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Doug Elmendorf and Karen Dynan: How Much Can the Federal Budget and the Deficit Continue to Grow?
Even before the coronavirus shifted the U.S. economy into low gear , demanding a massive stimulus in response, federal debt as a percentage of GDP was as high as it had been since the years following World War II. Simultaneously, given the nation’s …
Springtime Antics at the Arnold Arboretum
For many visitors, springtime at Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum means Lilac Sunday—a 112-year-old annual celebration on Mother’s Day in honor of the delightfully fragrant, eye-catching flowers. The 281-acre landscape, which holds more than 15,000 woody-plant …
Issue: May-June 2022
Admissions Lawsuit, Round Two
Today, the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston heard oral arguments in the lawsuit arguing that Harvard’s use of race in admissions discriminates against Asian Americans. The much-watched case , which was first filed in 2014 by Students for Fair …
Samantha Power and Libya Policy
The New York Times reports that Samantha Power, J.D. '99—former executive director of the Harvard Kennedy School's Carr Center for Human Rights Policy , and now at the National Security Council—has an important influence on President Barack Obama's policy …
Plumbing the Deep Sea
In a cavernous underground space behind Harvard’s Biological Laboratories, biochemist Peter Girguis frowns at the pressure vessel in his hand. The machined titanium cylinder, about the size of a French press, gleams as he works to release the cap, and he …
Issue: May-June 2023
Vulnerable Sculpture
Sculpture breaks free of the frames that confine paintings and drawings. Released into the wider world, sculptures may even inhabit the fourth dimension via movement in time, as mobiles do. Sarah Sze’s vulnerable works take the mirroring of life even …
Issue: September-October 2006
Karts Get Some Respect
Stephan Wilkinson ’58, automotive editor at Popular Science , is said to be a longtime expert on the way men entertain themselves when no one is telling them what to do. In Man and Machine ( Lyons Press, $16.95 , paper) he goes on entertainingly and …
Issue: March-April 2006
Curl Up with the Cloud-gatherer
"Your wooden arm you hold outstretched to shake with passers-by." This spring Harvard University Press publishes the five-hundredth volume in its Loeb Classical Library and, to celebrate that landmark, also brings forth a sampler of the library’s greatest …
Issue: March-April 2006
No Easy Answers
Hundreds of listeners tuned in Thursday evening for an online Harvard-community discussion, led by Bass professor of government Michael Sandel, on the ethical, social, and political questions provoked by the coronavirus pandemic. Is it morally OK to avoid …
50 Marathons in 50 States: Scott Kline
Harvard Law School graduate Scott Kline ’88 ran his second Boston Marathon on April 15th, 2024—but his 51st marathon total. Over the past decade, Scott's mission has been running a marathon in all 50 states. … Harvard Law School's Scott Kline ’88. … 50 …
Freud's Guesswork on Dreams
One of Sigmund Freud’s great complaints about his mistreatment in life was that although he won a literary award for his famous book The Interpretation of Dreams (1900), it never received a scientific award. A century later, his peers’ judgment has been …
Issue: July-August 2005
Theresa McCulla
Walking in Paris years ago, Theresa McCulla ’04 suddenly came face-to-face with small macarons (sandwich cookies), displayed on velvet cloth and dramatically lit from above in the shop window of pastry chef Pierre Hermé. “They were presented like …
Issue: January-February 2010
Harvard Defends Race-Conscious Admissions at the Supreme Court
Editor’s note. The magazine asked lawyer and legal analyst and journalist Lincoln Caplan, a contributing editor, to report on the presentation of the Students for Fair Admissions litigation before the Supreme Court on October 31, including both the day’s …
Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly to Speak at HLS Class Day
The founders of Americans for Responsible Solutions—an issue-advocacy organization and political action committee focused on reducing gun violence—will speak at Harvard Law School’s Class Day ceremony on Wednesday May 27. Gabrielle Giffords, who …
“Living Underwater”: Harvard’s Inaugural Black Commencement
The Black Graduate Student Alliance held its inaugural Black Commencement at the Law School’s Holmes Field this morning, a ceremony honoring black graduates from across Harvard’s graduate schools. There was no headline speaker; instead, the event featured …