Editors' Choice


Harvard’s Taylor Swift Scholar on “The Life of a Showgirl”

For Harvard English professor Stephanie Burt, “The Life of a Showgirl” is not, as it was for me, a confusing, Travis Kelce-themed departure from the artist I’d known and loved most of my life. Rather, Burt says, it’s a retrospective.


This is not a review of PopUp Bagels.

PopUp Bagels, the “not famous but known” bagel shop (whatever the hell that means), boasts the lightning-quick wait times of a Ray Kroc McDonald’s on steroids, serving customers nearly instantly by chucking their orders into brown paper bags.


The Electronic Instrument Design Lab Says Goodbye to Jim MacArthur

Jim MacArthur manages Harvard’s Electronic Instrument Design Lab, fulfilling specific instrumentation requests across departments as what he calls a “short-order engineer.” After 25 years, he’s announced his retirement with a year’s notice, but he doesn’t know if a replacement will be hired.


Scientists and the Face of God

I believed in science, but I also believed in agency. To think of myself as a machine driven by chemical reactions beyond my control felt outrageous. I knew myself to be more than just a body. I wanted to believe that I was also a mind.


The Case for Studying Abroad in Cuba

I remember being afraid of two things as I left Cuba: that the language would leave me and that, as I attempted to convey the last four months to people gnawing at the bit for answers to the questions about this mythical place, I would fail to do the island justice.


Dear Senior Year

I love the life Harvard has given me, not because it’s been perfect, but because it hasn’t been. Freshman year exhilarated me, sophomore year disarmed me, junior year repaired me, and you, senior year, have made me proud.


What’s Next in the Fight for Harvard’s Future?

Lawrence H. Summers, a former Harvard president and Secretary of the Treasury, backs the University’s decision to push back against the Trump administration, explains how the endowment could help weather the storm, and says this crisis will ultimately strengthen higher education.


Luxor Cafe, After Dark

People are crowded around tables, playing cards, Connect 4, Othello, and other games taken from a nearby communal shelf. One wall is decorated with Egyptian hieroglyphics, another with a span of Polaroids.


Planting a Seed

It seems unfair to say I love someone who I never knew completely. It’s hard to understand how it could even be possible. I have no evidence, no explicit reason why I should love him aside from the blood we share and his undeniable part in giving me life. Yet, I do love my dad and I miss the chance I had at being his daughter, blooming in his image.


Contingency

Most predictions are contingents: over a hundred species will go extinct tomorrow; Mexico City will run out of water in the next decade; I will witness climate collapse within my lifetime. All statements about the future, neither inevitable nor impossible.


What If?

In the New York Times’ building in Times Square, there is a front-page story that will never see the light of day. All that was left was the headline: “Madam President: Clinton Defeats Trump In Historic Victory.”


Are We Doing Friendship Wrong?

Alex Chueh wants to turn to anyone anywhere and strike up a conversation. Which is exactly what he’s done — over 1,000 times since 2022.


What I Didn’t Learn From Quitting Coffee For a Week

I sincerely believed this week would lead me to some incredible Reason Why You Need to Quit Coffee Now — you know, one of those things that makes a good headline. At the very least, I figured it would give me something to brag about while the semester took its toll.


Pinching Paper: On Self and Medium

Nothing weighed down dust besides what it symbolized to me.


1-25 of 353
Older ›
Oldest »