Harvard Medical School professor of neurology Rudolph Tanzi discusses how lifestyle choices can help maintain brain health during a person’s lifespan. Topics include Alzheimer’s disease and other kinds of dementia, the role of genetics and environment in health, and the importance of sleep, exercise, and diet in controlling neuroinflammation. For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram . F...
Dec 20, 2021•34 min•Season 4Ep. 8
Makeda Best, curator of photography at the Harvard Art Museums and a visiting professor of Art, Film, and Visual Studies, shares her insights on landscape photographers, as well as photographers of war and protest, capture their historical moments, and what their work says about cultural history and politics. Topics discussed include Best’s research on Alexander Gardner, a Civil War photographer who was also active in the worker’s rights movement, her current book project on American landscape p...
Dec 13, 2021•29 min•Season 4Ep. 7
Claudia Goldin, Henry Lee professor of economics, shares the reason why working mothers still earn less and advance less often in their careers than men: time. Even with antidiscrimination laws and unbiased managers, certain professions pay employees disproportionately more for long hours and weekends, passing over women who need that time for family care. Goldin also discusses how COVID-19’s flexible work policies may help close the gender earnings gap. For more information about Harvard Magazi...
Dec 06, 2021•33 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Jerrold Rosenbaum, director of Massachusetts General Hospital’s Center for the Neuroscience of Psychedelics, discusses the potential of using psychedelics, such as MDMA and magic mushrooms, to treat treatment-resistant mood disorders like depression and anxiety. Topics include the effect of psychedelics on the brain, how psychedelic therapy is conducted, the legality of medicinal psychedelics, and current research findings. For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www....
Nov 29, 2021•45 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Nicholas Stephanopoulos, a political scientist and legal scholar whose research focuses on gerrymandering, explains its effect on American democracy and how it might be stopped. Topics include recent state laws that limit voting, the voting-rights bills being debated in Congress, and the current state of “alignment” between voters’ wishes and government actions. A note to our listeners: This episode was recorded on September 30, 2021. For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast,...
Nov 22, 2021•28 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Emily Broad Leib, founder and director of Harvard’s Food Law and Policy Clinic, discusses how to reduce food waste in the United States and abroad. Topics include the confusion caused by misleading date labels, the impact of COVID-19 on food waste, and the FLPC’s collaborations with governments and non-profit organizations to enact better food laws. For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagra...
Nov 15, 2021•31 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Neurobiologists Venkatesh Murthy and Sandeep Robert Datta discuss what scientists know about our sense of smell, and what big mysteries remain. Topics include smell loss from COVID-19, experimental approaches to understanding olfaction, and the role of artificial intelligence in olfactory research. For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram . For a transcript of this episode, go to https:...
Nov 08, 2021•36 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Epidemiologist and immunologist Michael Mina discusses the use of rapid tests as public health tools. Topics include using rapid tests to protect gatherings of friends and family; the differences between rapid tests and PCR tests; and why rapid tests are useful even for people who are vaccinated—particularly the elderly. For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram . For a transcript of thi...
Nov 01, 2021•32 min•Season 4Ep. 1
For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram . For a transcript of this episode, go to https://harvardmagazine.com/2021/preview-ask-a-harvard-professor-season-four Ask a Harvard Professor is hosted by Lydialyle Gibson, Jonathan Shaw, Jacob Sweet, and Nancy Walecki, and produced by Jacob Sweet and Niko Yaitanes. Our theme music was composed by Louis Weeks....
Oct 28, 2021•2 min
The term “parafiction” refers to an artistic performance or presentation that depicts fiction as fact. This idea has particular relevance for our current post-truth moment, in which Americans find themselves overrun with conspiracy theories, misinformation, and fake news. For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram . For a transcript of this episode, go to https://harvardmagazine.com/2020/...
Nov 30, 2020•36 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Discussing the link between air pollution and effects of COVID-19, and the importance of data for rapid public-health responses —with Francesca Dominici, professor of biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram . For a transcript of this episode, go to https://harvardmagazine.com/2020/francesca-dominici . Ask a Harvard Profess...
Nov 23, 2020•26 min•Season 3Ep. 6
How to reform capitalism to confront climate change and extreme inequality, with economist and McArthur University Professor Rebecca Henderson For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram . For a transcript of this episode, go to https://harvardmagazine.com/2020/rebecca-henderson . Ask a Harvard Professor is hosted by Jonathan Shaw, Marina Bolotnikova, Jacob Sweet, and produced by Jacob Swe...
Nov 16, 2020•40 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Harvard Law School professor Jeannie Suk Gersen breaks down the use of race in college admissions and the future of affirmative action at the Supreme Court. For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram . For a transcript of this episode, go to https://harvardmagazine.com/2020/jeannie-suk-gersen . Ask a Harvard Professor is hosted by Jonathan Shaw, Marina Bolotnikova, Jacob Sweet, and produc...
Nov 09, 2020•37 min•Season 3Ep. 4
In this episode, political philosopher Danielle Allen explains why the COVID crisis, extreme inequality, and undemocratic government are all connected—and how democracy in America can still be reinvigorated. For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram . For a transcript of this episode, go to https://harvardmagazine.com/2020/danielle-allen . Ask a Harvard Professor is hosted by Jonathan Sh...
Nov 02, 2020•30 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Can cellphone technologies play a role in controlling the coronavirus pandemic? Knowing how public health policies interact with people’s actual behavior, even at an anonymous population-level view, can help guide the decisions of leaders. Mobile phone location data can reveal large-scale patterns of activity and travel between regions. In this episode, associate professor of epidemiology Caroline Buckee explains how such data—carefully stewarded to ensure individual privacy—can even be used to ...
Oct 26, 2020•31 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Climate change may be the hardest problem the human race has ever confronted. In a single century, humans have set in motion events that will unfold on a geological timescale, ultimately redrawing coastlines around the globe as ice sheets melt and sea level rises. Can humanity agree to meet its energy needs with renewables such as wind and solar power? Is there a threshold beyond which the effects of greenhouse gases will become irreversible? Can solar geoengineering help stop this runaway train...
Oct 19, 2020•47 min•Season 3Ep. 1
For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram . For a transcript of this episode, go to https://harvardmagazine.com/podcast/2020/preview-ask-a-harvard-professor-season-three Ask a Harvard Professor is hosted by Jonathan Shaw, Marina Bolotnikova, Jacob Sweet, and produced by Jacob Sweet and Niko Yaitanes. Our theme music was composed by Louis Weeks....
Oct 16, 2020•2 min
What should be done now about the federal budget and the deficit, with Doug Elmendorf, dean of the Harvard Kennedy School, and Karen Dynan, professor of the practice of economics. For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram . For a transcript of this episode, go to https://harvardmagazine.com/podcast/2020/doug-elmendorf-and-karen-dynan Ask a Harvard Professor is hosted by Jonathan Shaw and...
Apr 13, 2020•27 min•Season 2Ep. 7
CHINA IS THE MOST POPULOUS COUNTRY ON EARTH, and until a few hundred years ago, it was also the most economically powerful. Today, China is ascendant on the world stage. What does its government seek in its relationship with the United States? Do China and the U.S. share common goals with respect to nuclear North Korea? How far will China press to reunite with Taiwan? What are the country’s economic prospects, and is the perception that it is governed by engineers accurate? How is China coping w...
Apr 06, 2020•54 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Why would it take an Amazon worker, employed full time, more than a million years to earn what its CEO, Jeff Bezos now possesses? Why do the richest 400 Americans own more wealth than all African-American households combined? And how are these examples of extreme income inequality linked to the political disenfranchisement of the lower- and middle-income classes? The established “solutions” for restoring balance to economic and political power in the United States have been tax increases on the ...
Mar 30, 2020•30 min•Season 2Ep. 5
What role does diplomacy play in the modern world order, and what are the characteristics of a good diplomat? Which countries are the great powers today, and which will lead in 2050? Does NATO have a role in helping manage the political, economic, and military challenges facing the United States? And why is morale reportedly at a low ebb in the State Department? In this episode, former ambassador to NATO Nicholas Burns, the Goodman Family professor of the practice of diplomacy and international ...
Mar 23, 2020•32 min•Season 2Ep. 4
If judges truly are impartial arbiters of justice, why do politicians fight over who will be appointed to the bench? Are the courts actually a political prize? And are judges really akin to umpires, just calling “balls and strikes”? How does the back-and-forth between the legal profession and politicians shape the quality of nominees to the bench? In this episode, Harvard Kennedy School professor of public policy Maya Sen considers these questions as we discuss the power of the legal profession ...
Mar 16, 2020•35 min•Season 2Ep. 3
No country in the world spends more on health care than the United States, or has less to show for it when compared to other wealthy nations. The U.S. spends nearly 50 percent more per capita than Switzerland, the second biggest spender among wealthy nations, but consistently ranks near the bottom on measures of population wellness and life expectancy. Is there a better system, and if so, what should it look like? What role does wasteful spending play in this equation? How much is attributable t...
Mar 09, 2020•32 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Rating the foreign policy of presidents from FDR to the present day with Joseph Nye, formerly a government professor in FAS, later dean of the Kennedy School, now a University Distinguished Service Professor For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram . For a transcript of this episode, go to https://harvardmagazine.com/podcast/2020/joseph-s-nye Ask a Harvard Professor is hosted by Jonatha...
Mar 02, 2020•24 min•Season 2Ep. 1
For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram . For a transcript of this episode, go to https://harvardmagazine.com/podcast/2020/joseph-s-nye Ask a Harvard Professor is hosted by Jonathan Shaw and produced by Jacob Sweet. Our theme music was composed by Louis Weeks....
Feb 26, 2020•2 min
What does hiphop culture—rap music, break dancing, and graffiti—have to do with Harvard? In this episode, Monrad professor of social sciences Marcyliena Morgan explains that hiphop began with the children of people who marched in the civil-rights movement: teenagers taking apart their parents’ jazz recordings and expressing their distress with a world that hadn’t changed for them, despite their parents’ efforts. They made a new urban poetry of social dislocation, set to music. Now the movement i...
Oct 21, 2019•44 min•Season 1Ep. 6
What makes a photograph art? A great photograph may be the result of artistry, or it may be the result of dumb luck: a fleeting, perfect composition captured by chance. At a time when there is a camera in every pocket, how do curators distinguish between documentary and artistic work? In this episode, Burden professor of photography Robin Kelsey, the dean of arts and humanities, explores the role of chance in artmaking generally, and in photography in particular. For more information about Harva...
Oct 07, 2019•33 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Cities are an integral part of Earth’s future: by 2050, 68 percent of the world’s population will be living in an urban area. Solutions to social problems, from climate change to poverty, will therefore be tied to the fates of cities. In this episode, Glimp professor of economics Ed Glaeser explains why he is overwhelmingly optimistic about urban growth. Cities, he says, are engines of innovation and economic activity that create opportunity. “Humans are a social species that gets smart,” he exp...
Sep 30, 2019•31 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Mass murders committed with firearms are becoming more frequent In the United States. And the total number of gun deaths, a majority by suicide, is now on par with those caused by automobile accidents. None of this has broken the political gridlock in Washington that surrounds the issue of gun control. In this episode, professor of health policy David Hemenway describes public-health strategies that can save lives, often without political intervention, by making guns inherently less dangerous, a...
Sep 23, 2019•28 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Weed, ganja, pot, flower, dope, grass, bud: marijuana has many names, but an even greater number of chemical constituents, from THC, the psychoactive component, to cannabidiols such as CBD, often touted for its therapeutic potential. In this episode, Dr. Staci Gruber, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School who directs the longest-running study of medical cannabis use in the United States, discusses the effects of the plant’s components on human health. At a time when acce...
Sep 16, 2019•31 min•Season 1Ep. 2
