We face enormous challenges: global warming, poverty, health care, terrorism. Dealing with these challenges requires deep thinking about a range of moral questions. What is it to be a human being? How do we work? What’s good for us? What do we owe to one another? Unfortunately, HKS doesn’t do much to encourage this kind [...]
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I recently had the chance to interview Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe for Harvard Divinity School’s alumni publication. The piece is here.
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Many mornings this spring, my roommate, Teddy, and I have speculated about how the Republican candidates are likely to fare in states we’ve never visited. Our third roommate, Ben, stays quiet and seeks out the most reliable polling information he knows. “InTrade has Romney up by 4,” Ben will say. When he does so, my [...]
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In his lecture on “The Reality of the Unseen,” William James describes how some people perceive gods or spirits just as vividly as they perceive objects directly in front of them. He quotes a fellow professor on his experiences with a mysterious, spirit-like presence. For several nights, the colleague writes, he felt the presence steal into [...]
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Beginning in 2003, Democrat Artur Davis represented Alabama’s 7th District for four terms in Congress. Following a defeat in Alabama’s 2010 gubernatorial primary, he retired from politics. Late last year, Davis left the Democratic Party and became an independent. Davis is currently a Fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics. This conversation took place in his [...]
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Yup, not a typo. Romney made those remarks in an interview with Soledad O’Brien this morning. After all, he said, “We have a very ample safety net and we can talk about whether it needs to be strengthened or whether there are holes in it.” Several things. First, it shouldn’t really be up for debate: there [...]
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I try not to use this blog as an outlet for re-posts, but this article screams to be shared. In it, The New Yorker‘s Adam Gopnik describes the intense, time-warping agony of life in prison: “It isn’t the horror of the time at hand but the unimaginable sameness of the time ahead that makes prisons unendurable for their inmates. [...]
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Check out the brand-new Wheat and Chaff Podcast. First episode? An interview with convicted super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Click above to play. And of course, let us know what you think. You can also download the podcast here.
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Over the past several days, I’ve been astonished at the response to my arrest at a Mitt Romney event in New Hampshire. Folks from around the country have written with offers of legal assistance, and the incident has sparked intense discussions around civil liberties and campaign tactics across the internet. It’s been tweeted thousands of [...]
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I just sent the following email to press@mittromney.com and info@mittromney.com about my arrest on Monday. I’ll update with any responses I receive. Dear Romney staff, My name is Matt Bieber, and I’m a divinity school student with a keen interest in politics. On Monday, I was removed from Gov. Romney’s event at the Gilchrist Metal [...]
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