The Harvard Salient Podcast

Dr. Ian Marcus Corbin is a philosopher on faculty in Neurology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital / Harvard Medical School, where he co-directs the Human Network Initiative, and is a Faculty Member at the HMS Center for Bioethics. He serves as a Senior Fellow at the think tank Capita, co-directs the Trust and Belonging Initiative at Harvard’s Human Flourishing Program, and serves on the ethics committee at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. His philosophical work examines the connections between modes of intersubjectivity, community, and cognitive flourishing, and he has a book on belonging and world-making forthcoming from Yale University Press. He advises elected officials at the federal and state level, along with leaders of for-profit and non-profit enterprises, on issues of belonging, culture, and flourishing.

Dr. Corbin is spearheading Harvard’s Public Culture Project.

The full transcript of this interview can be found here.

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Dr. Christine Rosen is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where she focuses on American history, society and culture, technology and culture, and feminism. She is a columnist for Commentary magazine and one of the cohosts of The Commentary Magazine Podcast. She is also a fellow at the University of Virginia’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture and a senior editor in an advisory position at The New Atlantis.

Dr. Rosen has a PhD in history, with a major in American intellectual history, from Emory University, and a BA in history from the University of South Florida.

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Oren Cass is the founder and executive director of American Compass, a Financial Times contributing editor, and the author of The Once and Future Worker: A Vision for the Renewal of Work in America. He earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of Volume 125 of the Harvard Law Review.

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Follow Dr. Swain on X: https://x.com/carolmswainFollow Dr. Swain on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drcarolmswain/#Grab a copy of Dr. Swain’s book, The Gay Affair: Harvard, Plagiarism, & the Death of Academic Integrity on Amazon or wherever you get your books.

About Dr. Carol Swain

Born into abject poverty in rural southwest Virginia, Dr. Carol Swain, a high school dropout, went on to earn five degrees. Holding a Ph.D. from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.S.L. from Yale, she also earned early tenure at Princeton and full professorship at Vanderbilt where she was a professor of political science and a professor of law. In addition to three Presidential appointments, Carol is a former Distinguished Senior Fellow for Constitutional Studies with the Texas Public Policy Foundation who has also served on the Tennessee Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the 1776 Commission. Dr. Swain is an award-winning political scientist, cited three times by the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as the author or editor of 11 published books including the bestseller, Black Eye for America: How Critical Race Theory is Burning Down the House and the timely Countercultural Living: What Jesus Has to Say About Life, Marriage, Race, Gender, and Materialism.

Ms. Swain is an expert on critical race theory, American politics, and race relations with television appearances that include BBC Radio and TV, CSPAN, ABC’s Headline News, CNN, Fox News, Newsmax and more. In addition, she has published opinion pieces in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, the Epoch Times, The Financial Times and USA Today.

Show Notes

00:00 Introduction

2:01 Writing The Gay Affair: Harvard, Plagiarism, & the Death of Academic Integrity

8:51 Larger Trend of Declining Academic Integrity

12:17 What Is “Plagiaritis” and How Widespread Is It?

20:33 How Could So Much Plagiarism Go Unnoticed?

22:21 Being Cancelled is a Badge of Honor

25:43 Free Speech on Campus

32:10 A Path Forward

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Boris Houenou recently graduated from Harvard Kennedy School, where he studied public administration. Before arriving at Harvard, Boris worked for Viasat, a space and military satellite company, and taught economics at Washington State University. At the age of 26, he served as an advisor to the Beninese presidential candidate Adrien Houngbédji. Boris has a PhD in Economics from Washington State University.

Note: This episode was filmed in May, shortly before Houenou graduated.

00:00 Introduction

02:06 Navigating Harvard

11:06 From Silicon Valley to Harvard and Beyond

14: 55 Political Involvement in Benin

29:49 Exploring the Complexities of Voting Technology and Security

32:10 The Impact of Technology on Society and the Importance of Trust

37:54 Cultural Values and Family Dynamics

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.harvardsalient.com

Edward Somuk is a rising sophomore at Harvard concentrating in History. For 26 years, Edward was an infantry marine, retiring as a master sergeant in 2021 after serving in all four marine divisions and all three Marine Expeditionary Forces—East Coast, West Coast, and Okinawa. Edward serves as the director of administration at the Harvard Undergraduate Veterans Organization.

00:00 Introduction to the Harvard Salient Podcast with Ed Somuk

00:09 Ed's Unique Journey: From Marine to Harvard Freshman

01:39 The Early Call to Serve: Ed's Path to Becoming a Marine

05:57 Military Life and Leadership Lessons

17:23 Transitioning from Active Duty to Stay-at-Home Dad

33:34 The Harvard Experience: From Application to Acceptance

39:21 An Unexpected Arrival: Navigating College Life as an Older Student

40:18 Midnight Musings: Offering Wisdom to Younger Peers

40:55 The Power of Perspective: Life Lessons from a Veteran

42:22 Challenging the Status Quo: A Veteran's Take on Education and Opportunity

44:36 Building Community: The Importance of Small Gestures

47:49 From Military to Academia: The Transition Challenges

01:06:25 The TF System: A Veteran's Critique and Suggestions

01:15:51 Concluding Thoughts: Making the Most of the College Experience

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.harvardsalient.com

Spencer Sindhusen is an undergraduate student at MIT studying brain and cognitive science and management. Since he arrived at MIT in September 2023, Spencer has spearheaded a conservative resurgence on campus as the President of MIT Students for Open Inquiry, which works to expose the MIT community to a variety of viewpoints and promote honest dialogue.

00:00 Introduction

00:49 The Mission of MIT Students for Open Inquiry

09:56 COVID-19 and the Political Shifts on Campus Culture

19:48 Scientific Consensus and the Culture of Silence

28:16 Conspiracies and Trust in the Digital Age

32:47 Navigating Free Speech and Controversy at MIT

37:40 The MIT Encampment

46:18 Future Plans For MIT Students for Open Inquiry

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.harvardsalient.com

Carlos Larreategui is from Quito, Ecuador and is currently pursuing an MBA at Harvard Business School. He also earned an MPP from the University of Oxford and a bachelor’s in finance from George Washington University. After a brief stint in at JP Morgan in New York City, Larreategui transitioned to higher education management and public policy with projects in Ecuador and Spain.

02:33 Introduction

04:03 Growing Up in a Political Family in Ecuador

08:15 Navigating Political Tensions

11:50 From Left to Right: A Political Transformation

15:26 Economic Philosophy

21:48 Education in the United States

28:59 MBA Expectations vs. Reality

32:59 The Culture of Harvard Business School

38:49 China's Growing Influence In Latin America

47:39 Political Aspirations and the State of Global Politics

53:25 Reimagining the U.S. Election Process

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.harvardsalient.com

Adam Omary is a Psychology Ph.D. Student in the Affective Neuroscience and Development Laboratory at Harvard University. His research centers on how hormones influence brain development and sex differentiation during sensitive windows of pubertal and perinatal development. Before coming to Harvard, Adam received his B.A. in Cognitive Science and M.S. in Biostatistics at the University of Southern California, where he studied brain and cognitive development in children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia, a rare intersex disorder.

02:46 Introduction

03:41 Adam's Journey to Harvard and Interest in Neuroscience

13:39 Free Will, Consciousness, and Artificial Intelligence

33:37 The Evolutionary Psychology of Dating Apps

39:05 The Paradox of Choice in Relationships

46:43 The Science of Gender Identity and Transgender Health

01:03:57 The Use of Puberty Blockers

01:16:14 Closing Thoughts on Scientific Inquiry and Impartiality

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Shabbos Kestenbaum is a graduate student at Harvard University researching the intersections between public policy and contemporary Jewish life in America. Presently, Shabbos is the lead plaintiff against Harvard University alleging pervasive and systemic antisemitism on campus. 

We discuss Shabbos’ path to Harvard, his experiences at Harvard Divinity School, and his ongoing efforts to highlight the antisemitism that plagues America’s institutions of higher education.

02:36 Introduction

05:35 Harvard Divinity School Culture

09:38 Political Activism Disguised as Theological Study

13:37 Antisemitism: Personal Experiences and Campus Incidents

33:34 Contrast in Campus Activism

34:18 Legal Battles and Media Strategies

35:44 Ideological Challenges in Higher Education

37:28 The Future of American Jewish Activism

59:54 The Lawsuit Against Harvard

01:04:17 Reflections and the Path Forward

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.harvardsalient.com