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Prof. Kieran Setiya’s book “Life is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way,” has been named one of The Economist’s best books of 2022. In the book, Setiya makes the case that “suffering need not dimmish or spoil a good life,” writes The Economist.
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.”
A new study by Prof. Daron Acemoglu, former postdoctoral fellow Nicolaj Mühlbach and London School of Economics Prof. Andrew Scott finds that while American jobs have become age-friendlier, “older workers haven’t been the biggest beneficiaries of this age-friendly job bonanza,” reports Andrew Van Dam for The Washington Post. The researchers found, “workers age 62 and older were significantly more willing to accept a smaller paycheck if a job involved moderate physical activity, more time sitting and the autonomy to choose how to do their job,” writes Van Dam.
TechCrunch reporter Brian Heater spotlights a new study by Prof. Daron Acemoglu that examines the impact of automation on the workforce. “We’re starting with a very clear premise here: in 21st-century America, the wealth gap is big and only getting bigger,” writes Heater. “The paper, ‘Tasks, Automation, and the Rise in U.S. Wage Inequality,’ attempts to explore the correlation between the growing income gap and automation.”
“Risky Business: Why Insurance Markets Fail and What to Do About It” by Prof. Amy Finkelstein, Boston University Prof. Ray Fisman, and Stanford University Prof. Liran Einav was named one of the best economics books of 2022 reports Martin Wolf for Financial Times.
Popular Science reporter Andrew Paul writes that a study co-authored by Institute Prof. Daron Acemoglu examines the impact of automation on the workforce over the past four decades and finds that “‘so-so automation’ exacerbates wage gaps between white and blue collar workers more than almost any other factor.”
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.
Boston.com reporter Clara McCourt spotlights how three MIT students - Jack Cook ‘22, Matthew Kearney and Jupneet K. Singh - have been selected as Rhodes Scholars. “The selected students — 32 in total — will go to Oxford University in England next October to pursue wide-ranging graduate degrees," writes McCourt, "with two or three years of study free of charge.”
Matthew Kearney, John “Jack” B. Cook ’22, and Jupneet K. Singh have been named 2023 U.S. Rhodes Scholars, reports NBC Boston 10.
Matthew Kearney , John "Jack” B. Cook ’22, and Jupneet K. Singh are amongst the 2023 Rhodes Scholars, reports Michael T. Nietzel for Forbes. This year’s Rhodes Scholars "will go to Oxford University in England next October to pursue graduate degrees across the breadth of the social sciences, humanities, and biological and physical sciences,” says Elliot Gerson, American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust. “They inspire us already with their accomplishments, but even more by their values-based leadership and selfless ambitions to improve their communities and the world.”
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.”
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. 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.”
Profs. Daron Acemoglu and David Autor speak with New York Times correspondent Thomas B. Edsall about the forces driving working-class voters towards the Republican party. “Elites are making choices that are not good news for non-college workers,” said Acemoglu. “In fact, they are bad news for most workers.”