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Adrián González had a 15-year career as a Major League Baseball player, punctuated by two five-year stints with the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers—including numerous Gold Gloves, Silver Sluggers, and All-Star selections—as well as seasons in which Adrián led the entire MLB in hits and RBI. In this episode, Adrián tells his story. From the challenges of learning English growing up between Mexico and San Diego, emerging as a baseball star at Eastlake High School in Chula Vista, and then being drafted #1 overall in 2000 by the Florida Marlins. Adrián also discusses many of the innovations occurring in baseball, including the pitch clock, infield shift, advanced analytics, and AI umpiring—in addition to the pride Adrián has felt as a Mexican American athlete representing southern California. Adrián references Zoila Madrazo of Burton C. Tiffany Elementary School, Dave Gonzalez of Eastlake High School, Manny Crespo of the Florida Marlins, and Bruce Bochy of the San Diego Padres as profound teachers and coaches along his personal and athletic journey.

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For the last ten years (up until this past February), Deborah Rutter ’74 was President of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the national cultural center of the United States. In this episode, Deborah tells her story. From growing up in Encino and attending Westlake and then Stanford, to her long career in the arts—beginning with the LA Phil and LA Chamber Orchestra, before leading both the Seattle and Chicago Symphonies for 11 years each. Deborah and I also discuss the peculiarity of the past few months, beginning with her announcing in January this would be her last year leading the center as part of a carefully orchestrated succession plan. Two weeks later, everything changed. President Trump took over the center’s board, naming himself as chair, and relieving Deborah of her duties. While Deborah does not directly address the President’s reasoning, she instead focuses on the center’s purpose and its magic. Deborah references Harry Jarvis of Mulholland Junior High School; David Coombs, James Hosney, Nat Reynolds ’51, and Ham Smith of Westlake School; and Ernest Fleischmann of the Los Angeles Philharmonic as profound influences on her life and career in the arts.

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In June of 2025, Dr. Jon Carroll will depart Harvard-Westlake after thirteen years—the first three leading HW Aquatics and the last ten as a middle school dean. Jon is not departing to join another school community, however—but to build one. In the fall of 2026, Jon will open Jabali Academy, a K-8 independent school centered in Inglewood with the mission of inspiring excellence in students and preparing them for places like Harvard-Westlake. Jabali, which means “rock” in Swahili, is emblematic of the foundation that education provided in Jon’s own life—growing up in West Philadelphia as the child of educators, attending both private and public schools, before college at the University of Pennsylvania and then a PhD from UCLA. Lastly and most affectionately, Dr. Carroll speaks about the excellence and influence of his wife, noted TV writer and showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll. In addition to Nkechi, Jon references Paul Lindenmaier and Roy Farrar of Germantown Friends School, Tyrone Howard of UCLA, and Howard Stevenson of UPenn as profound influences on his life and career.

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Liz Neubauer Freinberg ’98 is Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel for the LA 2028 Olympics. In this episode, Liz discusses LA28’s proposed athletic venues, transportation challenges, and “Olympic Village” site—as well as the notion of LA28 as a “comeback story,” highlighting the city’s aspirations to rebuild after January’s devastating wildfires. Liz also tells her own story, as the eldest of five Neubauer sisters who all attended Harvard-Westlake—after which she attended Columbia and Michigan Law, worked for two influential judges, took legal roles at Munger, Tolles & Olson and TMZ, before finding herself helping to lead the 2028 Olympic games. Liz references Joy Taniguchi of Warner Avenue Elementary School, Karl Kleinz and Francine Applebaum Werner ’68 of Harvard-Westlake, and two judges (Hon. Joseph A. Greenaway Jr. and Hon. Margaret M. Morrow), as profound influences and mentors.

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Ben Sherwood ’81 is the publisher, CEO, and co-owner of the digital news platform The Daily Beast, a position Ben assumed in 2024 after a long and illustrious career as a media executive. For example, Ben has served as Executive Producer of Good Morning America, President of ABC News, and most recently led the entire Disney ABC Television Group globally. If that isn’t enough, Ben is also an accomplished novelist, entrepreneur, and Rhodes Scholar. In this episode, Ben speaks about the principles behind covering the news with integrity and diligence during a time of rapid political change. Ben references journalist Tom Johnson, broadcasters Bill Moyers and Dan Rather, media executive Bob Iger, and various Harvard School teachers as profound influences on his life and career.

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Nicole Brown ’98 is the president of TriStar Pictures, the famed Sony Pictures division responsible for producing many of the most influential films in movie history. In this episode, Nicole tells her story—from growing up in Culver City and attending public and private schools, before discovering Harvard-Westlake through the Independent School Alliance. It was at HW where Nicole met the late great performing arts teacher Ted Walch, who encouraged Nicole (a budding actor) to consider working “on” student productions—rather than “in” them. The message stuck, leading Nicole to study history and film at Columbia University, pursue a life-changing internship with Marc Platt and executive role at Good Universe, and then finally—seize the opportunity to lead TriStar in 2020. Nicole references Ted Walch of Harvard-Westlake, as well as film producer Marc Platt and Sony Pictures Chairman Tom Rothman, as profound influences and mentors.

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In the season 6 opener, The Supporting Cast welcomes back its very first guest, Rick Commons, the Charles B. Thornton President of Harvard-Westlake. In this episode, Rick speaks to the many challenges and opportunities impacting today’s HW students, from college admission and the promise of River Park (Harvard-Westlake’s forthcoming third campus)—to fostering enduring HW values around civil discourse, diversity, and belonging. Rick also speaks poignantly and publicly for the first time about losing his home in the Palisades fire on January 7. A Pacific Palisades resident for more than a decade, Rick speaks about what drew his family to that community, what he’s kept, and what he’s lost. The Supporting Cast is grateful for Rick’s time and participation in this series for a second time.

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In 2017, a 31-year-old Nick Melvoin ’04 was elected as one of seven members of the largest self-governing school district in the world, the LAUSD Board of Education. In this episode, Nick tells his story, from growing up in LA and attending Harvard-Westlake and Harvard College, before teaching in a Watts public school as part of Teach For America. The inequities that Nick observed there led him to partner with the ACLU in 2014 to sue the LAUSD on behalf of his students—a lawsuit he and the ACLU won—prompting Nick to attend law school and then public service in the Obama White House and then the school board. Now a decade later and viewing these issues as a policymaker, Nick speaks about the LAUSD’s challenges—600,000 students, with 85% of LA kids living in poverty—and the delicate tensions around teacher compensation, teachers’ unions, and school autonomy. Nick also discusses his recent resolution banning cell phones in all of LAUSD. Since the recording of this podcast, Nick’s resolution passed. Nick references various educators at Harvard-Westlake, as well as Catherine Belcher of LMU and Mark Rosenbaum of the ACLU, as profound life influences.

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Ynon Kreiz is Chairman and CEO of Mattel, a global toy and family entertainment company and owner of among the most iconic brand portfolios in the world. In this episode, Ynon tells his story—from growing up and attending college in Israel, before relocating to Los Angeles to study entertainment at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. But after 25 years of running several large entertainment companies, Ynon’s life changed in 2018 when he was hired as Mattel’s CEO. Within a few short weeks, Ynon was laser focused on creating a live action Barbie movie—but one that didn’t merely pay homage to the iconic brand; he wanted to break convention and impact culture. As Ynon describes, the Barbie movie that Greta Gerwig created was not at odds with Ynon’s vision for Mattel—but in complete alignment; a strategy to stand out in a crowded marketplace, say something bold and truthful about our culture, and even to be self-critical. In Ynon’s words, Barbie is but one example of Mattel’s evolution from a toy company manufacturing items to an IP company managing franchises and experiences. Ynon references entertainment mogul Haim Saban as a profound influence on his life and career.

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On January 12, 2023, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Robert Hur ’91 to oversee the Justice Department’s investigation into President Biden’s alleged mishandling of classified documents during his time as vice president—thrusting Rob into the national political spotlight. In this episode, Rob tells his story. The child of Korean immigrants, Rob’s family settled in Southern California in the 1980s, where Rob attended Harvard School. Rob later discovered a passion for the law, and in 2018 he was named the US Attorney for the district of Maryland, where he led major investigations relating to violent crime, public corruption, and white supremacist-inspired domestic terrorism. All of this prepared Rob for this moment, testifying before a divided congress on March 12, and concluding an inquiry that Rob believes was fair and just. Rob references Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and FBI Director Christopher Wray, as well as Harvard School educators John Amato, Bob Archer, Tom Donahue, Mimi Flood, and Phil Holmes, as profound life influences.