As they begin putting together college applications, high school seniors around the world will encounter unforeseen issues that can provoke concern and anxiety. Hannah, Mark, and Jill answer some of the most frequently asked questions from seniors, including questions that stem from situations that may seem unusual or unfortunate. The admissions officers explain how the committee considers extenuating or unique circumstances and why those circumstances will not hurt a student’s chances of admission.
From tiny cowries to giant clams, seashells have gripped human imaginations since time immemorial. In her magnificent new book, The Sound of the Sea, journalist Cynthia Barnett tells the epic history of humanity’s interactions with shells and the soft-bodied animals who make them. These stories of how we have treasured, traded, plundered, and coveted shells reveal much about who we are and who we’ve been, both good and bad. Barnett’s deep research ranges from the awe-inspiring “great cities of shell” of the Calusa people in Florida, to the use of cowrie shells as currency in the Atlantic slave trade, to the decimation of mollusk populations due to climate change and over-harvesting. In this episode, we speak with Barnett about what she describes as our “world of shell,” what shells can tell us about our past, how they have shaped our present, and how the future of shells and their animal makers is tied to our own.
James Mwangi is the Executive Director of the Dalberg Group, a global collection of impact-driven businesses that work to build a more inclusive and sustainable world where all people, everywhere, can reach their fullest potential. James joined Dalberg as a founding member in 2002, started Dalberg’s first Africa office (Johannesburg) in 2007, and subsequently served as Global Managing Partner of Dalberg’s consulting business, guiding the formalization of its structure and governance as a global firm.
Since 2014, James has served as Executive Director of the Dalberg Group, supporting the growth of new businesses and coordinating the efforts of all Dalberg entities in pursuit of a shared mission. He has led the acquisition or incubation of several integral elements of the Dalberg Group which today operates from locations in more than 25 countries around the world, employing over 500 professionals. He currently serves on the boards of the Skoll Foundation, One Acre Fund and the Global Centre for Pluralism among others.
Orr Hirschauge is a journalist and news executive. He currently works as Chief Digital Officer at Israel’s largest daily newspaper, Israel Hayom. He was the first Israeli to join The Wall Street Journal as a technology staff reporter and the first executive editor of CTech, a now well-established Israeli English-language technology news site. His work on the juxtaposition of surveillance technologies and regional geopolitics is cited in policy papers and best-selling books.
In 2016, Orr led an investigative project resulting in a series of reports on Israel’s use of predictive algorithms to stop terror attacks. He reported extensively on the growing footprint of China-based entities in Israeli tech and on Israeli export of surveillance technologies and spy services, both now subjects of intense policy debates and media coverage. Orr’s bylines appear in WSJ, NPR, Haaretz, and China’s Caixin, among other outlets.
Nora Al-Jindi is a passionate educator with over a decade of experience in the field of business academia. She is an advocate for the integration of technology in education to better prepare graduates when joining the workforce. She is currently the Marketing Program Chair at Dar Al-Hekma University in Saudi Arabia.
In her efforts to bridge the gap between theory and practice, she interacts closely with the Business Community to promote the practical side of marketing, allowing students to apply studied theoretical concepts. Through her work as the X-Culture Regional Executive Director, she pioneered the way for Saudi universities to join the X-Culture platform and engage students in virtual global teams.
Srikumar Misra is an entrepreneur who founded Milk Mantra, a responsible new age dairy foods business in India that is redefining how systems thinking and technology can transform the agri-foods value chain and also impact the lives of millions via ethical sourcing. Milk Mantra has received several global awards for its path breaking work in innovation & impactful capitalism, and Srikumar’s work has been consistently covered in several case studies in global business schools and has also featured extensively in media – Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Forbes, Fortune, Economic Times, and Financial Times. His work has significantly influenced the narrative of conscious business, especially building purposeful startups in India that balance purpose with profit, and has won several awards including being a laureate of the prestigious McNulty Prize, and Fast Company’s most innovative companies in Asia Pacific.
Srikumar has also worked closely in shaping policy outcomes in several forums with the Indian government’s highest policy formulating body, including consultations with the Prime Minister of India. He is also part of a select public-private partnership group, leading architecting a blockchain platform for the agri-food value chain in India. He is also a fellow of the Aspen Institute. In his previous corporate life, Srikumar has worked in London & South Africa as part of the elite Tata Administrative Service of the Tata Group. A mechanical engineering graduate and a MBA, Srikumar has a keen interest in the emerging convergence field of artificial intelligence & decentralized finance, and has recently also completed post grad studies in AI & Machine Learning.
Laura Alonso has an extensive and unique cross-sector career promoting democracy, transparency, and citizen participation. She has previously held positions as Head of the Anti-corruption Office in Argentina, twice elected member of the National Congress, and CEO of the domestic chapter of Transparency International. Because of her leadership in integrity and anti-corruption policies, Argentina reached its highest score in the Index of Transparency International in 2020.
Laura co-chaired the G20 Anti-corruption Working Group, and she was chief of the official delegation to the OECD Anti-Bribery Working Group. She has been a British Chevening Scholar, an Eisenhower Fellow, a Draper Hills Fellow at Stanford University, and most recently a Regan-Fascell Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy. She became a WEF Young Global Leader in 2012, and she received a global award from Vital Voices in 2008. In 2020, she was portrayed in the book “Vital Voices: 100 Women Using their Power to Empower.” In 2015, she published a book called “Circo Kirchner” and since October 2020 has been writing a weekly newsletter called “Mi Lado B” and a book manuscript about her crossover experience from civil society into electoral politics and policymaking. With hundreds of thousands of Twitter and Facebook followers, she continues to influence the political landscape.
Muthanna Khriesat is Chief Operating Officer of Questscope, an international non-governmental organization committed to social development through youth empowerment in the Middle East and North Africa region. Muthanna oversees institutional partnerships locally in Jordan, regionally in MENA, and internationally. In Jordan he guides collaboration with the Ministries of Education and Social Development and the Department of Public Security. He is responsible for strategic planning and development of technological and financial infrastructure, with special emphasis on cooperation with UN, EU, and US agencies for initiatives with Syrian refugees and vulnerable Jordan youth.
Muthanna holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the Princess Sumaya University of Technology in Amman, Jordan.
Elinda Labropoulou is an award-winning multi-platform storyteller. She is an internationally published writer, senior broadcaster, and presenter with extensive reporting from global hotspots for leading media including CNN, The Washington Post, BBC, Al Jazeera, and Deutsche Welle. Working for CNN out of Greece, she has produced, directed, and presented news and analysis on the country’s financial crisis, the rise of political extremism, and the ongoing global refugee crisis.
Her extensive research and multifaceted storytelling are visible in diverse projects including the Washington Post’s A New Age of Walls, which won the US National Press Foundation’s 2017 Innovation Award. In 2020 she produced Life in a Camp, a pioneering CNN-Imperial War Museum immersive experience on display at the London museum. A multilingual commentator, she has given numerous lectures on the role of international media in crisis coverage.