I’ve written to you earlier than in regards to the expertise of reviewing younger college up for promotion—in my very first week because the Institute’s president. It was an intoxicating introduction to the human potential of MIT.
Getting this type of preview of MIT’s mental future was so inspiring I assumed we must discover a solution to share it. I additionally needed to grasp extra about our newly tenured college—their backgrounds, their profession paths, their tackle life at MIT. Why not chat with them straight and let the world pay attention in? So the podcast Curiosity Unbounded was born.
Within the first episode, launched final spring, I interviewed Desirée Plata, affiliate professor of civil and environmental engineering. We talked about her work on the very onerous downside of eradicating methane from the environment and her expertise elevating 4 youngsters whereas incomes tenure at MIT.
Since then we’ve recorded 5 extra episodes, and it’s been an absolute pleasure to spend time with these good academics and researchers, delving into their discoveries in fields from political science to engineering to geobiology. Our discussions touched on local weather options, AI alternatives, household histories, and the connection between life and work (is it a stability or an intermingling?).
Every of my friends spoke brazenly and enthusiastically, and regardless of the variations of their experience and pursuits, all of them conveyed their pleasure at having discovered a house at MIT. I really feel that approach too. For any intellectually curious particular person, there’s nothing higher than a spot the place you possibly can ask a query on almost any subject and discover somebody who’s an professional on that very factor—and prepared to share what they know.
After every dialog, I left the studio with attention-grabbing new information and concepts to discover—and a strong feeling of hope. The dedication of those passionate, inventive college makes me extremely optimistic about MIT’s capability to do large issues for the world.
I hope you’ll tune in for vigorous dialogue, inspiring insights, and a glimpse into the way forward for data and the way forward for MIT.
Keep curious!
Sally Kornbluth
