FIFTEEN MINUTES
Volume XXXVII, Issue VII
Can ‘Abundance’ Solve Cambridge’s Housing Crisis?
The arguments of Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s 2025 book “Abundance” are well-trodden in Cambridge, where debates over development have defined city politics for decades. Yet local realities complicate the idea of abundance as a one-size-fits-all approach.
Editor's Note
Dear Reader, If it sounds dramatic to say we love and cherish this magazine as though we were married to it, the past few weeks of production — in sickness and in health — have proven the wedding analogy to be perhaps a little too apt. The midterms are midterming, the crashouts are crashout-ing, and the magazine is publishing no matter what comes our way. This issue opens with a story that has been, like every good romance, a slow burn. SBC and ALDR introduce you to Cambridge’s housing crisis. They’ve learned from several months of reporting just how intricate and challenging it is to reform development policies while balancing the City’s interests in historical preservation, economic accessibility, and resident diversity. Their story is framed around Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s bestselling 2025 book “Abundance,” which has become a major talking point in liberal cities — particularly those like Cambridge facing astronomical housing costs. These two writers took on an enormous challenge, and it’s been remarkable to watch them grow through drafts and redrafts, delays and added complexities. The final product is a testament to their commitment to strong reporting, and even housing experts stand to learn something from this story. In addition to the “Abundance” cover story, we have nine stories we’re unveiling this week. VIO explores the often invisible labor of frame conservation at the Harvard Art Museums and joins MAB to learn about the ongoing work by two undergraduates to create an archive of sexual violence in Harvard’s history. We have two first-time reporter and staff writer pairs that have produced standout stories: AC and OJ uncover the unconventional educational model of the Brook Farm Institute, and SC and EL tell stories from the unusual life of HMS alumni (and NASA astronaut) Jonny Kim. Next, VDR and DGM fill you in on the ever-changing Central Square — and whether it has managed to retain its spirit. In our first joint Fifteen Questions, JK learns about the lives of Harvard Chaplains Pat and Tammy McLeod. JBR gets to know the military veterans who are currently Harvard undergraduates. For the second installment of his food and culture column, HGL explains why telling the messy origin stories of food is important. Finally, ASHA closes our issue with an endpaper about wishing for faith in an apathetic world. As always, we’re beyond grateful to our multimedia and design teams — especially PVT, BN, OWZ, and DC — for making this issue beautiful. Much gratitude also goes to CNS, LMS, and DTP. And to our lovely magazine: till death do us part. KJK + AJBS
Framing the Past: Allison Jackson Talks Frame Conservation
While a visitor might spend minutes analyzing a painting, the frame rarely commands the same attention. Jackson’s life work as a conservator, however, suggests we take a different approach to perceiving frames.
Inside Harvard’s Student-Built Sexual Violence Archive
After collecting and processing records of gendered oppression, violence, and resistance to create Take Back Harvard, for Jessica Wang and Stella Lei, no place on the University’s campus is left without a connection to a moment long past, and, to most, long forgotten.
Rethinking a Humanities Education: The Brook Farm Institute
The Brook Farm Institute for Critical Studies, which launches its first seminars next month, is a non-profit institute offering online and in-person courses on the humanities and social sciences.
Navy SEAL and Astronaut Jonny Kim on Relearning Empathy and Awe
The Harvard Medical School graduate, who recently finished 245 days aboard the International Space Station, has not always been so fearless.
What’s at the Heart of Central Square?
Though Central Square can be described as being in constant motion due to economic shifts and new residential waves, the Square has managed to celebrate, remember, and preserve elements of its past.
Fifteen Questions: Pat and Tammy McLeod on Faith, Football, and Finding Hope in Ambiguous Loss
The married couple, both Harvard Chaplains, sat down with Fifteen Minutes in the Student Oasis on the ground floor of the Memorial Church to discuss their ministry with athletes, navigating interfaith work at Harvard, and how their son Zach's traumatic brain injury reshaped their understanding of grief.
The Stories We Tell About Food
One hopes that as we reach adulthood, these just-so stories about food become fuzzy — more nuances, spectra, and uncertainty. The world is complicated.
Out of the Ranks, And Into the Classroom
When Edward Somuk applied to college, he did so in part because he wondered, after fighting in two wars, why exactly he was “compelled” to go to war in the first place.
Framing the Past: Allison Jackson Talks Frame Conservation
While a visitor might spend minutes analyzing a painting, the frame rarely commands the same attention. Jackson’s life work as a conservator, however, suggests we take a different approach to perceiving frames.
Inside Harvard’s Student-Built Sexual Violence Archive
After collecting and processing records of gendered oppression, violence, and resistance to create Take Back Harvard, for Jessica Wang and Stella Lei, no place on the University’s campus is left without a connection to a moment long past, and, to most, long forgotten.
Rethinking a Humanities Education: The Brook Farm Institute
The Brook Farm Institute for Critical Studies, which launches its first seminars next month, is a non-profit institute offering online and in-person courses on the humanities and social sciences.
Navy SEAL and Astronaut Jonny Kim on Relearning Empathy and Awe
The Harvard Medical School graduate, who recently finished 245 days aboard the International Space Station, has not always been so fearless.
What’s at the Heart of Central Square?
Though Central Square can be described as being in constant motion due to economic shifts and new residential waves, the Square has managed to celebrate, remember, and preserve elements of its past.
Fifteen Questions: Pat and Tammy McLeod on Faith, Football, and Finding Hope in Ambiguous Loss
The married couple, both Harvard Chaplains, sat down with Fifteen Minutes in the Student Oasis on the ground floor of the Memorial Church to discuss their ministry with athletes, navigating interfaith work at Harvard, and how their son Zach's traumatic brain injury reshaped their understanding of grief.
The Stories We Tell About Food
One hopes that as we reach adulthood, these just-so stories about food become fuzzy — more nuances, spectra, and uncertainty. The world is complicated.
Out of the Ranks, And Into the Classroom
When Edward Somuk applied to college, he did so in part because he wondered, after fighting in two wars, why exactly he was “compelled” to go to war in the first place.
