Free Food For Thought

"The middle class is shrinking -- we need to expand it. So that means we have to lift those on the lowest end." - Marianne Haver Hill on Free Food for Thought Shivani and Skip sit down with Marianne Haver Hill, executive director of Propel LA, to chat about her work with MEND, the volunteer model, and the implementation of Propel LA.

“Make sure your education is opening your mind to new ways of thinking about things and that you will get a chance to be with people who oppose your values and the ways you think about things. I really do think that progress in this country will come from getting together because we are so polarized right now.“ - Susannah Wellford on Free Food for Thought Melanie and Shivani sit down with Susannah...

Amal Kassir on U.S. intervention in Syria: “Politics is exhausting. The United States’s responsibility, and I’m not talking about the leaders so much I am the people … our responsibility is to take care of the refugees and help the humanitarian situation. That’s someone who has lost hope; that’s my solution.” - Amal Kassir on Free Food for Thought Will Frankel and Shivani Pandya sit down with poet...

“I do think there is a line [in free speech]. The line should not be 'I disagree with what you’re saying.' The line should not be 'what you’re saying is disrespectful.' The line should not be 'what you’re saying is obnoxious, or even offensive.' But I do think there is a line when someone becomes dangerous. And in that regard, you have to say, 'I don’t think that it’s responsible to present this p...

[Ken and I are] talking about doing a history of crime and punishment in America -- it would go back to before the pilgrims came here, people coming here enslaved, [and ask] what are our notions of what is a crime? What is the proper punishment? What is the role of the criminal justice system? How has it evolved? We’re in a very bad place right now, and we have been for a very long time, and we ha...

“As a thought experiment, if I was in charge, I would create incentives for experimenting and for making mistakes. Because it turns out that every time that I made a mistake, I learned something! … But how can we get to a point where you are rewarded for taking the chances, for getting out of your comfort zone?” Professor Steve Kotkin on Free Food for Thought Shivani Pandya and Nick Sage sit down...

"To me success is waking up and feeling that you’re contributing to enlightening society--and that may be through the science I’m doing, it might be through the history I’m doing, it might just be through talking to people like I am here." Lee Dugatkin on Free Food for Thought Nick and Connor sat down with Professor Dugatkin to discuss how his life and career built up to his new book, How to Tame...

"I don’t think we’re necessarily destined to have a democracy, I think it’s something we have to fight for." Professor Michael Klarman on Free Food for Thought Melissa and Melanie sit down with Professor Michael Klarman to discuss the role constitutional law played in the nation's founding and continues to play in politics today.

"I think we need to recognize that there are all sorts of things that might condition students bringing different levels of comfort to the classroom. Not just gender, but things like educational background, class background, racial background, that all of these things just inflect what it means to move through the world, like on every level in contemporary America." Leslie Jamison on Free Food for...

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Kate Ridenour and Nick Sage sit down with Dave Rubin, creator and host of The Rubin Report, to chat about free speech, burgeoning media, and classic liberalism.

“People would say, ‘oh you’re crazy, no one can win.’ I say, ‘look, simple. If I have a choice of being hopeless like you or delusional, I’ll take delusional all day long. You can be hopeless, but I’m going to charge up this hill.” Neel Kashkari, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and author of the 2008 TARP bank bailout, sits down with Zach and Melissa to discuss his role at the...

“Ultimately when you are overseas you are dealing with people, and you’re trying to figure out what is it that lets them become human to you and what is it about you that allows you to become human to them.” Former U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter sits down with Zach and Shiv to discuss track-two diplomacy, cultural immersion, and his thoughts on success. Biography : Cameron Munter is Pr...

“Sometimes lawyers confuse what they think is moral versus what the law says, and those are different things.” Professor John Yoo, a deputy assistant attorney general in Bush’s first term, sat down with Kate and Skip to discuss his path to law school, clerking at the Supreme Court, and his role in the torture and war powers legal debate. Biography: John Yoo is the Emanuel Heller Professor of Law a...

“In a liberal democracy like ours, I think there is such a thing as freedom from politics.” National Review Senior Editor Jay Nordlinger sat down with Zach and Bryn last week to discuss his "night job" as an music reviewer, new book on the children of dictators, and the role of politics and party affiliation in daily life. Biography: Jay Nordlinger is a senior editor at National Review and writes...

“The same fear and trepidation I saw in South Africa amongst the whites I see here.” | Timothy Wright '77 on Trump and contemporary America. Wright, a CMC alum and lawyer, sat down with Zach and Melissa to discuss his path to CMC, time in South Africa, and insights about success. Biography: Since his time at Claremont McKenna College, where he played varsity football for four years, and graduated...

“I would also dart and anesthetize my baboons using blow gun systems, and there's a bunch of people in DC where I would love to put a big hefty dart in their rears, and maybe put in some ear tags and find out what's going on with their hormone levels.” | Professor Robert Sapolsky, biologist and neuroscientist, on the natural processes behind today’s decision-makers. Sapolsky sat down with Shiv and...

“The kind of climate that is being created in our country right now, I think, is going to negatively affect in terms of people coming forward and reporting those [human trafficking-related] crimes.” Skip and Zach sat down Maria Trujillo, CMC alumna and Human Trafficking Program Manager at the Colorado Department of Public Safety, about her experiences abroad and the fight against human trafficking...

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Election Reflection: CMC's Professor Jack Pitney sat down with Kate and Zach on November 7 to discuss the following day's election, his predictions, and teaching politics in today's political climate. Biography: Professor Pitney is the Roy P. Crocker Professor of American History and Politics at Claremont McKenna College, where he teaches courses on Congress, interest groups, political parties, an...

“Art and business are central to democracy. What does that mean?” Author, artist, and entrepreneur Amy Whitaker sat down with Zach and Jackie to talk about the intersections of art, life, creativity, and democracy. Biography: Amy Whitaker is an author, artist, and entrepreneur who is currently an assistant professor of Visual Arts Management at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Hu...

“The polling industry is one of the most collegial. Like everything to do with 2016, there were conspiracy theories galore, and I can tell you because I know all these people, they were just trying their best to get things right. The idea that they were spinning the results to try to hurt or help a candidate is just ludicrous.” Polling expert Larry Rosin sits down with Wes and Skip to discuss the...

“When [one guy we tested] got these results he literally started crying. He said, “Now I know why I feel connected to these different groups. It really gives me a sense of belonging.’” Spencer Wells, population geneticist and former explorer in residence for National Geographic, wants to create an app for people to discover their genetic makeup. Hear Wells’ thoughts on DNA sequencing, his Emmy awa...

Amnesty International’s Adotei Akwei sat down with Melissa and Shiv to discuss making human rights about human beings, the power of “click activism,” and his life path. Biography: Adotei Akwei is managing director of government relations for Amnesty International USA. Since 1988, he has worked with a focus on human rights and U.S. foreign policy toward Africa, working at CARE USA, the Lawyers Comm...