Teen People - Alisha Fernandez Miranda talks TEEN PEOPLE, Disney, and her dream jobs

Alisha Fernandez Miranda talks TEEN PEOPLE, Disney, and her dream jobs

05/25/23 • 50 min

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Alisha Fernandez Miranda is a Cuban-American writer based in Scotland. Her memoir, 'My What If Year' was published in February 2023, and the book describes her year-long experiment doing internships in the dream jobs of her childhood. She is also the host of the award-winning podcast, 'Quit Your Day Job', which explores some of these dream careers, with people who are actually doing those jobs. Alisha is a graduate of Harvard University, and the London School of Economics, and is the former CEO and current Chair of I.G. Advisors, an award-winning social impact intelligence agency that coaches the world’s biggest non-profits, companies and foundations on their philanthropy and social impact. She began her career in the pages of TEEN PEOPLE magazine, and is good friends with my previous guest, Amar Shah, who is also from Florida and who was also on TEEN PEOPLE's News Team. The TEEN PEOPLE News Team was a corps of young journalists from across the United States who created original content for the magazine, and contributed to TEEN PEOPLE's human interest reporting. As you'll hear in this episode, Alisha treasures her time with TEEN PEOPLE, and like many of my guests, speaks so fondly of that magazine and that time in her life! Time stamps: 03:00 Why Alisha has kept a box of TEEN PEOPLE magazines, and why she was in TEEN PEOPLE magazine 08:35 TEEN PEOPLE News Team members were early content creators 09:50 TEEN PEOPLE was Alisha's first professional network, and the first time she was communicating online with people she didn't know in real life 16:23 Alisha talks about her move from Miami to Scotland (via Harvard and LSE) 21:21 mini Brexit rant 21:31 Alisha moved to the UK in 2008, a few months before the 2008 financial crisis 23:46 UK is a "dumpster fire", says Alisha (we get political) 25:44 I ask Alisha about her memoir 29:26 Alisha wants to intern at Disneyworld 30:48 Alisha wants to write more books 34:07 Alisha talks about her podcast, Quit Your Day Job 41:56 Is Alisha related to Lin-Manuel Miranda?? 43:10 What's up with youth journalism in Florida? 44:45 What advice would Alisha give her teenage self? Podcast notes: Check out [at]TeenPeoplePod on Twitter and Instagram for pictures from this episode! Buy Alisha's book through her website: www.alishafmiranda.com Connect with me on: www.annasoper.ca Intro music: Jazzy Abstract Beat by Coma-Media on Pixabay Outro music: Spirit Blossom by RomanBelov on Pixabay Teen People is recorded in Kingston/Katarokwi, the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat.

Previous Episode

All Star: Amar Shah on Kobe, Shaq, and making an impact

If you spent hours on AOL Instant Messenger, this episode is for you! Amar Shah is a multiple Emmy award-winning writer and producer who got his start on TEEN PEOPLE magazine's News Team! He speaks with me about online friendships, making an impact, and his viral Washington Post essay; on growing up in a real-life Kwik-E-Mart. Digressions: Kobe Shaq The Great Gatsby You've Got Mail The Simpsons Jennifer Love Hewitt The Internet Archive Notes: Find Amar's work here: https://www.amarshahwrites.com Preorder his book here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-hoop-con-amar-shah/1143424468?ean=9781338840322 And preorder Jennifer Senior's book here: https://www.theatlantic.com/atlantic-editions/#on-grief Find me online at www.annasoper.ca and on Twitter and Instagram at TeenPeoplePod. ................ Sounds and music: The Sound of dial-up Internet by wtermini on Pixabay Poor, But Happy by HoliznaCC0 CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ Snippet of 1999 Neutrogena commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N2YaU1Pfy8 Spirit Blossom by RomanBelov on Pixabay ................ Teen People is recorded in Kingston/Katarokwi, the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat.

Next Episode

Nadia Ahmad on climate justice, abolition, and being in Teen People magazine

When Teen People magazine sent Nadia Ahmad on a shopping spree in 1998, she didn't feel cool enough to model makeup! Plus, she had just started wearing a hijab, and the 18-year-old wasn't sure how to reconcile her femininity within the norms of a teen magazine. Today, Nadia is an Associate Professor of Law at Barry University in Florida. She completed her law degree at the University of Florida; where she served as executive editor of the Florida Journal of International Law, and wrote about women’s property rights in post-partition South Asia. You’ll hear about her shopping trip in this episode and, of course, what she’s up to now, 25 years later. Time stamps: 00:01 Random fighter jet flyby 05:45 "I remember growing up and hearing the sound of the newspaper hit the driveway, and being really excited..." 07:56 "I felt I wasn't cool enough to write about makeup!" 10:04 Nadia describes her shopping spree for Teen People, where she bought products from Lancôme, Kiehl's and The Body Shop. 12:30 "You'll find more Muslim women in the malls than you will in the mosque." 16:31 Nadia began to wear a hijab to honour her grandmother 17:50 - 23:18 Hijab as a political symbol; a "contra-modern" form of feminism 27:20 Working as a freelance journalist 28:34 Nadia shifts from journalism to law 30:33 Nadia's Berkeley landlord was Lakireddy Bali Reddy, who was later convicted of human trafficking and sex offences 35:02 Nadia was interviewed for a news program but YouTubers called her out for *checks notes* wearing lipstick during her interview 36:08 Meghan and Harry's NYC car chase and whether Meghan was *checks notes* smiling in the paparazzi photos 38:06 The idea of going to school and teaching is so simple: but it's both contested and sad, and Nadia feels like she has to build armour to get through 38:29 "It would be very hard for me to even exist in certain places of the world" 39:00 Straight to the Comments podcast trailer 40:16 Kudos to podcast maven Arielle Nissenblatt 40:22 We talk about Nadia's PhD research on climate change and environmental racism, especially in relation to the recent Canadian wildfires and US Southwest heatwaves 43:47 Nadia wrote about 21 Savage and his immigration detention 45:46 Nadia is critical of the American Bar Association and their stance on mass incarceration 48:50 Nadia speaks about prison abolition 50:10 "My kids don't even know about 9/11" 51:13 Zayn from One Direction normalized "Muslimness" for Gen Z 52:33 Nadia reflects on the role her grandmother played in her life 54:33 What advice would Nadia give her teenage self today? Podcast notes: Nadia is friends with a previous guest, Amar Shah, who also appeared in the same Teen People feature. Make sure you listen to his episode, too! And have a listen to my interview with Alisha Fernandez Miranda, who met Amar on the Teen People News Team. Find me on Twitter and Instagram [at]TeenPeoplePod! Music: Relaxed Vlog by Ashot-Danielyan-Composer on Pixabay Teen People is recorded in Kingston/Katarokwi, the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat.