Episode 26 of the #PADpod features the very funny and engaging Joanna McNurlen! Joanna parlayed her Drama and Business background at #WashU into an interesting and exciting career journey that took her from positions at Deloitte and Spotify to her current role managing a team of Technical Architects at Salesforce and teaching Change Innovation and Management at NYU. Rob and Joanna talk about how the PAD taught the importance of failure and using that experience to leverage her way into a successful career of collaborating and presenting to large groups of people. We talk about the PAD classes that most shaped and (her word) broke her in a way that led her to a better understanding of the value of emerging from a struggle and understanding her true talents applied to business. Do not miss this funny, thought-provoking, and inspiring episode featuring the one and only Joanna McNurlen!

Episode 25 of the #PADpod features our FIRST designer sincethe podcast began with the enormously talented costume designer Chloe Karmin. Since graduating from WashU and studying costume design in the PAD, Chloe has been working nearly non-stop in the television and film industries. She’s designed costumes for films like Friendship and You Hurt My Feelings and been an assistant for multiple projects like Problemista (for Julio Torres whom she also did Fantasmas for HBO), Spaceman, Montana Story, and Lost Girls. She’s costumed Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Steve Buscemi and Paul Rudd just to name a few. Rob and Chloe talk about the values and skills she learned in collecting and assimilating research while at WashU and how she has leveraged that in making connections and engendering trust with her directors and collaborators. We also talk working with Antonio Banderas on-set for the upcoming Summer 2026 film Tony based on Anthony Bourdain’s book Kitchen Confidential. Don’t miss this episodeabout a talented #WashU trained costume designer with an extremely bright future in the business!

Episode 24 of the PAD podcast illustrates yet another of the many career branches a #WashU alum might take in the artsfield. Recorded from the heart of Broadway in New York City, this episode features Mr. Michael Sinder who is an entertainment attorney practicing predominantly in live theatre for shows from Broadway to London’s West End. For over 30 years, Mr. Sinder has counseled and represented clients that range from producers to authors and from investors to creative team members. Name the show and he’slikely been involved on it in some capacity or another. Rob and Michael’s talk ranges from discussing the first Broadway show he saw all the way up to his recommendations for great current Broadway productions. Don’t miss this entertaining (law) episode!

Episode 23 of the PAD Podcast features #WashU alum BenWinters. Ben is an accomplished novelist, television writer/producer, comic book writer, multiple New York Times bestseller, and creator of original audio content. Ben’s best selling award-winning books include Big Time, Golden State, The Quiet Boy, and Underground Airlines; the award-winning Last Policeman Trilogy, two novels for young readers (The Secret Life of Ms. Finkelman and The Mystery of the Missing Everything); two parody “mash-up” novels (Sense andSensibility and Sea Monsters and Android Karenina) and the cult horror novel The Bonus Room (previously titled Bedbugs). Ben’s work for television includes work on the FX show Legion and the historical thriller Manhunt on AppleTV. Ben is thecreator of the smash-hit CBS network drama Tracker, which premiered after the Super Bowl in 2024. He has also written several Audible Originals for Audible.com, including Inside Jobs, Q&A, Self Help, Stranger, and Hitchhikers.
Of late, Ben is one of several comic-book writers involved in the ongoing anthology series Cruel Universe, part of the revival of EC Comics from Oni Press. Ben’s first solo comic book, a three-part series called Benjamin was published last summer. Don’t miss this interview with master storyteller Ben Winters as he reflects on his time at WashU (including time in Mama’s Pot Roast) and beyond.

PAD Podcast episode 22 features an interview with multitalented and multidisciplinary theatre artist and educator Miriam White (with a guest visit from her dog Rio). Miriam talks about her time at WashU including a prescient planning session over pancakes (say that three times fast) where she and #WashU classmates devised what would eventually become Nice People Theatre Company for which Miriam was Co-Artistic Director for 5 years. Miriam has since worked as a professional actor on stage at places like PlayPenn and Arden Theatre as well as a dedicated academic advisor for students from primary and secondary #education at The Philadelphia School to undergraduates in #highered at places like University of the Arts and University of Pennsylvania. Don’t miss this episode or you’ll miss out on some valuable Miriam White wisdom!

Episode 21 of the PAD podcast picks up where we left interviewing amazingly talented alumni of the #WashU Performing Arts Department (PAD) and this episode’s guest is no exception! On this episode, Rob interviews the multi-talented and multi-disciplinary artist Pun Bandhu. Pun is a graduate of both WashU and Yale School of Drama and has built a career as an award-winning actor in films Michael Clayton, Burn After Reading, Frozen River, and Can You Ever Forgive Me? as well as a noteworthy role as Lee in the movie Relay opposite Riz Ahmed. He has done guest appearances on television (Madame Secretary, Gotham, Blue Bloods, etc.) and has recurring roles as Victor Landis in Elsbeth and Judge Yun in Law and Order: SVU. Pun has performed opposite Cynthia Nixon in the Tony-nominated Wit on Broadway and has been seen at some of the best theatres Off-Broadway and regionally across the country. As you’ll also hear on the episode, Pun is a passionate advocate and the recipient of an Obie Award and Tony Honor as a co-founder of the Asian American Performers Action Coalition (AAPAC) in recognition of the group’s impact in increasing diversity within the industry. Do not miss this delightful – and insightful –interview with proud WashU alum Pun Bandhu.

PAD podcast episode #20 is another very special one featuring beloved teacher, longtime PAD faculty member, and Professor of Practice Jeffery Matthews! Jeffery will be retiring at the end of the 2025-26 academic year after an astounding THIRTY-EIGHT years of teaching at #WashU. Jeffery has been on the PAD faculty since 1988 teaching courses in Acting, Directing, Voice and Speech and Theatre for Young Audiences. Jeffery was on the artistic staff of The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis for twenty years as Artistic Supervisor of The ImaginaryTheatre Company, the Rep’s touring children’s company. He is a professional director, actor, and dialect specialist. In the interview, Jeffery reflects on all flavors of shows, classes, and colleagues and even finishes the episode with a list of 70 students who come to mind as having made an impact on him over that period of time. In this holiday time of lists both ‘naughty and nice’, there’s only one way to know if you’re on Jeffery’s list and that is to LISTen! ;)

Episode 19 of the PAD Podcast is a very special one featuring longtime beloved PAD faculty member Annamaria Pileggi. After 35 years in the department, Anna will be retiring at the end of the 2025-26 academic year leaving behind a legacy of dedicated teaching, collaborative theatre (and people) making, and a ‘butterfly effect’ of alumni who were inspired by Anna’s teaching and bring that energy to their lives and work all over the world. On the episode, Anna reflects on her training before arriving at WashU, her influences and mentors who helped her along the way, andher favorite productions and collaborations that made her career at WashU, as she says, a “joy”.

If you feel a heartwarming shot of exuberance, wisdom, inspiration, and that distinctive Annamaria Pileggi laugh that has echoed in the PAD hallways for 35 wonderful years is what you need in life right now, then this episode is for you!