For over 20 years, Dick Perez was the official artist of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, painting the game’s history and every Hall of Fame ballplayer—a project he continues into his 80s. Marq Evans ( Claydream , The Glamour & The Squalor ) directed The Diamond King , a documentary that tells the fascinating story of Perez , the “Picasso of Baseball,” whose portraits transformed the commemoration of America’s most iconic pastime. In this episode, Evans talks with Washington State Magazin...
Jun 16, 2025•28 min•Season 4Ep. 39
“It’s only rock n roll, but I like it,” is not really a good answer in Washington State University’s popular history of rock music class. Hundreds of WSU students learn how to really dig into the tunes. They study how rock ‘n’ roll is tied into American society , history, and culture, by analyzing lyrics and music styles from over the decades. A.J. Miller is the main instructor of the rock ‘n’ roll history class through the WSU School of Music . He talks with magazine associate editor Adriana Ja...
Apr 10, 2025•36 min•Season 4Ep. 38
Farming life and the essential work of producing food for the world has long been celebrated in art, literature, and essays. Richard Scheuerman, an educator, author, and 1972 history graduate from Washington State University, wrote three books that take a deep dive into art and books about farming. He covers a huge span of time and geography, from the Bible to modern literature. In those three volumes— Hallowed Harvests , Harvest Hands , and Harvest Horizons —Scheuerman calls for all of us to ke...
Mar 26, 2025•48 min•Season 4Ep. 37
Students, teachers, and schools learned a lot during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the challenges and opportunities were already there, just emphasized by the global health emergency, says Johnny Lupinacci, associate professor at the Washington State University College of Education . Lupinacci teaches future teachers and education researchers, and he was a high school teacher himself. He points out how many ideas and issues within schools—like different learning styles and the digital divide—we...
Feb 04, 2025•58 min•Season 3Ep. 36
Weatherwise, July 2024 was a doozy. Palm Springs hit 124 degrees. Alaska had the wettest July on record. Washington DC tied its record for the most consecutive days with temperatures over 100. Hurricane Beryl became the earliest category five hurricane in history. And a Chicago derecho spawned 32 tornadoes in single day. “All of that happened just in July, which is just astonishing,” says Josh Ward, field meteorologist for Washington State University’s AgWeatherNet . Last year was another year f...
Jan 07, 2025•17 min•Season 3Ep. 35
The stories of Washington State University are stories of the state, covering agriculture and architecture, geography and geology, history and industry, people and places, and a lot more from the Puget Sound to the Palouse. Many of those stories are gathered in The Evergreen Collection: Exceptional Stories from Across Washington State , an anthology to celebrate 20 years of Washington State Magazine . No matter where you live in the state or what interests you, you’ll find something in the book ...
Dec 11, 2024•12 min•Season 3Ep. 34
If you listen to Washington State University sports, you’ll hear calls from a Coug who’s returned home: Chris King. Chris graduated in 2009 from the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication , returned to WSU when he took over radio broadcast announcing duties from Matt Chazanow in fall 2024. King came back to Pullman after announcing for minor league baseball and Division I broadcasting experience with the University of Idaho Vandals and at Boise State University. He works for Washington State ...
Nov 08, 2024•30 min•Season 3Ep. 33
Coho salmon in urban areas were dying from stormwater runoff, but scientists didn’t know why until a few years ago. A team of researchers from Washington State University and University of Washington identified a chemical found in tires as the culprit. Tires contain 6PPD, which keeps the rubber from cracking after exposure to ozone in the atmosphere. But 6PPD also reacts with ozone, forming the organic chemical 6PPD-quinone. During rainstorms, tire dust washes into rivers and streams, where 6PPD...
Nov 01, 2024•22 min•Season 3Ep. 32
As the Pac-12’s remaining members—Washington State University and Oregon State University—began rebuilding the conference, WSU President Kirk Schulz announced in June 2024 that Anne McCoy was the new permanent athletics director . McCoy hit the ground running earlier in the year as interim AD, since she has worked for WSU Athletics since 2001 in almost every department. She faces a lot of challenges in her new role…along with some exciting opportunities. Washington State Magazine editor Larry Cl...
Oct 31, 2024•23 min•Season 3Ep. 31
Remembering to perform a future action is a critical part of daily life. Psychologists refer to this as our “prospective memory,” and some examples include remembering to pay bills on time, returning library books when they’re due, or getting to doctor’s appointments. Brooke Beech is a Washington State University doctoral student specializing in clinical neuropsychology. She works with older adults to examine how aging affects thinking and everyday behavior. “I have a particular interest in fact...
Aug 16, 2024•21 min•Season 3Ep. 30
The WSU Fight Song, the roaring crowd, the electric atmosphere. Washington State University’s Cougar Marching Band is often the heart and soul that connects WSU alumni and fans at these games. In this episode, new Cougar Marching Band director Jon Sweet takes magazine associate editor Adriana Janovich behind the scenes. He talks about the music, the marching, the fans, and the incredible Coug spirit in the band. This episode’s music is from the Cougar Marching Band at a November 2023 football ga...
Feb 29, 2024•24 min•Season 3Ep. 29
Young people have lots of questions about diet, exercise, and sexual health. TikTok is one of their most trusted venues for finding out information. “They’ll go to TikTok and ask questions,” says Nicole O’Donnell, assistant professor at Washington State University’s Edward R. Murrow College of Communication . “They’re learning about health mostly through other people’s stories rather than some of the traditional health information you might get online.” But are they getting good health advice? I...
Jan 30, 2024•15 min•Season 3Ep. 28
2023 was a year of weather extremes, with damaging floods, fires, and storms unfolding across the globe. The United States logged a historic number of billion-dollar weather disasters, while smoke from Canada’s wildfires choked parts of the country. “It’s kind of odd to be talking about our neighbor just to the north, but they really did have such a big impact in North America and also globally,” says Nathan Santo Domingo, a field meteorologist with Washington State University’s AgWeatherNet . B...
Jan 12, 2024•23 min•Season 3Ep. 27
A simple decision about what to order for lunch can have profound effects on others. “Food is interesting because it touches so many other communities,” says Samantha Noll , an associate professor of bioethics in the School of Politics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs at Washington State University . “When we decide that we're going to eat that falafel sandwich, or that burger, or that salad, we're impacting others with that seemingly simple choice.” In this episode, Noll talks with Washington St...
Oct 26, 2023•35 min•Season 3Ep. 26
Palouse prairie of eastern Washington and northwestern Idaho is an endangered landscape. It’s dominated by forbs—flowering plants—that cover the fields with a riot of color that attracts native pollinators. The Phoenix Conservancy is among the groups restoring Palouse prairie . Led by Chris Duke, a doctoral graduate in biology from Washington State University, the organization works to bring native plants back to endangered landscapes from Madagascar to the Great Plains of North America to the P...
Oct 10, 2023•18 min•Season 3Ep. 25
Eric McElroy is an American pianist and composer who released his debut album , Tongues of Fire , in March 2023 on Somm Recordings. He wrote the songs to accompany poems from modern poets W.S. Merwin, Gregory Leadbetter, Grevel Lindop, Alice Oswald, and Robert Graves. The poems are sung by acclaimed English tenor James Gilchrist and McElroy performs on piano. McElroy graduated from Washington State University and then continued his postgraduate education in Vienna and Oxford University. In this ...
Sep 15, 2023•32 min•Season 2Ep. 24
Dean Janikowski is the kicker for Washington State University’s football team, a 2022 graduate and currently an MBA student at WSU. He also has a great time on Instagram and other social media with photos and videos playing football for the Cougs, riding dirt bikes, and kicking spicy Chicken McNuggets. In this episode, Dean talks with Washington State Magazine writer Becky Kramer about raising money for the Heather Janikowski Foundation, a charity named for his mom, who died of cancer. Dean also...
Jul 27, 2023•13 min•Season 2Ep. 23
Kellie Zimmerman is no stranger to the Seattle tech scene. And she’s on a new adventure in the industry. She spent over 15 years building and leading teams in companies such as Concur and Avalara. Zimmerman is now CEO of Bellevue-based startup Brightloom , which leverages AI and data to help restaurants such as El Pollo Loco, Ruby Tuesday, and Jamba Juice accelerate their marketing and customer engagement. She talks about the twists and turns of the tech industry and her career after graduating ...
Jul 14, 2023•17 min•Season 2Ep. 22
James Donaldson had a great college and professional basketball career, a physical therapy business, and many aspirations, even in retirement from sports. But over the course of several years, illness, bankruptcy, divorce, and circumstances in life sent Donaldson into a dark mental spiral. He found his way back, writing a book about his struggles and starting a foundation to help others. In this episode, Donaldson talks with magazine associate editor Adriana Janovich about his struggles with dep...
May 30, 2023•23 min•Season 2Ep. 21
Tom Haig loves adventure. From his high-flying diving days of youth to his recovery from a bicycling accident that left him paralyzed, Haig keeps on moving. He chronicles his life, struggles, and triumphs in a new memoir from WSU Press, Global Nomad: My Travels through Diving, Tragedy, and Rebirth . Haig writes with wit and candor about the ups and downs of adventure, culminating in his new career as a documentary filmmaker. In this episode, Haig, a WSU alum, talks with Washington State Magazine...
Apr 28, 2023•34 min•Season 2Ep. 20
ChatGPT, DALL-E, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion—names that most of us hadn’t heard more than a couple of years ago now represent a slew of creative programs powered by artificial intelligence. Large language model AI programs can write stories and articles, make illustrations and artwork, and converse with users using prompts. But what does it mean for human artists and writers? Will AI steal jobs and creative works? How should people approach the thorny ethical thicket around AI-generated art? Ma...
Mar 30, 2023•28 min•Season 2Ep. 19
Helen Mary Szablya and her family fled their home country of Hungary and its Communist regime in a harrowing journey under the cover of night in 1956. They traveled to Austria, Canada, and then to Pullman, Washington, where Helen received a degree, her husband John was an engineering professor, and they raised their family. Helen tells the full story in the second volume of her memoir, From Refugee to Consul . Adriana Janovich, associate editor of Washington State Magazine , talked with her abou...
Feb 21, 2023•41 min•Season 2Ep. 18
The treacherous Arctic is the setting of a harrowing true story of shipwreck, disaster, and survival in the early twentieth century. Acclaimed adventure writer Buddy Levy, also a creative writing and English professor at Washington State University, talks with Washington State Magazine associate editor Adriana Janovich about his latest book, Empire of Ice and Stone: The Disastrous and Heroic Voyage of the Karluk. The second of three nonfiction historical narratives by master storyteller Levy abo...
Dec 06, 2022•44 min•Season 2Ep. 17
Can experiencing art improve your wellbeing? What better way to answer that question than to visit an art museum at Washington State University. Ryan Hardesty, executive director of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU , takes Washington State Magazine editor Larry Clark on a tour of the museum in WSU Pullman’s Crimson Cube. They have plenty to discuss about how people benefit from seeing, hearing, and experiencing art as they visit the exhibits—including Trimpin’s sound sculpture, Keiko Hara’...
Nov 11, 2022•30 min•Season 2Ep. 16
There are a million things to do with fungi, from boats to book covers to medicine for bees. Katy Ayers, a Washington State University student and avowed mycophile has done some pretty amazing things with mushrooms and fungi, including a world record canoe and homes for bees. In this episode, we talk with the bioengineering and biochemistry major about her many ideas, the fungal revolution, and that famous MyConoe. Read more about fungi saving the bees, helping plants, and modeling a way to make...
Nov 04, 2022•22 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Larkin Campbell calls himself an unknown actor. Now the Washington State University alum takes us behind the scenes of a life in Hollywood, not as a celebrity but as someone who loves the industry even if only a few recognize him. In this episode, Larkin talks about his WSU memories, getting into the acting business, and playing Coach Shane in the 125th episode of The Office , as husband of the girlfriend of main character Michael Scott. Read about Larkin’s hilarious memoir, A View from the Midd...
Oct 19, 2022•13 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Actress, model, and author Blanca Blanco grew up around Chelan in north-central Washington state. Her parents from Mexico—her dad was a farmworker and her mom took care of peoples’ kids—had very little money, but Blanco had big dreams for her future. In her recent memoir, Blanco tells her story of tenacity and determination, how she went from a tough youth to graduating from Washington State University with a psychology degree, and finally to a career in Hollywood. In this episode, she talks wit...
Jul 11, 2022•17 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Enrique Cerna and Matt Chan, two veterans of television work, had many conversations as people of color in the industry and in the United States. They decided to start a podcast, Chino Y Chicano , to talk about the tough complexities of race, and invite guests to join those discussions. Cerna, an alum and Regent of Washington State University, discusses the start of the podcast, the guests they’ve talked to and topics they covered, and other topics from personal history to advice for aspiring jo...
Mar 01, 2022•26 min•Season 1Ep. 12
The Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine at Washington State University emphasizes leadership as part of its curriculum for medical doctors. Founding Dean John Tomkowiak talks about why leadership training is so crucial as health care evolves into medical teams. Physicians who are prepared to be leaders could provide better care for people and take a stronger role in their communities. Also in this episode: WSU bioengineering researcher Arda Gozen studies another exciting advancement in medical an...
Jan 14, 2022•21 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Cosmic Crisp® just might be the perfect apple. Crisp, firm, juicy, sweet, slow to brown, and all around pleasing in appearance, it’s good for eating fresh as well as for cooking, in both sweet and savory dishes. Since its commercial release at the end of 2019, the inherently festive, crimson-colored apple, flecked with tiny golden lenticels and dubbed “The Apple of Big Dreams,” has received positive attention around the world. But it was bred at Washington State University specifically for Washi...
Sep 21, 2021•23 min•Season 1Ep. 10
