Y?: With Axel-Ryan Nzi
In this podcast, I investigate philosophical and social thoughts through the lens of questions. I interview friends, family members, mentors, and members of my community to gain a greater knowledge about today's world. We talk about subjects such as identity, creativity, and leadership. Please join me on my journey to answering the question why? Check out my website ywithaxel.com! Donate and join the email listing!
Episodes
35 episodes
Y? 3.0 ep 6 with Ms. Gardiner
On this episode of Y? I am with Ms. Gardiner. She is an instructor in Global literature at Hotchkiss where she has worked for over 20 years. Today we take a trip down our memories of my prep year as her student. We also reflected on how we have...
•
Season 3
•
Episode 6
•
44:48
Y? 3.0 ep 5 with Dr. Benjeil Edghill
On this episode of Y? I am with Dr. Benjeil Edghill. He is an alum of The Hotchkiss School class of '94 and is currently an ophthalmologist in Staten Island. Today we talk about his journey to becoming an ophthalmologist as well as how he has f...
•
47:52
Y? 3.0 ep 4 with Mr. Miller
On this episode of Y? I am with Mr. Miller. He is a human development teacher at Hotchkiss as well as a coach of the JV girls hockey team and Varsity Mountain Biking team. Today we talk about the adversity we've faced in our lives and how we we...
•
Season 3
•
Episode 4
•
56:22
Y? 3.0 ep 3 Running pt 2 with Chase Dobson
On this episode of Y? I am with Chase Dobson once again. Today we continue our conversation from last episode about running, but instead this time we are digging deeper into the topic to talk about how we manage it day to day. This is the final...
•
Season 3
•
Episode 3
•
55:16
Y? 3.0 ep 2: Running pt 1 with Chase Dobson
On this episode of Y? I am with Chase Dobson. He is currently a senior at Hotchkiss and the captain of the varsity cross country and track team. Today we talk about running and how it has affected our lives. This is part of a series I'm doing s...
•
Season 3
•
Episode 2
•
58:24
Y? 3.0 ep 1 with Francois Nzi
For the first episode of Y? 3.0 I talk to my dad, Francois Nzi. He has played an important role in assisting me in making my episodes. It has been a while since we have been on the show so on today's episode we give you all an update on ou...
•
Season 3
•
Episode 1
•
43:32
Y? 2.0 ep 9 with Mercuri Lam and Evan Gackstetter
In this episode I am here with Mercuri and Evan, two juniors at the Loomis Chafee School. Mercuri comes from an immigrant background with her mom being Chinese and her Dad being Vietnamese. Evan comes from a hispanic background with his mom's s...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 9
•
23:28
Y? 2.0 ep 8 with Carl Scott
In today's episode I am here with Carl Scott. He is a Chicago native who is an alum of the Brooks school class of ‘99. He has formerly worked for the players tribune as a head of content and currently he works as an executive director of audio ...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 8
•
1:01:13
Y? 2.0 ep 7 with John Coleman
In today's episode I am with John Coleman. He is a member of The Salisbury School class of '77 and currently a member on their board of trustees. Join me on my journey to exploring the education experience!
•
Season 2
•
Episode 7
•
28:09
Y? 2.0 ep 6 with Liz Hines
In today's episode I am with Liz Hines. She is a member of Hotchkiss class of '93 and currently the co-president of the board of trustees. Join me on my journey to exploring the education experience!
•
Season 2
•
Episode 6
•
44:45
Y? 2.0 ep 5 with Ms. Henderson
In today's episode I am with Ms. Henderson. She is a graduate of St. George's school class of 2010 and currently a Walter Crain fellow here at Hotchkiss. She is also an assistant director of diversity and inclusion. Join me on my journey ...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 5
•
34:36
Y? 2.0 ep 4 with Dr. M
In today's episode I am with Dr. M. She is the former director of diversity and inclusion at Hotchkiss and is now the director of equity and inclusion at Choate. For these next two episodes I am going to be looking closer into the diversi...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 4
•
49:36
Y? 2.0 ep 3: BHM with Dr Norman
In today's episode I am with Dr. Norman. She is a member of Hotchkiss class of 94’ and Associate Director of Diversity and Inclusion, as well as an Instructor in Humanities & Social Sciences. In honor of Black History month we are her...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 3
•
41:24
Y? 2.0 ep 2: BHM with Isaac Alicea
In today's episode I am with Isaac Alicea. He is currently completing his business management major at Howard University, an HBCU located in Washington D.C. In honor of Black History month we are here to talk about his experience of being...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 2
•
29:31
Y? 2.0 ep 1 with Francois Nzi
For the first episode of Y? 2.0 I talk to my dad, Francois Nzi. He has played an important role in assisting me in making my episodes. His last appearance on the show was on episode 2 so I brought him back here today to talk about my show...
•
Season 2
•
Episode 1
•
29:38
Y? ep 21 "BLAC at school" with Sydney and Riche
In this episode of Y? I talk to Sydney and Riche. They are the heads of a student arts collective, BLAC magazine and they are juniors at The Hotchkiss School. We talk about being back in school again as well as some of the ups and downs...
•
24:08
Y? ep 20: Passion pt 3 with Fatima Diomande
In this episode on Passion I talk to Fatima Diomande. She is a freshman at university of Albany and has been dancing since she was a kid. We talk about her love for dance and how it evolved over time. We also talk the struggles she fac...
•
28:09
Y? ep 19: Passion pt 2 with Sebastian Martin
In this episode on Passion I talk to Sebastian Martin. He is a social entrepreneur and currently is the CEO of Cambio Labs. A non profit meant to provide programs to transform students into social entrepreneurs and community activists. In th...
•
41:29
Y? ep 18: Passion pt 1 with Veeshan Narinesingh
In this episode on Passion I talk to Veeshan Narinesingh. He is an atmospheric physicist and also currently runs a mentoring program for young students of color who are interested in STEM. In this episode we answer questions such as how do y...
•
33:20
Y? ep 17: Friendship pt 2 with Jinese Haskins
In this last episode on friendship I talk to Jinese Haskins. She is a clinical social worker that works with the youth in different settings. She was my psychology teacher when I went through prep for prep and she helped me prepare for the s...
•
35:38
Y? ep16: friendship pt 1 with Hayden and Maxwell
In today’s episode I talk with two of my close friends who played an important role in my first year at Hotchkiss. Hayden, Maxwell and I recap some of our favorite memories this year as well as some of the important factors while choos...
•
30:23
Y? ep15: Change and Leadership pt 3 with Mr. Lee
In today's episode on change and leadership I talk to my former elementary school principal Mr. Lee. Our acquaintance goes all the way back to when I was in kindergarten. In this episode we investigate what it takes to become a principal and th...
•
38:44
Y? ep14: Change and Leadership pt 2 with Sydney and Richie
In today's episode on change and leadership I talk to Sydney and Richie. They come into this interview with their experience of starting up a new collective magazine. In this episode we talk about the difficulties of being a leader and things t...
•
36:39