Conversations
Hey Professor: Nobel Achievements with Dr. William Kaelin
A conversation with Harvard's most recent Nobel prize winner on the philosophy behind his research, the welcomeness of unexpected experimental results, and whether or not he normally wears button downs at 5 a.m.
‘Listen, listen, listen’ to Leslie S. Jamison ’04
I don't know if the desire to make great art is wholly about wanting to be loved, but I think it shares something, in the sense of wanting to be heard.
Socializing with President Obama's Social Secretary
Dyer, who served as Social Secretary from 2015-2017, has no shortage of stories from her time working in the Obama administration. She was in charge of hosting all the social events at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, ranging from formal state dinners to tea with the First Lady. “Man, it was crazy,” she remembers, a hint of nostalgia in her voice.
Hey Professor: Serhii Plokhii on Ukraine’s Political Frontiers
Fifteen Minutes sat down with Professor Serhii Plokhii, the Mykhailo S. Hrushevs'kyi Professor of Ukrainian History, to discuss Ukranian history, the Trump-Ukraine scandal, and the roles that both Russia and the United States have played in shaping the country’s politics.
Asking Philosopher T. M. Scanlon ‘What We Owe to Each Other’
The title of Professor Scanlon's book, "What We Owe to Each Other," was adopted into an episode of NBC's "The Good Place." FM sat down with Scanlon to chat about "The Good Place," the definition of morality, and why we should study philosophy.
On Enduring, and Acting Class
If you act because applause feels good, you won’t be long for this profession, he said. “Because the math doesn’t help you.”
Food for Thought with Christina Warinner
A row of colorful, plastic-wrapped toothbrushes lines a shelf in Christina Warinner’s office. Their presence is a bit ironic, as Warinner’s research seems to put her at odds with dental hygiene: some of her most important discoveries come from residue left on the teeth of ancient humans.
Robert Reid-Pharr's Task to Thrive, Regardless
For Robert Reid-Pharr, cultural production allows people to understand that their humanity is “so much broader and so much grander than the things that oppress us.” Thus, he strives to write “in a way that actually feeds the soul.”
The Trigger Warning War at Harvard
Trigger warnings — advance notices that precede potentially disturbing material, often for the purported benefit of those with PTSD — have been the subject of great contention in recent years. Bellet’s studies claim to show that trigger warnings have a negligible impact on anxiety levels in response to “distressing” literary passages.
Working Out With Professor Pull-ups
Sandel hopes to continue combining his interest in philosophy with his interests in both law and fitness. “I try to take lessons that I would learn in the gym and apply them to life more generally,” he says. “Your goal is an event in its own right; pour everything you have into that and don’t look at the finish line. That is something you learn from training for these pull up competitions.”
Listening for Humanity at the Margins
A fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, Maria L. Hinojosa speaks with FM about her groundbreaking career in journalism.
'We're Really Great at Building Walls, We're Not Great at Building Marshes'
Michael T. Wilson ’07 has spent a lot of time thinking about unexpected coastal disasters like the 2018 Boston flooding.
The Illogical, Irrational, Luxurious Dream of Min Jin Lee
"I thought it’d be simpler to be a writer, so I quit law and I started to write fiction. I was entirely wrong."
Ju Yon Kim is Building from the Inside
When Kim took her job at Harvard in 2011, she didn't know she would be the only tenure-track Asian American Studies faculty member. "I was very surprised when I came to campus."
Lipstick and Legislation in Obama’s White House
When Andrea Flores was elected as the first Latinx president of the Harvard Undergraduate Council in 2008, her lipstick posed a problem.
