Crimson staff writer

Scott P. Mahon

Scott P. Mahon is the Magazine Editor-at-Large for the 148th Guard. He can be reached at scott.mahon@thecrimson.com.

Latest Content


The Endless Cycle of Nostalgia

On the first day of freshman year, I printed out and hung up an Andy Bernard quote from “The Office” that read: “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.”


A Day on the Bridge

While preparing to write this piece, I brought a friend, two breakfast sandwiches from Black Sheep Bagels, and a couple of blankets to the Weeks Bridge on a November afternoon. Our only goal was to watch.


36 Questions That Lead to Admission

Admissions interview questions can be notoriously absurd. We've compiled 36 here — 18 of which are real questions current Harvard students say they were asked during their admissions interviews for several elite colleges. Can you guess which ones?


Papanek’s Projection Model

Several reasons could explain the Browns’ recent success: the acquisition of star players from trades, a string of draft picks that paid off, or new coaching staff. Ella S. Papanek ’21, however, adds another possible explanation: a player projection model she helped create that anticipates NFL players’ career production.


Olivia K. Bryant

The pandemic sent the “aggressively British” Olivia K. Bryant back home to her family in Canterbury — and far from her life at Harvard. “I feel like I could completely go off the radar,” she says.


Another Vampire, Please

This wasn’t how I expected to spend my 21st birthday. But it was October, and given the lockdowns, pickings for a venue were slim. I’ve never been good at making decisions, and I certainly wasn’t going to start now — so I searched “restaurants near me” on Google and chose the closest one. My friends and I loaded into the car and drove off into the night. We got on I-195 and pulled up to our destination. Masks covering our faces, we entered Applebee’s.


Professor Elizabeth Bartholet's Call for a Presumptive Ban on Homeschooling

Elizabeth Bartholet, a Harvard Law School professor, recently published a letter calling for stricter regulations on homeschooling, sparking a debate about issues ranging from government intervention in schooling to Harvard elitism.


Advice to Josh: Quarantine

With a limited amount of things to do in quarantine, FM is coming back from its six-year hiatus to provide advice to our eternal and anonymous freshman, Josh. We’ve asked FM writers to help Josh come up with some new ideas to help pass his time in quarantine. Josh didn’t even ask for FM’s advice — so you can be the judge of who’s really crying for help here. Anyway, here are their expert answers.


The Virtual Experience

Without the ability to experience campus, the class of 2024 must now make a college decision based predominantly on online resources, of which some students are wary because they are provided by colleges themselves.