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 Wellford, founder of Running Start, to talk about reaching across the ideological aisle and empowering young women both inside and outside of the classroom.

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 and activist Amal Kassir to talk about Syria, the power of art, and what it means to be American. Edited by: Michael Waters

[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 have to try to figure out how we got here so we can get out of it.” Lynn Novick on Free Food for Thought Skip and Shivani sit down with director and producer Lynn Novick to discuss her upcoming projects on Lyndon B. Johnson and crime and punishment in America.

“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 person with a forum.'" Professor Jelani Cobb on Free Food for Thought Shivani Pandya and Skip Wiltshire-Gordon sit down with Professor Jelani Cobb to discuss to contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King and free speech on college campuses.

“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 with Professor Steve Kotkin to discuss higher education incentives in pursuing intellectual experimentation.

Professor Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less, sits down with Wesley Whitaker and Shivani Pandya to discuss morality, decision-making, and the complex relationships between science and society.

"You [must] go out of your zones--you have people demanding things you don’t have, so you have to go out with people, to be with them, to belong to them, to understand them, and to help them, so it was a different role." -Valentino Deng on Free Food for Thought Kate and Melanie sit down with South Sudanese education activist Valentino Deng to discuss his relationship with his home country and his approach toward education reform.

"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 a Fox (and Build a Dog). The conversation ranged from the history of science to the role of behavior in genetics research to his own scientific experiments in Siberia!

"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 Thought Shivani and Shiv sit down with novelist and essayist Leslie Jamison to talk about her take on personal narratives, teaching, and empathy in the writing process.

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 Treasury Department in 2008, what drives him towards public service, and reflections on his unsuccessful 2014 gubernatorial campaign. ========Preview======= Kashkari on how he gained responsibility as a staffer in the Treasury Department: “But that’s how I proved myself to (Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson). I did a good job; I earned his respect and his trust. And then I got more responsibility. So the lesson from it is do your best in whatever is given to you. Deliver, and the people who you’re working for will see that and say “wow this person delivered. I’m going to give this person more responsibility…

“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 President and CEO of the EastWest Institute (EWI) in New York. Ambassador Munter served as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer for nearly three decades in some of the most conflict-ridden areas of the globe. He was Ambassador to Pakistan (2010-2012) guiding U.S.-Pakistani relations through a period of crisis, including the operation against Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad. He was Ambassador to Serbia (2007-2009), where he negotiated Serbia domestic consensus for European integration while managing the Kosovo independence crisis. He served twice in Iraq, leading the first Provincial Reconstruction Team in Mosul in 2006 and

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, and mass media. A leading expert on the structure and practice of American politics, Pitney is a widely published author or co-author of six books on American politics. Before he was a professor at Claremont McKenna, Professor Pitney was the acting director for the Research Department of the Republican National Committee and a Senior Domestic Policy Analyst for the U.S. House Republican Research Committee, among other important appointments.

“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 at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has been on the faculty since 1993. Yoo received his B.A., summa cum laude, in American history from Harvard University. He received his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he worked at the Yale Law Journal. Professor Yoo clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals of the D.C. Circuit. From 2001 to 2003, he served as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked on issues involving foreign affairs, national securi

“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 about topics ranging from politics to human rights to the arts. Originally from Michigan, Nordlinger attended the University of Michigan before relocating to New York. In addition to his journalism experience, Mr. Nordlinger hosts the Need to Know podcast and has written multiple books. Quote Preview: “I think you’re allowed to be an individual, and vote for the candidates of your choice, [and] argue for whatever position strikes you as best. You don’t need to be a member of a party. I must say I liked being a member of a party.” (2:30) “Journalism gives you a license to be nosy and to act on your nosiness.

“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 Wes to discuss his path to neuroscience, human compassion, and effective strategies for talking about science in political and social terms. Biography: One of the preeminent neurobiologists in the world, Robert Sapolsky is a professor at Stanford University where he holds joint appointments in the Biological Sciences, Neurology & Neurological Sciences, and Neurosurgery departments. After being raised in Brooklyn, he graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University with a Bachelors in Biological Anthropology and later went on to get his PhD from Rockefeller University in Neuroendocrinology. He is the recipient

“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 in 1977 with a dual degree in Economics and Political Science, Timothy has been exceptional. At the UCLA School of Law, he became the first African American Chief Justice of the UCLA Moot Court Honors program and was chosen to deliver the commencement address at the 1983 UCLA Law School graduation. At some point in his long career, Timothy worked in every branch of the United States government and worked for Presidents H.W. Bush, Clinton, and W. Bush. In addition to his work domestically, he also served as a legal participant on the U.N. Council for Namibia and was an international election monitor for South Afr

"I think opiates elected Donald Trump," opines award-winning journalist Sam Quinones (22:40). Sam chatted with Skip and Kate, covering his career path in journalism, the opioid epidemic, Trump’s election and presidency, and border security. Biography: Sam Quinones is a Los Angeles-based freelance journalist and author of three books of narrative nonfiction. His latest book is Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic. Dreamland was selected as one of the Best Books of 2015 by publications including the Seattle Times, Boston Globe, and St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Before writing Dreamland, Quinones was a reporter with the L.A. Times from 2004-2014 focusing on immigration, gangs, drug trafficking, and the border. Quote preview: “One day I find a series of stories over six months of people dying of black tar heroin in the town of Huntington, WV. That pushed a number of buttons. First of all, black tar heroin is only made in Mexico, and it...doesn’t cross the Mississippi river…[West Virginia] has the