PODCAST

You Seem Exceptional

WSUM

You Seem Exceptional features a guest each week so that we can get to know them and their story.

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All Episodes

55:52

Constitutional Law Professor Franciska Coleman on...

You Seem Exceptional ·

2025/10/29

On this episode of You Seem Exceptional, Oliver and guest co-host Lydia Picotte interview Franciska Coleman, an Assistant Professor of Constitutional Law at UW-Madison's Law School. They talk about what free speech is, the dialogue around free speech in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination, an insightful political-divide crossing conversation Professor Coleman once had with a man who helped her move, UW-Madison's recent "Expressive Activity Policy," and former UW-Lacrosse Chancellor Joe

49:15

Dean Eric Wilcots

You Seem Exceptional ·

2025/10/28

On this episode of You Seem Exceptional, Oliver and Jeb have a dynamic conversation with Eric Wilcots, the Dean of UW-Madison's College of Letters & Sciences and its 25,000+ students. On one hand, they discuss where Wilcots' interest in astronomy originates, what he misses about teaching, and technical advancements in the field of Astronomy. To the point of discussing being the Dean, they discuss how the University got ahead of itself with enrollment growth, Dean Wilcots' involvement

18:38

Moth GrandSLAM Competitor Alice Pauser Returns

You Seem Exceptional ·

2025/10/22

Part of series of brief interviews with competitors in the 2025 Moth GrandSLAM, in this episode Oliver and Jeb talk to Alice Pauser, a prolific storyteller who was once the first guest on the show in early 2024. They discuss Alice's decades as a writer and humorist, her love of storytelling, and what has changed since she was featured on Episode 2 of You Seem Exceptional. The GrandSLAM will be at the Barrymore Theater the night of October 24th.

19:19

Moth GrandSLAM Competitor Eli Schmidt on Camping

You Seem Exceptional ·

2025/10/21

Part of series of brief interviews with competitors in the 2025 Moth GrandSLAM, in this episode Oliver talks to Eli Schmidt, a student who sits next to him in Professor Adam Schrager's Social Impact Storytelling class. Oliver realized that the upcoming GrandSLAM competitor was his classmate just an hour before they recorded this conversation about being young journalism majors. The GrandSLAM will be at the Barrymore Theater the night of October 24th.

23:21

Moth GrandSLAM Competitor Danielle Hairston-Green on...

You Seem Exceptional ·

2025/10/20

Part of series of brief interviews with competitors in the 2025 Moth GrandSLAM, in this episode Oliver and Jeb talk to Danielle Hairston-Green, a storyteller and host at the Moth. They discuss how Danielle learned about storytelling from her mother and how she in turn passed that knowledge down to her children and grandchildren, and Danielle shares their stories. The GrandSLAM will be at the Barrymore Theater the night of October 24th.

39:18

Olympic Gold Medalist Beau Hoopman

You Seem Exceptional ·

2025/10/15

On this episode of You Seem Exceptional, Oliver and Jeb talk to Men's Rowing Coach Beau Hoopman, who tells the story of how he walked on to the men's Rowing Team in 1999 having never rowed before, won two Olympic medals over the next decade, and then came back to UW-Madison as an assistant coach before being promoted to Head Coach recently. We talk about the struggles of being an Olympic athlete, how playing golf in high school prepared Beau to row, what it was like to get a "PhD in

40:18

Ranvir Rajesh Raheja

You Seem Exceptional ·

2025/09/24

On this episode of You Seem Exceptional, Oliver and Jeb talk to Oliver's Roommate Ranvir. They discuss in-depth where Ranvir is from, going through what it means to say you are from India, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and San Diego. They also talk about immigration, green cards, citizenship and being a Boy Scout in all of those places. Ranvir also ends the episode by telling the listeners to do what they love to do.

49:52

UWPD Chief Brent Plisch on Campus Safety

You Seem Exceptional ·

2025/09/18

On this episode of You Seem Exceptional, Oliver and Jeb talk to Brent Plisch, the Chief of UW-Madison's Police Department. Chief Plisch talks about UWPD policy on underage drinking and smoking on campus, the change in public perception of his job over 20 years at UWPD and the struggle to connect UWPD to the campus community. However, they also discuss about the path he has taken from a child mauled by a dog being comforted by his local police to a K-9 officer meeting the Dalai Lama to the

49:08

Mariel Barnes on the Manosphere

You Seem Exceptional ·

2025/04/29

This week our guest is Mariel Barnes, an Assistant Professor of Public Affairs at UW-Madison. We dive into her research into the highly online group of hypermasculine sexists called the Manosphere and look at her work in housing policy for victims of domestic abuse.

46:40

Shawn Steen 2

You Seem Exceptional ·

2025/04/27

This week our guest is Shawn Steen, a family friend of Oliver's who has had a long career in the nonprofit sector. We discuss the culture shock of growing up in rural Wisconsin before coming to UW-Madison in the 90s, some stories about Shawn Steen and Matt Gerharz in College, the digital divide Shawn encounters in nonprofit work, and open mic nights.

52:24

Pediatrician Dipesh Navsaria

You Seem Exceptional ·

2025/04/07

In this week's episode Oliver and Jeb talk to Dr. Dipesh Navsaria of the nonprofit organization Reach out and Read about his medical work, the benefits of early childhood literacy, the program he is a part of, his bowties, and flags.You can listen to the Reach out and Read podcast here: https://reachoutandread.org/podcast/You can listen to You Seem Exceptional live on WSUM 91.7 FM Madison every Monday at 6PM

50:41

The Haunted Horror Friends

You Seem Exceptional ·

2025/03/16

In this week's episode Oliver spoke to Nick Doermann and Hayden Woodard, the hosts of the Haunted Horror Hour, a horror movie review show at WSUM. We talk about Inside Out 2, other Horror Movies, a character named "jokey" with a magnetic hat who is not a clown, what Hayden is hiding under his tongue, how the Haunted Horror Hour gets its sponsors, the month, the bald story and the Moth story hour. This episode originally aired in December of 2024, but took a while to edit because of an

40:53

Storyteller and Educator Noelle Mariano

You Seem Exceptional ·

2025/03/11

In this week's episode we spoke to Noelle Mariano, the assistant producer at the Moth StorySLAM, a monthly storytelling event at the High Noon Saloon in Madison. We discuss how Oliver was once a student in Noelle's class, the tricks that Noelle uses when telling stories at the High Noon, some of the stories that Noelle has told and Noelle's ideas about teaching.You can listen to You Seem Exceptional live on WSUM 91.7 FM Madison every Monday at 6PM

51:41

Professor Jacob Thebault-Spieker on Information Gaps

You Seem Exceptional ·

2025/03/04

In this week's episode we spoke to Jacob Thebault-Spieker, a professor in UW-Madison's Information School. We discuss fountain pens, Wikipedia, the village of Black Earth in Wisconsin, the rural/urban divide, Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, and all the other exceptional work that Jacob is doing.You can learn about the microscopic bees in your computer here: https://www.hivesystems.com/blog/this-major-vulnerability-could-fill-your-computer-with-beesYou can listen to You Seem Exceptional

51:45

Emeritus Professor Tom Eggert

You Seem Exceptional ·

2025/02/26

In this week's episode we spoke to Emeritus Professor Tom Eggert about the intersection between business and finance. We discussed his teaching the University's first sustainability class, what sustainable businesses look like, and Wisconsin Microfinance's role in Haiti.You can learn more about Wisconsin Microfinance here: https://wisconsinmicrofinance.com/You can listen to You Seem Exceptional live on WSUM 91.7 FM Madison every Monday at 6PM.

45:17

Jeanne Gomoll on Feminism and Science Fiction

You Seem Exceptional ·

2025/02/26

In this week's episode we spoke to Jeanne Gomoll, the winner of February's Moth StorySLAM and a significant figure in the feminist science fiction fandom. We discussed her story for the theme of "Love Hurts," her work on the fanzine Janus when she was a student at UW-Madison, and the fascinating intersection between feminism and science fiction.You can listen to You Seem Exceptional live on WSUM 91.7 FM Madison every Monday at 6PM

47:46

EMMIE Editor-in-Chief Easton Parks

You Seem Exceptional ·

2025/02/08

In this episode of You Seem Exceptional, EMMIE Magazine's Fun Director Oliver Gerharz and non-member Jeb Blossom talk to Editor-in-Chief Easton Parks about EMMIE Magazine. They discuss UW-Madison's Supply Chain Management Major, Easton's Passion for Music, Kenosha, Easton's year at UW-Parkside, and EMMIE Magazine's history. Access the EMMIE Podcast at https://feeds.transistor.fm/emmie-podcast.

48:12

Gun Culture with Professor Nick Buttrick

You Seem Exceptional ·

2025/02/04

In this episode of You Seem Exceptional, hosts Oliver Gerharz and Jeb Blossom talk to Professor Nick Buttrick, a Professor in UW-Madison's Department of Psychology. They extensively discuss the research that Professor Buttrick has been doing into the culture surrounding gun ownership in America, including safety, politics and responsibility.

51:10

Jackson Antonow and the "Enemy in Your Pocket"

You Seem Exceptional ·

2024/12/15

In this episode of You Seem Exceptional, hosts Oliver Gerharz and Jeb Blossom talk to Jackson Antonow, a Junior at UW-Madison who recently wrote a book about phone addiction called "Enemy in Your Pocket." We talk to Jackson about the negative effects of heavy phone use, the benefits of having more time off of your phone, social media culture and his personal journey with both phone addiction and writing a book about breaking those same habits. You can listen to You Seem Exceptional live on

10:31

Cornell Professor Neil Lewis Jr. on Higher Education

You Seem Exceptional ·

2024/12/15

In this episode of You Seem Exceptional, hosts Oliver Gerharz and Jeb Blossom talk to Neil Lewis Jr., a behavioral scientist working in the department of communications at Cornell University.

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