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A Certain Slant of Light
Next fall , Houghton Library will publish a gift-book edition of some lesser-known lines by Emily Dickinson: her recipe for black cake, brief on the page but epic in scale. The librarians have twice undertaken making this dessert, which calls for, among …
“Old” Food Reduces Lifespan
What causes aging ? “Scientists have been thinking about this question for centuries,” says Harvard professor of medicine Vadim Gladyshev. It sounds almost simple, but in fact it’s thorny and complicated, and although several theories have emerged—that …
Harmonic Progression
There are so many places to begin with composer Robert Kyr. Like here: “I grew up in a family where the scars of war were very much with us,” he says. His father had served in the South Pacific in World War II; his uncle had lost a leg in the Italian …
Issue: March-April 2017
David Cutler: Can the U.S. Healthcare System Be Fixed?
No country in the world spends more on health care than the United States, or has less to show for it when compared to other wealthy nations. The U.S. spends nearly 50 percent more per capita than Switzerland, the second biggest spender among wealthy …
Off the Shelf
Someone is going to be president; the winner might consult We Wanted Workers: Unraveling the Immigration Narrative , by George J. Borjas, Scrivner professor of economics and social policy (W.W. Norton, $26.95), to concur with or rebut his findings that …
Issue: November-December 2016
Lines of Friendship
Have you ever been to AWP?” Jean Valentine ’56, RI ’68, asks, almost out of the blue. “Oh, it’s wonderful!” This comes toward the end of an interview about the peaks and valleys of a literary career. Hers encompasses 13 books of poetry—the first, Dream …
Issue: November-December 2016
Super Drugs for Super Bugs
Last spring brought alarming reports of the first known case of a germ resistant to colistin, considered an antibiotic of last resort. The bug, a strain of E. coli , was found in a culture taken from a Pennsylvania woman with a urinary tract infection. …
Issue: November-December 2016
A Revised Gen Ed Debuts
After a years-long redesign , a reformed version of the College’s program in General Education launches this fall. The new Gen Ed intends to focus on “urgent problems and pressing questions”—to equip students for life outside of the classroom more …
Open Roads and Dead Ends on a Native American Reservation
The Seventh Fire opens with an image of a road in the dark, pulling the audience into a harsh and little-seen world: the White Earth reservation in northern Minnesota. The documentary’s 71 minutes are largely confined to the town of Pine Point, and its …
Tobacco Smoke and Tuberculosis
Smoking is one of the largest risk factors for contracting or dying from tuberculosis (TB), and in a study published today , Harvard researchers described a mechanism that may finally explain why. They also identified two types of existing drugs that may …
Are Animals “Things”?
Jeremy and Kathryn Medlen have two children, but with eight-year-old Avery around, it often felt like three. A beloved mixed-breed mutt with flopped-forward Labrador ears, Avery was a member of the family, welcome on the couch, included on vacations, a …
Issue: March-April 2016
Joining the “Long Crimson Line”
A round dozen of Harvard students—the largest contingent since 2010—took their oaths of office, respectively, as second lieutenants in the U.S. Air Force, Army, and Marines or ensigns in the U.S. Navy on Wednesday morning during Commencement week’s annual …
What Is Critical Race Theory?
Racial-justice activists at Harvard Law School (HLS) won one of the largest public battles over the school’s legacy this month, when the administration agreed to abandon the existing HLS shield. The shield was modeled after the crest of the slaveholding …
Law School Committee Recommends Abandoning Shield Linked to Slavery
AFTER THREE MONTHS of deliberation, a committee of Harvard Law School (HLS) professors, students, and alumni recommended abandoning a controversial shield linked to slavery as the school’s official symbol Friday. HLS’s shield displays the crest of the …
Land of the Living
In April and May , birders flock to Mount Auburn Cemetery. Dressed in fleece and caps, binoculars slung around their necks, they enter by the Egyptian Revival gateway at 7 a.m. , and spread stealthily across the sculpted 175-acre landscape. Winding …
Issue: May-June 2017