalachian State

April 10, 2017 • 24 mins

Hear FIRE founder Robert Shibley on why freedom of speech must be protected and how Appalachian students and administrators can be sure it is.

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SoundAffect

Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}037 Sharon Contreras on ensuring a high-quality education for all children

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}036 Daniel E. Dawes, JD on how to overcome deep-rooted challenges in the American health care system

035 Bakari Sellers on a heavy heart, patience and a lot of work to do

034 Monique Johnson on beating the survival odds, succeeding beyond expectations, and channeling her power to help others

033 Baker Perry and Panuru Sherpa on installing the highest weather station in the world.

032 Nikki Giovanni on holding on and letting go

031 Poet Engineer Richard Blanco on documenting a bridge generation and achieving artistic success without teenage angst or selling out

030 FEMA Administrator Brock Long and App State professor Dr. Shea Tuberty on resiliency

029 Stewart Harris on free speech, hate speech and protected speech

028 Jesse Jackson on polarization, politics and the power of the everyday citizen

027 Damon Williams on how to move the needle on campus diversity and inclusion

026 Janine Benyus on 3.8 billion-year-old solutions to today’s design challenges

025 Jehanne Dubrow on claiming a space for the military spouse in literature

024 Chitra Divakaruni on bridging cultural and ethnic diversity through storytelling

023 100th Podcast Spectacular

022 Dr. Nikolas Jordan on getting uncomfortable, taking risks, screwing up...

021 What two South African geographers learned from Nelson Mandela about rugby, restitution and removing monuments

020 Dr. Nancy Love on lyrics and the First Amendment

019 Dr. Lee Bird on protecting the First Amendment

018 FIRE Director Robert L. Shibley talks about freedom of speech at Appalachian State

Popular Podcasts

037 Sharon Contreras on ensuring a high-quality education for all children

036 Daniel E. Dawes, JD on how to overcome deep-rooted challenges in the American health care system