Red and White @ Silver

Shailyn Guy Metcalfe

Even after 38 episodes we still had another NFA sending town to represent. Joining Norwich, Sprague, Franklin, Lisbon, Preston, Voluntown, and Sterling is now the beautiful Canterbury. Representing it is our wonderful classmate Shailyn Guy. In this episode, Shailyn walks us through the last quarter-century of her life. Included are adventures in masseusery, Covid disruptions to her business, and now nursing school. Shailyn also shares her passion for nutrition as Jim peppers her with questions about meat. As the sole Canterbury representative on “Red & White @ Silver,” she also has to withstand obligatory Canterbury trivia. Now married with children, Shailyn went deep into the memory banks to share what she remembers about her time at the Norwich Free Academy, including lots of extracurriculars, singing at coffee houses, and old friends. In the process, the panel dissects the modern relationships we have with old friends we only see on social media. Oh, and Ian predicts a deep Patriots playoff run a year before it happens. Her name is Shailyn Guy, now Shailyn Metcalfe, and she’s a member of the NFA Class of 2001.

Barry Keenan

In mid-May 2001, “Shrek” topped the box office, Dido’s “Thank You” topped the music charts, and Barry Keenan topped our Class Musician rankings. He was a month from graduation, but what happened after Barry walked across the stage? Listen to this episode to find out. You’ll learn that he graduated from UConn, during which he led a Phish cover band, and worked at Mystic Seaport, during which he sang sea shanties. One such sea shanty, as you’ll hear, made its way into this awesome episode. Barry now works in special education, still fills in at the Seaport, and even married a fellow Seaporter before they produced a Seaporter daughter. With all this Mystic in his life, naturally he was subjected to some Mystic trivia. Barry also recounts some NFA memories, including great teachers, the foundation of some lifelong friendships, performing in his namesake band Barry’s Leaving, and soaking in the long walks between buildings. He also shared that when he describes our great alma mater to his wife, she might quip, “Oh, you mean Hogwarts?” Yeah, pretty much. His name is Barry Keenan, and he’s a member of the NFA Class of 2001.

Lauren Carlson Burhans

(A quick side note for RWS fans: we’re almost done! After our awesome guest this week, we’re down to the final FIVE episodes: three more interviews with classmates, followed by our final interview of one of the RWS hosts, and then the series finale on June 15, the 25-year anniversary of our graduation. Please join us for the home stretch!) This week we have our old classmate Lauren Carlson. In this interview, we get a sobering reminder that not everyone’s transition to the next phase of their lives was made seamlessly. Lauren opens up about her deep personal struggles experienced during freshman year at URI. A pivot to ECSU helped get her life back on track, and did she ever. She proceeded to ship up to Boston for not one but TWO Masters degrees, and she’s now a behavioral analyst. She specializes in parenting advice to all us parents who are trying to manage increasingly busy and messy lives. (Her business, Imperfect Parenting, can be reached at imperfectparentcoach@gmail.com [imperfectparentcoach@gmail.com].) She now lives in Rhode Island with her husband and three kids, a well-deserved richness of life made possible by her perseverance.  For trivia she’s quizzed about another, less quality podcast–Armchair Expert with Dax Sheppard–before then diving into NFA. Then hear Lauren’s memories about her Cranston experience, her positive experiences with teachers, and more. Her name is Lauren Carlson, now Lauren Burhans, and she’s a member of the NFA Class of 2001.

Nate Paluck

To celebrate Cinco de Mayo, “Red & White @ Silver” is thrilled to welcome a classmate who spent post-graduate years in Mexico: Nathan Paluck! He Zooms with the RWS trio to fill us in on everything he’s been up to for the last 25 years. How does a physics major at Fordham turn into a teacher in Honduras and bartender/salsa dancer in Oaxaca and a journalist in Hartford and the president of a chess club? Nate is like the Dos Equis guy: the most interesting man in the world. Then, after victorioso in a bit of Mexican history trivia, Nate has profound reflections on his time at the Norwich Free Academy. He reflects on our beautiful campus, his myriad of extracurricular activities, his valued NFA friendships, and he also becomes the latest guest to flatter Zack’s mom. Among Nate’s most cherished high school memories was working with a handful of classmates, including Jim and Zack, to record a song called “Brown Bananas” – a fawning ode from Dave Fan to a certain fellow 2001er. After listening to this episode, you’ll not only know to which classmate the song was dedicated (hint: her name rhymes with Banana), but you’ll also get to hear a 25-year-old recording of the masterpiece. You don’t want to miss it. His name is Nathan Paluck, and he’s a member of the NFA Class of 2001.

Brett Levanto

This week, “Red & White @ Silver” listeners are in for a treat. First, RWS gives you a peak behind the curtain. Unbeknownst to Ian, Zack, and our guest, our A/V guru Jim was recording audio before the official start of the interview. Therefore, in lieu of our typical short cold open, you’ll hear several minutes of arguing and guest-prep. The bigger treat comes afterward: our articulate and charismatic guest, Brett Levanto. You’ll hear how Mr. Levanto goes to Washington to study at GW, and to bartend, and to meet his future wife. You’ll also hear about some of the challenges that come with being married to a deployed sailor. Brett eventually nestled into a career, had two kids, and even began working as a high school football referee on the side, an unsurprising development considering he’s legally blind in one eye. He dazzles in his trivia segment where Ian offers him challenging football scenarios where referee Levanto needs to make the right call. (Brett would like to issue a correction about the yardage in the second question: it should be 4th and 15 and not 4th and 5. He’s admitted to this mistake having kept him up in each of the 668 nights since we recorded.) Brett finishes with profuse praise of our alma mater, including shouting out teachers and reflecting on his time with the Student Advisory Board and NFA basketball. His name is Brett Levanto, and, as he tells you several times in various ways, he’s a member of the NFA Class of 2001.