Alumni in the News: October 16

Maiken Baird ’89 produced a documentary with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney about the Trump administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Totally Under Control will be released on October 23; the trailer had more than six million views in its first 72 hours.

Ben Philippe ’11

via NYPL

Author and screenwriter Ben Philippe ’11 hosted a TeenLIVE event for the New York Public Library on October 16. The event was a conversation with librarian Genee Bright about Philippe’s young adult novels The Field Guide to the North American Teenager and Charming as a Verb.

Tony nominations were announced on October 15, and two College alums received nods! Katori Hall ’03 is nominated in the “Best Book of a Musical” category for her work on Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, and Tom Kitt ’96 is nominated in the “Best Orchestrations” category for his work on Jagged Little Pill.

On October 14, Vulture featured a Q&A with singer-songwriter Rostam Batmanglij ’06 about the release of the video for his song “Unfold You,” which features model and actress Hari Nef ’15. From the article: “Eventually, a spur-of-the-moment decision to shoot a video on a quarantine trip to Provincetown, Massachusetts, starring Rostam’s quarantine pod-mate Hari Nef, pushed the song over the finish line after nearly three years.”

Sophie Whitehouse ’19

via Tottenham Hotspurs

Sophie Whitehouse ’19 joined the Tottenham Hotspur soccer team as a goalkeeper in October. From the announcement: “‘I’m super excited to join Spurs,’ said Whitehouse. ‘I’ve always targeted playing professionally in England, so to have this opportunity is amazing.’”

Vice Flotilla Commander of the Upper Manhattan Flotilla Michael Barth ’16 was recently commended by the Commandant of the United States Coast Guard as the 2019 Auxiliarist of the Year. He was selected as the top USCG Auxiliarist in the nation out of roughly 25,000 members. Barth serves in the USCG in addition to his day job as a strategy associate for J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.