Campus voices before the byline.
15 Minute Story offers short, conversational portraits of journalism students recorded on the Craig Newmark campus. Olivia and Sid ask students how they arrived at reporting, then follow the unexpected paths through wrestling columns, audio work, data, transit, public health, and newsroom nights.
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15 Minute Story treats journalism school as a place full of half-finished origin stories. The format is simple. Olivia and Sid sit with students at the Craig Newmark campus and ask how they arrived, what they are trying to learn, and what kind of work has started to feel possible. The answers rarely move in a straight line. Allison Baker begins with screenwriting, graduates into the pandemic, and keeps writing by building a portfolio around professional wrestling. Jake Martin maps a route through Kentucky, Brooklyn, Kansas City, internships at an NPR station, and a full-time public radio job in Bowling Green. Ajayda Gabriel brings the rhythm of a working newsroom into the conversation. Her account of a CBS News assignment desk makes local news sound like coordination, verification, dispatch, and constant pressure. Emily Smith arrives through podcasts, audio editing, reporting, data, and a transit beat. She is surprised by how much of journalism she enjoys. Jaysa Dold talks about reading, creative writing, law school plans, and the process of backing into journalism by looking closely at what she already cared about. Jacob Fong-Gurzinsky brings a public health background, including epidemiology and community-based participatory research with Indigenous populations. Carol describes a life shaped by China, Canada, France, languages, travel, and an appetite for other people's stories. Grace Thomas connects finance, management consulting, op-eds about Israel-Palestine student protests, business journalism, and data journalism. The show has the modest scale of a hallway conversation. That is its strength. It does not force big conclusions out of early-career uncertainty. Instead, it catches students while they are still choosing beats, testing identities, and translating older interests into reporting work. The pacing is warm and direct, with enough room for pauses, hedges, and the ordinary messiness of explaining a life in progress.
Made for: For listeners interested in journalism school, student life, early-career pivots, and the personal routes that lead people into reporting. It especially suits people who like concise interviews with practical detail rather than polished career mythology.
What sets it apart: The show stays close to students and their lived transitions, not finished success stories. Its specificity comes from student beats, campus context, and the unfinished decisions behind emerging journalism careers.
15 Minute Story is a weekly podcast where hosts Olivia and Sid sit down with fellow students for real, unfiltered conversations—beyond the assignments, resumes, and deadlines. Each episode offers a glimpse into the lives, stories, and perspectives that don’t always surface in the classroom. It’s a space to connect, reflect, and hear something new from the people you pass every day.
Based on 4 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Student interviews reveal how prior careers, personal interests, and new surroundings shape an emerging sense of journalistic purpose.
15 Minute Story lets journalism students explain how they arrived at the work before asking where they hope it will take them. Olivia and Sid conduct one-on-one campus conversations that move easily between professional choices and the experiences surrounding them.
Free chips and salsa in Arkansas? A classmate's homesickness might sound oddly familiar to you.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
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This episode features an interview with first-semester journalism student Allison Baker, discussing her unconventional path from screenwriting to journalism through covering professional wrestling during the pandemic.
This episode features an interview with journalism student Jake Martin, discussing his non-traditional path from Kentucky to New York, his career shift into journalism through NPR internships, and his passion for audio storytelling.
This episode features an interview with Nazifa Ahmed, a first-semester journalism student who discusses her transition from studying science to journalism, emphasizing how storytelling in journalism offers more accessibility and connection with people compared to technical scientific writing.
This episode features an interview with Delwin Portillo, a first-semester journalism student at Craig Newmark, discussing his motivations for pursuing journalism focused on accountability and giving voice to the voiceless, and his journey from Arkansas and a sales job to journalism school.
In the premiere episode of 15-Minute Story, hosts Sid and Olivia introduce themselves and the podcast's mission to share student stories.
This episode features an interview with Grace Thomas, a first-semester journalism student who discusses her career pivot from finance and management consulting to pursuing business and data journalism after writing op-eds about the Israel-Palestine student protests.
This episode features an interview with journalism student Lloyd Davis, who discusses how he transitioned from a political science major to pursuing journalism through his undergraduate minor and graduate studies.
This episode features an interview with Liz Hyman, a first-semester journalism student who discusses her motivation to enter journalism as a trans person to combat misinformation and represent her community authentically.
This episode features an interview with journalism student Jaysa Dold, who discusses her unconventional path to journalism school, including her love for storytelling and decision against law school.
Host Olivia interviews first-semester journalism student Carol Chen about her extroverted personality, multicultural background, and journey into storytelling.
This episode features an interview with first-year journalism student Jacob Fong-Gurzinsky, who discusses his transition from a public health research background working with Indigenous communities to pursuing journalism.
Host Sid interviews journalism student Ajayda Gabriel about her journey to grad school and her current role working nights on the assignment desk at CBS News.
This episode features an interview with journalism student Emily Smith, discussing her unexpected path into journalism, current studies in local accountability and audio, and excitement about her future career.
In this episode of 15 Minute Story, host Sid interviews Ben Rappaport, a first-semester student at Craig Newmark campus, about his journey from local journalism in North Carolina to pursuing audio storytelling in New York.
Host Sid interviews Steve Kastenbaum, a third-semester student with over 30 years of journalism experience, about his non-traditional path into the field and his decision to pursue a master's degree at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism.
This episode features an interview with Jacqueline LeKachman, a first-semester journalism student and freelance writer, discussing her transition from writing personal essays for magazines to learning objective news reporting at school.
This episode features an interview with Jack Walker, a second-semester student at the Newmark J School, discussing his journey into journalism, from stumbling into the field after college to working at rural newsrooms and an NPR affiliate before pursuing formal training in data journalism.
This episode features an interview with Ariana Santiago, a first-semester journalism student discussing her interest in photojournalism and writing as she navigates her career path.