“OUC Speakers at Dr. Phillips Center”returns with the Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Bialik and S-Town podcast co-creators Brian Reed & Julie Snyder
Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts and OUC – The Reliable One announced today that actress, author and neuroscientist Mayim Bialik will kick off the second year of the popular speaker series, “OUC Speakers at Dr. Phillips Center.”
Best known for her critically acclaimed role as Amy Farrah Fowler on CBS’ The Big Bang Theory, Bialik will explore seemingly dissimilar — yet altogether entertaining — topics such as the work of the brain and behavioral development; her life as an actress and scientist; and the special relationship that exists between The Big Bang Theory and its audience. Her speaking engagement will take place Saturday, April 14 in the Walt Disney Theater.
Tickets for “An Evening with Mayim Bialik” presented by the Dr. Phillips Center in association with UCF Celebrates the Arts start at $35; a limited number of tickets will also be available for $200 for a meet and greet with the actress. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, March 2.
“The OUC Speakers at Dr. Phillips Center platform allows us to make meaningful connections with our customers and our community,” said Roseann Harrington, Vice President of Marketing, Communications & Community Relations of OUC – The Reliable One. “And the series is steeped in both education and innovation — two things we’re passionate about. We’re very pleased to be part of the program for a second year.”
“It’s rewarding to renew our relationship with OUC and collaborate together on the speakers series,” said Kathy Ramsberger, president and CEO of the Dr. Phillips Center. “The popularity of the format is really evolving, as more guests — especially Millennials — look for alternative entertainment options.”
In addition to Bialik, the OUC Speakers at Dr. Phillips Center series will also include a lively discussion and Q&A with Brian Reed and Julie Snyder, who created the groundbreaking podcast S-Town. The audio broadcast — which was downloaded 40 million times in its first month and continues to hold the #1 podcast spot on iTunes — reconstructs the investigation of an alleged murder in a small Alabama town.
Reed, who serves as S-Town host, is also a senior producer for public radio show This American Life. Snyder helped create the podcast “phenomenon” as co-creator and producer of Serial, which debuted in October 2014 and now has more than 300 million downloads. Reed and Snyder will present “Creating S-Town: Brian Reed and Julie Snyder” in the Walt Disney Theater Friday, June 15. Tickets start at $29.50 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, March 2; a limited number of $125 VIP tickets includes a pre-show reception with the opportunity to meet and mingle with Reed and Snyder.
Tickets may be purchased online at drphillipscenter.org, by calling 844.513.2014 or by visiting the Dr. Phillips Center Box Office at 445 S. Magnolia Avenue between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, or 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday. Online and phone ticket purchases are subject to handling fees.
OUC is part of a growing list of arts center business partners, including Florida Hospital, Fairwinds Credit Union and Morgan Stanley. Businesses interested in learning more about sponsorship opportunities should email corporate@drphillipscenter.org or call 407.992.1746.
About the Speakers
Mayim Bialik
Mayim Bialik currently stars on the hit CBS comedy, The Big Bang Theory as ‘Amy Farrah Fowler,’ for which she has received two Critics Choice Awards, four Emmy Award nominations and seven SAG Award nominations. From playing the young version of Bette Midler’s character in Beaches to guest spots on series such as Webster, Murphy Brown, and Curb Your Enthusiasm, in addition to her turn as ‘Blossom Russo’ in the iconic 90’s sitcom Blossom, Bialik has appeared in numerous beloved roles throughout her dynamic acting career.
An acclaimed author, Bialik has written #1 New York Times bestseller Girling Up: How to be Strong, Smart, and Spectacular, as well as Beyond the Sling, Mayim’s Vegan Table and the soon-to-be released, Boying Up: How to Be Brave, Bold and Brilliant. Bialik has recently dedicated her skills as a writer, actress, neuroscientist and mother to driving GrokNation.com, the website she started in 2015.
Following the end of Blossom, Bialik left acting for a time and earned her BS in Neuroscience from UCLA in 2000, with a minor in Hebrew & Jewish Studies. She went on to complete her PhD in Neuroscience, also at UCLA, and then completed her doctorate in the fall of 2007, which examined the role of oxytocin and vasopressin in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in adolescents with Prader-Willi syndrome. While at UCLA, Bialik was a dedicated student leader in UCLA Hillel, leading and starting a Women’s Rosh Chodesh group, chanting and blowing shofar for the High Holiday services, and conducting and writing music for UCLA’s Jewish acapella group.
In addition to acting and raising her two boys, Miles and Fred, Bialik serves as a spokeswoman for a multitude of brands and organizations including Texas Instruments, DeVry University, Capitol One, Fisher Price, City of Hope, Gillette, (among others) and speaks at events around the world.
Brian Reed
Brian Reed is the host and co-creator of the groundbreaking podcast S-Town, which is a production of Serial and the public radio show This American Life. Reed is also the senior producer of This American Life.
S-Town was downloaded 40 million times in its first month, setting a new record in podcasting, and is currently the number one podcast on iTunes. Reed spent more than three years reporting and writing S-Town, which began when a man named John B. McLemore asked Reed to investigate an alleged murder in his small Alabama town. The series won widespread popular and critical acclaim for elevating audio storytelling into the realm of great literature.
As senior producer of This American Life, Reed oversees the editorial direction of the program with host and executive producer Ira Glass. In his seven years with the show, Reed has created some of its most ambitious stories, including “The Secret Recordings of Carmen Segarra,” an investigation into the Federal Reserve’s supervision of Goldman Sachs; “Cops See It Differently,” a nuanced look at the relationship between African Americans and the police; “Abdi and the Golden Ticket,” which follows a Somali refugee desperately trying to get to America; and “What Happened at Dos Erres,” the story of a massacre in Guatemala and its reverberations decades later.
Reed has investigated multiple sketchy FBI operations, as well as produced stories about strange coincidences and car salesmen on Long Island and a turkey who terrorized a neighborhood before getting murdered by police. His journalism has helped an immigrant gain asylum in the U.S. and prompted a Senate Committee to grill the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of NewYork.
Before joining This American Life as an intern in 2010, Reed reported and produced for NPR as one of their Kroc Fellows and their first Above the Fray Fellow. Reed has received the Dart Award for Reporting on Trauma, the Overseas Press Club Award, and the Peabody Award.
Julie Snyder
Julie Snyder has been the guiding force behind two of the most successful ventures in audio broadcasting: she is the co-creator of the podcast Serial, which debuted in October 2014 and has been downloaded more than 300 million times, making it the most listened-to podcast in the history of the form; and for many years, she was the senior producer of the public radio show This American Life, which is heard by more than four million listeners each week.
Julie Snyder began working at This American Life in 1997 – almost from its inception – and along with host Ira Glass, has set the editorial agenda for the program, winning four Peabody Awards along the way. She has produced many of This American Life’s most entertaining and memorable episodes, including “24 Hours at the Golden Apple,” and “Notes on Camp.” In addition, she has also headed the program’s most ambitious and topical programs, notably episodes covering the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, health care reform, and urban violence in Chicago.
In 2013, Snyder began talking with her This American Life colleague Sarah Koenig about trying something new: making a show that doesn’t follow the usual format of a different story every week, but instead making a show where they would cover one story over the course of an entire season. At the time, smart phone technology was making podcasts more accessible for the public and the on-demand nature of podcast listening meant listeners could follow a story in a serialized way, following each chapter of the story as it unfolded week by week. The format was appealing to both Koenig and Snyder because it meant they could use all the tools of narrative journalism to report an in-depth story that featured twists, turns, tangents and suspense along the way.
After a year of reporting, with Koenig as host/reporter and Snyder as editor, Serial became a sensation. Slate headlined “Serial is Like Nothing I’ve Ever Heard or Watched Before”; Buzzfeed wrote “Serial is the Best New Crime Drama (And It’s Not on TV)”; and The New Yorker declared Serial “the podcast we’ve been waiting for.” Among other honors, Serial won the 2014 Peabody Award, the first time the award has been given to a podcast.
Snyder is co-creator and executive producer of S-Town, a 7-part non-fiction podcast from Serial Productions hosted by Brian Reed which premiered in March 2017. S-Town was downloaded more than 10 million in the first four days of its release — setting a new record in the podcasting world.
