It’s time for your questions! Miriam and Kristi respond to listener questions about researching schools during a global pandemic, “good” writing, how long it takes to read a file, and more (with a shout-out to Malcolm Gladwell along the way).
Ep. 37 – Monica Gagliano on plant intelligence and human imagination
Are plants intelligent? Can they think? Can they hear, see, feel, smell and taste? Throughout history, most Western philosophers and scientists answered those questions with a resounding “no.” Plants have long been treated as passive, inanimate objects that form the backdrop to our active lives, rather than highly sensitive organisms with intelligence and agency of their own. But on the cutting edge of modern science, this orthodoxy is being questioned by a group of daring and imaginative scientists — including our guest, Monica Gagliano — who think that plants are radically more sophisticated and sensitive than we’ve been giving them credit for. Gagliano pioneered the field of “plant bioacoustics,” the study of sounds produced by and affecting plants. The results of her groundbreaking experiments suggest that plants may perceive, solve problems, remember, and learn via mechanisms that differ from our own. In this episode, we speak with Gagliano about the profound implications of her discoveries and how listening to plants changed her understanding of the world.
How do animals use their skin? Why can their skin be so weird? And why can lizards regrow their tails? Learn the answers to these questions and more in this episode of the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine Podcast, where hosts Elizabeth Nand, Kelsie Cassell, Carrie Ann Davison, and Devon Wasche discuss the skin of non-human animals. This episode of the YJBM Podcast is part of our series related to the March 2020 YJBM issue on skin. Visit medicine.yale.edu/yjbm for more information on YJBM and the YJBM Podcast.
Sue Biniaz: The Future of International Climate Cooperation
Sue Biniaz, a lecturer at Yale Law School and former lead climate lawyer for the U.S. State Department, joins Jhena Vigrass (YSE ’22) and Charles Harper (YSE ’22) to discuss what might lie in store for the Paris Agreement and international climate cooperation after the U.S. election in November.
Engaging Communities Through Art with Hannah Jacobson Blumenfeld
Hannah Jacobson Blumenfeld, a consultant for a variety of creative and community-based organizations, including Creative Forces: National Endowment for the Arts Military Healing Arts Network, Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, and Serve Your City, discusses how art can be used to create public good and build community partnership.
Tatiana Schlossberg: The Hidden Impacts of our Consumption
Tatiana Schlossberg, an award-winning journalist and author of Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don’t Know You Have, joins Jhena Vigrass (YSE ’22) and Charles Harper (YSE ’22) to talk about individual consumption and action on climate change.
Nkonye Iwerebon (Columbia Law School) joins Miriam and Kristi to dig into addenda, character and fitness issues, contacting admissions offices, and all things judgment related. Good judgment is a key to every application and this episode will talk about the good, the bad and the ugly.
Founders Day: Building a stronger and more inclusive Yale
To commemorate Founders Day, President Peter Salovey discusses Yale’s responsibility to lead the change needed in society through education, scholarship, research, preservation, and practice. He is joined by the co-chairs of the President’s Committee on Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging: Kimberly Goff-Crews, university secretary and vice president for university life, and Gary Desir, vice provost for faculty development and diversity, Paul B. Beeson Professor of Medicine, and chair of the Department of Internal Medicine.
Applicants to Yale who have highly-developed artistic talents or experience with advanced STEM research have the option to include supplementary material with their application. Admissions Officer John joins Hannah and Mark to discuss Yale’s evaluation process for these submissions. Although most successful applicants do not submit supplementary materials, the officers share how evaluators rate submissions and who can benefit from including an arts or STEM supplement with the application.
Composers Reflect on Their Work: Ep. 4: A New Arrangement of the Brahms Requiem
Conductor David Hill talks to composer Iain Farrington, who has made an arrangement of the Brahms Requiem for chamber orchestra. We will hear a movement from the work as performed by Yale Schola Cantorum in a recording on the Hyperion Label.