Comparative Media Studies/Writing

Prof. Sherry Turkle speaks with Dave Davies of Fresh Air about her new book and how her childhood experiences helped shape her work.

Prof. Sherry Turkle’s new book, “The Empathy Diaries,” is a “beautiful book,” writes Dwight Garner for The New York Times. “It has gravity and grace; it’s as inexorable as a fable; it drills down into the things that make a life; it works to make sense of existence on both its coded and transparent levels; it feels like an instant classic of the genre.”

Prof. Sherry Turkle speaks with Wired reporter Arielle Pardes about her new memoir, “The Empathy Diaries,” her views on screen time during the pandemic and finding connections during a time of physical distancing. “When people have great intent, and great desire, and full attention to turn this medium into something extraordinary, they can,” says Turkle of the internet. “The trouble is, we’re more likely to use it to make some money, to scrape some data, to turn it into something other than its highest form.”

Writing for Inside Higher Ed, Joshua Kim spotlights Prof Justin Reich’s new book, “Failure to Disrupt: Why Technology Alone Can’t Transform Education.” Kim writes, “‘Failure to Disrupt’ is an argument for educational tinkering over radical disruption. Reich sees potential in scaled online learning to benefit some learners in some circumstances.”

Writing for The Washington Post, Prof. Alan Lightman notes the importance of movie theaters and the need to ensure they survive the Covid-19 pandemic. “Although movies will undoubtedly still be made and streamed into private homes, if theaters do not survive, something irreplaceable will have been lost,” writes Lightman. “We are social creatures. No matter how comfortable our living rooms and sophisticated our technology, we need community, we need physical contact with one another.”

Prof. Justin Reich speaks with NPR’s Anya Kamenetz about digital teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic and how children and teachers are adjusting to the new experience. "There's [approximately] 10% of people for whom it works better," Reich says. And for these students, "this is actually a better version of school."

Forbes contributor Derek Newton writes about Prof. Justin Reich’s new book, “Failure to Disrupt,” noting that the book is a “must-read for the education-invested as well as the education-interested.”

Financial Times reporter John Plender spotlights Prof. Thomas Levenson’s new book, “Money for Nothing.” Plender writes that, “Levenson provides a vivid account of the development of share trading in the coffee shops of Exchange Alley in the City, with fascinating asides such as Newton’s extraordinarily modern management techniques when running the Royal Mint.” 

In an excerpt from his new book published by The Atlantic, Prof. Thomas Levenson explores how even famed scientists such as Sir Isaac Newton are not immune to making disastrous financial decisions. “When financial markets offer the temptation of ever-rising values, not even the smartest people can resist,” writes Levenson.

In his new book “Money for Nothing,” Prof. Thomas Levenson “interweaves the story of the rise of mathematics and astronomy with the rise of bankers and actuaries and stock promoters,” writes James Grant in a review for the Wall Street Journal.

Washington Post contributor Anna Leahy spotlights Prof. Sasha Costanza-Chock’s book, “Design Justice.” Leahy notes that in the book, Costanza-Chock, “encourages a bolder approach that calls for the world to be redesigned based on an expansive view of people’s bodies and cognitive abilities.”

A report by researchers from MIT and Harvard outlines a framework for improving education during the Covid-19 pandemic, reports Paul Darvasi for KQED. “It's more likely that if young people feel like they have voice and ownership and are part of the process of reopening and recreating schools, that they will be more likely to be excited to participate in them,” says Prof. Justin Reich.

A new report by MIT and Harvard researchers outlines a set of strategies for improving schooling during the Covid-19 pandemic, including focusing on core lessons, sparking joy and strengthening bonds between teachers and students, reports Naomi Martin for The Boston Globe.

Prof. Fox Harrell speaks with New York Times reporter Joshua Rothkopf about the educational potential of deepfake technology. “To have the savvy to negotiate a political media landscape where a video could potentially be a deepfake, or a legitimate video could be called a deepfake, I think those are cases people need to be aware of,” says Harrell.

Prof. Nick Montfort speaks with Vice reporter Daniel Oberhaus about Synchrony, a demoparty he founded that allows computer programmers to showcase their artistic inventions. “One of the things I really like about the demoscene is that we don't really have a tradition of it in North America,” says Montfort. “That means we have the opportunity to make something up, something that's inviting, diverse, and different.”