September-October 2024 cover

On the cover: Illustration by Paul Garland

Letters

Cambridge 02138

Master Finley, whales’ speech, Harvard values

Own Goals

Learning from the spring protest and punishments

September-October 2024

September-October 2024 cover

On the cover: Illustration by Paul Garland

Features

A Right Way to Read?

The science, art, and politics of teaching an essential skill

by Nina Pasquini

Fairfield Porter

Brief life of an American realist artist and critic: 1907-1975

by Jane Borthwick

Academic Freedom and Free Speech

Robert Post explains how they differ—and why it matters, especially now

by Lincoln Caplan

The Goodness of Being Together

Why social interactions are as vital as food and water

by Erin O'Donnell

RIGHT NOW Harvard research and ideas

Climate Change’s Crippling Costs

The impact on global GDP is likely six times greater than previously estimated. 

In Search of the Social Microbiome

The microbiome may be socially exchanged, modulating both health and metabolism.

Mapping the Human Brain

A decade-long project to map a cubic millimeter of human brain reveals previously unimagined architectures.

John Harvard's Journal University news

Crimson Construction

Post-pandemic campus building resumes on a massive scale.

Susan Farbstein

Human rights lawyer on law’s ability to promote justice—and shape public understanding

Combating Bias

Early findings and recommendations from the task forces on antisemitism and anti-Muslim, -Arab, and -Palestinian bias

News in Brief

Make that President Garber, new general counsel, new Art Museums director, and more

Yesterday’s News

Headlines from Harvard’s history

Montage Books, creative arts, performance and more

From Law Books to Cookbooks

Nisha Vora’s vegan journey

Bringing the Magic

The reality-based fantasies of novelist Tomi Adeyemi

“Volts of Your Own Spirit”

Seamus Heaney writes to Helen Vendler.

Cultivating Friendships with Trees

A monumental new guide to North American species

Off the Shelf

Democratic organizing, “architectural grafting,” the Constitution, offshore wealth, and other new books

Beyond the SAT

Nicholas Lemann on revising standardized testing to address real educational needs

Harvard Squared What to do in Boston, Cambridge and beyond

Men and Their Castles

Historic New England explores the “bachelor decorators”

A Victorious Vessel

USS Constitution—for all ages

Unbuttoned Up

Works by Harlem-based artist Beau McCall at Brockton's Fuller Craft Museum

University People Harvardians far and wide

History in Progress

How the War on Terror reshaped American life

“Dialogue across Differences”

Alumni Association president Moitri Chowdhury Savard

Outstanding Alumni Interviewers

Miller-Hunn awardees

Crimson Campaigners

Harvard students and the 2024 election

Welcoming the New Ledecky Fellows

The 2024-2025 Undergraduate columnists