From WJPZ to Rihanna, Fall Out Boy and Lizzo - Adam Eisenberg '95

From WJPZ to Rihanna, Fall Out Boy and Lizzo - Adam Eisenberg '95

Author: WJPZ June 12, 2023 Duration: 32:16

We've had podcast guests in the radio, news, and sports arenas, but today's episode features an alumnus who has spent most of his career working with artists in the record label world.     Adam Eisenberg always knew he had a passion for music.  And when he came to WJPZ his junior year, he quickly became friends with Dion Summers, Kafele Khalfani, Marvin Nugent, and so many  of the great class of 1995.He was heavily involved in the radio station, both on air and as assistant program director.

Following graduation, Rocco Macri helped him get in the door at Hot 97 in New York, where he realized he had a passion for aritst relations, moreso than being on the air.   Following a stint in Baltimore living with his Cuse roommate Dion, Adam headed to LA for a record label job.

In over two decades, Adam's worked with Toni Braxton to Rihanna, Fall Out Boy, Lizzo, and Jack Harlow, just to name a few.  He tells a great Toni Braxton story, but he really went viral by being on Rihanna's now infamous 777 - when she did 7 concerts in 7 countries in 7 days.   Bringing a bunch of press and contest winners along seemed like a good idea at the time....

From on the label side and the artist management side, Adam credits his success to the lessons he learned at WJPZ, as you'll hear throughout this podcast.   And we pick back up on an issue raised by Adam's close friend and roommate Dion Summers in this episode - where he describes the pushback that he received as program director.  What was that like from Adam's perspective?

But we can't end on such a serious note - we close with the story of Adam, Nicki Minaj, and a picture that went viral of NIcki signing the chest of a previous WJPZ at 50 podcast guest.

The WJPZ at 50 Podcast Series is produced by Jon Gay, Class of 2002, and his podcast production agency, JAG in Detroit Podcasts.

Sign up for email alerts whenever we release a new episode here: jagindetroit.com/WJPZat50

Want to be a guest on the pod or know someone else who would? Email Jag:  jag@jagindetroit.com.

Want to stay in the loop with WJPZ Alumni events?  Subscribe to our newsletter on the right hand side of the page at http://wjpzalumni.org/

Want to be on the show? Email JAG at jag@jagpodcastproductions.com

Connect with the WJPZ Alumni Association: https://wjpzalumniassociation.org/


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.


For fifty years, the student-run airwaves of Syracuse University's WJPZ at 50 have been more than a radio station; they've been a launchpad. This oral history project captures that legacy not through dry facts, but through the voices that built it. Each episode is a conversation with a different alumnus, from the pioneers of the 1970s to recent graduates, tracing how their hands-on experience in what's called the "world's greatest media classroom" shaped careers in broadcasting and far beyond. You'll hear personal stories of late-night broadcasts, technical mishaps turned into triumphs, and the forging of lifelong bonds that created a unique professional family spanning generations. This podcast digs into the real, often messy, work of learning by doing, revealing how a campus station became an enduring institution. Tune in for a collection of fifty interviews that together form a living archive, celebrating the people, not just the programming, behind five decades of student-led radio.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

WJPZ at 50
Podcast Episodes
Replay: 2025 Hall of Fame Inductee Jon "JAG" Gay, Class of 2002 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:35
Editor's Note: This week we are re-releasing the episodes with our 2025 Hall of Fame Inductees. Here, our host became the guest, as Jag's 2002 classmate and fellow Hall of Famer Matt DelSignore sat him down to hear his s…
Matthew Reschke, aka R Source [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:45
We're talking today with Matthew Reschke, also known as R Source, from the class of 2012. Matt's connection to WJPZ started in his childhood, growing up near Syracuse and engaging with the station's DJs through AOL - bef…
What Happens (at the NAB Show) in Vegas [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:29
Every year, the WJPZ Alumni Association, via the Berrell Award, sends two students to an industry event. In 2023, GM Grace Denton and former sports director Joe Puccio went to Vegas for the National Association of Broadc…
Kelly (Foster) and Adam Shapiro, Class of 1992 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:39
If you don't know Adam and Kelly (Foster) Shapiro's backstory, you might assume it's yet another romance started in the halls of WJPZ. Their story, as you'll hear here, is a much different road than than other Z89 couple…
Meteorologist Dave Roberts, Class of 1992 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:48
While many of us flipped burgers or bagged groceries in high school, Dave Roberts was reading the news on an AM station and (literally) herding cats as a 15 year old. When he toured Syracuse and saw the WJPZ prize van, a…
Seattle Mariners VP of Marketing Kevin Martinez, Class of 1988 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:32
Kevin Tippy Martinez, '88, is the Senior Vice President of Marketing Communications for the Seattle Mariners. It's no surprise that this New Jersey native, with passions for baseball and broadcasting, found himself trans…
Mike Roberts, longtime V103 Morning Man and PD, Class of 1979 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:55
Mike Roberts, Class of 1979, is one of the people who helped kept WJPZ alive in the early days. With the station's founders having graduated, Mike empowerd a team to run radio station, passing its educational lessons for…
GM Marc Bokoff, '87, on the Sit-In at WJPZ [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:45
Today we interview Marc Bokoff, from the class of 1987. A management major, Marc came to the station as business manager under then-GM Larry Barron, before becoming general manager himself. He took over the station in th…
Scott Greene, Class of '93: Newspaper to Radio and Back! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:32
Scott Greene, '93, grew up just outside Boston wanting to be a newspaper reporter. He did it in high school and came to Syracuse wanting to pursue that career. But WJPZ quickly drew him in, and he says the only columns h…