Ask a Harvard Professor

Harvard Medical School professor of neurology Rudolph Tanzi discusses how lifestyle choices can help maintain brain health during a person’s lifespan. Topics include Alzheimer’s disease and other kinds of dementia, the role of genetics and environment in health, and the importance of sleep, exercise, and diet in controlling neuroinflammation.For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.For a transcript of this episode, go to https://harvardmagazine.com/2021/rudy-tanziAsk a Harvard Professor  is hosted by Lydialyle Gibson, Jonathan Shaw, Jacob Sweet, and Nancy Walecki, and produced by Jacob Sweet and Niko Yaitanes. Our theme music was composed by Louis Weeks.

Makeda Best, curator of photography at the Harvard Art Museums and a visiting professor of Art, Film, and Visual Studies, shares her insights on landscape photographers, as well as photographers of war and protest, capture their historical moments, and what their work says about cultural history and politics. Topics discussed include Best’s research on Alexander Gardner, a Civil War photographer who was also active in the worker’s rights movement, her current book project on American landscape photography, and Devour the Land, the current exhibit she curated at the Harvard Art Museums. For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.For a transcript of this episode, go to https://harvardmagazine.com/2021/makeda-bestAsk a Harvard Professor is hosted by Lydialyle Gibson, Jonathan Shaw, Jacob Sweet, and Nancy Walecki, and produced by Jacob Sweet and Niko Yaitanes. Our theme music was composed by Louis Weeks.

Claudia Goldin, Henry Lee professor of economics, shares the reason why working mothers still earn less and advance less often in their careers than men: time. Even with antidiscrimination laws and unbiased managers, certain professions pay employees disproportionately more for long hours and weekends, passing over women who need that time for family care. Goldin also discusses how COVID-19’s flexible work policies may help close the gender earnings gap.For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.For a transcript of this episode, go to https://harvardmagazine.com/2021/claudia-goldinAsk a Harvard Professor is hosted by Lydialyle Gibson, Jonathan Shaw, Jacob Sweet, and Nancy Walecki, and produced by Jacob Sweet and Niko Yaitanes. Our theme music was composed by Louis Weeks. 

Jerrold Rosenbaum, director of Massachusetts General Hospital’s Center for the Neuroscience of Psychedelics, discusses the potential of using psychedelics, such as MDMA and magic mushrooms, to treat treatment-resistant mood disorders like depression and anxiety. Topics include the effect of psychedelics on the brain, how psychedelic therapy is conducted, the legality of medicinal psychedelics, and current research findings.  For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.For a transcript of this episode, go to https://harvardmagazine.com/2021/jerrold-rosenbaumAsk a Harvard Professor is hosted by Lydialyle Gibson, Jonathan Shaw, Jacob Sweet, and Nancy Walecki, and produced by Jacob Sweet and Niko Yaitanes. Our theme music was composed by Louis Weeks.

Nicholas Stephanopoulos, a political scientist and legal scholar whose research focuses on gerrymandering, explains its effect on American democracy and how it might be stopped. Topics include recent state laws that limit voting, the voting-rights bills being debated in Congress, and the current state of “alignment” between voters’ wishes and government actions.A note to our listeners: This episode was recorded on September 30, 2021. For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.For a transcript of this episode, go to https://harvardmagazine.com/2021/nicholas-stephanopoulosAsk a Harvard Professor is hosted by Lydialyle Gibson, Jonathan Shaw, Jacob Sweet, and Nancy Walecki, and produced by Jacob Sweet and Niko Yaitanes. Our theme music was composed by Louis Weeks.

Emily Broad Leib, founder and director of Harvard’s Food Law and Policy Clinic, discusses how to reduce food waste in the United States and abroad. Topics include the confusion caused by misleading date labels, the impact of COVID-19 on food waste, and the FLPC’s collaborations with governments and non-profit organizations to enact better food laws.For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.For a transcript of this episode, go to https://harvardmagazine.com/2021/emily-broad-leibAsk a Harvard Professor is hosted by Lydialyle Gibson, Jonathan Shaw, Jacob Sweet, and Nancy Walecki, and produced by Jacob Sweet and Niko Yaitanes. Our theme music was composed by Louis Weeks.

Neurobiologists Venkatesh Murthy and Sandeep Robert Datta discuss what scientists know about our sense of smell, and what big mysteries remain. Topics include smell loss from COVID-19, experimental approaches to understanding olfaction, and the role of artificial intelligence in olfactory research.For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.For a transcript of this episode, go to https://harvardmagazine.com/2021/sandeep-robert-datta-and-venkatesh-murthyAsk a Harvard Professor is hosted by Lydialyle Gibson, Jonathan Shaw, Jacob Sweet, and Nancy Walecki, and produced by Jacob Sweet and Niko Yaitanes. Our theme music was composed by Louis Weeks.

Epidemiologist and immunologist Michael Mina discusses the use of rapid tests as public health tools. Topics include using rapid tests to protect gatherings of friends and family; the differences between rapid tests and PCR tests; and why rapid tests are useful even for people who are vaccinated—particularly the elderly.For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.For a transcript of this episode, go to https://harvardmagazine.com/2021/michael-minaAsk a Harvard Professor is hosted by Lydialyle Gibson, Jonathan Shaw, Jacob Sweet, and Nancy Walecki, and produced by Jacob Sweet and Niko Yaitanes. Our theme music was composed by Louis Weeks.

For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.For a transcript of this episode, go to https://harvardmagazine.com/2021/preview-ask-a-harvard-professor-season-fourAsk a Harvard Professor is hosted by Lydialyle Gibson, Jonathan Shaw, Jacob Sweet, and Nancy Walecki, and produced by Jacob Sweet and Niko Yaitanes. Our theme music was composed by Louis Weeks.

The term “parafiction” refers to an artistic performance or presentation that depicts fiction as fact. This idea has particular relevance for our current post-truth moment, in which Americans find themselves overrun with conspiracy theories, misinformation, and fake news.For more information about Harvard Magazine and this podcast, visit www.harvardmagazine.com/podcast and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.For a transcript of this episode, go to https://harvardmagazine.com/2020/carrie-lambert-beatty. Ask a Harvard Professor is hosted by Jonathan Shaw, Marina Bolotnikova,  Lydialyle Gibson, Jacob Sweet, and produced by Jacob Sweet and Niko Yaitanes. Our theme music was composed by Louis Weeks.