1050 Bascom had the extreme pleasure of interviewing best-selling author and podcaster Alyssa Mastromonaco. A Political Science Badger alum and a member of the department’s Board of Visitors, Alyssa served as former White House Deputy Chief of Staff for the Obama Administration. She talked us through her political pathway from a feel-the-Bern intern in Vermont for Bernie Sanders and a politically active student at UW-Madison to working on several presidential campaigns and then for eight years focused on domestic and international policy in the Obama Administration. She also offered her take on leadership in divisive times and spoke to the ongoing protests following the death of George Floyd. We learned so much from talking with her Alyssa and found her practical career advice for people at all professional levels – always get the easy stuff right, show humility, be a meaningful team player - invaluable.