Notes from Nash

Michael P. Hodges is an expert in Wittgenstein’s philosophy, American Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, and Philosophy of Education. He has taught at Vanderbilt since 1968, with this year marking it his last. We discuss why Hodges signed a petition to have Joe Wyatt resign, the several roles he played at Vanderbilt, and the absurd stories of his time here.

Keivan Stassun holds the position of director at the Vanderbilt Initiative in Data-intensive Astrophysics (VIDA) and serves as a professor of Physics & Astronomy. He also acts as the co-investigator for NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission and has provided expert testimony to the US House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology. Stassun has been honored wi...

Lincoln Murr is a senior at Vanderbilt pursuing his accelerated Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science. With seven years of experience in the blockchain industry, he has published over 250 articles and presented his research at conferences worldwide.  He also founded the Vanderbilt Blockchain and Anchor DAO, the first non-profit decentralized autonomous organization in Tennessee. Curr...

The Vanderbilt Fusion Project, one of the most selective organizations on Vanderbilt’s campus, has successfully developed a miniature nuclear fusion reactor. Representing the project are Catherine Knox, Chief People Officer and team lead for the Advanced Concepts team; Tommy Pennington, the CEO and co-founder of the Fusion Project; and Brayden Edman, the Chief Technology Officer and Head of Contro...

Professor Samar Ali is a research professor and co-chair of the Vanderbilt Project on Unity & American Democracy. She served as a White House Fellow during President Barack Obama’s administration, where she closely collaborated with Homeland Security. Additionally, she worked with former President Jimmy Carter on an international delegation observing the 2012 presidential election in Egypt. Al...

Jon Kaas is a neuroscientist and professor here at Vanderbilt University. He is a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences and is responsible for discovering areas of the brain, such as the middle temporal area (MT) and the dorsomedial area. Professor Kaas has an h-index of 127, making him a very productive researcher on campus. Kaas’s research, in general, has demonstrated the gre...

Sam Sliman is the president of Vanderbilt Student Government, having won the race through a joke campaign. He is also the co-founder of Swipes for a Cause, an organization on campus that collects unused meal swipes from students and donates them to local food banks. Recently, Sam was featured in a New York Times article titled “New York’s Hottest Steakhouse Was a Fake, Until Saturday Night.” The s...

Larry Bartels is an American political scientist and the Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions and Shayne Chair in Public Policy and Social Science here at Vanderbilt University. Bartels has published books such as Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of The New Gilded Age , Democracy for Realists, and Democracy Erodes From The Top . He has both written for The Was...

Dr. Blane Hollingsworth is trained in stochastic differential equations, probability, and Lotka-Volterra equations. He teaches undergraduates calculus and statistics for engineering here at Vanderbilt University. We discuss the nature of mathematics, the toll of constantly thinking like a mathematician, and learning to question our assumptions.

Ismail Kurun is doing a PhD in philosophy here at Vanderbilt. His research focuses on political philosophy and the history of philosophy. Kurun is currently developing a dissertation project on the adverse political effects of the quest for certainty. In our conversation we discuss abstractions, the virtue of epistemic humility, and movies.

Jacob Mchangama is the CEO of the pro free speech think tank Justitia. He is a research professor at Vanderbilt University and a Senior Fellow at The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) in Washington. Mchangama is the author of “Free Speech: A History From Socrates to Social Media.” He frequently writes for the Economist, L.A Times, Washington Post, BBC, CBS news, NPR, and so on...

Dr. Imam Ossama Bahloul is Islamic Center of Nashville’s first resident scholar. He was previously an imam at the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro. Imam Bahloul is a graduate of Al-Azhhar University in Cairo, Egypt where he earned his BA in Islamic Studies and has published his thesis “Critique of Christian Issues” within Will Durant’s “The Story of Civilization” series. Bahloul serves on the Fiqh C...

Katey Parham is a senior here at Vanderbilt University studying public policy and anthropology. She has been a vice president for the Indigenous Scholars Association, student equipment manager & diversity, equity, and inclusivity intern at Vanderbilt Football. Katey has also done an internship for Nike and was a campaign intern for Freddie O’Connell’s successful run for Nashville mayor. She is...

Reverend Brian Fesler is a pastor at the Church of Scientology here in Nashville, Tennessee. He is also a professional banjo player. In this conversation, we discuss the doctrine of Scientology, how it has helped Fesler, and where the organization needs improvement.

Dr. Dan Margalit is a professor of mathematics and the chair of the Department of Mathematics here at Vanderbilt University. Margalit’s research interests lie in low-dimensional topology and geometric group theory. He has received the American Mathematical Society’s L. Conant Prize in 2021, was inducted as a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society in 2019, and was named Sloan Research Fellow i...

Dr. Whiting is a 2021 Palmarium Award recipient and director of graduate studies in the Department of African American & Diaspora Studies at Vanderbilt University. Whiting is responsible for developing the internationally renowned Scholarly Identity Model which is a psycho-social model that helps develop children in the educational sphere in a more robust fashion. A few classes he teaches incl...

Dr. Robert Talisse is an American philosopher and political theorist. He is the chair of the philosophy department and is a political science professor here at Vanderbilt University. He was formerly the editor of the Public Affairs Quarterly journal and contributor of the 3 Quarks Daily blog. At the moment, Talisse is finishing the final book of a three-part series dealing with the moral responsib...

Rishabh Gharekhan is a senior here at Vanderbilt University, majoring in Political Science and minoring in business and economics. Rish has been a research assistant at the Yale University Center for Business and the Environment, research assistant at Global Partnerships Forum, Summer Analyst at Co-Creation Partners, a Student Consultant at Vanderbilt SCNO, a summer business analyst at Chalkline,...

M graduated from the University of Richmond with a Bachelor of Arts in History and received a Master's in Education Administration from the University of South Carolina. M has taught in Austria, Washington, D.C., and Charlotte, and he currently teaches at TMI Episcopal School of San Antonio. Most importantly, M is one of the most fascinating independent thinkers I've ever spoken to. It&#39...

Richard Haglund was educated at Wesleyan University and completed a Ph. D. in experimental nuclear physics in 1975. He was a staff member at the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1976 until joining the faculty of Vanderbilt University in 1984. His research focuses on the interactions of light with quantum materials at ultrashort (a millionth of a billionth of a second) time scales. He teaches gr...

Dr. Lauren Nossett is a novelist and a former professor who holds a Ph. D in German Literature. Her debut novel, The Resemblance , is a campus thriller about the sudden death of a fraternity member and the rat’s nest of a conspiracy that Marlitt Kaplan discovers upon investigating. It’s been described as “elegant and thoughtful” by the New York Times and “impossible to put down” by Paste Magazine....

Pawel Pogorzelksi is a Polish-born Canadian cinematographer who’s best known for his work with Ari Aster on films like Hereditary , Midsommar , and the newly released Beau is Afraid . Mr. Pogorzelski has also served as the cinematographer for films like Fresh , Nobody , and the upcoming Marvel film Blue Beetle . He is currently in Nashville, Tennessee, in production for the upcoming film Holland,...

Professor John Sides is the William R. Kenan Jr. Chair of the political science department. He is an author of Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and The Battle for the Meaning of America, The Gamble: Choice and Chance in the 2012 Election, and Campaigns and Election: Rules, Reality, Strategy, Choice. Professor Sides has published in the American Political Review, American Journal of...

Mr. Gonzales was the 80th United States Attorney General , serving from 2005 to 2007 under the leadership of President George W. Bush. He holds the honor of being the highest ranking hispanic-american in executive government in the history of this country. Prior to being the Attorney General, Mr. Gonzales held the positions of the Secretary of State of Texas, a supreme court justice of Texas, and...

Ari Sasson is currently a third-year undergraduate student here at Vanderbilt University. He has held the position of senator for Vanderbilt Student Government and is currently the Vice President. Ari has also been the secretary of Alpha Epsilon Pi and is currently the president of the fraternity. Ari has been a tutor for over two years, has done intern work with Grant Thornton (Israel's sixth...