In this special season of Midd Moment, Laurie Patton checks in with members of the Midd community to talk about how they are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this first episode, Dr. Mark Peluso, Middlebury's director of health services, shares the moment he first heard the word “COVID-19,” and when he realized the College would have to take big steps to help flatten the curve.
Roy Heffernan '78 is an Owner-Partner and former Chief Operating Optimist for the apparel and accessory company Life is Good. He joins Laurie Patton to discuss his philosophy as an executive and how that meshed with a company known for its culture of optimism.
A mini-episode featuring a collage of voices from Reunion Weekend.
Firas Nasr '15, founder of WERK for Peace, joins President Laurie Patton to discuss why they is not trying to change everyone’s mind and the importance of creating space for both anger and joy in activism.
Jill Seaman ’74, humanitarian doctor and recipient of the 2019 Alumni Achievement Award, joins President Laurie Patton to discuss her work in Bethel, Alaska, and South Sudan.
Cleveland Cavaliers General Manager Koby Altman '04 talks hoops, life, and the intersection of the two with Middlebury President Laurie Patton.
In 2018 Adul Samon and his boys’ soccer team were rescued from a flooded Thai cave. During the rescue effort, Adul took on an unexpected leadership role as an interpreter. Last spring Adul was the inaugural recipient of Middlebury's Global Citizen's Award, and he and his teacher at the Band Wiang Phan School joined Laurie Patton to discuss, among other things, the power of language.
Bianca Giaever ’12.5 is a storyteller. She has produced audio pieces for This American Life and Radiolab; video pieces that have gone viral and won Emmys; and magazine pieces for The Believer and this humble publication. And her conversation—recorded just after Bianca finished her first summer of study at the Bread Loaf School of English—is a story all its own.
Temie Giwa-Tubosun, MPA ’10, discusses her work as the founder of LifeBank, a social enterprise that saves lives across Nigeria by efficiently delivering blood to labs and hospitals across the country.
Professor Emerita and Writer in Residence Julia Alvarez '71 joins President Laurie Patton to speak about the chorus of gatekeepers who punctuated her life; the freedom of failure; and the work of writing, in particular how it is a labor, not an identity.
