PERSONAL VERITAS: Harvard alumni reflect on life's twists and turns and the impact they hope to have on the world Harvard Radcliffe Class of 1997

Lindsey Turrentine is a journalist, media executive, and mom. She has worked for the same employer since 1999, making her a near-record holder among alumni of the Harvard class of ‘97 in this regard.  Lindsey is also a mom of boys. Her 16-year-old son came out as transgender at the start of the pandemic, a moment that has been affirming in many ways not only for him but also for his family and community. He graciously agreed that Lindsey could share his story so we can all learn from their journey of making sure our kids can be exactly who they are meant to be.
In this episode of PERSONAL VERITAS, Lindsey and classmate and fellow Crimson editor Corinne Hammons talk about Lindsey’s son’s story, parenthood, and how we live dynamic and compassionate lives 25 years post-college. The music for this episode was written and performed by Lindsey’s partner, Mike, who composed this song for Lindsey’s son around the time he came out. 


BIOS

Lindsey Turrentine is a media nerd who has had the unique privilege of working for the same brand for most of the 25 years since we graduated. She used to call herself a journalist, but now she’s technically a media executive who runs content and audience strategy for CNET. Mom of two teenage boys, one still at home and one off at college, Lindsey got a bit of a head start on the kid thing. She has learned a lot about – and is still learning – about how different members of the same family can be and how much texture and love a diverse family can generate. Lindsey lives in Berkeley, California with her boys, her partner and his teenage son, and their two cats. She bakes a lot and tries not to eat too much of what she bakes, but usually fails at restraint. She’s also increasingly into strength training, much to her own surprise.  
 
Corinne Hammons has spent most of the 25 years since Harvard leading charitable human services work in New York, including the response to 9/11, Superstorm Sandy, and Covid. For the past seven years she has been the President & CEO of Little Flower, a historic child welfare organization which provides residential and community services for both children and adults. She loves non-profit strategy, risk management, and governance - the latter of which leads her to enjoy serving on and leading nonprofit boards. She is most recently past board President of the Collaborative for Children and Families (New York’s downstate children’s health home) and Harbor Country Day School, from which her daughters are both proud alums. She lives in East Setauket, NY with her husband Lee, daughters Caroline & Grace, rescue dog Graham, and bunny Wafer Simmons Hammons. Her hobbies include writing, yoga, and beginner guitar. She has read every issue of PEOPLE magazine since January 1986.


CREDITS

Executive Producer: Shauna Springer
Technical Producer: Jen-Chun Chao
Music: Michael Andrews, IG: @experimental397
Art: Kate Isenberg 


Powered by Firstory Hosting

Andrew Sachs was a VES major (Art, Film and Visual Studies) at Harvard who went on to become a producer of film and television and whose recent work includes two documentary series for Netflix: Heist (2021) and We Are the Champions (2020), as well as the Oscar-winning live action short film Two Distant Strangers (2020). When the pandemic hit, Andrew and his team had to make some difficult, high-stakes choices. Andrew led on creating health and safety protocols that allowed the productions to film safely, as well as solutions to enable remote editing and color mastering. In this interview with Harvard classmate Larry Huynh, Andrew reflects on emotional and technical challenges of navigating the pandemic through his role as a film producer. 


BIOS

Andrew Sachs fell in love with filmmaking at Harvard, and after graduating worked his way up the ranks on film crews to become a Director of Photography. He brought his passion for the craft to shooting music videos, independent feature films, commercials, and documentaries. Around the time his first child was born, he birthed a production company and started to both produce and shoot corporate communications, branded content, music videos, and experimental feature films. Looking to grow as a producer and collaborate to tell stories that would have wider social impact, he joined a larger production company as they embarked on their first documentary series. He helped expand the production capacity of the company and eventually became head of production. He is currently a producer on a premium documentary series for Showtime. Andrew lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two kids and loves hiking and camping with his family.
 
After graduating from Harvard, Larry Huynh went to San Francisco for love and work. After meeting in the Harvard Glee Club, Brent Blackaby '96 and Larry now share two amazing kids through surrogacy and live way up in the Berkeley Hills. He dreads joining the PTA, knowing he will be sitting in the back corner complaining about the annoying parents (or will he be the annoying parent?). For the last two decades, Larry has run a digital marketing firm specializing in political campaigns and corporate public affairs. The struggle to make the world better is real. As crazy as his home state is, Larry will love Texas forever and cheers for the Astros, Rockets, and Longhorns when his kids allow him to turn off Paw Patrol.


CREDITS

Executive Producer: Shauna Springer
Technical Producer: Jen-Chun Chao
Art: Kate Isenberg 

Music:
Too Late for Tears
Written by Andrea Litkei and Ervin Litkei
Courtesy of APM Music


Powered by Firstory Hosting

In this episode of PERSONAL VERITAS, former college roommates and longtime friends José Padilla and Marios Broustas talk about how the fear of death can actually inspire, and often ensure, a meaningful life.


BIOS

José Padilla is a father and husband to his wife from Siberia and four children, as well as a corporate lawyer running his own firm, Padilla Law in San Antonio, TX. José was the first in his family to finish elementary school, ending up at Harvard College and later the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Since graduating, he has lived in New York City, Philadelphia, Austin, Washington, D.C., Dallas, Las Vegas, and, now, San Antonio. He ran for U.S. Congress while living in Las Vegas and is an avid traveler who speaks five languages and has already visited more than 60 countries and aspires to reach every country one day.

Marios Broustas lives in Geneva with his wife and two children. While he worked on the Harvard Crimson all four years of college and thought he’d become a journalist after graduation, he ultimately pivoted to pursue a business path. After a career in finance in London and New York, he is now head of strategy in a family-owned Swiss company that sells fragrances and flavors around the world.


CREDITS

Executive Producer: Ann Elisabeth Samson
Technical Producer: Jen-Chun Chao 
Music: Rachel Garlin
Art: Kate Isenberg 


SONG

Night Time
Words, music, guitar, voice: Rachel Garlin (ASCAP)
Recorded and mixed by Ron Alan Cohen
 
Most people who know me 
Would say that I smile a lot
I’m a positive optimist slowly
Metabolizing all his fear that I’ve got
 
When I get older
Maybe I’ll grow out of it
And get used to the fact that this life is finite
And the only wild card that you get 
 
We’re all driven by something
If we’re lucky we’re inspired
I think about death quite a bit
Usually at night time
 
My grandma on the mountain
Some days I still grieve her
And I never lost trust in what I was told
Of the story of Julius Cesar
 
He stood at the statue
In the apocryphal tale 
Came to realize the number of years that we get
Has nothing to do with what’s fair
 
We’re all driven by something
If we’re lucky we’re inspired
I think about death quite a bit
Usually at night time
 
Oooh, oooh, oooh
Oooh, oooh, oooh
 
No family before me
Wore a cap and gown
No one finished up elementary school
Or traveled away from this town
 
And that just makes me grateful
For the past that I had 
Our house was the smallest, but we didn’t notice
You compare, you despair, then you’re dead
 
We’re all driven by something
If we’re lucky we’re inspired
I think about death quite a bit
Usually at night time


Powered by Firstory Hosting

In this episode of PERSONAL VERITAS, classmates Kevin Krim and Kate Schutt have an incredibly intimate conversation about grief, hope, and the incredible human spirit that enables us to keep going in the midst of painful and unthinkable losses: the sudden and tragic murder of Kevin’s children Lulu and Leo in 2012, and the expected but still surprising loss of Kate’s mom from cancer in 2015 after she spent 5 years as her primary caregiver. Both turned to creativity in the wake of these losses and share in this episode how the act of creation, for themselves and others, can be an incredible source of healing. 


BIOS

Kevin Krim is a father, husband and veteran digital media executive. Kevin is currently the CEO of EDO, Inc., a data measurement and analytics company for marketing, research and creative pros. He previously served as general manager and senior vice president of CNBC Digital, and has also served in leadership positions with Bloomberg, Yahoo!, LiveJournal.com, LookSmart Ltd., and McKinsey & Company. Kevin is the chairman of the Lulu & Leo Fund, a non-profit co-founded with his wife, Marina, in memory of two of his children lost in a 2012 tragedy. The fund’s flagship initiative Choose Creativity has grown into an inspirational global movement and set of curricula and training programs serving educators and children. Kevin earned an A.B. in economics from Harvard College. He lives in New York City with his family.
Kate Schutt is an award-winning singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer whose voice NPR calls “glassily clear and glossily sweet.” Kate’s songs have won top honors from the John Lennon Songwriting Contest and ASCAP. American Songwriter calls Kate’s newest album, Bright Nowhere, “illuminating” and “the work that ought to bring her the wider recognition she so decidedly deserves.” Kate has shared stages with Terri Lyne Carrington, Bill Frisell, Julian Lage, Scott Colley, and Bernard Perdie, to name only a few. When not making music, Kate is a change coach who specializes in helping people navigate pivotal, powerful moments of transition: being ready to die, creating new careers, starting (or growing) businesses, and chasing Olympic medals. Her TEDx talk has over 60,000 views and has been called “nothing short of life- changing” for people struggling with grief and loss.


CREDITS

Executive Producer: Sally Wolf 
Technical Producer: Jen-Chun Chao 
Music: Kate Schutt 
Art: Kate Isenberg 


SONG

Carrying On Without You - Kate Schutt
 
Carrying on without you is exactly that
Carrying on without you is exactly that
Without you 
 
I don’t want the grief to end, if it makes me someone new
I don’t want the grief to end, if it makes me someone new
Without you
 
Time does me in
Breathe out, breathe in
                                                    
By now I’ve made a home here in this empty place
No dust, no fire, no color wheel, no saving grace
Without you
 
Time does me in
Breathe out, breathe in
 
Carrying on without you is exactly that


Powered by Firstory Hosting

Shauna ‘Doc’ Springer is a licensed psychologist with expertise in trauma and close relationships who has become a trusted Doc to our nation’s warfighters and first responders. She is an award-winning podcast host, frequent media source, and best-selling author of three books focused on our military and first responder communities.
The first 10 years of Springer’s career were focused on close relationships. As part of this, in 2008, she polled a sample of more than 1200 women, mostly Harvard alumni, who were establishing their lives just after graduation from college. In this episode, she explores these survey results with her Harvard College roommate, Carmen O’Shea. They discuss participants’ views on marriage, their ratings of relationship satisfaction, decisions about having children or not, attitudes towards work, and the most personal challenges facing this sample of recent Harvard graduates in 2008. Throughout the conversation, Shauna and Carmen openly reflect on their own career and personal life decisions.
Shauna also shares insights on trauma and healing based on her work at the extremes, with individuals exposed to unimaginable trauma. She discusses the cutting edge of innovation in trauma care, as part of her co-founding role in a company that has launched more than 50 trauma-focused treatment clinics across the United States, Australia, and Israel. Finally, she considers her greatest lessons learned and her individual perspective on what creates real wealth and a deeply meaningful life.

 
BIOS

Shauna ‘Doc’ Springer is a licensed psychologist, keynote speaker, award-winning podcast host, frequently requested media source, and one of the world's leading experts on psychological trauma, military transition, suicide prevention, and close relationships. She married her Harvard College sweetheart (Utaka Springer, class of ’99) and they are raising their two children in the California Bay Area. Shauna remembers her time at Harvard as some of the best years of her life, and contributes to Harvard in diverse ways, as a “resident class psychologist,” reunion planner, 20th reunion panel host, alumni interviewer, and now executive producer of the “PERSONAL VERITAS” podcast series in honor of the Class of ’97 25th reunion.

Carmen O’Shea: After graduating from Harvard, Carmen was commissioned as a Lieutenant and spent 7 years with the Air National Guard part-time while simultaneously beginning her business career. For the first two decades of her non-military career, she worked as an executive in the corporate world, in senior consulting, strategy, marketing, and HR roles. 2 years ago, she pivoted to seek more meaning and purpose. As part of this, she co-founded a consulting firm called Parent Resource Advisors, focused on supporting parents as they navigate the journeys of their neuro-diverse and gender diverse children. Carmen describes herself as a language geek who loves music, dance, travel, and spending time with her family and friends. 


CREDITS

Interviewer: Carmen O’Shea
Executive Producer: Shauna Springer
Technical Producer: Jen-Chun Chao
Music: Rachel Garlin
Art: Kate Isenberg 


Powered by Firstory Hosting

After graduating from Harvard College, David Huang felt a pull in two directions - towards practicing medicine and making fine wines. After exploring his options, he pursued a medical degree and a career in the Air Force as a flight surgeon. Following being stationed in Northern California, and now after retirement as a Colonel from the military, David has re-discovered his love of viticulture. He and his wife planted a vineyard in Napa, CA, and David is now the co-owner of David Clinton Wines. As he and his business partner put it, "We created David Clinton Wine Cellars to pursue our mutual passions for making wine and building friendships. Our wines are made by two friends, for friends, to share with friends."
In this episode of PERSONAL VERITAS, Dr. David Huang and classmate Dr. Shauna Springer, a psychologist who works with the military, reflect on David's personal and professional developments over the past 25 years. 
 

BIOS

After his 1997 graduation with a Bachelor's in engineering sciences, David Huang joined the Air Force through the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences military medical school, and became a flight surgeon and psychiatrist. After four wartime deployments to the Middle East and commanding a medical squadron as a Colonel, he retired from the military with 24 years of service. He then moved into civilian medicine, joining Kaiser Permanente in Northern California as a psychiatrist and site department chief, mostly doing hospital consultations. Avocationally, he has pursued enology and viticulture studies, planting a small vineyard next to the forested home he and his wife built, and producing zinfandel wines under his David Clinton Wine Cellars label. He loves living in the Napa Valley with his wife Rina and teenage daughter Xochi.

Shauna ‘Doc’ Springer is a licensed psychologist, keynote speaker, award-winning podcast host, frequently requested media source, and one of the world's leading experts on psychological trauma, military transition, suicide prevention, and close relationships. A Harvard graduate who has become a trusted Doc to our nation’s military warfighters and first responders, she is the author of two best-selling books, WARRIOR and BEYOND THE MILITARY. In her next book, RELENTLESS COURAGE, she tackles the complexity of trauma within the law enforcement community. As Chief Psychologist for STELLA, an innovative healthcare organization with more than 50 clinics across the US and Australia, she advances a new model for treating psychological trauma that combines biological and psychological interventions.


CREDITS

Executive Producer/Interviewer: Dr. Shauna Springer
Technical Producer: Jen-Chun Chao
Music: Rachel Garlin 
Art: Kate Isenberg
  

SONG

Labors of Love - Rachel Garlin

Some days the clocks release their powers
Head down, you’re on the job for hours
Doesn’t cross your mind that it’s time to go
The night crew asks you why you’re staying
No one’s requiring it and no one’s paying
You sink into your groove and let the record flow

Giving care or making wine
Some work outranks the nickel and dime
Boundaries blur in the service of your purpose and drive
Late in the day, you’re sitting with a friend
Filling your glass and taking it in
Labors of love, over time

We went to work with a sense of duty
Came back with reverence for beauty
Somewhere beyond the promise of accolades
It was never about the abundant supplies
We didn’t have a Bandaid to save our lives
Sometimes holding a hand is the salve that saves
When you're

CHORUS

Labors of love, labors of love
Over time

How could it end in an ambulance
Despicable acts, callousness
The markings of Red Cross are never vague
There is no way to make amends
Just a moment of silence
Every now and then
To remember good women and men

CHORUS

Labors of love, over time
Labors of love, over time


Powered by Firstory