Fresh from the Hill: Inside Stories of Noteworthy Cornellians

Irene Li '12 operates Mei Mei Street Kitchen & Mei Mei Restaurant in Boston, where her work centers around ethical sourcing and fair employment practices. Irene’s background of living on an organic farm, organizing for economic and social justice, and working the restaurant line inform the direction of her creative, farm-driven, Chinese-American menus. She is an Eater Young Gun winner, Zagat and Forbes 30 Under 30 Honoree, and a four-time James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef semi-finalist.  Host Lou Diamond '92 chats with Irene about her pathway at Cornell, how she ended up opening up a food truck with her brother and sister and eventually a traditional brick and mortar restaurant in Boston. Learn about Irene's background, food, and inspirations as well as what makes her tick and how if you're in the restaurant business you should never skip leg day!  Learn more about Mei Mei Restaurant and Street Kitchen.  Read the Episode Transcript. Podcast created and produced by Amanda Massa. Music by Kia Albertson-Rogers '13, koa3@cornell.edu. Artwork by Chris Kelly. Episode transcribed by Cait Collins. *The views expressed by Fresh from the Hill hosts and guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Cornell University.

Get get to know the host for our second series of Fresh from the Hill, Lou Diamond '92.  Learn what Lou's favorite classes were at Cornell and how they connect to what he does today, hear about how Lou helps people Thrive in their everyday lives, and get a little teaser on the episodes he'll be hosting.  Learn more about Lou.  Read the Episode transcript. Hosted, created, and produced by Amanda Massa. Music by Kia Albertson-Rogers '13, koa3@cornell.edu. Artwork by Chris Kelly. Episode transcribed by Cait Collins. *The views expressed by Fresh from the Hill hosts and guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Cornell University.

On this episode of Fresh from the Hill, you'll hear from Meghan Dubyak '04, current chief spokesperson and Associate Vice President for Communications and Creative Services at Georgetown University and former Press Secretary to Vice President Joe Biden and Special Assistant to President Obama.  She'll chat with host Alex Zalben '99 about how she chose to work in political communications, her experiences outside the classroom and how they helped her grow at Cornell, her work with Steve Israel, Sherrod Brown, and Joe Biden, similarities (and differences) between work in politics and what's depicted on TV shows like "Scandal" and "The West Wing," how Joe Biden is the most "memeable" politician, her involvement in the “Cancer Moonshot” and “It’s on Us” campaigns, and her advice for young people wanting to get into government work.  Read the Episode transcript.  Created and produced by Amanda Massa. Music by Kia Albertson-Rogers '13, koa3@cornell.edu. Artwork by Chris Kelly. Episode transcribed by Cait Collins.  *The views expressed by Fresh from the Hill hosts and guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Cornell University.

In this episode of Fresh from the Hill, Alex Zalben '99 talks to relationship expert Dr. Marisa Cohen about love, relationships, and her two primary lines of research: perceptions of first date success and consensual non-monogamy. Tune in to learn about how fighting can be important for a healthy relationship ("if you don't fight, chances are you're not being very honest"), how non-traditional relationships can really work out in the long run, why she's a proponent of online dating, how the Human Bonding course at Cornell inspired her to change career paths, what social media posting can mean about a relationship, and much more.  Learn more about Dr. Cohen.  Read the Episode transcript. Created and produced by Amanda Massa. Music by Kia Albertson-Rogers '13, koa3@cornell.edu. Artwork by Chris Kelly. Episode transcribed by Cait Collins. *The views expressed by Fresh from the Hill hosts and guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Cornell University.

Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo '08, MA '15 aka Sammus is an Ithaca-raised, Philadelphia-based rap artist, producer, and PhD student in the Department of Science & Technology Studies at Cornell University. Through her music she has spent the past several years cultivating a strong following of activists, hip hop heads, punks, and self-identified nerds and geeks, among others.  Enongo will talk about growing up in Ithaca and the different lenses she's seen Ithaca through, and how she never felt like she had to choose between her "Ithaca-ness" and "Cornell-ness." You'll also hear about her musical influences, her heroes, what role video games play in her music, sexism in the music industry, and what we can expect from her next project coming out in 2019. Not only that, Enongo is currently pursuing her PhD from Cornell (triple red!) and is exploring the politics of studios and community studios in low-income areas and how there's a need for studios in the public space.  Learn more about Sammus. Read the Episode Transcript. Hosted by Alex Zalben '99. Created and produced by Amanda Massa. Music by Kia Albertson-Rogers '13, koa3@cornell.edu. Artwork by Chris Kelly. Episode transcribed by Cait Collins. *The views expressed by Fresh from the Hill hosts and guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Cornell University.

In our third episode of Fresh from the Hill, we hear from Stephen Hall, co-founder of Tinker Coffee Co., a specialty coffee roaster in Indianapolis, Indiana. Steve will talk about his time at Cornell in the Hotel School, starting out in the wine industry and how he eventually made the transition to the coffee world, the nuance of coffee flavors, how hospitality is connected to every aspect of business, and the best way to get a great cup of coffee (HINT: invest in a good grinder!)  Learn more about Tinker Coffee.  Read the Episode Transcript. Hosted by Alex Zalben '99. Created and produced by Amanda Massa. Music by Kia Albertson-Rogers '13. Artwork by Chris Kelly. Episode transcribed by Cait Collins.  *The views expressed by Fresh from the Hill hosts and guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Cornell University.

At age 24 Svante Myrick won a mayoral race to become the youngest mayor in Ithaca's history and the first mayor of African American heritage. In this exclusive interview, host Alex Zalben '99 and Svante will chat about Svante's childhood, the first time he visited Cornell ("I thought I had stumbled on something magic, and I was right"), the opioid crisis in Ithaca and his plan to combat it, his learnings from President Barack Obama, his advice to young people getting into politics, and much more.  Learn more about Svante.  Read the Episode Transcript.  Created and produced by Amanda Massa. Music by Kia Albertson-Rogers '13, koa3@cornell.edu. Artwork by Chris Kelly. Episode transcribed by Cait Collins. *The views expressed by Fresh from the Hill hosts and guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Cornell University.

Check out the very first episode of Fresh from the Hill: Inside Stories of Noteworthy Cornellians. In this episode you'll hear from one of the hosts of the podcast, Alex Zalben class of 1999. You'll learn a little about Alex's background, how the podcast came about, and what to expect from season 1. Learn more at http://alumni.cornell.edu/youngalumni.  Fresh from the Hill was created, recorded, and produced by Amanda Massa, Associate Director of Young Alumni Programs at Cornell. Additional support was provided by Margaux Neiderbach '99 and Robert McMahon. Music for Fresh from the Hill was written, produced, and recorded by Kia Albertson-Rogers '13. You can contact him at koa3@cornell.edu. Artwork for Fresh from the Hill was created by Chris Kelly. This episode was transcribed by Cait Collins, Associate Director of Student Programs at Cornell. Special thanks to: Karen Barnes, Jose Beduya MFA '04, Lisa Bushlow '91, Shannon Clute MA '01, PhD '03, Thomas Deneuville, Joe Lyons '98, Adam Murtland, Michael O'Neill, Stephanie Watt '15 ... and all the staff in Alumni Affairs and Development who helped make this podcast a reality. This podcast is hosted by Anchor, which was co-founded by Nir Zicherman '08. Learn more about Anchor at http://anchor.fm. Read the Episode Transcript. *The views expressed by Fresh from the Hill hosts and guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Cornell University.