The people, projects, and ideas that make the Queens College Community
Recent Episodes
Anna Coraggio: Love, War, and Sceneggiata in Italian America
September 21, 2024
Anna Coraggio’s life story resurfaces seventy years after she ended her recording and stage career and returned to private life, surrounded by her siblings, her nephews and nieces, her spouse and their numerous friends whom they loved hosting at their Brooklyn brownstone. Hers is a multilayered tale of familiar comfort sacrificed by generations for love, for duty, for art, for family values, for what makes us humans in short. Giulio Breviario, her brother-in-law found himself a soldier fighting in North-Africa* during WWII while distrusting the Mussolini regime. He aspired to the American dream and found the way to make it come true. Anna and her family inspire the narration, not because of what remains of her musical contributions, but because they embodied the principles that we share as humans. Our shared humanity explains not only that very different individuals and generations collaborated to realize the podcast but that so many also passionately study and share the knowledge that helps understand Anna Coraggio’s music. We relied on their contributions to make this episode, and we particularly thank Patrick O’Boyle and John Viola of The Italian American Podcast and Jeff Matthews of Naples: Life Death and Miracles for their discussion and definition of the sceneggiata napoletana. The podcast also benefited from Joseph Sciorra’s generosity. He made time to discuss and share in person, at the Calandra Italian American Institute, his knowledge of the Italian and Italian-American music traditions of Naples, of Campania and their evolution in the New York environment of Little Italy. Paul Fadoul *Giulio Breviario served in North-Africa where U.S soldiers captured him and transferred him to Fort Hamilton as a prisoner of war (Correction to podcast content requested by Alex Breviario).
Listen →From Queens to France: Teaching Abroad with TAPIF
March 27, 2024
Join Sammy Ali and Professor Paul Fadoul as they engage in a conversation with Marina Ramirez, a Queens College graduate, about her extraordinary experience teaching English in France. Episode correction: One does not need a BA to be eligible for TAPIF. See the TAPIF eligibility requirements here: https://www.tapif.org/faq.php
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The Way Back
December 11, 2023
In this episode, three childhood friends (Paula, Zaira and Grazelle) shared an unforgettable immigrant story. A story of how fate brought them together later in life. From learning how to speak English to figuring out how to live in a busy city at a young age. Every immigrant has a story of their own that shaped them who they are today, this is one of ours. – Music: Zapsplat (sound effects), Royalty-Free(music/sound effects)
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The Swiftcast
December 7, 2023
On this episode of the Swiftcast, Alessia Pisicchio sits down with Marisa Kratzke to discuss what happened the day(s) of the Era’s Tour Presale(s). One friend succeed ing at getting tickets and another deceived by the promise of the CapitalOne sale left there to be confusion when thinking of how precise you had to be to secure tickets to the show.With the corruption of the presale, Ticketmaster had left thousands of fan s without tickets with little to no explanation. Comparing strategies and talking about what each’s experiences were like in the presale, this conversation is guided through the love of Swift’s music that both will remember all too well. Both informational and truthful, exploring the events that took place during the presale helps those who did not get tickets get a glimpse of what was on “The Other Side of the Door”.
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Cured By a Spell
November 30, 2023
Who needs a doctor’s appointment when you have a witch doctor for a neighbor? This episode is based on a true story that took place in the Philippines during my childhood. This interview with my mother led me to dive deep into the history of Witch Doctors and Siquijor Island, the infamous island that leaves locals, travelers and tourists to wonder, is it a form of sorcery or treatment?
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La Lingua e La Vita
November 7, 2023
Did you know the Sicilian dialect is more common in the US than in Italy?
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One Step Ahead of the Nazis: Joseph Sungolowsky
October 7, 2023
Sammy Ali talks to Joseph Sungolowsky about his extraordinary life. Sungolowsky is a Holocaust survivor turned esteemed Professor of French Literature and Jewish Studies at Queens College. Join us as we follow his harrowing journey of survival, resilience, and hope as he outwitted the Nazis, assumed false identities, and even found refuge in a Catholic boarding school.
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Unlacing our Shows, Episode 2
May 15, 2023
Holden Velasco sits down with Dennis Velasco, the Memphis City Director for Pro Skills Basketball, to discuss the culture of coaching youth basketball.
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Unlacing our Shoes
May 3, 2023
This week on QC POD, we feature an episode of Holden Velasco’s “Unlacing Our Shoes”—a podcast that humanizes athletes. Velasco, Editor-in-Chief for The Knight News, interviews QC basketball player Jayden Seraphin. Velasco and Seraphin both lost their mothers at an early age. They discuss the impact of this loss on their lives and athletics.
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The Freshman Year Experience Program
April 29, 2023
In this episode of the QC Pod English professor Jason Tougaw sits down with Jorge Velez, Assistant Director of the Freshman Year Experience program, and peer mentor Riyahauna Headley—to talk about what every student new to Queens College should know.
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The Rise of AI: How a Board Game Changed the World
March 6, 2023
Today, we log into the rapidly growing world of artificial intelligence and discuss Chatbot CPT, its impact on just about everything–including you. Take a listen.
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Sounds of the 20th Century: The History of Audio Recording
March 6, 2023
Today, we rewind to the big bang of audio throughout the latter portion of the 19th and 20th centuries and discussing how that brought you here, today, listening to me probably through your headphones or some other auditory device. Take a listen.
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Campus Reopening
May 20, 2022
Nev Yakubov takes the end of the semester as on occasion to look back on campus reopening. During the first two weeks of class, many students waited in long lines. […]
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United States Foreign Language Deficit (Sammy Ali)
April 26, 2022
We join Sammy Ali to learn about language in America. Sammy speaks with William McClure, Dean of Arts and Humanities and Professor of Japanese at Queens College about diversity on campus, why speaking multiple languages isn’t more prominent, and how language barriers affect the country.
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Write Or Die Part 2 (Nev Yakubov)
April 12, 2022
Nev Yakubov is back with the second part of her podcast debut, Write or Die, continuing her discussion on Asian American writers.
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Write Or Die (Nev Yakubov)
April 5, 2022
Nev Yakubov introduces the first episode of her new series, Write Or Die, giving us a look at a debate between two great Asian American writers.
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Writing in Queens with Catherine LaSota
March 29, 2022
Catherine LaSota—founder of The Resort LIC Writers’ Community—joins Jason Tougaw in the QC POD to discuss community building, pro-tips for running events that tap into your happy place, her history […]
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Omme Bangush Presents: Truth Unveiled
March 8, 2022
Omme Bangush is a senior at Queens College, introducing her new podcast, Truth Unveiled.
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Swarthmore v. Queens
March 1, 2022
Latine students compare their university experiences at a fancy private college versus public school.
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Dr. Mick Interview
February 22, 2022
Dr. Mick joins the QC Pod to discuss mental health through the lens of video games.
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Riot Woman (Eleanor Whitney)
February 15, 2022
Eleanor Whitney talks about her new book Riot Woman and the culture.
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In the Cut with Jonathan Leon
December 7, 2021
Today on the QC POD, we’re shining a spotlight on one of our students’ new projects. Part of our mission is to give CUNY students a platform to express themselves creatively, and today we want to present Jonathan Leon’s new podcast,
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Bob Dylan & the Electrification of Folk Music
November 30, 2021
On this episode of the QC Pod, Editor-in-Chief of the Knight News, Johnny Sullivan, defends Bob Dylan of the accusation that he and he alone was responsible for the electrification of folk music.
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How Has the Pandemic Affected Education?
November 29, 2021
On this episode of the QC Podcast, Sammy Ali is joined by Dr. Bobbie Kabuto, department chair of the elementary and early childhood education department at Queens College, to discuss how the pandemic has affected education in the country.
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TV Theme Songs (Salia Hovanec)
November 16, 2021
On this episode of the QC Podcast, Salia Hovanec sits down with her friend Brendan to discuss an often overlooked genre of music: TV theme songs.
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Steven Universe (Nathalie Avalo)
November 9, 2021
On this episode of the QC pod, Natalie Avals talks about how the animated television show Steven Universe teaches lessons on mental wellness.
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Undergraduate Research (Zakari & Evans)
April 26, 2021
In this episode of the QC Pod, Sidd Malviya interviews Zahra Zakari (Biology) and Cherice Evans (Chemistry) about the craft of research, and opportunities for undergraduates who are interested in doing research.
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Why Do We Love True Crime?
April 5, 2021
The QC Pod’s Eden Ayala explores our obsession with the true crime genre. What is it that captivates people? She engages these questions in an interview with True Crime author and Queens College Professor Harold Schechter.
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Queens College’s Counseling Services
March 23, 2021
In today’s episode of the QC Pod, Samatha Galvez-Montiel sits down with Counseling Center Director Barbara Moore.
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QC Analytics Wins at UN Hackathon
March 15, 2021
Queens College Data Analytics just won at a Global Hackathon sponsored by the United Nations! In this episode, the Queens Podcast Lab’s Eden Ayala sits down with the winning team: Esther Jenaro Rabadan, Rachel Ramphal, and Habiba Aziz.
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Ann Powers
March 8, 2021
Music journalist Ann Powers was a guest in The Knight News Visiting Journalists Series. Afterwards, she sat down with Jason Tougaw to talk music towns, the role of pleasure and love in music criticism, the racial politics of American music, her close encounters with Prince, Tori Amos, and Bono—and a whole lot more.
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Political Rage and the Media
February 9, 2021
In this episode, QC student and Knight News journalist Samantha Galvez-Montiel interviews Media Studies faculty member Benjamin Strassfield about the Capitol Hill Invasion and America’s increasingly fraught political culture.
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CUNY, CUTBACKS and its THREAT on Social Mobility
December 14, 2020
In this episode of the QC Podcast Lab we talk with Urban Studies professor Natalie Vena and pre-dentistry student Tiara Miller about CUNY’s social justice mission, what it has made possible in their own lives, chronic underfunding, and the future of this powerful institution of social mobility.
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Learning about COVID19 with John Dennehy
December 7, 2020
COVID19 has turned Queens College campus upside down. Fortunately, Queens College has expert virologist John Dennehy, QC biologist and head of the Dennehy Lab, to explain the virus to us. Our host, Hanme Cho, asks Prof. Dennehy about the virus, its epidemic, the vaccine, and more.
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Being a Journalist in New York
November 26, 2020
In this episode of the QC Podcast Lab we speak with Amir Khafagy a New York freelance journalist and QC alum about his experiences as a journalist in New York.
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CAMPUS LABOR RELATIONS
November 10, 2020
In this episode of the QC Pod, we meet two campus labor leaders to discuss the current state of labor relations between campus faculty and executives.
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Microbiologist by Day
November 2, 2020
In this episode of the QC Podcast Lab we speak with alum Kathy Fauntleroy Supervising Microbiologist on the front lines of the fight against COVID19 at Cornell-Weill. By night, she writes fiction as part of QC’s MFA program in writing.
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Urban Survivalists
October 26, 2020
We meet and speak with Prof. Anna Bounds (Sociology) to discuss her research on doomsday survival preppers in New York City.
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Applying to Grad School
October 19, 2020
Sociology’s Robin Rogers, former director of Queens College’s Honors Program speaks about applying to grad school.
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QC Life as an EMT during the COVID crisis
October 12, 2020
We speak with EMT and QC alumnus Timothy So about what it was like to be an EMT during NYC’s COVID crisis
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Poet Ariel Francisco on Florida, Climate Change, and Bilingual Art
October 5, 2020
We talk to poet and Queens College graduate student Ariel Francisco, and his published poetry about Florida.
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Surviving online learning in COVID
September 28, 2020
We speak with tech and teaching gurus Eva Fernandez and Michelle Fraboni to ask how students can succeed while campus is closed
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Women of Generation X
September 21, 2020
We interview Prof. Robin Rogers from the Queens College Sociology Department about her research on the women of Generation X
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Teaching During Covid
September 14, 2020
We talk to Eva Fernandez and Michelle Fraboni to discuss how Queens College news faculty can best serve their students while class is onlin
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Data Analytics in the 1990s
September 7, 2020
Mindy Rhindress describes Data Analytics in the 1990s
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