Slice of MIT

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 featured episode of the Institrve, in which Ravi speaks with Curtis Blaine, Class of 1967, and you’ll hear how their MIT stories intertwine. Listen to more episodes of the Institrve podcast: https://bit.ly/3tyA8iY Read more, and find the transcript of this episode, on...

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 Arab Alumni Association. In this episode of the Slice of MIT podcast, you'll hear a featured episode of UnliMITed, in which host Omar Obeya talks to Dr. Ayman Ismail MCP '99, PhD '09. Dr. Ismail is the director of the AUC Venture Lab at the American University in Cairo’s...

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 ‘99, MEng ‘99, founder of the tech company UnifyID—along with her advice for other MIT alumni clubs that might want to start their own podcast. Read more, and find the transcript of this episode, on Slice of MIT: https://bit.ly/2XqAauq

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 one of many in a much larger multiverse. “What we call the Big Bang Theory is really just a theory of the aftermath of some kind of a bang,” Guth says. “And inflation is a possible answer to what propelled this expansion. It's based on the idea that gravity itself can, under...

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 human aspirations." Read more, and find the transcript of this episode, on Slice of MIT: https://bit.ly/2KEVjtI

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 the importance of having a plan B (and C), how doing laundry in London helped her career, and what she wishes more mentees would ask her. Read more, and find the transcript of this episode, on Slice of MIT: http://bit.ly/2Z70WsW

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 Press. Episode transcript: https://bit.ly/2WrOzX1 Full story on Slice of MIT: https://alum.mit.edu/slice/alumni-books-podcast-war-yet-come

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 more on Slice of MIT: https://bit.ly/2ZiWwwx Read a transcript of the podcast: https://bit.ly/2VVyci7

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 personal reflection—that honors the inner self.” Lightman—who is a professor of the practice of the humanities as well as a senior lecturer in physics at MIT—shared these and other thoughts on creativity with an...

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 and Society and a Research Associate at the Seismological Laboratory of Caltech. Episode transcript: https://bit.ly/2H6y38z

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 Q&A, Prof. Hopkins shares insights on Barres's career, advocacy, and legacy. Join the book club and the conversation on this book at alum.mit.edu/learn. Episode transcript: https://bit.ly/2EfsF0x

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 University Press. Episode transcript: https://bit.ly/2RJg9Kh

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 of MIT blog: http://bit.ly/2u5wSwz. Moniz is the Cecil and Ida Green Professor Emeritus of Physics and Engineering Systems at MIT, and he was awarded honorary membership in the MIT Alumni Association in 2011. He delivered his talk at the...

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 discussion: visit alum.mit.edu/learn and click on "Alumni Book Club." Episode transcript: http://bit.ly/2LrH1hJ

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 and the conversation on this book at alum.mit.edu/learn. Episode transcript: http://bit.ly/2LJhM7w

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 and shares his thoughts on Lo's theory. Episode transcript: http://bit.ly/2LznPhS

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 engineering and computer science and management from the Class of 2010. Episode transcript: https://bit.ly/2EBYqPS

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

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 2018 by University of Toronto Press. Episode transcript: https://bit.ly/2q0SN5O.

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.