Modus Mirandi Podcast with Thomas Hikaru Clark

Modus Mirandi Podcast with Thomas Hikaru Clark

By Thomas ClarkSociety & Culture
Download on the App Store

Modus Mirandi Podcast with Thomas Hikaru Clark episodes

  • Katya Ivshina: Applied Math PhD @Harvard • Geometric Machine Learning

    Katya Ivshina is a PhD student in Applied Mathematics at Harvard studying geometric machine learning

    Katya's Instagram: @katya.ivshina

    Katya's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@KatyaIvshina

    YouTube канал Кати на русском: https://www.youtube.com/@ekaterinaivshina


    Timestamps:

    (0:00) Intro

    (1:16) Katya’s research explained at two different levels

    (23:25) What excites you about the future of this field?

    (29:20) Katya’s journey to doing a PhD at Harvard

    (42:20) Cultural differences in the US

    (54:22) What do you do outside of research and academics?

    (1:03:20) Advice for current and prospective grad students

    (1:14:05) Closing question: Topological data analysis explained simply

    1 hr 27 min
  • Ana Tsai: Fruit Fly Embryos, Immortality and California Strawberries

    Ana Tsai is a PhD student in Biology at MIT from Stockton, California.

    (0:30) What was your childhood like?

    (3:25) Growing up with mixed heritage

    (9:50) Smell of freshly picked tomatoes

    (11:57) Did you ever imagine becoming a grad student?

    (15:18) Researching immortality

    (20:24) What do you do on a daily basis, Zelda protein

    (24:30) Humans (and fruit flies) are basically a donut

    (25:10) Optogenetics

    (28:40) Generalizing from fruit flies to other species

    (32:00) Setting goals in grad school

    (34:20) Teaching and connecting with students

    (42:00) Breaking out of bubbles

    (51:00) Bees are really cute

    (55:00) Potlucks with friends

    (57:15) Where do you see yourself going after grad school?

    (1:07:00) What would you tell someone who’s thinking about going into research?

    1 hr 12 min
  • Gun Ahn: Understanding Happiness & Depression

    Gun Ahn is a visiting graduate student at MIT Brain and Cognitive Sciences, where he studies pathways in the brain that are important for our understanding of depression. He is the author of several books, including one about why Finland has the reputation as the happiest country in the world.

    1 hr 14 min
  • Anna Ivanova: Language and Thought in the Brain

    Anna Ivanova recently completed a PhD in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from MIT. She studies language and cognition in the brain using tools such as fMRI brain imaging. She is now starting a post-doctoral researcher position at the MIT Quest for Intelligence. 

    Language models & speech vs. thought: https://theconversation.com/googles-powerful-ai-spotlights-a-human-cognitive-glitch-mistaking-fluent-speech-for-fluent-thought-185099 

    Language vs. computer code comprehension: https://news.mit.edu/2020/brain-reading-computer-code-1215 

    Mental health blog post: https://oge.mit.edu/the-breaking-point/

    1 hr 22 min
  • Lily George: Status Anxiety in the Modern World
    Lily George is my high school classmate and one of my oldest friends. Last year we did a book club and read Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton. In this podcast, we discuss some of the main themes of the book and their relevance in modern life.
    1 hr 24 min
  • Greta Tuckute: Language, Computers, and the Brain
    Greta Tuckute is a PhD student in Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. She uses fMRI scanning and computational models to study how the human brain processes language. In this episode, we discuss some of the recent progress in this exciting field, the similarities between artificial neural networks and the human brain, and future directions for this research.
    58 min

About Modus Mirandi Podcast with Thomas Hikaru Clark

From the publisher's feed

Hi, I'm Thomas Hikaru Clark! I grew up in Tokyo in a multi-cultural family where I learned to be always curious about the world. I've worked at a startup in Rome, been a high school teacher, meditated…