Best The Morningside Institute Podcasts (2025)

1
Living Well at the End of a World: James Hankins on “Restoring Classical Civilization in the Renaissance”

1d ago

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In this talk at Living Well at the End of a World, James Hankins draws parallels between our contemporary anxieties about civilizational decline and the late medieval Renaissance period, specifically the 14th and 15th centuries, which also faced profound institutional crises. He highlights the humanist movement, spearheaded by Petrarch, as a histor…

1
Living Well at the End of a World: Bp. Erik Varden on “Monastic Culture as Creative Subversion”

11d ago

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In his talk at Living Well at the End of a World, Bishop Erik Varden discusses the end of our “internal world”—the microcosm of human life—at the deathbed and the monastic venture to confront death and live well in the face of its inevitable appearance. Using the vita of Antony the Great by St. Athanasius as his exemplar par excellence of the monas…

1
Believe, with Ross Douthat

2M ago

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In his new book Believe, NY Times correspondent Ross Douthat offers a blueprint for thinking one's way from doubt to belief. Douthat argues that religious belief makes sense of the order of the cosmos and our place within it, illuminates the mystery of consciousness, and explains the persistent reality of encounters with the supernatural. On Monday…

1
Community, Excellence, & Service: The CEO for the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Janeen Uzzell, comes to MIT - EP 17 46:42

2M ago46:42

46:42

The CEO of the National Society of Black Engineers, Janeen Uzzell, heads to the lab at MIT to chat about her early years at NC A&T, the NSBE mission, programs, leadership, and family. We also hear about the upcoming NSBE 50th celebration in Chicago and check-in with a few students and alumni. Janeen is awesome - she also lectured for our 2.009 stud…

1
The Metamorphoses in the Twenty-First Century

5M ago

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The Metamorphoses is a work with an insistent modern resonance and relevance. In terms of Roman political commentary, socio-cultural implication, historical awareness, and psychological investigation, Ovid constructs a poem about change that is itself fundamentally slippery in its meanings, hard to deconstruct, and full of human eccentricity. The p…

1
Professor Ely Sachs on Guided Discovery, Plus a Trip to Lobby 7 - EP 16 51:54

6M ago51:54

51:54

We take our mobile studio to Lobby 7 and kibitz with students, while Bill recruits unsuspecting visitors (with mixed results). MIT Professor Ely Sachs, the pioneer in 3-D printing, then spends time with us in the lab talking about education, learning, and his over two decades developing Guided Discovery - his pedagogy that has been foundational at …

1
Is Virtue Sufficient for Happiness?

7M ago

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According to ancient philosophers, all human beings want to be happy. But how can we achieve this? In Books 3 and 4 of his dialogue “On the Greatest Good and Evil” (De finibus bonorum et malorum), Cicero and his interlocutor, the Stoic Cato, discuss what guarantees a person’s supreme happiness. Is it enough to be a morally good person (as the Stoic…

1
Talking with the Engineer About Poetry: L.S. McKee on Creature, Wing, Heart, Machine and a Dept Head PSA - EP 15 52:16

12M ago52:16

52:16

L.S. McKee joins us in the lab to talk about her new collection of poetry, Creature, Wing, Heart, Machine. Laura and I taught 2.009 together for a few years before she moved down south. Laura was a lecturer in the Writing, Rhetoric, and Professional Communication Program at MIT before moving on to UGA, Athens, where she is Coordinator for Writing A…

1
Secular Hope

1y ago

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Tradition describes courage, moderation, justice, and prudence as the cardinal virtues (a list going back to Plato) and faith, hope, and charity as the theological virtues (a list going back to Saint Paul). Can we conceive of hope as a virtue, as a good quality for people to have, without a theological framework — without any notion of salvation? O…

1
Natality and the Counter-Tradition of Birth

1y ago

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Birth is one of the most fraught and polarized issues of our time, at the center of debates on abortion, gender, work, and medicine. But birth is not only an issue; it is a fundamental part of the human condition, and, alongside death, the most consequential event in human life. Yet it remains dramatically unexplored. Although we have long intellec…

1
Sudden Cardiac Arrest and the Avive Story, Lock the Quill Office Hours - EP 14 48:31

1+ y ago48:31

48:31

Three alumni stop by the lab to tell the story of how they took a class assignment at 2am, developed it into their senior capstone project, and ultimately founded a medical device company that, six years later, received Class III Premarket Approval from the FDA. Avive is the youngest team to receive such a PMA and their founders were selected for t…

1
Professor Gilbert Strang: A Birthday, Conversation, and Greatest Hits - EP 13 29:42

1+ y ago29:42

29:42

One of my favorite professors, Gilbert Strang, comes by the lab to talk about his time at MIT since 1952. Anyone who knows professor Strang knows him to be one of the best mathematics teachers and a prolific writer with a heart of gold. Professor Strang retired last spring (2023). His last 18.06 lecture was to a packed standing room of students, st…

1
Faculty and Friends Soundbites: Season One Hot Wash, Season Two Preview, and a Contest 3:30

1+ y ago3:30

3:30

After President Kornbluth's inauguration, end-of-year projects, finals, commencement, and a long summer break, we've ramped up for a second season. A three minute review of the more frivolous moments of season one, and a quick teaser of the soon-to-be-released season two premiere. Podcast specific: Podcast Instagram: @lockthequill Comments or quest…

1
Language Rights and Wrongs: Originalism, Textualism, Traditionalism, or Activism?

1+ y ago

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On October 9, 2023 the Morningside Institute and the Galileo Center at Columbia Law School hosted Joshua Katz (AEI) for the last lecture in our series Language Rights and Wrongs. This series explores the relationship between world and word, honing in on ancient texts, namely Homer, Plato, and the Bible. This evening's conversation was not about the…

1
Language Rights and Wrongs: Is Language Truthful?

1+ y ago

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Does language contain truth in itself? And whether or not it does, at what level are the words we use natural, and at what level are they a matter of convention? Plato’s Cratylus provides the earliest in-depth discussion of these matters, and it turns out that we can learn something about our own linguistic problems today by considering this neglec…

1
Language Rights and Wrongs: In the Beginning Was the Word?

1+ y ago

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This fall, the Morningside Institute and the Galileo Center at the Columbia Law School hosted Joshua Katz (AEI) for a three-part lecture series on the relationship between word and world. The series focused on ancient texts—namely, Homer, Plato, and the Bible—and what these reveal about the nature (or artificiality) of language. On September 26, 20…

1
Beginner's Mind with James Valentini

1+ y ago

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In his famous Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, Shunryu Suzuki writes, “In the Beginner’s Mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few.” These words have served as a guide for James Valentini during his time as a professor of Chemistry and then much-beloved dean of Columbia College. As he has developed it, the concept of beginner’…

1
MIT President Sally Kornbluth, Inauguration Weekend, Grounds Department, and a Presidential Quiz - Ep 12 39:48

2y ago39:48

39:48

As campus prepares for inaugural events, MIT's 18th President, Dr. Sally Kornbluth, visits the lab to talk with us about her move from Provost at Duke University in Durham NC to President of MIT. We talk about leadership, the early read on campus, and some thoughts about getting the job done. We meet Lock the Quill's newest feet on the street, Dann…

1
Professor Sangbae Kim on the Virtual-Physical Divide, Robotic Cheetahs, Physical Intelligence, and Cognitive Bias - Ep 11 34:37

2y ago34:37

34:37

MIT mechanical engineering professor Sangbae Kim drops by after 2.007 lecture to talk about the virtual / physical divide and his concept of physical intelligence - the seemingly impenetrable category of subconscious physical tasks and motions that carries so much potential for the future of robotics and physical services. We talk about his researc…

1
Professor Maria Yang on Design at MIT and Stanford, AI and Design, Sketching, the Morningside Academy for Design, and the Splendor of Acronyms - Ep 10 40:43

2y ago40:43

40:43

Professor Maria Yang comes to the lab to talk about the early years at MIT and Stanford, and her research in design processes. We also chat about the discipline, and she shares the latest scuttlebutt on the Morningside Academy for Design. We send off another sticker to the March Global Challenge winner, and test Maria's acronym and abbreviation rec…

1
Professor Kaitlyn Becker comes home to MIT: Flash Your Punty! Glassblowing, Soft Robotics, Flute, and Dinosaurs - Ep 9 46:54

2y ago46:54

46:54

We first met Kait when she was an undergrad with us at MIT, and now she's back home as Professor Becker with the Department of Mechanical Engineering. We talk about her experiences with the MIT Glass Lab and Pappalardo Lab, her post-graduate research with Rob Wood at Harvard, and her current projects at MIT. We also chat about music and hatch a pla…

1
Aquinas and Structural Racism

2y ago

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Thomas Aquinas's ethical system is framed in terms of evaluating an individual's intentional actions, which may be good or bad depending on their conformity with the natural law. Can such a framework make sense of the notion that social structures and practices can also be just or unjust, as in the contemporary notion of structural racism? On Thurs…

1
President Sanjay Sarma heads to Malaysia. Grasp, Thorndike, Dewey, MIT, and a 2.007 Memento - Ep 8 44:20

2y ago44:20

44:20

We intercepted Sanjay Sarma before he took off for Logan Airport and meet in building 35 to discuss his book, Grasp - the Science Transforming How We Learn, education, and MIT. Professor Sarma recently stepped down as MIT Vice President of Open Learning where he led MIT initiatives, such as MITx, edX, OpenCourseware, the Integrated Learning Initiat…

1
Learning to See: Images in Theology and Philosophy

2y ago

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We instinctively think of images as things we create, control, and consume. But in this lecture, Prof. Thomas Pfau (Duke) argued that our encounter with images and the visible world as a whole serves as a test of our spiritual and moral condition. Following a brief overview of his recent book on this subject, Prof. Pfau's lecture considered three i…

1
Professor Alex Slocum on Timoshenko, The National Bureau of Standards, and MIT - Ep 7 55:51

2y ago55:51

55:51

Alex Slocum comes by the lab before we head out to a talk. We chat about mentors, influential professors, and his early days at the National Bureau of Standards (now NIST). Alex takes us on his journey bouncing between MIT and "the Bureau", finally landing in building 35 at MIT. He talks about our sophomore design class, 2.007, a special project at…

1
Why Read Great Books?: Liberal Education in the Twenty-First Century

2y ago

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Are some books “great” in a way others are not? Can a core curriculum represent all the members of a university community? What should students get out of their classes in the Core? How should we justify liberal education today? These questions shaped many universities' curricula, including Columbia's Core, and today are at the center of debates ab…

1
Lauren Looks for a Job - Internships, Experience, Networks, and Design Consultancies - Ep 6 41:00

2+ y ago41:00

41:00

MIT alumna and friend of the lab, Lauren Hernley, recounts her path to finding a job with a design consultancy, after encountering some speed-bumps along the way. Hear from Lauren and industry leaders about the importance of experience, real skills, and relationships. Plus, our first Lock the Quill Global Challenge winner is announced and Scott and…

1
The Myth of Left and Right

2+ y ago

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As American politics descends into a battle of anger and hostility between two groups called "left" and "right," people increasingly ask: What is the essential difference between these two ideological groups? In The Myth of Left and Right, Hyrum Lewis and Verlan Lewis provide the surprising answer: nothing. As the authors argue, there is no endurin…

1
Professor Amos Winter. Lobster Tanks, Roboclams, GEAR Lab, and Gear Heads - Ep 5 1:20:27

2+ y ago1:20:27

1:20:27

We have a conversation with Mechanical Engineering Professor Amos Winter and some friends to talk about his experiences at Tufts University and MIT. Professor Winter takes us on an international tour and discusses his projects over the years in underwater vehicles and exploration, his bio-inspired Roboclam work, and a sampling of his current resear…

1
Dr. Rebecca Thorndike-Breeze and a Cheeky Winner - Ep 4 37:32

2+ y ago37:32

37:32

Dr. Thorndike-Breeze of the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program at MIT joins us to talk about her journey to MIT, the importance of self-expression in her work, strength and resilience through collaboration and improv, and a few important mentors. The MIT Press book chapter we reference, from Wikipedia @ 20: Stories of an Incomplete Revolution. P…

1
Professor Peko Hosoi and the First Sounds from the Lab Winner - Ep 3 56:27

2+ y ago56:27

56:27

We sit down with Peko Hosoi, the Neil and Jane Pappalardo Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT. Join us as Peko talks about her move from west to east to middle to east to west and back to east. She talks about the Kadanov years in Chicago, her first faculty appointment at Harvey Mudd, and her move back to MIT. Plus, we connect with the winne…

1
Professor Steven Leeb. MIT Stories and Games - Ep 2 54:12

2+ y ago54:12

54:12

Professor Steven Leeb drops by the lab to talk about some key moments as an undergraduate and graduate student at MIT. We find ourselves on the topic of 80s nerd movies, but get back to talking about research and MIT magic. We test Steve's knowledge of department numbers and present the 2022 Big Nut Award. Our first installment of "Sounds from the …

1
Belief and Cult: Rethinking Roman Religion

2+ y ago

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Many scholars have held that Christianity created a new kind of religious belief and devotion, unlike the ritualistic, legal, and cultural religious practice widespread throughout the Roman Empire. But in a new book, Jacob Mackey (Occidental) draws on cognitive theory to argue that, despite having little to do with faith or salvation, real belief u…

1
Professor Ellen Roche and an Old Friend - Ep1 58:29

2+ y ago58:29

58:29

Professor Ellen Roche shares her journey to MIT from Galway, and we talk about her cardio-vascular device design and computational modeling research. Ellen gives the thumbs up to The Cranberries and The Coronas, and you'll hear how she does on a quiz. We'll then give an old friend a call to hear what's going on across the river. Podcast specific: P…

1
Lock the Quill Preview - Ep 0 1:20

2+ y ago1:20

1:20

We're a group of shop nerds at MIT's Department of Mechanical Engineering Pappalardo Lab - machinists, engineers, scientists, & designers - and are sitting down with (sometimes standing or chasing) colleagues, students, and alumni to share their stories and chitter-chatter about research, life, and the campus scuttlebutt. Podcast specific: Podcast …

1
Why Should Lawyers Represent Unpopular Clients?

2+ y ago

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In the past, a lawyer might have taken for granted, as one ABA report explained, that “one of the highest services the lawyer can render to society is to appear in court on behalf of client whose causes are in disfavor with the general public." But not today, when lawyers across the profession increasingly face boycotts, protests, and public shamin…

1
How to Live in the Earthly City: Augustine on Loves, Lies, and the Politics of Perfection 37:12

3y ago37:12

37:12

In this talk, Prof. Veronica Ogle (Assumption University) helps us understand how Augustine sees the earthly city as parodying the city of God, a process that produces illusions and lies that entrap its inhabitants in a nihilistic dreamworld. She explores how Augustine’s critique of the earthly city uncovers the self-love and lust for domination th…

1
Ross Douthat: What Is the Common Good in a Pluralistic Society? 1:04:06

3y ago1:04:06

1:04:06

As our society continues to fracture, writers across the political spectrum have repeatedly invoked the classical concept of the common good. Thinkers such as Jacques Maritain and Yves Simon offered robust accounts of the common good in a pluralistic, democratic society. Yet frequently, today’s invocations of the common good dodge questions about p…

1
The Theological Framework of Secular Society — Eric Nelson 37:14

3+ y ago37:14

37:14

It seems as though our cultural and moral debates in America and Europe take place between a secular side and a traditional, frequently religious, side. Secular liberalism is seen as consciously moving away from religious convictions of the past toward a more fair and objective viewpoint. But some scholars argue that the framework of secular libera…

1
Classical Allusions in Contemporary African American Poetry — Chiyuma Elliott 40:42

3+ y ago40:42

40:42

African American literature has a rich tradition of both using and discarding the classics. In the 20th century, the Black feminist poet Audre Lorde argued that, “[t]he master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house,” and Gwendolyn Brooks, the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for poetry, was inspired by Black Arts Movement poe…

1
Taking Disagreement Seriously: Does Relativism Follow from Cultural Diversity? — Michele Moody-Adams 37:22

3+ y ago37:22

37:22

The problem of relativism has presented itself ever since Herodotus introduced his readers to the astounding variety of religious beliefs and moral judgements among human communities. Philosophers soon began to consider the proposition that there is no objective truth and falsity, right and wrong, but that all of these are products of different con…

1
Reading Augustine at a Time of Chaos — Russell Hittinger 42:09

3+ y ago42:09

42:09

In August 410 Alaric, King of the Goths, entered Rome with his army, and proceeded to carry out a rather impressive version of a “sack”: murder, mayhem, theft, and desecration of churches and consecrated virgins. St. Augustine, then the bishop of Hippo Regius in North Africa, soon received a large number of refugees, both pagan and Christian. These…

1
Plato on the Relativism of Protagoras — Katja Vogt 30:03

3+ y ago30:03

30:03

The Ancient Greek Sophists kickstarted moral philosophy in the West with the provocative idea of relativism: that there is no objective right and wrong. Plato formulated and refuted the relativism of the Sophist Protagoras in his dialogue Theatetus, and this engagement remains arguably the most interesting discussion of relativism in the history of…

1
Resurrecting Justice: How Can a Broader Vision of Justice Heal Society's Wounds? — Daniel Philpott 40:49

3+ y ago40:49

40:49

It is time to rethink justice. Dominant in the West is the classic definition of justice as the constant will to render another his due. In the modern world, this definition has come to mean rights and retribution. However, based on his experience as an activist in Kashmir and the Great Lakes Region of Africa, Prof. Daniel Philpott (Notre Dame) fin…

1
What Does Game Theory Say about the Philosophy of Religion? — Lara Buchak 44:23

4y ago44:23

44:23

Popular theories like game theory try to explain why people find it rational to accept risk when making decisions, especially economic ones. But as thinkers such as Kierkegaard and Pascal argued, accepting risk factors into the greatest questions of life, such as whether or not to profess faith in a particular religious creed or philosophy. Join us…

1
Hannah Arendt: Space Conquest and the End of Humanitas — Charles McNamara

4y ago

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Much has been written recently about Arendt's political observation that totalitarian masses would "believe everything and nothing, think that everything was possible and that nothing was true," but her views on space exploration and astronomy have attracted less attention, even if she ranks "the invention of the telescope" alongside the Protestant…

1
Can You Separate Morality and Politics? Hume's Politics of Humanity — Aaron Zubia 30:05

4y ago30:05

30:05

Must public actors sacrifice their principles in order to advance their desired political ends? Realists, who argue that the messiness of political life makes moral purity impossible, accuse moralists of having their heads in the clouds. But Hume reminds us that one need not ignore political reality in order to promote a humane political culture. T…

1
The Problems of Acedia: Some Historical and Contemporary Reflections on Distraction and Rest 42:39

4y ago42:39

42:39

Religious thinkers and contemporary scientists have seen acedia as a fundamental problem, as it opposes the goal of rest in relationship to the divine and enjoying the goodness of human relationships. Drawing upon Evagrius, Aquinas, and contemporary psychology, Prof. Chris Jones (Barry University) will offer advice on how to identify acedia in the …

1
Violence and the Spread of Islam in Late Antique Christian Societies — Christian Sahner 41:07

4y ago41:07

41:07

You may watch this lecture along with Dr. Sahner’s PowerPoint presentation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/96CmUeeNLls How did the medieval Middle East transform from a majority-Christian world to a majority-Muslim world, and what role did violence play (or not play) in this process? This lecture explores how Christians across the early Islamic caliph…

1
Using History Well: How Past Discord Can Help Us Understand a Divided Present — James Hankins & Allen Guelzo 54:40

4y ago54:40

54:40

Many wonder what will come of the deep divisions in American society. What lessons do the Civil War and other historic periods of conflict offer for our own divided time? How can we use history well to understand the present? Join us for a conversation with two of America's greatest historians, Allen Guelzo (Princeton) and James Hankins (Harvard), …

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