Sam H. Koppelman
Latest Articles
Hidden in Plain Sight: Vending Machine Teleporation
Bodega’s culinary woes are not due to a lack of customers or poor inventory, since Bodega is not, in fact, a functioning bodega. The grocery store is a front for a much cooler operation.
30 Nights: Y2Y Homeless Shelter
Y2Y, Harvard Square's only youth homeless shelter, has hosted 60 guests since its opening. While the vast majority have responded positively, the shelter's staff and volunteers acknowledge that they can only do so much to tackle the immense and intractable problem of homelessness.
E.J. Dionne on The State of the Republican Party
“I think the Republicans could use a lot more of what Sarah Palin called, “'The Hopey Changey stuff.’”
The Sword and the Shogun
On Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, Harvard’s most unassuming soldiers arrive at gyms in the area ready to fight, donning protective headgear (“bogu”), bedazzled name tags (“zekken”), and, of course, bamboo swords (“shinai”).
Comping Creativity
When high school seniors open their acceptance letters to Harvard, they are invited to attend one of the world’s most exclusive institutions. But when students who decide to matriculate arrive on campus as freshmen, they find a whole new set of exclusive institutions with their own barriers to entry. Getting into Harvard doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll feel at home here.
Fifteen Minutes with Ambassador Wendy Sherman
I spend the week leading up to my interview with Ambassador Wendy Sherman, America’s chief negotiator on the Iran deal, negotiating the terms of our meeting. The ambassador’s office and I come to the following deal: I will have exactly 15 minutes for a Q & A, including the time it takes to photograph the ambassador. I must send over the topics I will cover in advance. I must also accept the fact that there will be another person in the room, who looks and acts exactly like Tom Hagen, Don Corleone’s consigliere.
Shut Down Harvard Football
I want Harvard, as well as any other schools that would be willing, to shut down their football teams now, so that young Americans like Andre Smith do not die in vain.
Out to Lunch with Aaron Slipper
Aaron A. G. Slipper ’18 shepherds us to the secret home of the Science Center's sole easy-access stapler. “This is one of the less exciting parts of the day here, but wait until we get to class,” Slipper tells us, stapling his problem set on the way to Algebraic Topology.
A Begrudging Case for 'That Kid On Your Newsfeed'
If you view newsfeed kids as modern day Woodward and Bernsteins—striving to expose, rather than simply fight injustices—their from-a-bed activism makes much more sense.
Change We Can Believe In: The Boehner Edition
Boehner reminded me that while many politicians may be craven and opportunistic—and the political system might not be all that I thought it was in 2008—few things beat politics when it works
Latest Media
Inside the Comedy Studio
The Comedy Studio isn’t the kind of place you can just wander into.