Colloquy
Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Conversations with visionary scholars and thinkers from the Harvard PhD community
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Does objectivity exist? Is it possible for news organizations to cut through the noise of the digital age and get citizens the information they need to be responsible participants in democracy? How can journalists build trust with disenchanted readers on both the right and the left of the political spectrum?
Speaking to these questions are New York Times executive editor, Joe Kahn, AB ’87, AM ’90, and Danielle Allen, PhD ’01, Harvard's James Bryant Conant University Professor and Director of the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Ethics. Their conversation, which took place at the Harvard Club of New York City last November, is moderated by Columbia University School of Journalism Professor Michael Schudson, AM ’70, PhD ’76.
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Midterms and Minority Rule
Colloquy
11/04/22 • 24 min
As the 2022 midterm elections approach, many citizens are worried about the state of our democracy. And with good reason. Our electoral system increasingly produces leaders who do not represent the will of the majority. The national popular vote was lost, for instance, by two of the last four presidents. In the evenly divided United States Senate, the 578,000 citizens of Wyoming have as much representation as the 39 million of California. And Gerrymandering? Aided by complex computer algorithms, it’s easier than ever for political parties to choose their Congressional voters—and harder for majorities to dislodge them.
This month, we discuss the history and state of our democracy with Harvard Kennedy School Professor Alex Keyssar. Professor Keyssar’s books include The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States, which was named the best book in U.S. history for the year 2001 by both the American Historical Association and the Historical Society and was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Award. In 2004 and 2005, Keyssar chaired the Social Science Research Council's National Research Commission on Voting and Elections. Keyssar's latest book, Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College? looks at that institution’s persistence despite several attempts throughout history to reform it. Alex Keyssar got his PhD from GSAS in 1977.
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05/12/22 • 26 min
Co-chaired by GSAS Dean Emma Dench, Harvard University's Task Force on Managing Student Mental Health reported in 2020 that nearly one in four graduate students surveyed exhibited symptoms of moderate to severe depression. Nearly one in four exhibited symptoms of moderate to severe generalized anxiety. Underrepresented minority students, first-generation students, low-income students, and students who identified as LGBTQ all were more likely to screen positive for these conditions.
This month on Colloquy, we're taking a deep dive into the graduate student mental health crisis with Dr. Emily Bernstein, PhD ’20, a clinical psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital's Center for Digital Mental Health. In 2018 while working toward her doctorate, Dr. Bernstein and her cohorts piloted a successful group intervention for GSAS students that’s still offered today. Since then, she and her colleagues have published research on ways to address the increasing need for mental health services. She talks about that work, the challenges faced by graduate students, and why she thinks our smartphones could become an important vehicle for delivering mental health care.
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04/05/22 • 29 min
“Torn to pieces.” That's how the American frontiersman Davy Crockett, described the West Tennessee landscape. Nearly 15 years after it was rent asunder by the New Madrid earthquakes from December 1811 to February 1812. The tremors rocked an area that also included the present-day states of Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky and Illinois, reshaping not only the landscape but also the lives of the people who settled there.
So why were the quakes all but forgotten by the time of the Civil War? What caused them and could they happen again?
Joining us to discuss this long-overlooked disaster in this Earth Month episode of Colloquy is Dr. Conevery Valencius, author of the recent book The Lost History of the New Madrid Earthquakes. Dr. Valencius is a professor of history at Boston College and has taught at Washington University, Saint Louis, Harvard, and the University of Massachusetts, Boston. She's been a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Debonair Institute for the History of Science and Technology. Dr. Valencius is currently working on a book about earthquakes and the modern energy sector. She received a Ph.D. in the History of Science from GCIS in 1998.

03/11/22 • 26 min
Today on Colloquy, we bring you a recent conversation with two of the country's leading experts on eastern Europe and national security. Dr. Fiona Hill is a senior fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution. She recently served as deputy assistant to the president and senior director for European and Russian affairs on the National Security Council from 2017 to 2019. From 2006 to 2009, she served as national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at The National Intelligence Council. She is author of the 2021 book, There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the 21st Century and co-author of Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin. She received her PhD from GSAS in 1998.
Engaging Dr. Hill in discussion is Graham Allison, the Douglas Dillon Professor of Government at Harvard University. Allison is a leading analyst of national security with special interests in nuclear weapons, Russia, China, and decision-making. As Assistant Secretary of Defense in the first Clinton Administration, Professor Allison received the Defense Department's highest civilian award, the Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, for "reshaping relations with Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan to reduce the former Soviet nuclear arsenal." He received his PhD from GSAS in 1968.
Next on Colloquy: Russia, Ukraine, and avoiding WWIII.

03/04/22 • 22 min
Wondering why the "COVID 19" you packed on during the pandemic won't go away no matter how hard you workout? Herman Pontzer, PhD '06, associate professor of evolutionary anthropology and global health at Duke University, says that the problem is in our brains, not our biceps—specifically, the way we understand the relationship between weight and exercise. The author of the bestselling 2021 Book, Burn, Pontzer says that human metabolism evolved over millions of years to defend against weight loss. As a result, the calories we burn every day stay within a fairly narrow range whether we’re gym rats or couch potatoes. This month on Colloquy, the economics of life with evolutionary anthropologist Herman Pontzer.

The Black Agenda
Colloquy
02/14/22 • 23 min
The Black Agenda is a new collection of essays that centers the voices of Black experts—particularly women. Whether the issue is climate change, public health, economic inequality, or education, the contributors to The Black Agenda see social and racial justice as integral—not supplemental—to solutions. Along the way, the book interrogates our assumptions about the ways we live and work together in the United States, as well as our notions of where to look for answers. Join us as we discuss The Black Agenda with editor Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman, an author, entrepreneur, researcher, and PhD student at GSAS.

12/16/21 • 28 min

11/22/21 • 28 min

Who's Afraid of Inflation?
Colloquy
10/27/21 • 32 min
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FAQ
How many episodes does Colloquy have?
Colloquy currently has 18 episodes available.
What topics does Colloquy cover?
The podcast is about Economics, Higher Education, Arts, Education, History, Science, Life Sciences and Natural Sciences.
What is the most popular episode on Colloquy?
The episode title 'New York Times Executive Editor Joe Kahn and Harvard’s Danielle Allen on Journalism and Its Discontents' is the most popular with 1 listens and 1 ratings.
What is the average episode length on Colloquy?
The average episode length on Colloquy is 27 minutes.
How often are episodes of Colloquy released?
Episodes of Colloquy are typically released every 25 days, 22 hours.
When was the first episode of Colloquy?
The first episode of Colloquy was released on Oct 1, 2021.
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