Peer Talk Episode 16: Larry Baer, President and CEO of the San Francisco Giants

Peer Talk Episode 16: Larry Baer, President and CEO of the San Francisco Giants

On Peer Talk, we can't think of a better way to celebrate the week of the 4th of July than with an episode on America's favorite pastime: baseball! Naturally, we're fans of the San Francisco Giants — and so, we were thrilled to score an interview with the Giants' current president and CEO, Larry Baer! Mr. Baer's professional history with the team dates back to the 1980s. His personal history with the team goes even further back, to his childhood growing up in San Francisco. In 1992, after some time away from the Bay Area, Mr. Baer returned to San Francisco and co-founded an ownership group which kept the Giants from relocating to Miami. This group also helped move the team from Candlestick Park to Pacific Bell Park (now Oracle Park), where it still resides today. Since then, Mr. Baer has been as much of a fixture of San Francisco as the Giants have. The eighth-grade students of Mr. O.'s Peer Resources class had plenty of questions about the inner workings of a Major League team, and they hit this interview out of the park! Enjoy — and GO GIANTS!

Peer Talk Episode 15: Carolyn Tyler, journalist

From 1986 until her retirement in 2018, Carolyn Tyler was a household name in the Bay Area, as news anchor and reporter for KGO-TV/ABC7. During her tenure, Carolyn covered numerous breaking stories and hosted two Emmy-nominated series — including a series on the Civil Rights Movement and the impact that it had on Bay Area high school students. For covering the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, Carolyn and her ABC7 news team received the Peabody Award. Currently, Carolyn serves on the San Francisco Film Commission, the Board of Governors for the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences representing Northern California, and the board of the Alonzo King Lines Ballet. In both her professional and personal life, Carolyn has amassed a treasure trove of experiences, which we were so excited to share with Mr. Mathews' Ethnic Studies class. Seeing a black anchorwoman on television news inspired Carolyn to professionally pursue journalism, and we hope that the students at Willie Brown will, in turn, be inspired by her and her stories.

Peer Talk Episode 14: Osagie Ero, software engineer at Amazon Music

The school year is ending as summer begins, but not to worry — Peer Talk will continue through the next few months until school starts back up again! Our guest for this episode is Osagie Ero, currently a software engineer at Amazon Music. Originally from Los Angeles, Osagie moved to San Francisco after graduating the University of Southern California. He began his professional career at Workday, where he helped to create a proprietary programming language for the company's Workday Student product. After a stint as a founding engineer at the blockchain startup Claim, Osagie later joined Astranis Space Technologies, where he undertook one of his most ambitious projects: developing a scheduling algorithm for Astranis's satellites to automatically communicate with Earth, which used to be a manual process. Now, at Amazon Music, Osagie combines his love of technology and engineering with his lifelong love of music. Since Willie Brown is a STEM-focused school, we were so grateful to have Osagie, a STEM professional, speak with the students of Mr. Jacobson's Computer Science class. The kids and Osagie almost instantly connected with each other, and we hope you'll enjoy their conversation as much as we did while recording.

Peer Talk Episode 13: J. K. Fowler, Executive Director of the Bay Area Book Festival

The 2026 Bay Area Book Festival heads to Downtown Berkeley from Friday, May 29 to Sunday, May 31, hosting over a hundred panels and special guests. It's an event where readers and writers of all sorts come together to hold meaningful conversations on both local and global interests. The Festival's rebellious, community-focused spirit is in part thanks to its current Executive Director, J. K. Fowler. J. K. is a prolific essayist whose body of work focuses on social justice and human connection. In 2011, J. K. founded Nomadic Press, a community-oriented publishing house in Oakland; Nomadic Press will return as Nomadic Bookshop in 2026, after a three-year hiatus. J. K. is also a Policy and Outreach Analyst with BAMBD, CDC (Black Arts Movement Business District Community Development Corporation of Oakland). He pushes people to think outside their comfort zone and open dialogues with others from all walks of life. We were lucky to have met J. K. just before the end of the school year — AND before the Book Festival — so we could have the students at Willie Brown Middle School interview him. Listen in as Mr. Mathews' Ethnic Studies class speaks to J. K. Fowler!

Peer Talk Episode 12: William May, doorman at the Fairmont Hotel

Since 1907, the Fairmont Hotel — located in the upscale neighborhood of Nob Hill — has been one of San Francisco's most esteemed and elegant institutions. For over 50 years, the first person to greet Fairmont guests upon their arrival has been the doorman, William May. May began working at the Fairmont in the mid-1970s, at a time when African-Americans had far-less-prominent roles in the hospitality industry. In his illustrious career as doorman and brand ambassador for the Fairmont, May has met famous historical figures like Thurgood Marshall and John Lewis, U.S. Presidents, other world leaders, entertainers, and more. All the while, he has proudly embraced his role in the history of the hospitality industry, and unwaveringly embodied the mission of the Fairmont Hotel and its brand. Listen in as Mr. Mathews' Ethnic Studies Class interviews the legendary William May!