In an article for The Boston Globe, Prof. Yasheng Huang examines the size, scale and impact of the protests underway in China. “The protests may not have damaged the foundation of the Communist Party rule, but they are a sign that the trust people have in their government, in its capacity to solve problems and its ability to safeguard the public’s welfare, has eroded,” writes Huang.
The Atlantic highlights a section of Prof. Alan Lightman’s forthcoming book, “The Transcendent Brain: Spirituality in the Age of Science.” Lightman writes, “I call myself a spiritual materialist. As a scientist, I’m a materialist. Not in the sense of seeking happiness in cars and nice clothes, but in the literal sense of the word: the belief that everything is made out of atoms and molecules, and nothing more. Further, I believe that the material stuff of the universe is governed by a small number of fundamental laws. Yet I have had transcendent experiences.”
Prof. Danna Freedman speaks with Callie Crossley of GBH about the inspiration for her research and being named a 2022 MacArthur grant fellow. “What was really an under designed idea was taking molecules and using them for quantum information science,” says Freedman. “There is a lot of data, but less intention and realizing this wide open space and this possibility was really tremendous to me because having a new opportunity to design inorganic molecules is very exciting.”
Writing for The New York Times, Prof. Yasheng Huang examines the roots of the protests underway in China. “Covid protests are occurring at the height of China’s autocratic moment. While there are calls for free speech and elections, the rallying cry since Sunday has been against a jarring oppression: the incarceration of hundreds of millions of people in their homes and in field hospitals.”
Vox reporter Kelsey Piper writes that a new report by Prof. Kevin Esvelt provides a roadmap for how to prepare for the next pandemic. In the report, Esvelt emphasizes that: “We’re not helpless, whether against nature or malign actions by human beings. We do have to invest in actually being prepared, but if we’re prepared, we could weather even a worst-case scenario: a deliberate release of a human-made virus engineered to be both extra deadly and extra contagious.”
Prof. Anette “Peko” Hosoi speaks with Popular Mechanics reporter Ncumisa Lerato Kunana about a recent study that found soccer scores are becoming more predictable. “Ultimately, when you’re talking about predictability, you’re asking how much does this outcome rely on chance?” says Hosoi. “And how much does it rely on the difference in skills of the two opposing teams or the two opposing players? I think the approach they took was great [and] thoughtful.”
Prof. Jonathan Gruber speaks with GBH hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan about why Democrats are pushing to raise the debt ceiling. “This is really about paying off the money that Congress approved to spend for all of the things the government does,” says Gruber.
Prof. Danielle Wood speaks with Bloomberg about the future of space technology and sustainability. Wood explains that she and her team are focused on developing a “space sustainability rating, which is a method to incentivize organizations to actually do what they can to reduce space debris now in Earth’s orbit.”
Prof. Kerstin M. Perez writes for Inside Higher Ed about the challenges posed by balancing inclusive teaching with personal and professional endeavors. “I quickly realized that some tenets of inclusive and antiracist teaching advice can undercut the career trajectories, classroom respect and mental health of instructors who are minoritized in their fields—whether due to race, gender or some other nondominant cultural identity—if those tenets are not thoughtfully adapted to our distinct positions in the academy,” writes Perez.
University of South Carolina Prof. Jennifer A. Frey reviews Prof. Kiernan Setiya’s new book “Life is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way” for The Wall Street Journal. Frey writes that Setiya's analysis "combines philosophical arguments and personal reflections on his own experience. He offers this in the hope that it will help readers better understand their own suffering and perhaps ease the weight of it."
Writing for The Guardian, Prof. Kieran Setiya explores the pursuit of happiness. “What, then, should we strive for? Not happiness or an ideal life, but to find sufficient meaning in the world that we are glad to be alive, and to cope with grace when life is hard,” writes Setiya. “We won’t achieve perfection, but our lives may be good enough.”
Writing for The Wall Street Journal, MIT Prof. Katherine Kellogg and Stanford Prof. Melissa Valentine explore the challenges of introducing AI technologies in the workplace, focusing on the fashion industry. "Getting workers to actually use the technologies will turn out to be just as important as making sure the systems work in the first place," they write.
Prof. Charles Stewart III speaks with Associated Press reporter Philip Marcelo about why voters are given provisional ballots. “They are a fail-safe method to ensure that everyone who is registered to vote gets to cast a ballot,” says Stewart.
Prof. M. Taylor Fravel speaks with Bloomberg News reporter Iain Marlow about the U.S. - China relationship. “I do not expect U.S. - China relations to improve,” said Fravel. “The only question is how much further they will deteriorate and if the relationship will shift from one of competition to one of hostile confrontation.”
Prof. Kieran Setiya’s new book, “Life is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way,” is a “lovely, empathetic book,” writes Boston Globe reporter Meredith Goldstein. In a discussion with Goldstein about self-help and philosophy, Setiya noted that in his view “the ideal form of engagement with philosophy is active rather than passive.”