Slice of MIT

By MIT Alumni Association | An Office of MIT

Society & Culture Technology Science & Medicine Education

What's Slice of MIT about?

Hosted by the MIT Alumni Association, the Slice of MIT podcast offers a taste of Institute life—amazing discoveries, fascinating alumni, interesting research—for alumni and listeners interested in MIT. Read more at http://alum.mit.edu/slice.

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Slice of MIT episodes:

11.23.2022
Slice of MIT Podcast Presents: Institrve
IT specialist Ravi Patil ‘93, SM ‘95 talks with Slice of MIT about how he came to host and produce a podcast focused human-interest stories from the MIT community. In this episode of the Slice of MIT podcast, you'll hear a...
09.16.2022
Slice of MIT Podcast Presents: UnliMITed
Dana Dabbousi ‘20, Omar Obeya '18, MEng '19, Mayce El Mostafa MEng '13, and Mamoun Toukan AF '17, MAP '18 sit down with Slice of MIT to share their experience of launching the podcast UnliMITed, a production of the MIT...
04.13.2020
Slice of MIT Podcast Presents: MIT Catalysts
Julia Yoo ‘10, MBA ‘14 shares her experience of hosting the podcast, MIT Catalysts, a production of the MIT Alumni Club of Northern California. In this episode of the Slice of MIT podcast, you'll hear Yoo's interview with John Whaley...
02.07.2020
Inflationary Cosmology—Is Our Universe Part of a Multiverse with Professor Alan Guth ’69, PhD ’72
MIT professor Alan Guth ’69, PhD ’72 pioneered the theory of cosmic inflation: a period of rapid expansion that occurred a fraction of a second after the Big Bang. And he also supports the idea that our universe is just...
11.12.2019
Beyond the Known (Alumni Books Podcast)
Andrew Rader PhD '09, SpaceX mission manager, discusses his book Beyond the Known: How Exploration Created the Modern World and Will Take Us to the Stars, published in 2019 by Scribner, a book Kirkus calls "an astute—and highly flattering—view of...
08.21.2019
Ilene Gordon ’75, SM ’76 on Being a Fortune 500 CEO
Ingredion's recently retired CEO, Ilene Gordon ’75, SM ’76, sat down for an interview with the MIT Alumni Association during a spring 2019 visit to campus. In this episode of the Slice of MIT podcast, you'll hear her thoughts on...
05.29.2019
For the War Yet to Come (Alumni Books Podcast)
Hiba Bou Akar MCP '05, an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University, talks about her book For the War Yet to Come: Planning Beirut's Frontiers, published in Fall 2018 by Stanford University...
04.20.2019
Healthy Teeth, Healthy Planet
Omar Al-Midani SM ’98 and his company have a way to drastically decrease mercury contamination to wastewater. Listen to this Slice of MIT podcast to hear Al-Midani talk about why his business model makes sense, of sometimes losing money. Read...
04.04.2019
In Praise of Wasting Time with MIT Professor Alan Lightman
According to novelist/essayist and theoretical physicist Alan Lightman, unstructured time that allows our minds to roam freely can lead to more creativity. “We need a new mental attitude,” he advocates—one “that values our inner reflection, values stillness, values privacy, values...
01.19.2019
The Big Ones (Alumni Books Podcast)
Lucile Jones PhD '81 discusses her new book The Big Ones: How Natural Disasters Have Shaped Us (and What We Can Do About Them), published in April 2018. Jones is the founder of the Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science...
12.06.2018
MIT Alumni Book Club: The Autobiography of a Transgender Scientist (Selected by Prof. Nancy Hopkins)
Asked what one book all MIT alumni should read this year, Nancy Hopkins, Amgen Inc. Professor of Biology Emerita at MIT, selected The Autobiography of a Transgender Scientist by Ben Barres '76, published this fall by MIT Press. In this...
10.25.2018
Claiming the State (Alumni Books Podcast)
Gabrielle Kruks-Wisner MCP '06, PhD '13, Assistant Professor of Politics & Global Studies at the University of Virginia, talks about her new book, Claiming the State: Active Citizenship and Social Welfare in Rural India, published in August 2018 by Cambridge...
07.09.2018
Professor Emeritus Ernie Moniz on Climate Change and Nuclear Security
Former United States Secretary of Energy Ernie Moniz HM ’11 addressed a sold-out MIT audience in Washington, DC and discussed his thoughts on the United States’ role in climate research, nuclear security, and technology innovation. Read more on the Slice...
06.28.2018
Professor Adam Berinsky on Thinking Fast and Slow (Alumni Books Podcast)
The MIT Alumni Book Club's pick for February 2017 is Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, selected by Adam Berinsky, Professor of Political Science at MIT. Join this month's discussion to read and discuss the book. To join the...
06.28.2018
Amy Brand PhD '89 on Frankenstein: Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of All Kinds
Amy Brand PhD '89, Director of the MIT Press, discusses Frankenstein: Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of All Kinds, published in May 2017 by MIT Press, in this podcast for the MIT Alumni Book Club. Join the book club...
06.28.2018
MIT Alumni Book Club: Adaptive Markets (Selected by Professor Sylvain Bromberger)
Asked what one book he would have all MIT alumni read, Professor of Philosophy Emeritus Sylvain Bromberger selected Adaptive Markets: Financial Evolution at the Speed of Thought, by MIT Professor of Management Andrew Lo. Here, Prof. Bromberger explains his choice...
06.28.2018
Advice from the Women's unConference
Hear the advice from three speakers at the MIT Women's unConference-Suzanne Frey, a 2006 graduate of the MIT Sloan Fellows MBA Program; Catherine Crawford, a mechanical engineering graduate from the Class of 1991, and Bel Pesce a double major in...
06.18.2018
Unscaled (Alumni Books Podcast)
Hemant Taneja '97, MNG '99, SM '99 discusses his new book, Unscaled: How AI and a New Generation of Upstarts Are Creating the Economy of the Future, published in spring 2018. Episode transcript: http://bit.ly/2JHHN6d
03.02.2018
Treating Health Care: How the Canadian System Works and How It Could Work Better
Raisa Deber '71, PhD '77, a professor in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at University of Toronto, discusses her new book, Treating Health Care: How the Canadian System Works and How It Could Work Better, published in...
12.15.2017
The Last Man Who Knew Everything (Alumni Books Podcast)
David N. Schwartz PhD '80 discusses his new book, The Last Man Who Knew Everything: The Life and Times of Enrico Fermi, Father of the Nuclear Age. Episode transcript: https://bit.ly/2IrxLon.
10.19.2017
Inside the Lost Museum (Alumni Books Podcast)
Steven Lubar '76, Professor of American Studies at Brown University, discusses his new book, Inside the Lost Museum: Curating Past and Present, published in August 2017 by Harvard University Press. Episode transcript: https://bit.ly/2H4DQrq.
09.20.2017
The Hardware Hacker (Alumni Books Podcast)
Andrew Bunnie Huang '97, MNG '97, PhD '02 talks about The Hardware Hacker: Adventures in Making and Breaking Hardware, published in March 2017 by No Starch Press. Episode transcript: https://bit.ly/2JbhTI5.
08.07.2017
Darwin's First Theory (Alumni Books Podcast)
Rob Wesson '66, Scientist Emeritus with the USGS Geologic Hazards Science Center, discusses his book Darwin's First Theory, published in April 2017 by Pegasus Books. Read more: http://bit.ly/2wEHn9I. Episode transcript: https://bit.ly/2GxFCAv.
07.05.2017
Paid: Tales of Dongles, Checks, and Other Money Stuff (Alumni Books Podcast)
Lana Swartz '08 discusses Paid: Tales of Dongles, Checks, and Other Money Stuff, co-edited by Swartz and Bill Maurer and published in spring 2017 by MIT Press. "Money is not being dematerialized, Swartz, an assistant professor of media studies at...
06.16.2017
Apple CEO Tim Cook at MIT Commencement
Apple CEO Tim Cook addressed more than 1,800 new MIT graduates on Friday, June 9, and shared a message of humanity deeply connected to his Apple experience. Speaking at the 2017 MIT Commencement, Cook described his relationship with Steve Jobs,...
05.23.2017
Inside Job (Alumni Books Podcast)
Mark Zupan PhD '87, President of Alfred University, discusses his new book, Inside Job: How Government Insiders Subvert the Public Interest (Cambridge University Press, 2017). Read more about Zupan and his book: http://bit.ly/2sah2Pr Episode transcript: https://bit.ly/2Gv4JHY.
04.24.2017
Power at Ground Zero (Alumni Books Podcast)
Lynne B. Sagalyn PhD '80 discusses her book Power at Ground Zero: Politics, Money, and the Remaking of Lower Manhattan, published in September 2016 by Oxford University Press. Episode transcript: https://bit.ly/2JgpjtJ. Read more about Power at Ground Zero: http://bit.ly/2pw2RGn
04.03.2017
The Sphinx of the Charles (Alumni Books Podcast)
Toby Ayer '96 discusses his book The Sphinx of the Charles: A Year at Harvard with Harry Parker, published in October 2016. Ayer, who rowed crew at MIT and served as assistant coach for Parker in the early 2000s, shares...
02.24.2017
Color by Technicolor: An MIT Story
The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ow their electric blue skies, golden yellow brick road, ruby red slippers, and fiery landscapes to Technicolor...an innovation that came out of MIT. In this...
02.01.2017
Architecture + Advocacy (Alumni Books Podcast)
Robert Coles MArch '55 discusses his book, Architecture and Advocacy, published in November 2016. The memoir traces Coles's journey to becoming one of Buffalo's most prominent architects and reflects on the continued dearth of African Americans in the field of...
01.19.2017
Dignity, Taste, and Charm: A Tour of MIT's IAP
On a campus with a wealth of acronyms, one is on everyone’s lips this time of year—IAP. The Independent Activities Period (IAP) provides members of the MIT community “with a unique opportunity to organize, sponsor and participate in a wide...
12.07.2016
Failing in the Field: Alumni Books Podcast
Dean Karlan PhD '02, Professor of Economics at Yale University, discusses his new book, Failing in the Field (Princeton, 2016), an exploration into the most common pitfalls of field research in which both researchers share some of their costly errors...
10.20.2016
Brilliant Beacons (Alumni Books Podcast)
Eric Jay Dolin PhD '95 is the author of a dozen books, most recently Brilliant Beacons: A History of the American Lighthouse. In it, he chronicles tales of the 701 extant lighthouses in America, from Boston Light to the farthest...
09.07.2016
Beyond 2016: MIT's Frontiers of the Future
When MIT was founded in 1861, the Institute originally filled Boston’s newly developed Back Bay neighborhood. In the decades that followed, the departments and students increased, and in 1916, MIT crossed the Charles River for a new campus in Cambridge. Since...
08.19.2016
Barbecue: Alumni Books Podcast
"How did this gaudy jewel come to be?" asks John Shelton Reed '64 of barbecue, the closest rival, in his mind, that America has to Europe's wines and cheeses in terms of cuisine. In his second book on the subject,...
08.04.2016
Sharing the Work: Alumni Books Podcast
Myra Strober PhD '69, Emerita Professor of Education and Emerita Professor of Economics at the Graduate School of Business(by courtesy)at Stanford University, shares recollections, advice, and thoughts on women in work in this interview. Strober's new book, Sharing the Work:...
07.28.2016
MIT Projects That are Making a Better World
MIT Projects That are Making a Better World: Highlights from Tech Day 2016 talks on Education and Health of the Planet Initiatives. Episode transcript: https://bit.ly/2GyxT5j. Can our brains show us when we’re ready to learn? That’s the question that professor...
06.27.2016
Community at MIT
What creates a community? At MIT it can be courses, clubs, and classes, but also where students live. Nearly 6,000 students live in some form of MIT housing, with each different living group building its own unique community. From roller...
06.15.2016
Dark Territory: Alumni Books Podcast
In his new book, Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War, Fred Kaplan SM '78, PhD '83, recounts some of the U.S. government’s first simulated tests on hacking its own infrastructure with off-the-shelf hardware, its first successful incursions into...
05.19.2016
Mapping the Heavens (Alumni Books Podcast)
In her new book Mapping the Heavens: The Radical Scientific Ideas That Reveal the Cosmos, Priyamvada Natarajan ’91, SM ’11 tells the stories of Einstein’s troubles with gravity, an expanding universe, and dark matter. For Natarajan, a professor of physics...
04.28.2016
Secrets of the Caltech Cannon Heist
On March 28, 2006, a group of young men, disguised as movers and armed with phony work orders, arrived on the Caltech’s Pasadena campus. Within a few hours, the crew departed with the college’s two-ton Fleming Canon in tow....
03.30.2016
Lead and Disrupt: How to Solve the Innovator's Dilemma (Alumni Books Podcast)
Since the publication of Clay Christensen's The Innovators' Dilemma nearly two decades ago, Michael Tushman PhD '76 and his colleague Charles O'Reilly III have studied successful firms, large and small, that didn't exactly fit the new norm of disrutpive innovation....
03.04.2016
The Rise and Fall of American Growth (Alumni Books Podcast)
Robert Gordon PhD '67 calls his new book a revised version of his thesis for Professor Robert Solow, "47 years late." The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living since the Civil War upends the typical...
02.12.2016
Bonus Clip: Tim Chambers '84 - It Started at MIT
On this episode of the Slice of MIT podcast, we bring you stories from alumni who found love at the Institute. Read more: bit.ly/20Q0TNF. In this episode bonus clip, Tim Chambers '84 tells the story of how he met his wife,...
02.12.2016
Bonus Clip: Megan Pasquina '08 - It Started at MIT
On this episode of the Slice of MIT podcast, we bring you stories from alumni who found love at the Institute. Read more: bit.ly/20Q0TNF. In this episode bonus clip, Megan Pasquina '08 tells the story of how she met her husband,...
02.12.2016
It Started at MIT: Alumni couples tell stories of how they met
On this episode of the Slice of MIT podcast, we bring you stories from alumni who found love at the Institute. Read more: http://bit.ly/20Q0TNF. Episode Transcript: https://bit.ly/2EdCuYv The interviews in this episode are part of the Reunions Access Memories Project. Music:...
01.28.2016
Travel to Costa Rica with your Ears
Costa Rica is home to ten percent of the world's known species of butterflies, more than 800 species of birds, and 200 volcanoes. Listen in on the journey of the MIT Alumni Travel Program as they witnessed sloths, howled with...
12.14.2015
How to Pass as Human (Alumni Books Podcast)
If you're a newly-manufactured or rebooted android, you'll want to pick up a copy of the latest book from Nic Kelman '94, How to Pass as Human: A Guide to Assimilation for Future Androids. The book, however, proves just as...
12.08.2015
Mindful Leadership
The MIT community is more diverse than any time in Institute history. And diverse communities require mindful leadership. So, how can leaders be more effective in creating a more inclusive environment? Assistant Professor Renée Richardson Gosline says start by being...
11.23.2015
Food for Thought: What's New in Food Science?
MIT has a long history with food, from nutrition science to environmental costs, and today food innovation projects at MIT run the gamut. MIT’s newest food initiative, Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Security Lab (JWAFS) is bringing together...

What's Slice of MIT about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Slice of MIT episodes:

Slice of MIT Podcast Presents: Institrve

Slice of MIT Podcast Presents: UnliMITed

Slice of MIT Podcast Presents: MIT Catalysts

Inflationary Cosmology—Is Our Universe Part of a Multiverse with Professor Alan Guth ’69, PhD ’72

Beyond the Known (Alumni Books Podcast)

Ilene Gordon ’75, SM ’76 on Being a Fortune 500 CEO

For the War Yet to Come (Alumni Books Podcast)

Healthy Teeth, Healthy Planet

In Praise of Wasting Time with MIT Professor Alan Lightman

The Big Ones (Alumni Books Podcast)

MIT Alumni Book Club: The Autobiography of a Transgender Scientist (Selected by Prof. Nancy Hopkins)

Claiming the State (Alumni Books Podcast)

Professor Emeritus Ernie Moniz on Climate Change and Nuclear Security

Professor Adam Berinsky on Thinking Fast and Slow (Alumni Books Podcast)

Amy Brand PhD '89 on Frankenstein: Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and Creators of All Kinds

MIT Alumni Book Club: Adaptive Markets (Selected by Professor Sylvain Bromberger)

Advice from the Women's unConference

Unscaled (Alumni Books Podcast)

Treating Health Care: How the Canadian System Works and How It Could Work Better

The Last Man Who Knew Everything (Alumni Books Podcast)

Inside the Lost Museum (Alumni Books Podcast)

The Hardware Hacker (Alumni Books Podcast)

Darwin's First Theory (Alumni Books Podcast)

Paid: Tales of Dongles, Checks, and Other Money Stuff (Alumni Books Podcast)

Apple CEO Tim Cook at MIT Commencement

Inside Job (Alumni Books Podcast)

Power at Ground Zero (Alumni Books Podcast)

The Sphinx of the Charles (Alumni Books Podcast)

Color by Technicolor: An MIT Story

Architecture + Advocacy (Alumni Books Podcast)

Dignity, Taste, and Charm: A Tour of MIT's IAP

Failing in the Field: Alumni Books Podcast

Brilliant Beacons (Alumni Books Podcast)

Beyond 2016: MIT's Frontiers of the Future

Barbecue: Alumni Books Podcast

Sharing the Work: Alumni Books Podcast

MIT Projects That are Making a Better World

Community at MIT

Dark Territory: Alumni Books Podcast

Mapping the Heavens (Alumni Books Podcast)

Secrets of the Caltech Cannon Heist

Lead and Disrupt: How to Solve the Innovator's Dilemma (Alumni Books Podcast)

The Rise and Fall of American Growth (Alumni Books Podcast)

Bonus Clip: Tim Chambers '84 - It Started at MIT

Bonus Clip: Megan Pasquina '08 - It Started at MIT

It Started at MIT: Alumni couples tell stories of how they met

Travel to Costa Rica with your Ears

How to Pass as Human (Alumni Books Podcast)

Mindful Leadership

Food for Thought: What's New in Food Science?