Best Pranav Joshi and Nakin Bhandari Podcasts (2025)

1
Mike Weatherford, UCLA '80, SVP of Finance at Stanford Healthcare's UHA 50:57

4y ago50:57

50:57

Special guest (and Nakin's boss's boss's boss) Mike Weatherford joins the podcast and discusses some of the major trends in healthcare: how telehealth has changed because of the pandemic, why price transparency for healthcare services is important, and what's driving physicians to become employees at health systems rather than staying as independen…

1
Gaayatri Kaundinya, UCLA ‘14, CEO of Chai Time Studios 40:26

4y ago40:26

40:26

Gaayatri describes her time studying at UCLA towards specializing in ethnomusicology. Her credits include Disney’s Million Dollar Arm and Mira, Royal Detective.

1
Tom Norris, UCLA ‘15, Political and Protocol Officer at British Embassy Seoul 1:03:28

4y ago1:03:28

1:03:28

Tom remembers offering former British Prime Minister Theresa May his Netflix login. We cover ‘The Interview’, the THAAD missile crisis, Dennis Rodman, and K-pop.

1
Dr. Kevin Williams, UCLA MD ‘86 MPH ‘91, Chief Medical Officer, Rare Disease, at Pfizer 59:04

4y ago59:04

59:04

Dr. Williams opens up about growing up black and gay in Louisiana during the 1960s and 1970s. After providing a primer about rare diseases, Dr. Williams explains how and why he ended up working at a pharmaceutical corporation in-spite of public perceptions. Pranav ties in the UCLA class of 2015’s reading of “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks’ in…

1
Veronica Siranosian, UCLA ‘04, Vice President at AECOM 47:23

4y ago47:23

47:23

Veronica covers her role at AECOM where she leads digital and innovation initiatives for infrastructure planning. We cover topics ranging from autonomous vehicles to the gender tax in transportation. Veronica reminisces about being raised by a Bruin parent and concludes with her time at UCLA.

1
Kristen Choi, UCLA MS ‘18, Asst. Professor at UCLA School of Nursing & UCLA Fielding School of Public Health 59:40

4y ago59:40

59:40

Kristen shows the importance of applying a wide lens to healthcare by highlighting the effects of child trauma, racial inequities, and gun violence. Furthermore, Kristen diagrams the adoption chain risk from research to practice.

1
Robert Hughes, UCLA PhD ‘10, Asst. Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania 1:04:30

4+ y ago1:04:30

1:04:30

Dr. Robert Hughes currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Legal Studies & Business at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. We enjoyed our conversation with Robert as we dove into some of his research interests including the egalitarian distribution of medical care, the social responsibility that corporations have,…

1
Rosemary Hyson, UCLA PhD ‘99, Research Scientist at Baruch College 49:39

4+ y ago49:39

49:39

Rosemary recounts the advantages of having a diverse cohort of international students and incredible faculty at UCLA that helped establish her foundation in economics research. We chatted with Rosemary about her experience at the Bureau of Labor Statistics and she shared how some of her research helped to improve the measures of labor demand for th…

1
Alyssa Ravasio, UCLA ‘10, Founder & CEO of HipCamp 59:58

4+ y ago59:58

59:58

Alyssa provides an account of her time at UCLA which included developing her own major (Digital Democracy), studying abroad in Spain, and listening to lots of Jay-Z. After being fired the second time from the same job and dumped on the same day, Alyssa introspects on gratitude and happiness. Listeners will learn about her early challenges building …

1
Dr. Ron Kline, UCLA ‘81 MD '85, Chief Medical Officer at U.S. Office of Personnel Management 56:46

4+ y ago56:46

56:46

Dr. Kline chronicles his career trajectory in detail including both undergrad and med school at UCLA and a now defunct club that facilitated his interest in policy making. He explains the role of various stakeholders in the heath care delivery value chain from his lived experience and describes some of the challenges of managing health insurance fo…

1
Robert Faturechi, UCLA ‘08, Investigative Reporter at ProPublica 51:36

4+ y ago51:36

51:36

Robert details his experience at UCLA, with emphasis on study abroad in Chile and his time at the Daily Bruin. We cover his investigative piece on how donations affected admissions to UCLA’s orthodontics program and why these crises continue to unfold in spite of past coverage. Entering the industry during a financial crisis, Robert explains how he…

1
Jimmy Gomez, UCLA ‘99, U.S. Congressman 57:28

4+ y ago57:28

57:28

Congressman Gomez shares how his experience with healthcare at a young age has helped shape his views on it as a politician. We also talked about some of his early educational challenges in high school, but with resilience how he was able to move from jobs at Subway and Target to community college and finally transfer to UCLA. He also shared how a …

1
David Afshartous, UCLA PhD ‘97, Senior Manager at Amazon’s Supply Chain Optimization Technologies 49:02

4+ y ago49:02

49:02

David shares insights from his career trajectory that includes stops at several major cities (BOS, NYC, LA, Chicago, London, Miami, Nashville, and now Seattle), and how NYC’s financial crisis led to his journey to UCLA. He captivates listeners with a story about an old Malibu 10k race and how lessons learned from competitive running such as the pow…

1
Erin Beck, UCLA ‘07, Grammy-nominated Songwriter and Founder of eTone Fitness 54:18

4+ y ago54:18

54:18

Erin covers studying Film and Television at UCLA as well as her astrophysics coursework. She accounts turning down acceptances to prestigious law schools, in the waning hours, for a screenwriting job with Chris Carter (X-files). She continues with the hilarious story of how she landed her gig with LMFAO and when she knew her song “Sexy and I Know I…

1
COVID: Mikala Caton, UCLA ‘15, Epidemiologist at Santa Cruz Public Health Department 34:53

5y ago34:53

34:53

Mikala talks about UCLA Acappella and living on the same floor as Pranav, their freshman year. Mikala tells Nakin about her MPH thesis on a flesh-eating bacteria. Pranav asks Mikala to introspect on how she’s personally had to evolve and step up after quickly being thrusted under the COVID-19 limelight and assuming responsiblity for 300,000 citizen…

1
John Milinovich, UCLA ‘10, CEO of Aesthetic 35:43

5y ago35:43

35:43

John details the importance of agency, phase shifting, and fearlessness. He mentions his time studying accounting & architecture at UCLA and whizzing around campus in a moped. A few years after his first startup was acquired by Pinterest, John is back at it again with Y-combinator backed Aesthetic.

1
Jeanine Mason, UCLA ‘14, Actor and Professional Dancer 57:26

5y ago57:26

57:26

Jeanine talks about her transition as the winner of “So You Think You Can Dance” to a student at UCLA. Majoring in World Arts and Culture, Jeanine was able to leverage the quarter system as she picked up acting gigs. Of Cuban descent, Jeanine discusses diversity in Hollywood and how she was able to parlay a recurring role on “Grey’s Anatomy” into a…

1
Andrew Glazier, UCLA Anderson ‘06, CEO of Defy Ventures 46:42

5y ago46:42

46:42

In our first Summer episode, Andrew explains how his MBA helped him adapt quickly to his then new role as CEO under tenuous circumstances. He explains how entrepreneurship and business can serve as rehabilitative programming as a solution to solving prison recidivism. He also discusses his role as Vice President on the board of LA Fire Commission i…

1
Ron Schneidermann, UCLA ‘00, CEO of AllTrails 57:23

5y ago57:23

57:23

Ron details growing up in the Bay Area, his first date with his now wife at UCLA, and his passion for mountain biking. Listeners also learn about the effort it took to build Liftopia, a ski ticketing company. We end with Ron’s stewardship of AllTrails and the importance of civic engagement, inclusivity, and empathy.…

1
Dan Goebel, UCLA BS, MS & PhD ‘81, Senior Scientist at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory 47:19

5y ago47:19

47:19

Dan covers his time at UCLA and gives a primer on plasma physics, deep space and JPL. Listeners also get to learn about his interest in restoring cars and practicing Krav Maga.

1
Gary Knell, UCLA '75, Chairman of National Geographic Partners 54:52

5y ago54:52

54:52

Gary tells Bruins about investigative stories he ran as Editorial Director at the Daily Bruin, interviewing Joe Biden, and a secretive professor rating system. As the former CEO of Seasame Workshop, Gary provides color on his stewardship of Sesame Street including the controversy with Katy Perry. The three time successful CEO continues with his ope…

1
COVID: Reena Doshi, UCLA PhD ‘14, Epidemiologist at CDC 42:22

5y ago42:22

42:22

Dr. Doshi shares her perspective on some of the challenges epidemiologists face and how the COVID pandemic has put other important public health initiatives on the back burner. She also talks about living in the Democratic Republic of Congo for 6 years, and the importance of vaccines for preventable diseases such as polio, measles, and tetanus.…

1
Kurt Behrendt, UCLA MA and PhD '97, Associate Curator at the MET 1:13:18

5y ago1:13:18

1:13:18

Pranav asks Kurt if Indiana Jones played a timely role in his career path. Kurt discusses his travels abroad, Colorado's Tibetian influence, cherished time at UCLA, and the challenges and opportunities of running a museum. Kurt also recounts the story of a ten headed demon god and a hero as he dives into South Asian art. Pranav and Nakin give the m…

1
COVID: Robert Furler, UCLA PhD '10, Immunology Asst. Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine 53:30

5y ago53:30

53:30

Part 2. Dr. Furler journeys through his non-linear career path, interest in infectious disease and RNA viruses, beloved time at UCLA, and studying the Sonic hedgehog pathway. Dr. Furler gives advice on achieving goals through the process of backwards design. The science behind COVID-19, your immune system, flu vaccinations, and drug discovery is di…

1
Mark Zoradi, UCLA Anderson '80, CEO of Cinemark 57:10

5y ago57:10

57:10

Mark covers his first leadership experiences, UCLA Anderson, helping launch the Disney channel, leading Dreamworks Animation as COO, and helping Cinemark reach higher heights as its CEO. Pranav deftly ties in Remember the Titans as Mark explains global film and television distribution and the cultural relevance of films. Nakin and Mark share a love…

1
COVID: Lorraine Schneider, UCLA, Global Crisis Management at Disney 33:40

5y ago33:40

33:40

Part 1. Lorraine details how to donate effectively, especially in times of need, utilizing learnings from a UCLA course she took with Pranav in which students donated $100k. Lorraine covers building UCLA's emergency response team and programming from the ground up, types of disasters, and what individuals can learn from how global corporations, lik…

1
Ryan Jones, UCLA Anderson ‘11, CCO (Payments) at Airbnb 58:41

5y ago58:41

58:41

Ryan delves into his around-the-world trip, how a concussion brought him to UCLA Anderson, backpacking with Bruins in Yosemite, and taking credit card processing away from a false prophet. He also tells us about his black Labrador, Lily, who’s attended Airbnb meetings with Airbnb CEO.

1
Todd Piro, UCLA JD '03, FOX News 41:00

5y ago41:00

41:00

Todd describes his years at UCLA Law, transition from law to journalism, and his "diabolical plan" in the new industry leading up to FOX and Friends. He covers Donald Trump, social media, and fake facts.

1
Hannah Gordon, UCLA '03, CAO and GC of 49ers and Levi's Stadium 46:18

5y ago46:18

46:18

Hannah talks UCLA and the strength of its network, writing for the Daily Bruin, the 49ers, and the importance of diversity. Hannah drops her top 5 rappers, go-to Diddy Riese ice cream sandwich, and an explanation behind her nickname, "Lockout Queen".

1
Karin Olofsdotter, UCLA Anderson, Swedish Ambassador to the US 40:38

5y ago40:38

40:38

Karin covers Sweden's dominant position in the tech industry, active role in combating climate change, and promotion of gender equality. We discover why Sweden is ranked high in happiness and learn more about the Scandinavian country's culture.

1
John Tabis, UCLA Anderson '06, Founder and CEO of The Bouqs 1:04:44

5+ y ago1:04:44

1:04:44

John walks us through his UCLA Anderson journey, time at Disney, experience on Shark Tank, and the founding of The Bouqs, now, a 100 person Series C stage startup. Listeners learn about friend zone flowers, John's chance to don the Batman suit, and Pranav’s Valentine’s Day plans.

1
Cameron Sepah, UCLA PhD, Executive Psychologist and Venture Capitalist 40:44

5+ y ago40:44

40:44

Dr. Sepah covers his studies at UCLA’s #1 clinical psychology program, work as a founding employee at a $600M startup, and coach to CEOs and athletes. Other topics include culture, happiness, and performance management.

1
Alexandra Gaudiani, UCLA Anderson ‘15, Marketing Director at Medtronic 1:01:27

5+ y ago1:01:27

1:01:27

Alexandra covers her time at UCLA Anderson, experience at Medtronic, and support for the LGBTQ community. Listeners learn Nakin’s guilty pleasure TV show.

1
Tim Yu, UCLA ‘15, CEO of Pluto Money 44:36

5+ y ago44:36

44:36

Tim tells his entrepreneurial journey, including StartUp UCLA and Sigma ETA Pi, and discusses the Student Debt Crisis. Tim and Nakin give Pranav a hard time for never watching Titanic, but Pranav gets the last word in as he joshes Nakin’s spending habits.

1
Arpad Molnar, UCLA ‘91, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Obsidian Wine Co 1:15:27

5+ y ago1:15:27

1:15:27

Arpad talks UCLA, his non-traditional career path, travels abroad, wine industry and business, and his love of flying. Pranav and Nakin make a few jokes at the expense of freshman and sophomores.

1
Brandon Schneider, UCLA ‘01, Chief Revenue Officer of Golden State Warriors 1:00:07

5+ y ago1:00:07

1:00:07

Brandon talks attending UCLA, lessons from sales, the Golden State Warriors, building a new stadium, owning LAFC, and eSports. Nakin's allegiance to the Sacramento Kings is tested amid roasts from Pranav and Brandon.

1
Ann Meyers Drysdale, UCLA ‘79, VP of Phoenix Suns and Mercury 1:26:48

5+ y ago1:26:48

1:26:48

The only woman to sign a contract with an NBA team tells her story and talks Title IX, SB206, gender equality, league formation, youth sports and more. Pranav and Ann take shots against Pranav's cousin.

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Pranav Joshi And Nakin Bhandari Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen