Media in the Mix

Welcome to Media in the Mix, the only podcast produced and hosted by the School of Communication at American University. Join us as we create a safe space to explore topics and communication at the intersection of social justice, tech, innovation & pop culture! Our special guest today is SOC Alumn, H Spencer Young!

Spencer’s artwork is featured in 3 shows in the next month at Art Basel Miami, and galleries in New York City and Cleveland. Amazingly, Spencer’s artwork raised thousands of dollars to help emerging artist grants, not-for-profit galleries, and organizations supplying resources to the art world. He has also written and directed many commissioned films, commercials, political documentaries such as “Swing State” in 2008, and music videos, which have been featured in W Magazine, The Atlantic, Brooklyn Vegan, Fact Magazine, New York Times, Zoe Report, Bloomberg, and film festivals nationwide.

To check out H Spencer Young's diverse body of work, visit:

Welcome to Media in the Mix, the only podcast produced and hosted by the School of Communication at American University. Join us as we create a safe space to explore topics and communication at the intersection of social justice, tech, innovation & pop culture! Our special guest today is SOC Alumna, Emily Hall! 

Born in China and raised in DC, Emily has always loved filmmaking and the arts. She graduated from American University in 2019 with a degree in Film and Media Arts and with a minor in Studio Art. While she attended American University, she was a part of Alpha Xi Delta, AU Photo Collective, SOC Ambassadors, Delta Kappa Alpha, and she was the Student Government Senator for SOC! She is also joining us this year as a mentor in our Alumni Mentorship Program! She was a part of SOC’s Experiential Learning programs such as the L.A. Intensive after graduation and shortly after moved to Los Angeles as the Emmys / Television Academy Internship Program's 2019 Scripted TV Editing Intern. She is a member of the IATSE Local 700 Motion Picture Editors Guild Roster for Assistant Editors and the Warner Media/HBO Max Post Coordinator Training Program 2020 Cohort. Currently the Emily Eldridge Hall is the Postproduction Coordinator for Netflix's YOU Season 4 and a Video Editor for the online food video network, Tastemade. She was previously the Post Coordinator for HBO Max's Our Flag Means Death and has worked on various shows with Warner Bros, SHOWTIME and FOX.

Welcome to Media in the Mix, the only podcast produced and hosted by the School of Communication at American University. Join us as we create a safe space to explore topics and communication at the intersection of social justice, tech, innovation & pop culture! Our special guest today is Professor Matt Winkler!

Matt Winkler has blended more than 20 years of experience in the NCAA, NHL, WNBA, MLS, the Olympics, and the World Cup and activation on five continents into innovative industry strategy for the sports, events and higher education industries. He launched the first Online M.S. in Sports Analytics & Management right here at American University. He also worked as Director of Athletic Communications and Sports Information at American University.  

To check out the Sports Events Marketing Experience (www.TheSEME.com) for their next conference in March of 2023, visit:

To donate to American University's School of Communication and to continue supporting this podcast, visit:

Welcome to Media in the Mix, the only podcast produced and hosted by the School of Communication at American University. Join us as we create a safe space to explore topics and communication at the intersection of social justice, tech, innovation & pop culture! Our special guest today is Derek McGinty! 

Derek McGinty is an SOC Alumni, journalist, an award-winning interviewer and a commentator. He got his first job on the air back in 1984 at WHUR radio in Washington DC. From there he went to WAMU-FM where he launched a nationally syndicated daytime talk show on NPR. By the end of the century, he’d been a correspondent on the CBS broadcast Public Eye with Bryant Gumbel and HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

After two years in New York as anchor of ABC’s World News Now and World News This Morning, it was back to his hometown of Washington DC to anchor WUSA’s fledgling 7pm local newscast!

Welcome to Media in the Mix, the only podcast produced and hosted by the School of Communication at American University. Join us as we create a safe space to explore topics and communication at the intersection of social justice, tech, innovation & pop culture! Our special guest today is Zachary Gradishar. 

Zachary Gradishar is a recent alumni of American University (Class of 2022) where he received his BA in Public Relations & Strategic Communications and a minor in Marketing. Zach was adopted from an orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia when he was just under a year old and grew up in Chicago, Illinois before moving to Washington DC for college. Following his graduation this past May he moved to sunny Los Angeles to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. This past summer Zach completed a 16 week post graduate internship - his 9th internship within the last 4 years - with Searchlight Pictures Film Studio at The Walt Disney Company as a PR/Publicity Intern where he supported one of the National publicity teams. Before starting his internship with Searchlight, Zach participated in American University's School of Communication's LA Intensive Program as part of the Summer 2022 cohort. Zach also launched his very own podcast this summer called "Let's Chat with Zach" where he chats with different guests each week about various topics from navigating life post grad, to what it's like to work in the entertainment industry and so much more. You can catch episodes of "Let's Chat with Zach" every Sunday on Apple & Spotify podcast platform.

Welcome to Media in the Mix, the only podcast produced and hosted by the School of Communications at American University. Join us as we create a safe space to explore topics and communication at the intersection of social justice, tech, innovation & pop culture.

On this episode, welcome School of Communications’ decorated professor; Claudia Myers. Claudia teaches  classes such as Advanced Directing, Advanced Screenwriting, and Directing Actors for Camera. Leading a double life outside the SOC building, Claudia was named one of "10 Filmmakers to Watch" by Independent Magazine in 2015. Most recently Claudia wrote and directed ABOVE THE SHADOWS, a supernatural drama starring Olivia Thirlby, Alan Ritchson, Jim Gaffigan, and Megan Fox. The film opened the 2019 Brooklyn Film Festival where it won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature and was released theatrically last summer by Gravitas Ventures, and is now streaming on Hulu. Other projects include FORT BLISS; starring Michelle Monaghan, Ron Livingston & Pablo Schreiber, KETTLE OF FISH with Matthew Modine and Gina Gershon, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and won a Nickelodeon Screenwriting Award, & THE LONG ROAD BACK, a documentary about the military community. As a filmmaker Claudia has won numerous awards, was twice a finalist for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, and is an alum of the Hamptons Screenwriters Lab.

Claudia takes us through the status of directors, filmmakers, the pandemic (or endemic?) and where all responsibilities stand, have changed, or will change in the future. In addition, she breaks down the different classes she teaches at American University, their importance and how they can be used to shape your directing career earlier than you think! 

PRODUCED & HOSTED BY: Grace Ibrahim & The School of Communication

SPECIAL GUST: CLAUDIA MYERS

How has Hollywood changed over just the course of one long, storied career? From nickel and dime shows, blockbuster epics and contemporary tentpole IP films, to how industry changes have influenced award shows, and the waxing and waning interest in them—Russell Williams has seen it all. Today’s audiences aren’t subject to “appointment television,” and their choices in how to consume content also influence award season. Find out what industry insider, Professor Williams, thinks about these changes and more, on this episode of Media In the Mix.

This episode is guest hosted by Bria Granville, Video Production Coordinator at SOC’s Office of Communication.

Beginning his career in the 70s, Russell Williams won two Oscars for Sound Design and two Primetime Emmys. He made history as the first African-American to win multiple Oscars in any category. At American University, he designed and taught a course called “Executive Suite,” in which students could learn about the business behind film and available employment positions. He often teaches and speaks about Hollywood labor issues, Academy Awards and procedures, and minority issues in Hollywood.

Williams' awards include:

·  The Oscar for Sound for Glory (1989) (award speech here)

·  The Oscar for Sound for Dances with Wolves (1990) (award speech here)

·  The Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Sound Mixing for A Dramatic Miniseries Or Special – 1988 for Terrorist on Trial: The United States vs. Salim A

·  The Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Drama Miniseries Or A Movie – 1998 for 12 Angry Men

Have you ever felt like the 9-5 life wasn’t for you? Maybe you’ve felt like pursuing entrepreneurship, or a side hustle. Starting one’s own business has long been seen as the solution to the work week rat race. But self-employment requires its own strategies and structure.

Did the pandemic highlight your additional workplace needs? Today, job seekers mention additional paid time off, mental health support, and remote work options as some of their highest-priority concerns. How do these needs, when unmet, help drive workers to pursue self-employment?

On today’s episode, we speak to #AUSOC alums, Jack Fitzpatrick and Megan Elizabeth Clark, about finding their own pathways to entrepreneurship, how corporate and freelancing work differs from each other, and how their time at AU influenced their careers today.

Jack Fitzpatrick is a freelance marketing and communication strategist currently based in New York City. Previously, he lived in Minneapolis where he worked in influencer marketing for cereal brands at General Mills as well as B2B tech marketing through TopRank Marketing. He graduated from American University's School of Communication with a degree in Public Communication in 2016. When he isn't strategizing for clients, he can be found making a mess in the kitchen, strolling through farmers markets, and thinking about birds.

Megan Elizabeth Clark is a freelance copywriter and content marketing specialist with 6+ years of experience in the world of content creation, marketing, and human resources. She’s passionate about bringing the power of authentic storytelling to the health, fitness, and wellness industries using her background as a NASM certified personal trainer and RYT-200 certified yoga instructor. You can connect with her about all things fitness, content marketing, SEO, and copywriting on LinkedIn, Instagram, Medium, or on her website at meganelizabethclark.com.

Today’s news cycles are filled with stories of polarizing information, soundbites, opposing viewpoints, and shocking current events. Where is the surge of right-wing extremism coming from? And how far does it extend into media, culture, and identity?

This episode answers these questions and more. It also features an introduction by SOC Dean Sam Fulwood, and a conversation between the following panelists:

Kurt Braddock, Ph.D

Asst. Prof. in the School of Communication

Prof. Braddock studies the way that language and words affect radicalization processes, and how language can be used to counteract radicalization processes. He also studies how propaganda and messaging affect people psychologically, and inspire them to engage in violence on behalf of their radical ideologies.

Cynthia Miller-Idriss, Ph.D

Sociologist and Prof. in the School of Public Affairs and School of Education

Co-Founder and Director of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL)

Prof. Miller-Idriss studies symbols and youth cultures, communication systems and signs systems through iconography, graffiti, tshirts, memes, and youth culture. Her personal research also focuses on the far right.

The Lab focuses on interventions across the ideological spectrum. It looks at disinformation, propaganda, persuasive extremist tactics, and how to interrupt them.

Brian Hughes, Ph.D

Research Assistant Prof. in the School of Public Affairs

Co-Founder and Associate Director of PERIL

Prof. Hughes studies digital communication technologies and their interaction with political and religious extremism and fringe cultures. He focuses on how fringe cultures and extremist individuals and movements use communication technology (digital), and how the affordances of digital communication technology shape the outlooks, operational styles, identity, and selfhood that these extremist groups develop and evolve over time.

The work at PERIL centers the needs of victims and survivors of this violence.

Superhero sagas top box office ticket sales and streaming services. But these aren't the stories or heroes of yesteryear. The characters we see today are more complex, and diverse, than those of the past. The stories tread new ground and speak to a range of issues, some timeless and some distinctly tied to current events. What is so compelling about these imagined figures and the powers they possess? Why do they resonate with us so well? What is the future trajectory of this genre?

This episode tackles why superheroes resonate with us (1:00), the genre maturing (3:18), their origins (in mythological heroes) (3:28), comic books, graphic novels and using superheroes through changing mediums (5:14), Changes to the genre, subgenres, and storytelling (7:13), how Jai transitioned his love for comic books and reading into pursuing a writing career (10:00), diversity in film and tv in front of and behind the camera (14:08), what is inspiring casting leading actors of color, or differently abled actors (19:10), “Certain movies don’t make money” (19:52), the lasting impact of shifts in diversity (25:31), Women directing superhero/action film (32:55), the future superhero films and the issues they tackle (36:01)

You can view Jai Jamison’s portfolio here, and follow him on Twitter @Jaijamison. Season 2 of Superman & Lois premieres on January 11 on The CW. Season 1 is available on HBO Max.