The Late Start Show

The Late Start Show
  • 5.0 (25)
  • Daily News
  • Updated Weekly

The Late Start Show is a podcast all about University School. Featuring interviews from legendary students, teachers, and alumni, this pod will bring you inside the unrivaled US community. The show is hosted by two students, Charlie Martin and Jack Nelson, and released every late start Wednesday, you won’t regret tuning in.

  1. 3d ago

    Tylar Robinson on Faith, Game-Winners, and Asking for the Ball | Season 3, Ep 3

    In Episode 3 of Season Three of The Late Start Show, Charlie Martin and Jack Nelson sit down with Tylar Robinson, senior captain of the varsity football and basketball teams, leader of FOCUS, and the man who scored the game-winner against Gilmour this past Saturday. Tylar traces his path from Euclid City Schools to arriving at US in eighth grade after several attempts to get in, the culture shock of those first years, and the upperclassmen like Justin Belcher who showed him what it looks like to set the example. He relives the packed gym against Gilmour, a heartbreaking district semifinal loss, and his buzzer-beater against CVCA. On the football side, he walks through his moves from quarterback to safety to playmaker, playing through a hip injury, and the moment he told his coach "I need the ball" before taking a screen 40 yards for the go-ahead score with 1:21 left. Beyond the highlights, Tylar opens up about a late-starting recruiting process, why he once considered leaving US, and the message behind his senior speech, introduced by his younger brother Logan, that earned a standing ovation. He also reflects on growing FOCUS to over 60 students, bringing postgame prayer to his teams, and wanting to be remembered as someone who never had it all figured out. This episode is a must-listen for anyone chasing big moments while staying grounded in faith, family, and the people around them. Credits to Theo Walter for Production and Editing, Jay Miller and Nico Morelli for the Sports and News segment, Russ Nobles for the Intro and Outro songs, Mr. Wickboldt for being our advisor, and you for listening to our podcast and keeping up with the latest US news.

  2. Sep 23

    Thomas Lodowski on Grit, Ambition, and Running for the Team | Season 3, Ep 2

    In Episode 2 of Season Three of The Late Start Show, Charlie Martin and Jack Nelson sit down with Thomas Lodowski, our first student guest of the year, varsity track and cross-country captain, Ohio state record holder in the 600 meter, and two-time state runner-up in the 800. Thomas traces his path from a six-person class at Cleveland Montessori to earning a Jarvis Scholarship at University School, and reflects on the upperclassmen who shaped his early years on the team. He takes listeners inside the 800 meter, one of the most punishing events in track, and recounts toeing the line at New Balance Nationals as a sophomore, taking the school record with a third-place state finish, and the drive to climb from second to first. Beyond the track, Thomas shares how he defines being smart, his love for math and plans to study engineering, and the teachers who pushed him most. He breaks down the reality of track recruiting, from emailing 100 schools to spending weekends on official visits, and explains the mental frameworks that keep him composed under pressure. He closes with his goal of a national title at Franklin Field and the team-first legacy he hopes to leave behind. This episode is full of insight on discipline, ambition, and competing for something bigger than yourself, a must-listen for athletes and students chasing big goals. Credits to Theo Walter for Production and Editing, Russ Nobles for the Intro and Outro songs, Mr. Wickboldt for being our advisor, and you for listening to our podcast and keeping up with the latest US news.

  3. Sep 16

    Mrs. Coy on Detours, Character, and Second Chances | Season 3, Ep 1

    In Episode 1 of Season Three of The Late Start Show, we open the new year with Mrs. Betsy Coy, Upper School Dean of Students, Freshman Class Dean, business law teacher, and a lawyer turned educator who has been on the US faculty since 2009. Mrs. Coy takes us back to a suburban street in South Euclid, where five people shared three bedrooms and one bathroom and where she stayed outside with her friends until dark. She talks about the younger brother with Down syndrome who made her want to teach long before she knew what teaching was, the senior project that put her in a special education classroom, and the special education degree she earned at Bowling Green. She also tells the story of the crisis that followed: an honest opinion about inclusion she was sure would cost her every interview, a father who pointed out she was good at arguing, education certification tests one weekend and the LSAT the next, and a first semester of law school that redirected her from advocacy toward corporate law. Four years at a firm, a rejected business plan to train young associates, an in-house move to Applied Industrial Technologies, and the loss of her father eventually brought her back to the work she had wanted all along. From a part-time learning specialist role, the first US ever hired, and a summer interview where a student tour convinced her she had to work here, Mrs. Coy traces her path through director of learning services, head of Sanders House, and finally the Dean of Students job she had wanted since 2012. She opens up about a disciplinary process built around character rather than consequence, why she spends as little time in her office as possible, and what changes between the freshman she meets in September and the senior whose hand she shakes at graduation. She discusses integrity and respect as the pillars beneath responsibility, loyalty, and consideration, the humility she has learned from students, her son's senior speech about growing up at the school where his mom worked, and the off-duty Mrs. Coy who bakes chocolate chip cookies for the neighborhood kids and cannot get anyone in her family to play board games with her anymore. Seventeen years in, her why is straightforward: the relationships she gets to build here, and the hope that students remember her as tough but fair, and as someone who made them feel seen. Credits to Theo Walter for Production and Editing, Russ Nobles for the Intro and Outro songs, Mr. Wickboldt for being our advisor, and you for listening to our podcast and keeping up with the latest US news.

  4. Jun 3

    Stephen Murray on Knowing Every Boy, Being There, and a Life in Leadership | Season 2, Ep 38

    In Episode 38 of The Late Start Show, we sit down with Mr. Stephen Murray, the seventh headmaster of University School, namesake of the Murray House, and current Head of School at The Lawrenceville School. Mr. Murray reflects on his journey from growing up as the fourth of six kids in northern New Jersey to becoming a lifelong educator, shaped by the public-school teachers who inspired him and by parents who modeled humility, kindness, and integrity. He shares the moment a teaching internship at Williams convinced him to dedicate his life to the classroom, his transformative year teaching immigrant students in a Paris suburb, and his early days at Deerfield, where a single late-night conversation with a struggling student taught him the lasting power of simply being a steady, reliable presence. From stepping into administration almost by accident to becoming a head of school for the first time at US, Mr. Murray opens up about following a beloved long-tenured leader, managing a two-campus school through "the art of being seen," and what made the brotherhood and closeness of US so special. He discusses what it meant to have a house named in his honor, his philosophy that great teaching is fundamentally about love and trust, and how schools should think across thirty-year horizons about what to preserve and what to let change in an age of AI. Looking back on thirty-five years in independent schools, Mr. Murray reflects on watching colleagues like Mr. Gallagher rise to lead the schools he once loved, what still gets him out of bed each morning, and the deeply human relationships that, more than any building or title, define his "why." Credits to Theo Walter for Production and Editing, Russ Nobles for the Intro and Outro songs, Mr. Wickboldt for being our advisor, and you for listening to our podcast and keeping up with the latest US news.

  5. May 29

    Mrs. Lori Baris on Personal Responsibility, Being Known and Loved, and Eighteen Years of Caring | Season 2, Ep 37

    In Episode 37 of The Late Start Show, we sit down with Mrs. Lori Baris, the beloved longtime third-grade teacher at University School who spent eighteen years on the lower-school campus and still returns regularly as a substitute. Mrs. Baris takes us back to growing up in a freer, unscheduled Cleveland of the 1950s and '60s, riding the Rapid downtown to Indians games and playing outside until the porch light came on. She shares the quiet, profound influence of the fourth-grade teacher who took her under her wing the year she lost her mother, a kindness that shaped her entire understanding of what a teacher can be. She also traces her path from Cleveland Heights High and four generations of Ohio State Buckeyes to her first nervous days in the classroom, when a perceptive first-grader saw right through her and taught her to think on her feet. From the mentors who freed her to take risks to the colleagues who pulled her out of her comfort zone and into the woods at Camp Whitewood, Mrs. Baris opens up about the traditions that make US feel like a place where you are truly known and loved: the handshakes, the private third-grade wing, and the sweet treats given freely each morning and "earned" again with a story when students come back to visit. She reflects on teaching math from her dining room table during COVID, the loss of her father that helped her know it was time to step back and be present for her grandchildren, and why she keeps showing up for four-year-olds who wave at her through the library window. Looking back on a life in the classroom, Mrs. Baris shares her hope of fostering kindness in the next generation, the deep and lasting way teachers hold onto their students, and the relationships that, more than any lesson plan, define her "why." Credits to Theo Walter for Production and Editing, Russ Nobles for the Intro and Outro songs, Mr. Wickboldt for being our advisor, and you for listening to our podcast and keeping up with the latest US news.

  6. May 25

    Mr. Peter Sweeney on Code, Career Pivots, and the Age of AI | Season 2, Ep 36

    In Episode 36 of The Late Start Show, we sit down with Mr. Peter Sweeney, University School upper school math and computer science teacher, founder of the US Robotics Team, and longtime veteran of both the tech industry and education. Mr. Sweeney reflects on his journey from a 12-year-old teaching himself to code on an Apple IIe in Belgium to a decade in corporate tech, sharing how an early love of making things and solving puzzles shaped a career he never originally planned. He opens up about the meaningful pivot that led him away from a successful consulting career toward teaching, and how a search for purpose and a passion for helping others ultimately guided that choice. From his first nervous morning in front of a classroom to building University School's robotics program from nothing into one of the strongest in the state, Mr. Sweeney discusses what real education looks like, why he treasures traditions like the Sherman Speaking Prize, and how he approaches teaching computer science as a craft of problem-solving and creativity. He also dives deep into the rise of artificial intelligence, offering a candid, thoughtful take on how AI should be integrated into learning, the risks it poses to critical thinking and the future, and the difference between today's language models and a true AGI. Looking back on his path, Mr. Sweeney reflects on what he hopes students remember about him and the "why" behind his work, one centered on curiosity, service, and the belief that knowledge is a wealth no one can ever take away. Credits to Theo Walter for Production and Editing, Russ Nobles for the Intro and Outro songs, Mr. Wickboldt for being our advisor, and you for listening to our podcast and keeping up with the latest US news.

  7. May 6

    Deacon Nelson on Baseball, Leadership, and Staying Consistent | Season 2, Ep 35

    In Episode 35 of The Late Start Show, we sit down with Deacon Nelson, University School McKinley House prefect, baseball captain, and Auburn commit. Deacon reflects on his journey from a young athlete shaped by family and a deep love for the game to becoming a leader of a rising baseball program at US. He shares what drew him to the school, from the meaningful relationships between students and teachers to the strong sense of brotherhood he experienced on his shadow day, and how those early moments helped him feel at home and build lasting connections within the community. From committing to Virginia as a freshman to navigating a coaching change and ultimately finding the right fit at Auburn, Deacon opens up about handling attention, expectations, and pressure while staying grounded in consistency and preparation. He discusses his growth as a leader through baseball, his role as a house prefect, and his involvement in Focus, highlighting the importance of faith, humility, and connection. Looking ahead, Deacon reflects on his personal growth, what he will miss most about US, and the legacy he hopes to leave behind, one centered on leadership, character, and making a positive impact on others. Credits to Theo Walter for Production and Editing, Russ Nobles for the Intro and Outro songs, Mr. Wickboldt for being our advisor, and you for listening to our podcast and keeping up with the latest US news.

  8. Apr 29

    Ms. Konrad, Mr. Kneisel, and Dr. Laux on Learning, Growth, and Real-World Skills | Season 2, Ep 34

    In this Special Annual Fund Live Episode of The Late Start Show, we bring something a little different to the table, three conversations, three perspectives, and one shared purpose. In front of a live audience of students, parents, faculty, and alumni, we sit down with Ms. Kimberly Konrad, kindergarten lead teacher and longtime elementary educator, Mr. Keith Kneisel, middle school math teacher and soccer coach, and Dr. Sarah Laux, science department chairperson and outdoor projects advisor at University School. Each guest represents a different stage of the student experience, but all are united by a deep commitment to teaching, mentorship, and building meaningful relationships with boys. From Ms. Konrad’s journey from public school education into the Lower School and her passion for creating a “circle of care,” to Mr. Kneisel’s unconventional path into teaching and his mission to make middle school both engaging and human, to Dr. Laux’s evolution from wildlife biologist to educator shaping real world scientific inquiry, this episode highlights the people behind the mission. Throughout the episode is a powerful reminder of what makes University School special, and how the Annual Fund helps make experiences like this possible. The conversation moves through early childhood education, the challenges and opportunities of middle school, and the power of experiential learning in science. Ms. Konrad reflects on the importance of play with purpose, relationship building, and helping young boys develop emotional awareness and confidence from their very first days of school. Mr. Kneisel shares how he breaks down the intimidation of math, balances structure with personality, and connects with students both in and out of the classroom, even through something as simple as a growing stack of Mountain Dew cans. Dr. Laux dives into the impact of hands on research, the value of asking real questions without clear answers, and why getting students outside, whether on Lake Kilroy or in the woods, is essential to developing curiosity. Across all three conversations, a common theme emerges, great teaching is not just about content, it is about connection. Each educator opens up about their “why,” revealing that at the center of their work is a desire to make students feel seen, supported, and inspired. This live episode serves as both a celebration of those educators and a reflection of the community that makes it all possible. Credits to Theo Walter for Production and Editing, Russ Nobles for the Intro and Outro songs, Mr. Wickboldt for being our advisor, and you for listening to our podcast and keeping up with the latest US news.

See All (77)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
25 Ratings

About

The Late Start Show is a podcast all about University School. Featuring interviews from legendary students, teachers, and alumni, this pod will bring you inside the unrivaled US community. The show is hosted by two students, Charlie Martin and Jack Nelson, and released every late start Wednesday, you won’t regret tuning in.

Information

  • Creator
    The Late Start Show
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    77
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © The Late Start Show
  • Show Website
    The Late Start Show

You Might Also Like