This week, we have the pleasure of welcoming on to the show Omavi Minder, more widely known as “Mavi” — the 22 year old rap artist from Charlotte, North Carolina. Mavi, a Neuroscience major at Howard University, joins Dr. Easley in a deep discussion on what growing up in the United States south as a black youth has meant to him, and touches on issue of environmental justice and health. Mavi has collaborated with artists such as Earl Sweatshirt, Navy Blue, Pink Siifu, and others who inhabit the lyrically fluid and content dense depths of the rap-scene. You can access Mavi’s music on all streaming platforms, including his latest project “End of the Earth.”
HomeSTAY: Questions for Angela Choi — How To Be a Successful Yalie
In the second episode of HomeSTAY, Hosts Wen Long and Julia speak to an alumna regarding her experience with success before, during, and beyond her days at Yale. Angela Choi is an International Life Purpose and Career Coach whose personal story of career changes in pursuit of happiness is sure to inspire and encourage the Yalies of today.
Unpacking the Many Benefits of Yale Summer Session
The group speaks with Eli Westerman, Communications Manager at Yale Summer Session (YSS). As a past participant of YSS and current administrator of the program, Eli offers a unique perspective on this robust summer program. Eli touches on the academic, cultural, and professional benefits of the program, while reflecting on the short and long-term benefits he encountered through his own experience.
The Science of Trauma & Resilience with Bianca Jones Marlin and Kerry Ressler
The ongoing stress and trauma of the last year deeply affects us as individuals and as a society, impacting our daily lives. For many, these challenges extend far beyond the last year. Two pioneering scientists, Dr. Bianca Jones Marlin and Dr. Kerry Ressler, join for a timely discussion of life experiences and stresses that are passed to future generations through our biology. Along the way, we’ll hear surprising parallels in our guests’ life journeys, talk about resilience, and consider ways we can thrive amidst our ongoing challenges.
Merging the Personal with the Professional: A Conversation with Mark Bradford
On this episode of the Heartwood Podcast, Dr. Easley sits down with Professor Mark Bradford, a fellow scholar at the Yale School of the Environment. Mark discusses how he, as a white male from Britain specializing in soil and ecosystem sciences, is able to bring issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion into the classroom. Join us as Mark dives deep into his career trajectory and teaching philosophy which merges his lived experiences with his academic profession.
YJBM Preventative Medicine Issue: Interview with Dr. Emma Pierson
To kick off our content following YJBM’s March 2021 Issue on Preventative Medicine, Wes interviews Dr. Emma Pierson. Dr. Pierson is a computationalist and multidisciplinary scientist pairing novel methodologies with equally novel datasets to understand human health disparity and racial and economic inequality. Dr. Pierson is also a repeat contributor to science in the news, writing for outlets such as The New York Times, FiveThirtyEight, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post, among others. Alongside these contributions, Dr. Pierson frequently posts to her personal blog (linked below) and has been recognized in Forbes’ 30 under 30 in Science. While seeking to understand the trajectory and aims of Dr. Pierson’s science and various contributions, our conversation moves across a number of topics. Highlights include a discussion on transitions between research fields, Dr. Pierson’s personal and familial inspirations for studying human health, traits of good scientific mentors, and cross pollination between academia and industry. Although some of her work is described here in brief, its impact can be seen more clearly in the journal articles themselves and the many associated pieces she has written for a general audience. To those who’ve kept up with empirical research on racial inequality in America over the past year, the Open Policing dataset that Dr. Pierson published will undoubtedly ring a bell. For others, it’s a great place to start. Her research has also included social policy recommendations in response to COVID-19 and a large-scale analysis in the historically overlooked area of Women’s health across temporal cycles of varied length. This expansive work fosters a discussion on the immense challenges and successes of data science, as applied to preventative medicine.
Sources and Related Material:
Pierson, E., Simoiu, C., Overgoor, J. et al. A large-scale analysis of racial disparities in police stops across the United States. Nat Hum Behav 4, 736–745 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-0858-1
On the Web: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B58Os2Hb2v__YQ8whdWRULY9mgxxsHoO/view
In a fascinating conversation that ranges from Alice Neel’s politics to her painting practice, we talk with Kelly Baum and Randall Griffey, the co-curators of the current exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and co-editors of the related catalogue, Alice Neel: People Come First. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher
While we often consider questions of who is eligible to vote and how votes are counted, the question of where votes are counted is just as important. In this episode, Professor Nicholas Stephanopoulos joins us to discuss the impact a race-blind baseline would have in racial vote-dilution case. Next, Alaa Chaker and Justin Farmer speak to us about prison malapportionment and their involvement in a federal court case challenging this practice, NAACP v. Merrill.
Marie-Ange Rakotoniaina, a liturgical scholar whose work focuses on early Christianity, discusses how Augustine re-envisioned the Sabbath in a wealth of spiritual imageries with Jake Cunliffe, a Master of Divinity student at Yale Institute of Sacred Music and Yale Divinity School.
Raising Educational Achievement with Earl Martin Phalen YC ’89
Earl Martin Phalen, founder and CEO of Summer Advantage USA and the George and Veronica Phalen Leadership Academies, discusses helping historically under-served students grow as scholars and transforming schools
In a fascinating conversation that ranges from Alice Neel’s politics to her painting practice, we talk with Kelly Baum and Randall Griffey, the co-curators of the current exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and co-editors of the related catalogue, Alice Neel: People Come First. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher