Scrutiny
Is the Next JD Vance Sitting in Your Philosophy Seminar?
Ask them, and they might insist that theirs is not so much a political project as is a philosophical one. But this same insistence on deep questions has also informed a rising conservative political movement — the so-called “New Right” — which eschews traditional Republican party politics in favor of more philosophical, and often more radical, views.
Are Whales Trying to Tell Us Something?
Project CETI, an interdisciplinary initiative consisting of over 50 scientists, is working to uncover — and eventually decode — patterns in whale “speech.”
Volume XXXVI, Issue VI
Dear FM, Some of my friends bought two costumes for the double halloweekend. Here at FM, I decided we could do better. That’s why this issue is dressing up the magazine with not three, not four, but nine stylish articles. In our cover story, SJ takes us on a voyage Herman Melville could hardly have dreamt up: a journey to understand the language of whales. Project CETI, a massive interdisciplinary initiative with roots at Harvard, has spent the last four years collecting, processing, and now uncovering hidden linguistic structure in sperm whale clicks. But what would having another species as communicative and intelligent as humans mean for us? SJ guides us through the project and its striking implications with clarity, elegance, and wit. The articles don’t get any less eclectic from there. AAK and ASM experience the “gleeful absurdity” of Harvard’s undergraduate whistling society, the completely unserious club that has also performed at Yardfest. The prolific KJK pens an irreverent ode to Panopto’s 2x speed function. In keeping with the season, MEL and NFLL look back on the “more refined” Halloweens of Harvard’s past. Out in Harvard Square, ASA and NSK chronicle the real-life rom-com that led Rachel Kanter to create Lovestruck Books, an upcoming local bookstore specializing in romance novels. RZN and KEH check in with the Square’s street performers and how they’re navigating the location’s changing character. Back indoors, MRD and CDT get an exclusive look into a day in the life of Harvard’s most paparazzi-shy microcelebrity — a Mouse in Kirkland Dining Hall. CS stops by History 10, a revamped introductory course taught by three department all-stars aiming to showcase how broad a discipline history can be — and reverse declines in humanities concentration numbers. Finally, CJK closes out the issue with a somber and exquisite endpaper on incarceration, the killing of Marcellus Williams, and choosing love. Special shoutout to FM Compers for absolutely killing it — you make our jobs easy. Thanks to SET, LPE, JND, OWZ, XCZ, for color and wonder, and to LLL, BHP, JJG, AYL, for grounding our words. MJH, EJS, and CY have been handling so much, and I’m thankful they shouldered us on top of it all. All FM Execs deserve some thanks too, especially SEW for excellent scroofing (and letting me sneak into Lev library). Finally, I am once again indescribably grateful for KT, whose presence by my side (in Lowell, for countless hours) made all the difference this week. FMLove, HD + KT
Volume XXXVI, Issue V
Dear FM, Lately, I have been getting the Scaries. Sunday scaries, Turkey Shoot scaries, election scaries. This issue, too, is scary — scary late, yes, but also scary good. Are you afraid of the New Right? Are you afraid of conservatives? Should you be? In their scrut, RAD and SS investigate the world of conservatives at Harvard. Though operating often quietly and behind the scenes, couched in Western philosophical theories that appear to be removed from politics, these people and their organizations in fact espouse the very ideas that underlie the modern New Right movement. Through thorough, dogged reporting and research, RAD and SS reveal the implications of this and the effect these intellectual conservatives have on shaping politics. Following this scrut, we have a couple of scary features! MEL and CDT write about the Sea Monsters exhibit in the Museum of Natural History, which reveals the truly terrifying monster of the sea: humans and the environmental destruction they bring. MMH and AAK talk to AnhPhu D. Nguyen ’25-’26 and Caine A. Ardayfio ’25-’26 about the AI sunglasses they created that can recognize people’s faces and provide the wearer with information about complete strangers. (Weird! Creepy!) AWA and CS talk to a MCB professor about the third floor of the BioLabs and whether it is a “Nobel incubator” — or just a regular place in the building. NFLL takes us on her Geocaching journey to Cambridge Cemetery, which, while slightly scary, was also a wholesome autumn adventure around the city. On this transition from scary to wholesome, XSC talked to Michael T. Horvath ’88 and Mark S. Gainey ’90, the founders of Strava, on their decades-long friendship and how the popular fitness-social app came to be. Finally, wrapping up this issue, SG reflects on how her relationship with her hometown, New York, has changed since she came to college — how, in some ways, she had to leave in order to remember what she loves about it. Many thanks are in order for people who have made these times less scary. Thank you SET, LPE, JND, OWZ, and XCZ for a beautiful glossy and for last-minute graphics. Thank you LLL, BHP, JJG, and AYL for stunning portraits — the photos in this issue are chef’s kiss. Thank you MJH, EJS, and CY (extra special shoutout to EJS for thorough scrut help) despite the hell that is shoot. Thank you to FM Execs for keeping this big ol’ thing running! Thank you compers for absolutely eating with the pieces you’ve been writing! We are very impressed by their quality. Finally, thank you, thank you, to HD for enduring shoot and all of FM with me and for being my co-chair better half, even with the struggles of concussion recovery. FMLove, HD & KT
Harvey Mansfield Portrait
Harvey C. Mansfield ’61, former Government professor and an advocate for classical political philosophy, says he has never taught a class on conservatism. “Conservative is a kind of political position, more than it is an intellectual one,” he says.
How Cambridge Is Reimagining Reparations
The radical ideas behind Cambridge’s American Freedmen Commission Ordinance have the potential to reshape reparations and racial justice initiatives around the country.
Volume XXXVI, Issue IV
Dear FM, I’ve heard whispers that it’s spooky season, and for me, spooky season is all about legends. The tale of sleepy hollow (my bedroom). The haunting of Emerson Hall (my upcoming Philosophy midterm). And this week, I’ve been thinking especially about two FM legends — our crown jewels, really — JKW and JL. For our cover story, this dynamic duo tackles Cambridge’s plans for reparations. In December, the American Freedmen Commission Ordinance — a first step toward reparations for slavery — seemed to pass through the Cambridge City Council quietly. But the radical ideas underpinning it have the potential to reshape reparations and racial justice initiatives around the country. You’ll be hard pressed to find scrutiny writers more incisive than JKW and JL, and for good reason — between them, this is their eighth scrut (!!). Elsewhere in the issue, SSL goes on a whirlwind of fifteen questions with Arthur Brooks, the professional French hornist turned conservative policy wonk turned professor of happiness. Did I mention he moved across the Atlantic to be with his now-wife after dating her for a week? In our first comper article of the semester, AWA spends a whole day staking out Annenberg to find out whether fellow freshmen are still open to eating with strangers. Drawing on MMFW’s legendary “Night Shift,” this saga is full of poignant observations, laugh-out-loud lines, and a surprising amount of cucumber. Just in time for midterm season, DRZ and IYG make a Venn Diagram comparing two unfortunate realities of Harvard: taking the T and getting a B. Finally, EMK closes out the issue with a typically-brilliant endpaper. Weaving in Zodiac legends and Bay Area landscapes, she reflects on learning to drive with her father and how her fears intertwine with his fearlessness. Her father, she writes, has big ideas: “the ones that soar and float.” It strikes me that this is not a bad description of EMK’s sentences, too. For every bit of spookiness this week, there is also gratitude: Thank you to SET, LPE, JND, OWZ, and especially XCZ for so many designs and a forthcoming glossy. To LLL, BHP, JJG, AYL, thank you for adding color, always. To MJH, EJS, and CY, thank you for humoring us. So many thanks are due to all FM Execs, especially CJK for checking so many CQs. Finally, an extra-special thanks to KT, for shoot solidarity, so many texts, and shouldering an entire magazine while I was concussed. FMLove, HD & KT
Hanna Stotland Is Not Like Other College Consultants
Stotland's practice, half of which consists of Title IX clients — students expelled from their schools for Title IX violations — raises questions about how misogyny and power determine access to a college education.
Volume XXXVI, Issue III
Dear FM, The conceit of this closeout is YAK. YAK as in one of our beloved EALs. YAK as in yap. YAK as in vomit. YAK as in You Already Know. And you do. YAK WTF is up. Because YAK just dropped an incisive scrut about Hanna L. Stotland ’99 and her work in getting students who have been expelled for Title IX violations back into reputable colleges. It’s another classic YAK slay that challenges the work Stotland does and, with it, the networks of power and misogyny that underlie cultures of sexual violence and pervade even “feminist” spheres. Be warned: Some quotes in here will have you laughing or yakking. Or both. Continuing the YAK slay, YAK conducted a 15Q with the FM-beloved English professor and journalist Michael Pollan. (Do you see why this closeout is YAK-themed now?) It’s a fantastic conversation between two very intelligent people about Pollan’s work on plants, psychedelics, and consciousness — what more could you want? Next, SAL unpacked the mystery of the house aides who lurk among undergrads, who you see in dining halls and think, “Wait? Didn’t you already graduate?” What are these people doing? Read the feature to find out; maybe it’ll inspire some yakkety yak about ways to stay on campus (read: away from the Real Adult World) after graduation. Finally, in this issue’s endpaper, ever-prolific KJK (YAK this is an incredible piece) reflects on passion — what it means to have one, and what it means to be someone who embodies it. Enough yakking from me! Some gratitude is in order. Thank you XCZ, JND, OWZ, SET, LJPE for continued design slays, with special shoutout to JND for the last-minute scrut cover design. Thank you LLL, BHP, JGG, AYL for killing it with photos and getting creative with presenting them on the site. So chef’s kiss. MJH, EJS, and CY, thank you for timely proofing and keeping FM in check despite how we chafe at authority (yeah, some of our pitches are a little out there….) Thank you to all FM execs, especially YAK and JL, for holding down the fort despite miscommunications, mishaps, and mis(sed deadlines). Special shoutout to our compers!!! for comping, with an extra special shoutout to those of you who came to our last writer’s meeting and picked up pieces. We are so excited to have you! And last but not least, HD — nothing like absence to remind you of the value of someone’s presence! Just kidding. Sort of. Thank you for still going through four hours of meetings on Monday. Hope the brain has been rested, the concussion vanquished, and the head helmeted. (I wrote this before I learned the concussion has not been vanquished — wishing you a speedy recovery!) FMLove, HD & KT
Hanna Stotland Courtesy Photo
To these parents, Stotland was “proof of concept,” the redeemed problem child. “My mom — and I’m exaggerating that wording a little bit — but basically, she would say to her friends, ‘Gosh, remember my loser child who was living in the basement? You’ll never guess where she is now.’”
Viral Veritas: How Student Influencers Turn Harvard Into Payouts and Purpose
As more and more students take up the role of ‘Harvard influencer,’ social media success is increasingly shaping their life on campus. Yet student internet stardom still feels like uncharted territory.
William A. Hu Portrait
William A. Hu ’27 poses for a portrait. The sophomore makes content primarily about the video game Valorant.
Volume XXXVI, Issue II
Dear FM, In fifth grade, there was only one thing I really wanted: YouTube stardom. I made dozens upon dozens of Minecraft videos with hopes of online fame and fortune — but my artistic masterpieces rarely cracked 15 views. Little did I know that my dreams would come true, in a way, over a decade later. So get in loser FMLover. This week we’re going viral. In our cover story, KJK and AML take a deep dive into the booming college influencer economy. Leveraging the Harvard brand, a growing crop of students have gained massive platforms on TikTok and Instagram. Yet along with celebrity status and tens of thousands of dollars in brand deals, these students must navigate an unprecedented and sometimes harsh spotlight. This article is just the type of thoughtful-funny-fascinating that makes me grateful to be part of this magazine. Whether, like me, you’ve always wondered what’s going on behind the curtain of virality — or you can’t imagine putting your life on display like that — this is the scrutiny for you. Elsewhere in the issue, VRW visits the Eliot house darkroom, where newly-minted Faculty Dean David Elmer is bringing film photography — and House seminars — back to life. DCB talks to Lauren Scruggs, a senior whose celebrity extends all the way to Paris, where she won gold and silver medals in fencing this past summer. For this week’s 15 Questions, CS Professor Finale Doshi-Velez tells JL all about her work on explainable AI, her forthcoming novel, and how purple unicorns unwittingly became her lab’s mascot. Finally, SAL closes the issue with a meditation on her time stripping — climbing holds, not clothes — at Central Rock Gym in the Square. As usual, there’s lots of gratitude to go around: to my scrut writers, for the brilliance, joy, and care they brought to (many, many hours in) 14p. KJK & AML, you might not have gone viral (yet!), but I’m certain you both have that dog in you. To AEP, thanks for seemingly seamless scroofing — in my book, that’s a triumph. Thanks to JND, OWZ, and especially XCZ for conjuring a last minute John Harvard selfie. Thanks to LLL, BHP, and the rest of Multi for anchoring the scrut with fantastic portraits and superb adminning. Thanks to MJH, EJS, and CY for putting up with suggestion mode, and, as always, thanks to KT for holding FM together and appreciating my memes. FMLove, HD + KT
Volume XXXVI, Issue I
Dear FM, This issue is late. It is worth the wait. I know that’s a cliche. But it’s true; this is no bait. Yes, there is no scrut. But we have an endpaper and a scoop. And, most excitingly, three levities to boot. Writing about a new law school class, CJK takes the time to ask: What does it mean for a plant to be a person? Could this prevent environmental destruction? Next, with the year in full swing once again, we turn to Josh, our dear old friend. He needs to print! Did it work? It didn’t. But never fear, Josh, KJK, EMK, CL, AEP, NHS, and JKW will give you a hint. In a Justice Venn diagram, AEP compares an iconic tween brand to a course in high demand. Donning her Grouchy Funeral Beat alter ego, CES recounts the Cabot fish funeral. It’s funny, slightly harrowing, and just what you need, if you’re craving a really good levity. Finally, pulling this issue to a tender close, AJP reflects on love through her touching prose. With that out the way, it is time for some thanks. XCZ, JND, OWZ, SET, LJPE, without your graphics, this issue would be catastrophic! LLL, BHP, JGG, AYL, the photos you get at a moment’s notice never fail to keep afloat us. MJH, EJS, and CY, with all your advice on this chaotic issue, we owe you one, for sticking it through. All FM execs, especially YAK and JL, the lifeblood of the magazine, you work is appreciated, evergreen. Last but not least, my intrepid co-chair HD, thank you for weathering this issue with me. FMLove, KT + HD
Volume XXXV, Issue X
Dear FM, In a blur of a few months, we have arrived at our last issue for this semester. Yet ironically, our pieces this time aren’t centered on closing doors. Instead, they’re focused on our theme for this special issue: revival. What does it mean for something to be revived? What weight might a revival itself carry? How do we start anew while carrying the vestiges of the past? Our pieces this week poke at some of those questions and more. In a funny yet profound introspection, AXN opens the issue with reflections on how shaving her head in high school taught her what attempts at starting anew are — and aren’t — about. Coming out of FM retirement — a revival in itself! — BWF examines how Disney’s rendition of the “Percy Jackson” series does and doesn’t respond to the ways the original books are more about America and its mythology than Ancient Greece. It is incisive, critical, and will absolutely make your brain gain more wrinkles just from reading it. Classic BWF! Speaking of wrinkly brains, OGP speaks to Zoë K. Hitzig ’15, an economist and prolific poet, about her interests in algorithms, privacy, poetry, and their intersections. Over the course of their conversation, Hitzig explains the “encryption” of academia and poetry, shares her worries about algorithmic control, and reveals her “classically Gen Z” niche microinterest. Writing from Rome but soon to return to FM — yet another revival! — MG blesses us with yet another yearly installment of her reflections on the past year. This time: Dear Junior Year. It is tender and genuine, a story of what it means not to grow from, but around, grief and its cold haze. (Oh, how we’ve missed you, MG, and how we love to hear how amazing your year has been.) Wrapping up our issue is one of our beloved resident creative writers EMK and her beautiful prose. This time, she reflects on translation, what is lost in it, and what a name — and thus a being and a heritage — carry. Profound and poetic, this piece invites you to think about what it means to express the untranslatable — to revive it, perhaps — through one’s life. Some big thank yous are in order for this beautiful issue! THANK YOU SET, LJPE, XCZ, JND, AND OWZ FOR ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL GLOSSY AND BEAUTIFUL DESIGNS! You carry us again and again with this, and it never fails to amaze me. Thank you all especially for your patience with delays and all the little hiccups along the way. Thank you LLL and BHP for the portraits you brought us way before we ended up needing them :’). Thank you MJH, CY, and EJS for proofing despite the boatload of news on your plate. Thank you IYG for taking in stride a piece we assigned to you last minute and for being the diligent and steadfast editor you are. Thank you AEP for so quickly churning out an awesome crossword. Thank you JL and YAK for the editing and emailing and planning help. What would we do without you? Thank you HD for problem-solving and crisis-managing with me this issue (and every issue). Last but certainly not least, THANK YOU ALL FM EXECS IYG, SSL, DRZ, AEP, GRW, STB, AEP, CK, JKW, EKS, JL (the EAL), JL (the inquiry editor), YAK, and SEW for such an amazing first semester! See you all in the fall. FMLove, HD + KT
Universities Acknowledge a Mental Health Crisis. Why Is Action So Complicated?
At the same time as civil rights law demands that universities appropriately accommodate students with disabilities, gaps between laws and their implementation make the process of reform at universities painstaking.
Volume XXXV, Issue IX
Dear FM, In keeping with the housing flexing from last week sans being public enemy #1, I am happy to announce that I will have a Fairfax studio for myself next year. (Next to our beloved MJH as well.) This means I will be doing a lot of cooking. But you know who has been doing the most cooking? That’s right, *the* iconic scrut duo KSG and GRW. Over the course of four months, for our last scrut this semester (!!!), they set out to uncover the whys and hows behind Harvard’s continuously inadequate responses to student mental health issues. Weaving together in-depth historic research, conversations with legal experts, and current events unfolding with the Luke Tang case, they highlight how stigma, the legal system, and questions about responsibility interact to impede efforts at reform. They cooked. They ate. And now you, too, will feast your eyes upon their masterpiece of a scrut. The rest of this issue also ate. We have the slayest of them all, JKW, back again with another killer piece, this time about the Law School library’s most recent exhibit, “Challenging Our Right to Read.” Part-inquiry and part-scoop, she visits the exhibit and speaks to the curators to explore questions about censorship and the politicization of literature. HWD visits the Divinity School’s Death Cafe, a space for open conversation about death and dying, and through the group, reflects on her own journey in navigating secular meaning-making. JL talks to Vera Mironova, a fellow at Harvard’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, who has embedded in various warzones to understand conflict and violence through the lens of the individual. In the spirit of ~questioning~, XSC and CL explore the conversations about CS 124, the notoriously difficult required course for CS concentrators, and the questions it raises about theory-based vs. application-based classes. RAD writes a retrospection on the circular desk in the Law School library, which belonged to Nathan Roscoe Pound, a former dean of the Law School who was criticized for his association with the Nazis during World War II. In her reporting and research, RAD lays out questions about what it means to still have this piece of furniture and to portray history accurately. On a lighter (pun intended) note, SSL and AJM do a deep dive into the blue light system to see how often they’re used, how much they cost, and how students actually feel about them. Red light or green light the blue lights? The jury’s still out. Finally, closing our issue, KJK writes an honest and heartfelt endpaper about the pressure she felt after coming to college to be the “perfect” older sister to her four younger siblings — only to realize that being open about her imperfect life is perhaps what makes her the best role model she can be. Kudos are in order! Thank you as always, XCZ, OWZ, JND, SET, and LJPE, for slaying with designs and helping with glossy distribution. You guys never let us down. Thank you LLL, BHP, JJG, and AYL for always answering my last-minute requests and questions and for always going out of your way to make sure we get our photos. Thank you MJH, CY, and EJS for speedy responses, speedy proofing, and speedy advice. Thank you YAK and JL for, once again, holding down the fort!! Special shoutout to IYG for incredibly dedicated and concise proofing despite the scrut dragging on way past what you agreed to — I’m sorry! We love you! And of course, thank you HD for dealing with hiccups and blips every week with much more composure and distress tolerance than I do. Y’all stay cooking. And eating. FMLove, KT + HD