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Catalyze

News & Politics Podcasts

This is Catalyze, a podcast produced by the Morehead-Cain Foundation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. With a wink and a nod to the Foundation's two chemist benefactors—John Motley Morehead III and Gordon Cain—“Catalyze” is meant to represent action, movement, and bringing about change. Our conversations with action-oriented alumni and scholars cover Carolina experiences, career evolutions, individual leadership approaches, personal values, and all kinds of stories of transformation, resilience, and achievement.

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United States

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This is Catalyze, a podcast produced by the Morehead-Cain Foundation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. With a wink and a nod to the Foundation's two chemist benefactors—John Motley Morehead III and Gordon Cain—“Catalyze” is meant to represent action, movement, and bringing about change. Our conversations with action-oriented alumni and scholars cover Carolina experiences, career evolutions, individual leadership approaches, personal values, and all kinds of stories of transformation, resilience, and achievement.

Language:

English

Episodes

Edward Ndopu, UN SDG Advocate for Accessibility and Inclusion, on “radical humanity”

3/21/2023
Humanitarian Edward Ndopu joined Catalyze co-hosts Sarah O’Carroll and Elias Guedira ’26 during his visit to the Morehead-Cain Foundation this spring. Ndopu represents accessibility and inclusion as one of the 17 official UN Advocates for the Sustainable Development Goals. Ndopu shares about his experiences becoming the first disabled Black man to receive a master’s degree from Oxford University, his career in activism for intersectional disability justice, and advice for leaders in higher...

Duration:00:26:23

SEVEN Talk, by Emily Vasquez ’06: “The Social Life”

3/7/2023
Today’s episode is a recording of a SEVEN Talk from the 2022 Alumni Forum. This talk, given by Emily Vasquez ’06, is entitled, “The Social Life.” Emily is a Bridge to the Faculty Fellow in Sociology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The alumna is also an ethnographer of science, medicine, and public health. You can watch all of the SEVEN Talks on our YouTube channel. Emily is also a previous guest on the Catalyze podcast: “How a ‘national genome’ can reinforce social inequality,...

Duration:00:08:26

How sports entrepreneurship can cultivate social change, with Steven Aldrich ’91, chair of the Oakland Roots Sports Club and former chief product officer of GoDaddy

2/21/2023
Steven Aldrich ’91, a seasoned entrepreneur and executive with a wealth of experience in growing successful companies, joined Catalyze during a visit to UNC–Chapel Hill this spring. Steven shares with scholar co-hosts Elias Guedira ’26 and Stella Smolowitz ’26 about his experiences starting GoDaddy’s California offices and taking the company public as chief product officer; selling an online insurance marketplace he co-founded to Intuit; and his current role as chair of the Oakland Roots...

Duration:00:34:37

SEVEN Talk, by Antonio McBroom ’08: “Pardon My Passion”

2/7/2023
Today’s episode is a recording of a SEVEN Talk from the 2022 Alumni Forum. This talk, given by Antonio McBroom ’08, is entitled, “Pardon My Passion.” Antonio is a franchise developer at Ben & Jerry’s. You can watch all of the SEVEN Talks on our YouTube channel. More about Antonio Antonio McBroom ’08 is the franchise developer of Ben & Jerry’s with multi-unit double-digit retail and business locations throughout the Southeast and Midwest. Antonio grew up in rural North Carolina and began...

Duration:00:12:51

David Price ’61 retires from Congress after more than three decades of service to North Carolina’s fourth district

1/24/2023
Former congressman David Price ’61 joined Catalyze with scholar co-hosts Benny Klein ’24 and Elias Guedira ’26 in December 2022 during the politician’s final month in office. Price, who retired this January, represented North Carolina’s fourth district, including Orange County, Chapel Hill. The alumnus visited the Foundation to share about his lifetime career of public service and his over three decades serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. Price also spoke about his involvement as...

Duration:00:28:33

SEVEN Talk, by Debbie Weston Harden ’79: “Can I Do It All?”

1/7/2023
Today’s episode is a recording of a SEVEN Talk from the 2022 Alumni Forum. This talk, given by Debbie Weston Harden ’79, is entitled, “Can I Do It All?” You can watch all of the SEVEN Talks on our YouTube channel. Debbie is a partner at Womble Bond Dickinson. The alumna was a member of the first class of women scholars. More about Debbie Debbie Weston Harden ’79 is a member of the first class of female scholars, who were dubbed the “Dirty Dozen.” As a scholar, she was one of the first to...

Duration:00:08:47

The Catalyze podcast: State of Morehead-Cain, with Foundation President Chris Bradford and scholar host Elias Guedira ’26

1/3/2023
Morehead-Cain president, Chris Bradford, joined Catalyze with scholar host, Elias Guedira ’26, to share about the state of the Program after his first year and a half in the role. The president talks about the progress the Morehead-Cain community made in 2022 and what opportunities he sees for the Program in 2023 and beyond. You can learn more about the Program by viewing the online 2021–2022 Year in Review. Chris joined the Morehead-Cain Foundation in the summer of 2021 after 17 years...

Duration:00:28:02

The Travel Episode: Stories from the Morehead-Cain International Gap Year, with Aayas Joshi ’26, Olu Kopano ’26, and scholar host Elias Guedira ’26

12/13/2022
A night under the stars in the Himalayas. A lion hunt from a safari van in Africa. A dune climb in Morocco. Aayas Joshi ’26 (the first Morehead-Cain Scholar from Nepal), Olu Kopano ’26, and scholar host Elias Guedira ’26 share about their global experiences on the Morehead-Cain International Gap Year. At the end of the episode, we also hear from current gap year scholars Abbey Beebe ’27 about swimming in bioluminescent waters in the Caribbean Sea and Chandler Beals ’27 from an airport in...

Duration:00:32:12

The Travel Episode TRAILER: Elias Guedira ’26 describes climbing Erg Chebbi in Morocco

12/12/2022
To hear more from Elias about the Morehead-Cain International Gap Year, catch his Catalyze podcast to be released on Tuesday, November 13, 2022, on all podcast apps. A night under the stars in the Himalayas. A lion hunt from a safari van in Africa. A sand dune climb in Morocco. Aayas Joshi ’26, Olu Kopano ’26, and scholar host Elias Guedira ’26 will share about their global experiences on the Morehead-Cain International Gap Year. At the end of the episode, we’ll also hear from current gap...

Duration:00:03:10

The Travel Episode TRAILER: Aayas Joshi ’26 describes a night under the stars from the base of Mount Everest

12/12/2022
To hear more from Aayas about the Morehead-Cain International Gap Year, catch his Catalyze podcast to be released on Tuesday, November 13, 2022, on all podcast apps. A night under the stars in the Himalayas. A lion hunt from a safari van in Africa. A sand dune climb in Morocco. Aayas Joshi ’26, Olu Kopano ’26, and scholar host Elias Guedira ’26 will share about their global experiences on the Morehead-Cain International Gap Year. At the end of the episode, we’ll also hear from current gap...

Duration:00:01:18

The Travel Episode TRAILER: Olu Kopano ’26 describes a lion hunt during an African safari

12/12/2022
To hear more from Olu about the Morehead-Cain International Gap Year, catch his Catalyze podcast to be released on Tuesday, November 13, 2022, on all podcast apps. A night under the stars in the Himalayas. A lion hunt from a safari van in Africa. A sand dune climb in Morocco. Aayas Joshi ’26, Olu Kopano ’26, and scholar host Elias Guedira ’26 will share about their global experiences on the Morehead-Cain International Gap Year. At the end of the episode, we’ll also hear from current gap...

Duration:00:01:08

SEVEN Talk, by Harvey Kennedy ’74: “Carolina Memories and Inspiration”

12/7/2022
Today’s episode is a recording of a SEVEN Talk from the 2022 Alumni Forum. This talk, given by Harvey Kennedy ’74, is entitled, “Carolina Memories and Inspiration.” Harvey is a partner at Kennedy Kennedy Kennedy & Kennedy LLP. The alumnus was the second Black Morehead-Cain Scholar. You can watch all of the SEVEN Talks on our YouTube channel. More about Harvey Harvey Kennedy ’74 has spent the last 45 years practicing law in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in the law firm of Kennedy,...

Duration:00:11:58

How a ‘national genome’ can reinforce social inequality, with Emily Vasquez ’06, ethnographer of science, medicine, and public health

11/15/2022
Emily Vasquez ’06 joined Catalyze on the Saturday afternoon of the 2022 Morehead-Cain Alumni Forum in Chapel Hill this past October. Earlier that morning, she delivered a SEVEN Talk entitled, “The Social Life,” to over 500 Forum attendees. During this episode, recorded on campus in the Pit, Emily shares with scholar host Elias Guedira ’25 about her ethnography research in Mexico and its parallels to the U.S. healthcare system. Her work investigates how the development of a national human...

Duration:00:30:45

What public universities can do to improve accessibility on their campuses, with UNC Campus Y co-president Laura Saavedra Forero ’25 and activist Eleanor Bolton ’25

10/18/2022
Laura Saavedra Forero ’25 and Eleanor Bolton ’25 joined Catalyze with scholar co-host Elias Guedira ’26 from the Scholar Media Team to talk about their call to activism for disability rights on the campus of UNC–Chapel Hill. The two also share about how Morehead-Cain Alumni can support disabled college students at Carolina through their advocacy, expertise, and other resources. Laura and Megan Murphy (UNC–Chapel Hill ’23) were elected co-presidents of the UNC Campus Y for the 2022–2023...

Duration:00:42:17

The Catalyze podcast: Oscars announcer and Forum emcee Janora McDuffie ’99 on reframing success

9/27/2022
The year of 2022 has been a remarkable one for Janora McDuffie-Ryan ’99, an actress, voiceover artist, and host. The alumna catches up with Catalyze about the past eight months, which have included movie deals, hosting Kia’s launch event in Phoenix for their first-ever electric vehicle, attending Pride Celebrations at the White House and Vice President Harris’s residence, announcing the Institute for Responsible Citizenship’s 20th anniversary celebration at the National Museum of African...

Duration:00:46:52

Federal judge nominee Jerry Blackwell ’84 on the story behind the Chauvin trial as special prosecutor

7/26/2022
Trial lawyer Jerry Blackwell ’84 sat down with Catalyze hosts Sarah O’Carroll and Benny Klein ’24 to share his story of joining the prosecution team, some of the strategies behind the case, and what it was like to deliver the closing remarks of the trial. Jerry has been nominated by President Biden to become a federal judge for the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. The alumnus is the founding partner, CEO, and chairman of Blackwell Burke P.A. Listen to the...

Duration:00:32:17

Brad Rathgeber ’01, CEO of One Schoolhouse, on a relationships-first approach to online learning, with scholar host Benny Klein ’24

7/12/2022
Brad Rathgeber ’01 is the head of school and CEO of One Schoolhouse, a “partner to independent schools that envisions and embodies what’s next in education, online learning, and professional development.” The alumnus talks with host Benny Klein ’24 of the Scholar Media Team about working with three other Morehead-Cains as a rising second-year college student for a nonprofit scholarship program in Zimbabwe (co-founded by Galahad Clark ’99 and Jeff Pike ’99), teaching and coaching at...

Duration:00:27:43

Podcast producer Nick Andersen ’12 on navigating his career in media and what it’s like to work for PBS MASTERPIECE

6/28/2022
Nick Andersen ’12 is a podcast producer for GBH Boston, the primary PBS member station in Boston. Nick shares with host Benny Klein ’24 of the Scholar Media Team about his work on the PBS MASTERPIECE series. Before joining GBH, the producer worked for WBUR, Boston’s NPR news station, and NPR’s On Point show. The alumnus is also the senior producer for Ministry of Ideas, a “small show about big ideas.” The Harvard Divinity School series is dedicated to investigating and illuminating the...

Duration:00:32:24

Jamie DeMent Holcomb ’01 on how saying ‘yes’ led her to success as a museum CEO, venture capitalist, writer, chef, and farmer, with scholar host Benny Klein ’24

6/14/2022
Jamie DeMent Holcomb ’01 stopped by the Foundation in March 2022 to speak with host Benny Klein ’24 of the Scholar Media Team during her campaign for North Carolina Senate (District 23). Jamie shares about growing up in Franklin County, North Carolina; watching the Duke vs. UNC game during her final selection weekend; spotting Brad Pitt and Quentin Tarantino on the Universal Studios set, and her love of science museums. Jamie is CEO of the Kidzu Children’s Museum in Chapel Hill, where she...

Duration:00:41:58

A quick message from the Morehead-Cain Scholar Media Team, with Tucker Stillman ’25

6/14/2022
Tucker Stillman ’25 from the Morehead-Cain Scholar Media Team shares about the latest stories from the team. First up, a series on self-starters by Sarah Chocron ’25 and Ria Patel ’25 features Morehead-Cains who took the initiative to fill gaps within their communities. The first edition highlights Isabella Grandic ’25 and her startup Boob Blurb, a card-game-turned-social-movement inspired by women’s liberation, women’s health and wellness, and women’s rights. Up next is Mercy Adekola ’25...

Duration:00:01:16

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