Kennedy School Review (KSR)

Our first episode of 2021! We recorded this episode in the last weeks of 2020 - a year that revealed the best and the worst sides of our country. As we grappled with these 2 dualities, our team wanted to reflect on how we communicate moving forward, and bridge the divides: between accountability and unity, between personal and political ideologies, and between truth, and perceived truth.

Before all the changes regarding the coronavirus pandemic, Super Tuesday reset the Democratic Primary. Fifteen states hold their primaries on this date, and the results always set the tone of the race moving forward. Listening to this episode now will have a different flavor because of all the disruptions coronavirus has caused in our everyday lives. Nonetheless, these conversations among students tell a story about the primary that is still continuing in the background. Tune in to listen as Phoenix, Lucy and Nagela (all members of the podcast team) discuss with other Kennedy School students what Super Tuesday looked like in individual states, perspectives on the different candidates, what’s at stake in the 2020 elections, and ways to move forward from here.

Two of our Kennedy School Review Podcast Team members describe their experiences observing and supporting the Iowa Caucus, discussing what the process was like, what went wrong, and what the role of technology should be in facilitating a more inclusive, participatory model of democracy.

S3E4: (Th)interventions for (Th)inspiration?: Policy Responses to the Rise of Pro-Anorexia Websites by Kennedy School Review (KSR)

Every year dozens of students organise ‘treks’ to their home towns and countries. Entirely voluntary and student led, they plan activities to to initiate their fellow students in the culture, politics and history of the place. Samer Hjouj leads the Palestine trek for the Harvard Kennedy School and Phoenix McLaughlin just led a trek to Maine. What motivates them to put in this hard work over and above their course load? How do they design the itinerary and what do they prioritise? What dilemmas do they face and how do they navigate it? What do they want the students to take away from this experience? Prachi Naik from the KSR Podcast team, also a participant in the Palestine trek, talks to them about all this and more.

What can two small cities in Maine and upstate New York teach us about the national housing crisis? Phoenix and Prachi take the lessons of their field lab course into economically disadvantaged neighborhoods and reflect on how they came to be that way.