Chris Taylor and Brian Van Brunt are back after a longer-than-planned break, and the return goes about the way you might expect. There are blood clots, bad road-trip decisions, tattoos, piercings, Eggs Benedict, coffee cake trauma, breakfast memories, and a brief discussion of whether Brian should be allowed near anyone else’s final bite. Somewhere in there, they also manage to talk about higher education.

The conversation turns to AI, student behavior, early intervention, mandatory sanctions, and the difference between serious conduct concerns and what one former supervisor called “knucklehead behavior.” Chris and Brian talk about why colleges sometimes wait too long to build relationships with students, why consistency does not always require identical responses, and why the lowest-level intervention that actually works may be the better one.

They also introduce a new Show and Tell segment for the video version (did we mention we have video now?) of the podcast, discuss what is ahead for the Higher Ed Breakfast Club, and make no promises whatsoever about becoming a reliably weekly podcast. They are, however, back.

🎙️ New Episode! Part two of our wild ride with Bobby Szabo!

This week, we talk:

🥐 A pastry so buttery it might change your life

🩰 Swing dancing on Tuesdays, D&D on Thursdays, and drunk Shakespeare on Saturdays

🥓 Bacon that’s burnt and wet by design

😵‍💫 Theater trauma, eight-foot cougars, brunch Dracula, and running a sold-out improv company

🎭 Plus: what it’s like to be sober onstage while the audience keeps buying you shots

🎧 Available now on your favorite podcast app.

#HigherEdBreakfastClub #DaytonDrunkTheater #BobbySzabo #BreakfastPodcast #DungeonsAndDragons #NewEpisode

🔥 That’s right. Bobby Szabo (she/her) joins us for a jam-packed, laugh-out-loud, heart-full episode of the Higher Ed Breakfast Club, and y’all, it DELIVERS.🍕 Microwave pizza for breakfast.🥔 Mourning the loss of a Cracker Barrel sweet potato.🧠 Teaching refugee students with power and purpose.🎭 Owning a drunk theater company…as a non-drinker.✨ Oh, and swing dancing at Waffle House.We said what we said.🎧 Hit play and buckle up. This one’s warm, weird, and wildly wonderful - just like brunch with your favorite people.👇 Listen now at www.higheredbreakfastclub.com or wherever you find podcasts.

#HigherEdBreakfastClub #NewEpisode #BobbySabo #PodcastLife #BreakfastPizzaIsValid #SwingDance #DaytonDrunkTheater

🚨 The Higher Ed Breakfast Club is back with another deeply unserious but shockingly insightful episode. 🚨

This week:

🧠 Geek culture as community-building

🎓 Comic-Con meets campus life

📚 Dissertations on fandom

👶 Star Wars nurseries

🎭 Cosplay, consent, and cinnamon rolls

…and the essential question: What would the Hulk eat for breakfast?

Emily and Alex join us to talk about how geek identity fosters belonging in higher ed, from D&D to Disney, from eSports to ethics. You’ll laugh, you’ll learn, you’ll question whether you’ve ever truly seen a cinnamon roll.

🎧 Listen wherever you get your podcasts

🔗 higheredbreakfastclub.com

#HigherEdBreakfastClub #GeekEd #StudentAffairs #ComicCon #CosplayConsent #FandomStudies #StarWarsKids #DungeonsAndDissertations #BreakfastWithTheAvengers

On this latest episode of Higher Ed Breakfast Club, we’re joined by longtime student affairs pros and cinnamon roll philosophers Alex Belisario and Emily Sandoval for a rich and ridiculous ride through:

🥐 Spam fried rice and bruléed bananas

📍 30 years in Santa Cruz

📚 Pivoting from housing to policy

👠 The death of heels post-pandemic

💡 And why climbing the ladder isn’t always the move

And yes, we absolutely rate cinnamon rolls using a real rubric.

(Gooey center, crispy squishiness ratio, icing density. We did the work.)

🎙️ “Nothing worse — you get to the middle and it’s dry.”

Trust us. It applies to more than breakfast.

#HigherEdBreakfastClub #StudentAffairs #CareerPivot #Burnout #BreakfastWisdom #CinnamonRollLogic

Yep, we disappeared again.

A little surgery (I'm fine), a little taking a kid to college for the first time (he's fine, me and his mom, we're coping)

Fits and starts, folks. Fits and starts.

But we’re actually back now, and this episode is worth the wait.

😮 You think you’re ready for MJ Raleigh’s story...but somewhere between the IRA, limericks, and college deans, our jaws hit the floor. You need to hear this one:

#HigherEdBreakfastClub #PodcastDrop #WildStories #IRALegacy #HigherEdUnfiltered

🎙️ New Episode Drop!

🥄 Mac & cheese bars. 🍳 Poached egg tutorials. ☕ Cardamom rolls.

Also: mental health, kids, higher ed, and whether “caramelized” should be pronounced with three syllables or four.

🎧 After a hot two-month hiatus, The Higher Ed Breakfast Club is back with caffeine, chaos, and a vengeance. Our guest is the one and only MJ Raleigh: school psychologist, former higher ed warrior, environmental studies PhD, and proud owner of a coffee mug featuring a caffeinated crow.

This one’s got it all:

🧠 Pandemic pivots & student support

🧀 Lobster-less mac & cheese

👶 Kindergarten dyslexia wins

📚 Breakfast as professional development

🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts. And remember: Nutella is just bread frosting.

Ever wonder what it really takes to help first-year students thrive in college? Or what happens when old high school rivals reconnect in higher ed?

On the latest Higher Ed Breakfast Club, Chris & Brian are joined by Kim Sousa Peoples—Senior Director for First Year Student Engagement at a North Carolina university (and fellow high school alum from back in the Kettering Fairmont days!).

We talk the joys and chaos of welcoming new students, surviving college as a “townie” kid, higher ed’s work/life balance crisis, and the hard truths of student affairs—plus: hash brown preferences, vegan breakfast hacks, and a live American taste test of Australia’s mysterious Vegemite.

Listen in for real talk, honest laughs, and maybe a few hot sauce recommendations.