Podcast · Tech & Science
by Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences · English · Tech & Science
Conversations with visionary scholars and thinkers from the Harvard PhD community
2 Oct 2026 · 30 min
University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers, PhD '01, explains the psychology of inflation; the high cost of housing, healthcare, and childcare; and how AI could potentially stabilize prices and make us more productive—but also create massive economic inequality.
E80 · 4 Sep 2026 · 34 min
On the 25th anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001, Boston University professor Jessica Stern, PhD ’92, reflects on terrorism, national trauma, domestic extremism, and preventing violence.
E79 · 21 Aug 2026 · 34 min
Economic inequality has skyrocketed in the West since the 1970s, especially in the United States. So why have US politicians been unable to build sustained support for policies of redistribution?
E78 · 7 Aug 2026 · 35 min
Why is it so hard to build positive habits like exercising and studying regularly? Behavioral scientist Katie Milkman, PhD ’09, breaks down internal obstacles, motivation, and strategies to reach your goals.
E77 · 3 Jul 2026 · 30 min
In one of the last interviews of his life, the Brown University historian Gordon Wood, known as the "dean of historians of the American Revolution," spoke with Harvard Griffin GSAS about the creation of the American republic, the social and cultural transformations that accompanied those in politics, and why an understanding of the country's early history can provide perspective in our own tumultuous times.
E76 · 19 Jun 2026 · 32 min
In his forthcoming book, University of California, Berkeley historian Brian DeLay, PhD ’04, argues that the great paradox of the Revolution was that the Patriots were fighting not only for their independence, but also for an empire of their own—and that their surprising ability to access guns and ammunition enabled their success.
E75 · 5 Jun 2026 · 27 min
Harvard Law School Professor Nikolas Bowie, PhD ’18, discusses how the Supreme Court seized the power to define what the Constitution means, and how Congress could reclaim that authority.
E74 · 22 May 2026 · 30 min
Harvard Business School Professor Ranjay Gulati, PhD ’93, an expert on leadership strategy and organizational growth, says that bravery is a learned behavior. His new book leverages social science research to put readers on the path to a more courageous mindset.
E73 · 1 May 2026 · 29 min
A generation after the bestselling "Rules for Aging," author Roger Rosenblatt, PhD ’68, is back with "More Rules for Aging," a new book of wry maxims and hard-won wisdom. He reflects on life’s "October," the reality of loss, and finding the beauty in recalling old friends and cherished memories.
E72 · 3 Apr 2026 · 32 min
The historian Vanessa Williamson, PhD '15, asserts the Patriots who dumped 342 crates of tea into Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773, were actually protesting a corporate tax break for the British East India Company. Discover how the fight for taxation has been central to American democracy, liberty, and the pursuit of equality since the founding.
E71 · 6 Mar 2026 · 31 min
Historian and former presidential adviser Ted Widmer discusses the use of state power in the 18th century—and today.
E70 · 20 Feb 2026 · 23 min
W.E.B. Du Bois was doing groundbreaking research in academia. Why did he leave it behind to become an activist?
E69 · 6 Feb 2026 · 21 min
Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer David Levering Lewis on how the Harvard PhD experience influenced W.E.B. Du Bois, the man who would become one of the leading Black activists and intellectuals of the 20th century.
E68 · 2 Jan 2026 · 46 min
Stephen Ansolabehere, PhD '89, an expert in public opinion and elections on voting, energy, and the mood of the US electorate.
E67 · 5 Dec 2025 · 21 min
New research from Harvard Griffin GSAS alumni sheds light not only on how brain trauma leads to long-term decline but also on possible shared mechanisms across different neurodegenerative conditions.
E66 · 7 Nov 2025 · 37 min
In preparation for the Ken Burns documentary event on PBS, we're getting a primer on the founding of the US from Phil Mead, PhD '12, former chief historian and curator of the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia.
E65 · 3 Oct 2025 · 30 min
Cornell University historian Mary Beth Norton discusses how the conflict on New England’s frontier shaped the Salem witch trials, revealing a story of trauma, refugees, and accusations in 17th-century Massachusetts.
E64 · 5 Sep 2025 · 25 min
Duke University Professor Herman Pontzer, PhD ’06, says that a deeper understanding of how our bodies evolved and how that process shapes our biology can help us better take charge of our health.
E63 · 29 Aug 2025 · 7 min
Sergio Alarcón Robledo’s 2025 Harvard Horizons project, “Entangled Ritual and Architectural Practices at North Saqqara,” explores ancient Egyptian architecture through an interdisciplinary approach that sits at the crossroads of archaeology, Egyptology, and architecture.
E62 · 14 Aug 2025 · 8 min
In his project "Empire of String: Unravelling the Enigma of Inka Khipus," 2025 Harvard Horizons Scholar Mack FitzPatrick is immersing himself in the complex record-keeping system of khipus: intricate knotted cord devices that served as the administrative backbone of the Inka civilization.
E61 · 30 Jul 2025 · 7 min
In her project "Embracing Twilight: Older Women Poets and the Unfurling of Their Voices," 2025 Harvard Horizons Scholar Alex Braslavsky brings together the works of three Slavic poets to explore how the creative process evolves with age and what work by artists in their advanced age reveals about the human condition.
E60 · 21 Jul 2025 · 8 min
We expect machines to think like people. What happens when they don’t? 2025 Harvard Horizons Scholar Raphaël Raux explores the nuanced interplay between human cognition and artificial intelligence (AI).
E59 · 3 Jul 2025 · 10 min
When one political party gains disproportionate power over the judiciary, courts often act not to defend democracy but to endanger it. Harvard Horizons Scholar and PhD candidate Andrew O'Donohue's research shows how.
E58 · 20 Jun 2025 · 9 min
Katherine Horgan’s 2025 Harvard Horizons project, “Living Sappho: Imitation, Imagination, and Revivification in Early Modern England,” examines the many texts that have carried Sappho’s legacy as both poet and queer woman over the centuries.
E57 · 6 Jun 2025 · 27 min
Boston University professor Jacob Brown, PhD ’22 says that our political affiliations are not necessarily set in stone, but can shift as the people and places around us do. That fact may offer some hope for the future of civic life in the United States . . . if we know what to do with it.
E56 · 23 May 2025 · 8 min
Katherine Venturo-Conerly is on a mission to revolutionize access to effective mental health care—particularly for young people—in historically underserved communities around the world.
E55 · 2 May 2025 · 33 min
The Boston University sociologist Anthony Abraham Jack, PhD ’16, says American higher education wasn’t ready for the diversity it was recruiting before the Supreme Court of the United States ruled it unconstitutional to consider race in college admissions—and it's still not ready now.
E54 · 4 Apr 2025 · 20 min
To realize a future of personalized medicine, we need to understand and investigate how genetic variations contribute to illness and respond to doctors' attempts to address it. But how can scientists do so efficiently with a human genome that spans about three billion base pairs of DNA? That's where PhD student Dawn Chen’s work comes in.
E53 · 7 Mar 2025 · 17 min
A breakthrough in chemistry could make the production of many pharmaceuticals less expensive through a new method of fluorination.
E52 · 7 Feb 2025 · 32 min
The history of slavery in the United States, including at the country's colleges and universities, is deeply disturbing and painful. So why is it so important for higher education institutions to engage with it?
Conversations with visionary scholars and thinkers from the Harvard PhD community
Colloquy is a English tech & science podcast from Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.
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