Audio at Harvard

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), shares her thoughts on how to improve the teaching profession and why we need more excellent teachers in this country.

Tony Award-winning director Diane Paulus, Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) and professor of the practice of theatre at Harvard, explains why the arts are critical to the shaping of public policy. Paulus offers examples of how artistic works have engaged audiences to pursue change, and explores the responsibility artists have to account for the results of their works.

Shorenstein Center Media & Politics Podcast Behind the Rise of BuzzFeed: featuring Ben Smith and Miriam Elder

In episode nine we talk with George Dahl, a recent graduate of the University of Toronto, learn about how networks and graphs can help us understand relationships, and take a listener question about just how you find the right algorithm to solve a problem (Spoiler: start simple.)

How has the 2013 Supreme Court ruling in Shelby County v. Holder, which upended a key provision of the Voting Rights Act and opened the door to states and local jurisdictions to rewrite voting laws, impacted voter registration and turnout? In this discussion, our panel of academics and journalists explored the potential effects of Shelby County on American voting rights. Was the Supreme Court’s reasoning empirically sound? What are the pressing challenges and problems in terms of data gathering and analysis? What can be done to further protect voting rights? Speakers Include: - Maya Sen (Moderator), Ash Center Faculty Affiliate and HKS Assistant Professor of Public Policy - Stephen Ansolabehere, Professor of Government, Harvard University - Nate Cohn, Politics and Policy Writer, The New York Times - Bernard Fraga, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Indiana University

Andres Alonso, former CEO of Baltimore Public Schools and current HGSE professor, provides an insightful perspective on the complex role of the school superintendent.

What books would guests on The Business give as holiday gifts? Listen for what Mitch Weiss, Dan Koh, Nancy Koehn, Max Bazerman, Frank Cespedes, and host Brian Kenny would recommend for the bookworm in your life.

Professor Mary Elise Sarotte, a visiting professor at the Harvard Center for European Studies and author of “Collapse: The Accidental Opening of the Berlin Wall,” explains how the opening of the border between East and West Germany came down to a decision by a single border guard.

This seminar was given by Roland Kupers, an independent consultant on Complexity, Resilience and Energy Transition, as well as an Associate Fellow at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at Oxford University. It was held on September 16, 2014 as part of M-RCBG’s business and government seminar series.

In this HAA Alumni Education event, Peter Suber and Kyle Courtney examine open access, copyright, fair use, and the work of Harvard Library’s Office for Scholarly Communication (OSC). Suber and Courtney are working on the front lines in order to make Harvard scholarship available to scholars the world over.

M. Night Shyamalan, filmmaker and author of “I Got Schooled,” shares his unique journey as a curious, education reform outsider looking for data informed answers on how to close America's education gap.

Speaker Series with Deborah Amos, Middle East correspondent, National Public Radio.

HBS Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter on innovation, advanced leadership, and how to make change in an inflexible organization. She also tells Brian why she has no use for the ‘r-word’: Retirement. Music: Happytime by Podington Bear

Journalists Miriam Elder, the foreign editor at Buzzfeed, and Julia Ioffe, a senior editor at the New Republic—both former Moscow correspondents now writing from the US—discuss Sochi, Putin-era politics, and reporting on Russia in the digital age. Moderated by Wendell Steavenson, a staff writer at The New Yorker and a current Nieman Fellow. Hosted by the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, the Nieman Foundation for Journalism, and the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies.

Dr. John Ruggie—one of the 25 most influential international relations scholars in the United States and Canada (according to Foreign Policy magazine), Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Law School professor, and the author of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights—talks with bioethicist and Edmond J. Safra Lab Fellow Dr. Jennifer E. Miller about his experiences drafting and implementing the UN Guiding Principles. These principles constitute the most comprehensive and authoritative global standard in the area of business and human rights, to date.

Former Massachusetts Senator Mo Cowan, a 2013 Fall Fellow at the Institute of Politics, discusses his 6-month stint in Congress; what it was like to be appointed to the role having never sought elected office before; the challenges of navigating the Senate's arcane rules and procedures; and his perspective on the chamber's oft-cited partisanship.

Michael Lombardo, CEO of Reading Partners, shares his organization's 'secret sauce' for closing the reading achievement gap.

David Sanford, a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute, is the musical director of the Pittsburgh Collective, a 20-piece contemporary big band.

The Gettysburg Address as read by John Stauffer, professor of English and of African and African-American studies, Jonathan Walton, Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church and Plummer Professor of Christian Morals, Zora and Elijah Walton, and Harvard President Drew Faust.

Are presidents and prime ministers—whether Thatcher, Blair, Reagan or Obama—responsible for the dysfunctions of democratic governance today? In this seminar, Stein Ringen argues that they are. The role of the chief executive in ensuring good governance is to “maintain order in a nation of devils,” a concept Ringen borrows from Immanuel Kant. They inevitably face opposition from those seeking to frustrate their plan—whether in moving a giant bureaucracy or in ensuring citizen compliance. “Hard libertarians and soft advocates of participatory democracy have in common that they believe people to be of sound and rational character and judgment,” Ringen writes. “But they are not, which is why leadership from above is the essence.” Yet too often they mistake power for authority as the key ingredient to successful governance. The author explores authority, leadership, trust, culture, and institutional reform in his search for solutions.

This seminar was given by Jonathan Pershing, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Climate Change Policy and Technology for the U.S. Energy Department on October 31, 2013 as part of the Regulatory Policy Program’s seminar series.

The Reverend Professor Peter J. Gomes's sermon on Senior Sunday, June 3, 2007 in the Memorial Church.

Harvard Law School Professor Charles Ogletree, a friend and mentor to President Barack Obama, discusses the state of civil rights in the United States on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. He discusses Trayvon Martin's death, the President's reaction to George Zimmerman's acquittal, the United States Supreme Court's ruling on the Voting Rights Act and New York City's "stop and frisk" policy.

Richard Hopper, president of Kennebec Valley Community College, reflects on his time at the "Harvard Seminar for New Presidents" and names his 'bucket list' commencement speaker for the upcoming year.

This week Brian talks to Michael I. Norton, co-author of the book Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending, about why Mike says changing how we spend our money makes us happier. Music by: Podington Bear - Upbeat (Now Son)

Professor Jonathan L. Walton's sermon on Senior Sunday, the Last Sunday of Spring Term, May 26, 2013, in the Memorial Church. This sermon was written especially for the Harvard Class of 2013 graduating seniors.

Karl Pillemer, author of the book, "30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans" reflects on what he's learned from discussions with older Americans.

Professor Jonathan L. Walton's sermon on the the Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 5, 2013, in the Memorial Church.

China's cities have reportedly been driving the country's decades-long economic miracle. But behind this veneer of economic stability lies a system of mass migration and debt that appears to be collapsing under the weight of its own success. Tony Saich, director of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation and Daewoo Professor of International Affairs, and Meg Rithmire, Assistant Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, discussed the future of Chinese cities. This seminar was co-sponsored by the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School; East Asian Legal Studies, Harvard Law School; Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard; Harvard School of Public Health China Initiative; Harvard-Yenching Institute; Kennedy School Student Government; and the Social and Urban Policy Professional Interest Council.

Speaker Series with Richard Gingras, head of news and social products, Google.

Two-time All-Pro NFL Linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo, long an outspoken advocate for LGBT rights, gives his perspective on why it's taken so long for an openly gay athlete to emerge in one of the four major US sports. He also talks about his efforts as an ally to LGBT athletes and to promote marriage equallity across the country.

Carl-Henric Svanberg, Chairman of BP and AB Volvo, and Rebecca Henderson, John and Natty McArthur University Professor of Harvard Business School, discuss the future of international energy policy through the lens of business and industry. The speakers address issues such as how to incentivize more environmentally sustainable practices, the shifting role of major oil powers and lessons learned from key environmental events in the oil industry. The event is moderated by David T. Ellwood, Dean of the Harvard Kennedy School and cosponsored by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and the Environment and Natural Resources Program. November 13, 2012