All in a Day's Work

In this special episode, created by one of our student podcast fellows, NYU student Kylie Rah interviews Michelle Cortese, an XR designer and professor at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Society is in a transitional period where fields like Art and Digital Technology constantly overlap, creating new roles without clear job descriptions. 

Kylie and Michelle explore the practical method of Positioning the Overlap—a necessary process for defining and sustaining a career in an environment that lacks a clear professional vocabulary. 

Michelle Cortese is an XR designer, educator, and author. She splits her professional time between Metaverse design leadership at Meta Reality Labs and teaching VR design at NYU. Her work explores immersive interaction systems; the ethical implications of embodied technology on end users; and the transmutation of human expression across new technologies and formats.

Michelle has authored AR and VR design research published via Bloomsbury, Meta, IEEE, OneZero, MIT's Immerse Journal, and more; she has also exhibited work at CES, Tribeca Film Festival, SXSW, and Sundance.

For a full transcript of this episode, please email [email protected]. 

In this episode, Sarah Rosenthal speaks with Jonathan Pollak, an Agile Product Owner at Verizon. Sarah speaks to Jonathan about his journey from journalism into e-commerce and how AI is affecting the telecommunications landscape.

Jonathan Pollak is a trusted Marketing Executive and Senior Digital Product Manager with experience in both startups and Fortune 500 companies. He creates eCommerce and Digital Product Strategies that transform products and brands and deliver significant YoY sales growth. For the past twelve years, he has modernized Verizon’s digital sales flows and processes. He completed a B.A. in English & American Literature from the NYU College of Arts and Science.

For a full transcript of this episode, please email [email protected]. 

In this special episode, created by one of our student podcast fellows, NYU student Yara Tarie interviews Talika Basantani, a math teacher at Energy Tech High School. So many school students dread math – a phenomenon commonly known as “math anxiety.” How can we combat this anxiety? And how can we encourage students to find meaning and support while learning math? Yara sits with Talika to talk about her love for math, how her time at NYU informed her teaching practice, and what a supportive math classroom might look like. 

Talika Basantani is a math teacher at Energy Tech High School in Queens. She is also an alum of NYU Steinhardt, where she earned her MA in Teaching in 2023. While at NYU, she learned about the Illustrative Mathematics curriculum, which she now applies daily in her classroom to make math useful and enjoyable for her students. 

For a full transcript of this episode, please email [email protected].

In this special episode, created by one of our student podcast fellows, NYU student Advait Sunil interviews Aditya Ramamurthy, Lab Manager at Movement Recovery Laboratory. Having received his MS in Biotechnology from the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Aditya brought his “scientific mindset” to a new challenge: attending business school and supporting scientific ventures. Advait and Aditya speak about Aditya’s curiosity growing up, how it led him to a career in research and innovation, and the connection between scientific thinking and business thinking.

Aditya Ramamurthy is the Lab Manager at Movement Recovery Laboratory. After finishing his MS in Biotechnology at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, he completed an MBA at Columbia Business School, focusing on management consulting and strategic decision-making. His diverse experience includes managing high-impact research projects and evaluating early-stage startups, with an ability to drive innovation and secure funding.

For a full transcript of this episode, please email [email protected].

In this special episode, created by one of our student podcast fellows, NYU student Jenny Jamison interviews Dr. Becca Franks,  Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at NYU.  How can we use research to improve the lives of animals and support a healthier planet? Jenny speaks with Dr. Franks about her journey from veterinary medicine hopeful to animal welfare researcher, how her focus on fish is changing the conservation landscape, and how we should shift our understanding and perspective of the natural world.

Dr. Becca Franks is Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at New York University, where she is the Director of WATR-lab and Co-Director of the Wild Animal Welfare Program.  After earning a BA in Anthropology from New York University and a PhD in Psychology from Columbia University, she was a Killam Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Animal Welfare Program at the University of British Columbia. Her research and teaching lie at the intersection of animal welfare science and environmental conservation, with a focus on animal behavior, aquatic animals, human-animal relationships, and quantitative methods. She has published over 70 scholarly articles, chapters, and commentaries driven by the core question: how can science contribute to ongoing efforts to repair human relationships with other animals and the rest of nature?

For a full transcript of this episode, please email [email protected].

All in a Day’s Work features many scientists and many entrepreneurs, but rarely does it have scientists who are also entrepreneurs. That’s where Dr. Nisha Maheshwari, co-founder and CEO of CaroRhythm, comes in. In this episode, producer Ahmed Ashour speaks with the recent NYU alum about their interest in the sciences as a child, their experience launching a medical device as a student, and their advice for scientists and engineers looking to enter the world of entrepreneurship. 

Nisha recently received their PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the NYU Tandon School of Engineering. They are interested in product design of non-invasive or minimally invasive medical devices for diagnostics and treatment of various diseases. Nisha is currently working on a low-cost system for the detection and quantification of peripheral arterial disease (PAD). This includes the expansion of the existing functionality and improvement of the clinical utility, accuracy and user-friendliness. They have channeled their passion for social good, activism, and engineering to be at the forefront of change in the healthcare industry as the CEO of CaroRhythm, a medical device company with a focus on bridging critical gaps in stroke care.

For a full transcript of this episode, please email [email protected].

In this special episode, created by one of our student podcast fellows, NYU student Rachel Fang interviews Dr. Matthew Pellegrino, a composer, music educator, and professor at the NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Korean culture is everywhere, and with the recent success of Netflix’s K-Pop Demon Hunters, K-pop’s importance in particular has taken on new heights. Rachel speaks with Dr. Pellegrino about his musical upbringing, how his Korean identity has shaped the way he hears and thinks about music, and how this all influences his teaching as an NYU professor.

Dr. Matthew Jihoon Pellegrino is an award-winning composer, Fulbright researcher, and music educator. He has enjoyed an eclectic musical upbringing; one which combines Western classical, traditional Korean music, and a brief stint in a metal band. Uncompromising in his work, Pellegrino seeks to create music that engages equally with casual audiences as well as the most serious of listeners. In his research and his music he most enjoys bringing Korean music into the classroom and concert hall by exploring Korean instruments and folk melodies, and analyzing trends in recent K-pop songs.

For a full transcript of this episode, please email [email protected]. 

In this special episode, created by one of our student podcast fellows, NYU student Sandra Cai interviews Alexandra Debow, CEO and co-founder of swsh, a platform for shared albums of live experiences. Alexandra studied across three of NYU’s global locations and leveraged as many resources as possible during her short time in school. As a student, she began building and creating and hasn’t stopped since, eventually leaving school to pursue her business. Then, they discuss Alex’s top tips for aspiring entrepreneurs, followed by a lightning round where Alexandra talks about her sources of guidance and inspiration.

Alexandra Debow is the CEO & Co-Founder of swsh, an AI-powered shared photo album platform to deepen one’s connections. She studied Computer Engineering at NYU Tandon before leaving the university in 2023 to pursue her entrepreneurial endeavors. She was awarded the Thiel Fellowship in 2024.

For a full transcript of this episode, please email [email protected].

In this special episode, created by one of our student podcast fellows, NYU student Sajini Kodituwakku interviews Rosanne Kennedy, a clinical assistant professor at NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Sajini speaks with Rosanne about her unconventional career path and how it informed her research and teaching interests. Together, they ask questions about career paths, what career stability looks like, and how we can imagine a thoughtful and fulfilling approach to life and work.

Rosanne Kennedy is a Clinical Assistant Professor at NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where she teaches and researches modern political theory, contemporary feminist theory, gender studies, continental philosophy, and Rousseau studies. Her dissertation, Rousseau and the Perversion of Gender, was awarded the Hannah Arendt prize for the Best Dissertation in Politics from the New School and the Best Dissertation in Women and Politics from the American Political Science Association. Her first book, Rousseau in Drag: Deconstructing Gender, was published by Palgrave in 2012. Her new book project, The Politics of Home: The New Domesticity and the Resurgence of Craft, tracks the affective and political dimensions of meanings of home, domesticity and craft and how such meanings are inflected by not only gender but sexuality, class, and race. She is especially interested in the leaky and porous boundaries between the intimate and the public, the longing for attachment alongside the desire to remain detached (refusing recognition and interpellation) and renewed interests in the haptic as a mode of thinking. At Gallatin, she teaches courses on democracy, the politics of home and the politics of work, and feminist political theory.  

For a full transcript of this episode, please email [email protected].

In this special episode, created by one of our student podcast fellows, NYU student Diamond Bradley interviews Dainelle Wellington, founder of the Wellington-White Portfolio. Dainelle is a powerhouse in the construction management industry with over 23 years of experience leading billion-dollar projects. Diamond speaks to Dainelle about her journey in this field, her approach to leadership, and the mindset that drives her success. 

Dainelle Wellington, owner of The Wellington White Portfolio, is a powerhouse Construction Portfolio Executive with over 23 years of experience leading a billion-dollar portfolio,housing multi-million dollar projects across high-end residential, healthcare, higher education, and commercial sectors. An NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering (now NYU Tandon) graduate with a master’s in Construction Engineering Management, she has successfully led global teams of senior managers, designers, and engineers to execute complex infrastructure projects with precision. Her expertise in continuous improvement and lean management has driven multimillion-dollar savings while optimizing operational efficiency and innovation.

For a full transcript of this episode, please email [email protected].