Sienkiewicz ’03 Authors Book on U.S. Efforts to Reshape Middle Eastern Media

In The Other Air Force: U.S. Efforts to Reshape Middle Eastern Media Since 9/11, Matt Sienkiewicz '03 explores America’s efforts to employ “soft-psy” media—a combination of “soft” methods, such as encouraging programs modeled on U.S. entertainment and reality programs, with more militaristic approaches to information control—to generate pro-American sentiment in the Middle East

Actor William Christopher ’54, best known for his role as Father Francis Mulcahy in the popular television comedy/drama series M*A*S*H, died Dec. 31, 2016, at his home in Pasadena, Calif. Christopher's Mulcahy was a gentle Roman Catholic chaplain assigned to a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War on the CBS series, which aired from 1972 through 1983. A theater major at Wesleyan, Christopher began his acting career in New York, playing in Broadway and Off-Broadway productions before moving to Los Angeles, where he worked in television and appeared in a number of popular shows. In a New York…

We Together, a short film by Henry Kaplan ’10, has been accepted into the Slamdance Film Festival and will be playing in Park City, Utah, later this month. Slamdance Film Festival runs alongside Sundance Film Festival every year, and is self-described as “a showcase for raw and innovative filmmaking,” with a focus on new and emerging artists, filmmakers, and storytellers. We Together is a seven-minute long story of a zombie who comes to remember the person who he used to be, before he was a zombie. “The film premiered online this fall and garnered a lot of buzz from the online…

"Hamilton" writer-composer Lin-Manuel Miranda '02, Hon. '15, bested Beyonce, Adele and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, among others for the title Associated Press Entertainer of the Year for 2016. The award is voted by members of the news cooperative and AP entertainment reporters. In 2016, Miranda also won a Pulitzer Prize, multiple Tony Awards, a Golden Globe nomination, and the Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History. He also hosted Saturday Night Live, asked Congress to help dig Puerto Rico out of its debt crisis, performed at a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton on Broadway, lobbied to stop gun violence in America and teamed…

Last spring, Dan Schwartz ’94 returned from Ecuador where he worked as a physician with Team Rubicon as a part of a rapid-deployment disaster medical assistance team after a 7.8M earthquake hit the area on April 16, 2016. Team Rubicon provided rescue, medical and reconnaissance aid to remote villages that could not be reached by the local government or non-governmental organizations. "One of our mottos is, 'We go where the others can't or won't," Schwartz says. Team Rubicon, a group of military veterans and first responders, was formed in 2010. In its first mission, the team brought lifesaving equipment and supplies to Haiti,…

Edward Aubry ’89 is the author of a new young adult science fiction book, Prelude to Mayhem, published by Curiosity Quills Press in November 2016. Prelude to Mayhem is the first book out of five in the Mayhem Wave series. The next installment is slated for release in mid-2017, according to Lisa Gus, managing partner at Curiosity Quills Press. In this apocalyptic novel, Harrison Cody’s world is in ruins. He follows a mysterious voice on the radio as he and his pixie sidekick travel on foot across a terrifyingly random landscape. They discover Dorothy O’Neill, who has had to survive…

Bill Herbst, the John Monroe Van Vleck Professor of Astronomy; Martha Gilmore, the George I. Seney Professor of Geology; Wilson Cauley, a post-doctoral fellow; and Nicole Arulanantham MA ’15 are the co-authors of a paper forthcoming in The Astrophysical Journal. The paper is based on Arulanantham's thesis research at Wesleyan. The paper also was featured in the December newsletter of the Gemini Observatory, an international observatory based in Hawaii and Chile. “The subject of the paper, a star known as KH 15D, was recognized as an important and interesting object in the 1990s through observations made on the Wesleyan campus by undergraduate and graduate students,” Herbst explained.…

Bozoma Saint John ’99, head of global consumer marketing for iTunes and Apple Music, was named Women in Music executive of the year. In an article for Billboard.com, writer Shirley Halperin interviewed Saint John, describing the recent months that catapulted the music executive into the industry's spotlight and beyond. "A year ago, she was the streaming service's secret weapon," Halperin wrote. "Now, after a headline-making onstage appearance and a series of high-profile, star-studded ads, she's the (glamorous) new face of Apple Music." Previously at Beats, Saint John had been only three months at that the job when Apple music acquired…

Author Adam “Smiley” Poswolsky ’05 talks to News @ Wes about his new book, The Quarter-Life Breakthrough: Invent Your Own Path, Find Meaningful Work, and Build a Life That Matters.

Tierney Sutton ’86 has been nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album. The Sting Variations is a collection of Sting and Police songs reinterpreted by The Tierney Sutton Band and released on the BFM Jazz label. Sutton had previously explored the music of Bill Evans, Frank Sinatra, and most recently Joni Mitchell, with her 2013 album, After Blue. In a September interview for Billboard, Sutton told writer Melinda Newman that the choice to explore Sting's work was a natural one: “‘[Sting’s] autobiography is full of references to Miles and Coltrane and the Great American Song tradition.’” The Sting Variations includes both well known songs…

Stephen McCarthy ’75, managing director at KCG Capital Advisors, is also partner/executive producer with Matthew Miele’s Quixotic Endeavors (QE) film production company, featuring corporate/individual biopics, such as Crazy About Tiffany's (starring Jessica Biel and Katie Couric, among others) and Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorfs (starring Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen, among others). Their third film Harry Benson: Shoot First, will be in theaters—including New York City—and video on demand, starting Dec. 9, 2016. Harry Benson: Shoot First is a 90-minute documentary on one of the most accomplished photojournalists of the past five decades. Benson's work has captured cultural icons in…

Sarah Mohamed Abunama Elgadi ’04, known by her stage name Alsarah, recently released a new album, Manara, with her band, Alsarah & the Nubatones. Manara, or The Lighthouse, is rooted in the style of Sudan and Nubia, and inspired by East-African music. KCET.org says Manara “is more fluid and free-flowing than the band’s debut album, lifted by moaning trumpets and humming electronics, broken up by interludes of radio static and bits of the album’s penultimate track ‘Fulani.’” Alsarah, who was a music major at Wesleyan, is a Sudanese-born singer, songwriter, and ethnomusicologist based in Brooklyn. She is a self-proclaimed practitioner of…

Sienkiewicz ’03 Authors Book on U.S. Efforts to Reshape Middle Eastern Media

Christopher ’54 Remembered for Playing Father Mulcahy on MAS*H

Film By Kaplan ’10 to Premiere at Slamdance Festival

Hamilton’s Miranda ’02 Named Associated Press Entertainer of the Year

Schwartz ’94 Provides Medical Assistance in Ecuador with Team Rubicon

Aubry ’89 Pens Science Fiction Book for Young Adults

Thesis Research by Arulanantham MA ’15 to Appear in Astronomy Journal

Saint John ’99 Named Women in Music Executive of the Year

Poswolsky ’05 Pens The Quarter-Life Breakthrough

Sutton ’86 Nominated for Grammy with The Sting Variations

McCarthy ’75 Produces ‘Star-Studded’ Documentary Harry Benson: Shoot First

Sudanese-American Singer Elgadi ’04 Releases New Album