News
Cookeville Mayor, Tech鈥檚 Chief Diversity Officer headline premiere episode of new podcast, 鈥淐ollege Town Talk鈥�
Guests on the premiere of College Town Talk include Cookeville Mayor Laurin Wheaton
and Tech鈥檚 Chief Diversity Officer, Robert Owens.
麻豆果冻传媒 announced the launch of a new podcast titled 鈥淐ollege Town
Talk.鈥� The weekly program features in-depth conversations with Tech faculty, staff,
students and alumni, as well as local business owners and civic leaders.
The premiere episode is and features interviews with Cookeville Mayor Laurin Wheaton and Tech Chief Diversity
Officer Robert Owens.
To co-host the podcast, Tech selected Shan Stout, Director of Tourism for the Cookeville-Putnam
County Visitors Bureau.
Stout is known for her role as a correspondent on WCTE-TV鈥檚 popular monthly series,
鈥淲ish You Were Here: Adventures in Tennessee鈥檚 Upper Cumberland鈥� and as the network鈥檚
longtime host of the annual Smithville Fiddlers鈥� Jamboree. In addition to current
television projects, Stout was formerly a morning show host and television personality
for 鈥淗ometown Tennessee鈥� and is the proud mother of a current Tech student. She co-hosts
the new podcast alongside Tech鈥檚 News and Public Relations Director, Jonathan Frank.
鈥淐ollege Town Talk is a celebration of the people and places that make Cookeville
Tennessee鈥檚 college town,鈥� said Frank. 鈥淲e are excited to share these engaging, thoughtful
conversations with leaders on and off Tech鈥檚 campus, and we could not have asked for
a better partner on this project than Shan Stout and the Visitors Bureau. I hope listeners
will enjoy hearing these conversations as much as Shan and I have enjoyed recording
them.鈥�
鈥淚t has been a sincere privilege to participate in this wonderful project with Tennessee
Tech and hear the amazing stories from each of our guests about their time at Tech,鈥�
said Stout. 鈥淚 especially enjoy hearing about how Tech has influenced their current
career or life path in a positive way. My co-host, Jonathan Frank, has worked hard
behind-the-scenes to create engaging content and questions that we hope will resonate
with our audience. It has been an amazing experience so far and we are just getting
started.鈥�
The logo for College Town Talk pays tribute to Tech鈥檚 Derryberry Hall and the Tennessee
tri-star symbol.
Additional season one guests on College Town Talk include: Putnam County Mayor Randy
Porter, Nashville Public Television President and CEO and Tech alumna Becky Magura,
State Representative Ryan Williams, Tech Provost Lori Mann Bruce, Soul Craft Coffee
owner and Tech alumna Anna Dunn, Tech Vice President of Student Affairs Cynthia Polk-Johnson,
Director of Tech鈥檚 Center for Rural Innovation and WCTE host Michael Aikens, Tech
Director of Athletics Mark Wilson, Tech alumnus and Medal of Valor recipient Sean
Ochsenbein, Tech Director of Student Engagement and Intercultural Affairs Charria
Campbell, KSLA anchor and Tech alumna Biskie Duncan, and others.
College Town Talk is available on , , , and .
Episodes can also be streamed at www.tntech.edu/collegetowntalk.
