We often like to talk about how our alumni reach grand heights in their successes and go far in their contributions to society. And not many have gone quite as far as Business School alum Timothy Kopra. That is...as far as outer space. Timothy Kopra is a NASA astronaut with not one but two space trips on his resume. Kopra has lived on the International Space Station for a total of 244 days, doing three spacewalks and instagramming with captions like #citiesfromspace and good night from @ISS. Onc...
Dec 16, 2016•20 min
This week is the third and final installment of StorySpace @ Columbia from the Office of University Life. If you haven’t heard Part I or II, go listen to them! Today, we wrap up the theme of identity with stories about perseverance, confronting challenges to keep moving forward, and finding inspiration in unusual places.
Nov 18, 2016•35 min
This week is the second installment of StorySpace@Columbia from the Office of University Life. If you haven’t heard Part I, go back to last week’s episode and listen to it. But here’s a quick refresher: StorySpace@Columbia is a new storytelling project that presents personal and inspiring stories from students across Columbia. So, today, we continue with our theme of “identity” with three stories about learning. Not the academic kind of learning that we find in the classrooms across campus - thi...
Oct 28, 2016•28 min
Today, we’re tuning in close by -- on campus, in fact. For this episode, we’re partnering with the Columbia Office of University Life. The Office was created in 2015 and it convenes students, faculty and administrators to work together on pressing issues within the University and our broader society -- from inclusion and belonging to mental health and wellness to sexual respect and gender-based misconduct prevention, and much more. It also produces University-wide events and opportunities for th...
Oct 21, 2016•29 min
This episode is a little different. In honor of a marquee event that the CAA has coming up in October, we decided to gather some thoughts from prominent Columbia alumni about leadership. What it means to them, what makes a good leader, and how Columbia has contributed to ability to lead. These are some of the many questions that alumni will consider when they attend the annual Columbia Leaders Weekend on October 7-9. The weekend is a time for Columbia’s top alumni volunteers and leaders to conve...
Sep 09, 2016•18 min
Every once in a while, we like to shake things up a bit at The Low Down and give you a peek at some other Columbia-related podcasts out there. Today, we’re featuring an episode from the Columbia Energy Exchange podcast. The Columbia Energy Exchange is a weekly podcast series by the Columbia’s Center on Global Energy Policy at the School of International and Public Affairs. Each episode explores the most pressing energy issues with top leaders in government, business, academia and civil society t...
Aug 19, 2016•17 min
Trent Dimas graduated from the Columbia school of general studies in 2002. He later graduated from law school, worked for an ad agency in NY, coaching gymnastics at Yale, and now works as a fundraiser for the University of Colorado School of Medicine. But before doing all that, Trent won a gold medal in gymnastics at the 1992 Olympic games in Barcelona, Spain. For today’s episode, as it’s now Olympic season, we wanted to give you a glimpse into the world of an olympic athlete. How one gets to th...
Aug 06, 2016•27 min
One of the most pressing and universal issues of our day is how to address climate change. Although most do agree that the environment has evolved tremendously over time, many are not aware of how rapidly the recent changes are occurring and what the consequences can mean for us in the years to come. That’s where researchers like Hugh Ducklow come in. Ducklow is a Columbia professor in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department and a researcher at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. In ma...
Jul 21, 2016•20 min
For most Columbia students and alumni, when you hear the words “jazz at Columbia” it's almost impossible not to think of Christopher Washburne '92GSAS, '94GSAS, '99GSAS. Washburne is an Associate Professor of Music and the Director of the Louis Armstrong Jazz Performance program at Columbia. In addition to being a jazz scholar, he’s a jazz musician in his own right. He has performed with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Tito Puente, Justin Timberlake, Marc Anthony, Celine Dion, and the list goes on...
Jun 30, 2016•24 min
When it comes to Broadway musicals, Columbia alumni have contributed a startling amount to the canon of musical theater. Rodgers and Hammerstein '16CC set the musical standard during the golden age of broadway in the 40s and 50s; the music of John Kander '54GSAS probed the darker recesses of humanity, giving legendary choreographer, Bob Fosse, innovation-inspiring scores. Most recently, Tom Kitt '96CC and Brian Yorkey '93CC were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for their musical, Next to Normal, in 20...
Jun 14, 2016•27 min
Columbia’s Commencement week ended two weeks ago. New graduates moved out of university housing to start their lives off campus and the streets of Morningside emptied out for the summer. In September, new and returning students will move in and the streets will vibrate with excitement and energy again. But in this episode, we're not going to look ahead. Instead, we're going to look back at that height of Columbia excitement and energy: commencement. If you’ve never experienced Columbia’s commenc...
Jun 01, 2016•13 min
Fifty years ago, a graduate student named Walter Pitman made a discovery that would change the way we see our planet. It was late at night, and Pitman was reviewing charts of ship data that had just come off the computer at what was then Columbia University’s Lamont Geological Observatory. The ship, the Eltanin, had crossed a mid-ocean ridge – part of a 40,000-mile undersea volcanic mountain chain that encircles the Earth – while recording the magnetic alignment of the rocks in the seafloor belo...
May 17, 2016•16 min
Nicholas Lemann served as the Dean of the Columbia School of Journalism for two terms. After deciding not to serve a third, Columbia President Lee C. Bollinger challenged Lemann to start a project that was entirely new. What resulted was Columbia Global Reports. Global Reports are in-depth studies of globalization. Each report covers a different aspect of our expanding global economy and is released in an incredibly readable, attractively bound form. In this episode, you'll get a special look at...
May 06, 2016•26 min
When it comes to writing, Columbia boasts some pretty impressive alumni. Notable Columbia authors include Paul Auster, Allen Ginsberg, Joseph Heller, Zora Neale Hurston, and Jhumpa Lahiri - just to name a few. To celebrate this contribution to the written word and to introduce you to some Columbia writers, we’ve recorded readings of excerpts from three alumni-authored books with a little help from some Columbia staff members. MORE COLUMBIA NEWS: https://alumni.columbia.edu http://thelowdown.alum...
Apr 29, 2016•30 min
If you've been following the 2016 presidential election, it should come as no surprise that income inequality has become a (if not the) leading issue in the race. The increased attention to this disparity and the threat it poses to the middle class, is due - at least in part - to the media. An example of the kind of light that journalists have shone on the issue is the 2014 New York Times opinion series, The Great Divide, which was entirely devoted to discussing income inequality. The series was...
Apr 19, 2016•26 min
For this episode, The Low Down spoke to some of Columbia’s great entrepreneurs, all of whom were finalists in the 2015 Columbia Venture Competition. These entrepreneurs competed for a top prize of $250,000 at the #StartupColumbia Festival. The objective? To give the judges compelling evidence of market acceptance for their value propositions. Nearly a year later, we asked each of these companies what they’re doing, how placing in the competition has affected their business, and what it means to ...
Apr 13, 2016•19 min
Alex Finley joined the CIA in 2003, where she spent close to 6 years as an officer of the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, serving in West Africa and Europe. Before she joined the agency, she was a political reporter in Washington. After leaving the CIA in 2009, she returned to writing and soon found that her voice lent itself well to humor. In addition to her work for Slate, Reductress, and Funny or Die, she wrote a book: Victor in the Rubble: A Satire of the CIA and the War on Terror. The book...
Apr 06, 2016•23 min
This June, Columbia Business School and Barnard College are teaming up to create an Executive Education program aimed at women: “Women in Leadership: Expanding Influence and Leading Change.” According to its website, the program is designed to “help elevate the impact of women leaders – enabling them to navigate the business landscape, develop and leverage their talents, and step into roles of greater influence.” This program builds on a conversation that was already prevalent, but has reached a...
Mar 29, 2016•30 min
Food impacts us on so many levels: from the personal to the global. Individuals, communities, and national governments have to constantly make choices about which food reaches our tables. And, for a variety of reasons - climate change, energy costs, global economic inequality - these choices are becoming more and more complicated. For this reason, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists around the world are turning their attention to this area. To shine a light on this development, Columbia Engine...
Mar 22, 2016•30 min
In many parts of the world, corals are getting sick in the warm water accompanying El Niño, and they’re turning bone white. It’s called coral bleaching, and in severe cases it can kill them over time. But while scientists know that coral bleaching has been connected to changes in water temperature, many questions remain about the causes and the recovery process. Learn more: http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/bleachpatrol/ MORE COLUMBIA NEWS: https://alumni.columbia.edu http://thelowdown.alumni.columbi...
Mar 15, 2016•23 min
We’re mixing things up a little bit here at The Low Down. We decided to feature a discussion from Past Present, a podcast that’s produced by three Columbia alumni: Nicole Hemmer '05GSAS, '06GSAS, '10GSAS (a research associate at the Miller Center for Public Affairs in Charlottesville, Virginia), Natalia Mehlman Petrzela '00CC (an assistant professor of history at The New School), and Neil Young '04GSAS, '05GSAS, '08GSAS (a historian and author of We Gather Together: The Religious Right and the P...
Mar 08, 2016•28 min
As climate continues to dominate the national conversation, Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) is a powerful player in the fight to conserve our planet. LDEO scientists are at the forefront in understanding the risks to human life and property from extreme weather events, both in the present and future climates, and on developing solutions to mitigate those risks. Hear directly from Dr. Arthur Lerner-Lam, deputy director of LDEO, as he discusses why climate research is more press...
Feb 29, 2016•29 min
On July 30, 2015 the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution that targets the global problem of wildlife trafficking, calling on all 193 UN member states to take on a series of actions to quote “prevent, combat, and eradicate the illegal trade in wildlife.” Adopted by consensus, the resolution recognizes growing global concern over widespread poaching and trafficking – particularly of elephants and rhinos. In this episode, three ambassadors to the UN from Botswana, Germany and Vietna...
Feb 17, 2016•23 min
Richard Bulliet, Professor of History and Middle East Studies at Columbia, and Dr. Nina Ansary, the author of the book, Jewels of Allah: The Untold Story of Women in Iran, discuss the women’s movement in Iran and how Ansary’s book breaks down stereotypical assumptions and the often misunderstood story of women in Iran today. MORE COLUMBIA NEWS: https://alumni.columbia.edu http://thelowdown.alumni.columbia.edu
Feb 09, 2016•26 min
If you tried to define television today, odds are that your definition would be very different from what it might have been just 10 years ago. Thanks to streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, more and more people are using their computers as their TVs. And it’s not just serial programming that’s moved online. Television news outlets have also made the move, producing content specifically for the web. In this episode, CNN’s Meredith Artley addresses this digital shift head-on, discussing how t...
Feb 02, 2016•29 min
Injuries in youth sports have become all too common. And the injuries aren't minor. Torn ACLs and concussions make regular appearances on high school fields and courts. So, what exactly is the problem that we’re facing? And when did it become apparent to coaches that there was this huge problem with sports injury on a youth level in this country? An expert panel offers answers. MORE COLUMBIA NEWS: https://alumni.columbia.edu http://thelowdown.alumni.columbia.edu
Jan 26, 2016•36 min
Each year, global leaders convene at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, to address topics at the forefront of the world agenda. Among those in attendance are prominent Columbia alumni and faculty. This year's conference will take place January 20-23. Ahead of the forum, hear directly from some of these Columbians, who provide insight on its significance and why you should pay attention. MORE COLUMBIA NEWS: http://alumni.columbia.edu http://thelowdown.alumni.columbia...
Jan 16, 2016•19 min
Columbia Professor James Shapiro is no stranger to Shakespeare. He has lead lectures and seminars at Columbia about the bard since 1985 and has written several books on the subject. The talk we recorded specifically references his newest book, "The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606." In this talk, Shapiro discusses the significance of that year, the events that influenced Shakespeare’s writing, why he chose to focus so intensely on Lear in this new book, and when his fascination with Shakespeare...
Jan 12, 2016•33 min
A major career change can happen by either being "pushed" by problems with a current situation or "pulled" by the promise of greater opportunities. Either way, this choice is never an easy decision and is often accompanied by fear and stress. To better understand how decision making can impact a career, hear a psychological explanation from Professor Elke Weber (Columbia Business School), expert on behavioral and neural models of judgment and choice under uncertainty and time delays. Understand ...
Jan 11, 2016•11 min
A change can only happen when you decide to take a chance. Career coach Eric Horwitz '90 CC will share stories about his several career shifts and provide ten takeaway tips on the necessary steps you need to really embrace a career transition. Transitioning to a new career requires a mixture of faith, courage, inspiration and support. The end results are exciting and unpredictable. And like the quote from the The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, "Everything will be alright in the end if it isn't alri...
Jan 05, 2016•11 min
