Dr. Lauren Nossett is a novelist and a former professor who holds a Ph.D in German Literature. Her debut novel, The Resemblance, is a campus thriller about the sudden death of a fraternity member and the rat’s nest of a conspiracy that Marlitt Kaplan discovers upon investigating. It’s been described as “elegant and thoughtful” by the New York Times and “impossible to put down” by Paste Magazine. Her newest novel, The Professor, will be released this November. We talk about both of her novels, the craft of writing, and the meaning of stories. Lauren is a voracious writer with a level of creative humility and resilience that is rare. I was inspired, and I’m sure the listeners too, will be.

Pawel Pogorzelksi is a Polish-born Canadian cinematographer who’s best known for his work with Ari Aster on films like Hereditary, Midsommar, and the newly released Beau is Afraid. Mr. Pogorzelski has also served as the cinematographer for films like Fresh, Nobody, and the upcoming Marvel film Blue Beetle. He is currently in Nashville, Tennessee, in production for the upcoming film Holland, Michigan, directed by Mimi Cave and starring Nicole Kidman. Pogorzelski is truly one of the most remarkable people I’ve ever met. He produces at a level that not many artists today can match yet is still remarkably ego-less and hard-working. We talk about what Pogorzelski believes the meaning of the newly released Beau is Afraid is, the behind the scenes for the filming of Midsommar, and the meaning of life.

Professor John Sides is the William R. Kenan Jr. Chair of the political science department. He is an author of Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and The Battle for the Meaning of America, The Gamble: Choice and Chance in the 2012 Election, and Campaigns and Election: Rules, Reality, Strategy, Choice. Professor Sides has published in the American Political Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, and many more. He is one of the founders and publishers of The Monkey Cage, a political science blog on the Washington Post. Sides is also a research advisor to the Democracy Fund Voter Study Group and a member of the National Budget Roundtable.

Mr. Gonzales was the 80th United States Attorney General, serving from 2005 to 2007 under the leadership of President George W. Bush. He holds the honor of being the highest ranking hispanic-american in executive government in the history of this country. Prior to being the Attorney General, Mr. Gonzales held the positions of the Secretary of State of Texas, a supreme court justice of Texas, and White House Counsel (being the first hispanic to hold that position as well). Mr. Gonzales was close friends with George Bush when he was governor of Texas and remained that way up until he became president. Mr. Gonzales’s run as attorney general is marked by his leadership and legal skills used to combat terrorism after 9/11 and stop rogue organizations in the middle east by interpreting law in a manner that allowed for more intel collection on captured terrorists. Much controversy surrounds this, but we get into this in the conversation. Mr. Gonzales was born in San Antonio, TX  and raised in Humble, TX. He received his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1982. He has taught at Texas Tech in Lubbock, TX and is currently the dean of Belmont University College of Law here in Nashville, TN.

Ari Sasson is currently a third-year undergraduate student here at Vanderbilt University. He has held the position of senator for Vanderbilt Student Government and is currently the Vice President. Ari has also been the secretary of Alpha Epsilon Pi and is currently the president of the fraternity. Ari has been a tutor for over two years, has done intern work with Grant Thornton (Israel's sixth largest public accounting firm), and marketing work with Hamlet. He has also done judicial interning at the Kings County Integrated Domestic Violence Court in New York. Recently, Mr. Sasson ran a campaign for VSG president. We talk about the secrets of VSG, how he ran the campaign, and what Ari wants from Vanderbilt in the future.

Dr. Custer Lee Ann is a newly arriving art & architecture history professor here at Vanderbilt University. Her undergraduate education was completed at Harvard and her Ph.D was completed at the University of Pennsylvania. After completing her undergrad degree, Dr. Custer moved to New York City to work at the Guggenheim Museum. Dr. Custer’s academic and research interests lie in how images mediate ideas of place and space in order to ask whose experiences they fortify and whose they omit. Dr. Custer’s work has been supported by the Smithsonian, the Terra Foundation for American Art, the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, the New York public library, and many more. Currently, Dr. Custer’s research is interested in the utilization, commoditization, and interpretation of air in urban New York City from 1880 to 1940.

Professor Alan Wiseman is the Vanderbilt department chair of political science, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Political Economy, and is the professor of political science and law (by courtesy). He is the co-director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking which is a research institution that establishes and tracks legislative effectiveness of politicians in congress. Their most recent report on the effectiveness scores of each politician of the 117th congress was on March 20th. Professor Wiseman has also taught at Ohio State University, Northwestern Kellogg’s School of Management, and served as a visiting economic scholar with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. He has published in journals such as the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, and more.

Dr. Michael P. Hodges is an expert in Wittgenstein’s philosophy, american philosophy, philosophy of religion, and philosophy of education. Some of Professor Hodges publications include Thinking in the Ruins Wittgenstein and Santayana on Contingency, "Religion without Transcendence," and "The Status of Ethical Judgment in Philosophical Investigations.” Professor Hodges received his bachelor of arts degree from William & Mary and his masters and Ph.D from the University of Virginia. Hodges has taught at Vanderbilt for over 50 years resulting in a wealth of stories and knowledge about our campus and city. He still lifts weights and philosophizes and lives a life of simple joys. Here’s my conversation with Dr. Michael P. Hodges.

Dr. Jelena Bogdanović is an architect and a historian of art & architecture. Prof. Bogdanović received her bachelor in architecture degree from the University of Belgrade, her masters of art in art history from Vanderbilt University, and her Ph.D and MA in Art and Archeology from Princeton. Her books such as Icons of Space: Advances of Hierotopy and The Framing of Sacred Space: The Canopy and the Byzantine Church all explore the nature of symbols manifest in architecture and their transportative power. Moreover, Prof. Bogdanovic is interested in the nature of “space” and how different disciplines represent it. Even more interestingly, Prof. Bogdanovic believes that the gap between math and art is essentially non-existent.

When asked what the meaning of life is for Prof. Steve D. Hollon, he says the following: “To cure depression or die trying.” 

Professor Hollon is the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of Psychology. Dr. Hollon’s research primarily deals with utilizing tools like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy instead of antidepressant medications to help cure depression. He is responsible for concluding through research that CBT is just as effective as antidepressants—a groundbreaking conclusion. Moreover, Prof. Hollon has published over 300 studies and mentored over 20 doctoral and postdoctoral students. His research currently is looking to establish multiple predictors for the onset of depression and using machine learning programs to predict what combination of antidepressants, psychotherapy, healthy-activity programs, and other treatments might be ideal for a specific individual. As of now, professor Hollon is interested in understanding depression as an evolved adaptation and the paradigm shifts that are associated with this notion.