John Finney reflects on 30 years as BC's maestro

Shan Rizwan '21 on how asking strangers one question made him a social media star.

Back in the summer of 2018, Shan Rizwan '21 was an incoming sophomore at BC when he began posting vlogs about his life on YouTube. Seven years later, he's become a social media sensation with nearly 3 million followers across his various platforms, thanks to his viral man-on-the-street style videos asking strangers on the street what music they're listening to. In this episode, he reflects on his journey to Internet fame, what it's really like when a childhood dream comes true, and what's next in his career.

Tom Marchitelli '04 on his path from hedge fund accountant to celebrity suit designer

Tom Marchitelli '04 is the founder of Gentleman's Playbook, his custom menswear company that has created custom suits for 500 professional athletes across the NFL, NHL, MLB, and NBA. Marchitelli started Gentleman's Playbook as an Instagram account over a decade ago, and intended it just to be a creative outlet where he could post photos of his favorite tailored suits. But when a professional athlete messaged Marchitelli asking if he could order a custom suit from him, Marchitelli rose to the challenge, teaching himself how to measure on the fly and transforming his career and life almost overnight.

Talking retirement policy and strategy with the leading expert and (recently retired) BC Professor Alicia Munnell

Retirement planning and policy can be dizzying. Social Security, 401(k)s, Roth IRAs, Traditional IRAs, arcane IRS rules and regulations…it gets a little bewildering. Alicia Munnell, founder of BC’s Center for Retirement Research—and recently retired herself—explains how we got to this point and why we must simplify the process for everyday working people.

BC professor Ana M. Martínez-Alemán reflects on 20 years studying the effects of social media.

Ana M. Martínez-Alemán, associate dean for faculty & academic affairs and professor at BC’s Lynch School of Education and Human Development, is widely recognized as one of the first researchers to study the effects of social media on college students, and has been researching the topic for nearly twenty years. Last year she was named among 40 outstanding women in higher education by “Diverse: Issues in Higher Education," and she continues to study the intersection of technology, class, and race. At a time when we seem to be in the midst of a national reckoning about social media’s effects on young people, she joined the Boston College Magazine podcast to share her thoughts on the topic.

Mary Bryant Shrader '80 on her journey to becoming a YouTube star.

Mary Bryant Shrader '80 discusses how she went from being a retired tax attorney to a YouTube sensation with more than one million subscribers and a popular cookbook.