Tell Me More

In a Tell Me More podcast episode, explorers plumb the depths to better know our watery planet, from sea-level rise to shipwrecks to giant squid

In a Tell Me More podcast, experts predict that tomorrow's meals will marry familiar favorites with radically new ingredients.

A Tell Me More podcast shares stories about choosing what's worth holding onto, from Dad's books to old home movies to endangered animals

From people to fine wine to TV shows, a Tell Me More podcast explores the good and bad of changing over time.

In a Tell Me More podcast, Tufts experts explore the nature of attention, from the trouble with multitasking to the cost of sometimes staying too focused.

Tufts experts talk about the wonders of renewal, from animals that regrow body parts to people who rise from tragedy.

A Buddhist monk, a long-distance hiker, and other seclusion-seekers give advice for getting by in times of isolation.

Former Attorney General of the United States Eric Holder talks about being smart on crime, making life and death decisions, and what the average person can do to make our nation a little bit better.

Mary Otto, journalist and author of "Teeth: The Story of Beauty, Inequality and the Struggle for Oral Health in America," speaks about the struggles and barriers that Medicaid and uninsured patients face to receive necessary oral healthcare.

Chef and humanitarian José Andrés’ talks food stamps, chowder recipes, and how he fed a devastated island. Andrés is an internationally recognized culinary innovator, New York Times best-selling author, educator, humanitarian, and chef/owner of ThinkFoodGroup.

How much credit should political advisor Karl Rove get for Donald Trump’s White House win? In 2016, Rove — the man who helped architect George W. Bush’s successful gubernatorial and presidential campaigns — gave candidate Trump a lesson on how he did it. In this episode, Rove, who served as Bush’s senior advisor and deputy chief of staff, also talks about how the Republican Party has changed since his time in the White House — and what kind of Democrat could beat Donald Trump in 2020.

Now a candidate for the Republican nomination for president, the former Massachusetts governor visited Tufts recently as a participant in a Presidential Town Hall hosted by the Tisch College of Civic Life. In this episode, he talks about his stance on immigration and impeachment and his plan to win the nomination.

Tufts students have a wide-ranging conversation with Justice Sotomayor as she addresses a crowd of almost 3,000 at the university in September, sharing a variety of advice and insights about the need for diversity of life experiences on the Court, the power of confidence, and the importance of listening to others, even if we don’t agree with them.

From 2013 to 2019, Beto O’Rourke represented the 16th Congressionaldistrict of Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives. In March 2017, he launched a historic campaign to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate. Running the largest grassroots campaign the state had ever seen, O’Rourke ultimately received more votes than any democrat in Texas history. Now a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president, O’Rourke visited Tufts recently, as a participant in a Presidential Town Hall hosted by the Tisch College of Civic Life.

Tufts undergraduate George Behrakis interviews Will Hurd, a Republican Texas Congressman leaving the House of Representatives next year, about his now-famous livestreamed road trip with fellow Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke, the lessons Hurd learned from his experiences in the CIA, and his decision not to seek reelection in 2020.

What’s it like to be a conflict photographer who travels the globe—often in harm’s way—to record the strife and turbulence of our times? In this episode, Tufts alumna Nichole Sobecki — an award-winning photographer and filmmaker based in Kenya — shares stories of her work.

Blumenthal, A02, talks about how he bakes social activism into his eyeglass business—and listens to his customers.

Engineers Without Borders leader Catherine Leslie tells a Tufts podcast about the thousands of students and professionals who volunteer worldwide to build everything from water systems to energy projects.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Juan Manuel Santos tells a Tufts podcast how he fought the odds to create peace in his native Colombia after more than fifty years of war.

In this episode of Tell Me More, Farah Pandith—an alumna of Tufts’ Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy—talks with Bhaskar Chakravorti, dean of global business at The Fletcher School, about the fight against extremism—and the role we all must play to ensure a more peaceful future.

Recreational cannabis with mind-altering levels of THC is now legal in 10 states. Many more states allow sales of CBD, a chemical from cannabis that won’t get you high, but is claimed to have myriad health benefits. Yet big questions remain: How safe is cannabis? How should it be regulated? And who gets to profit from its sale? In this episode, plant chemist John de la Parra and attorney Ernest Anemone delve into those questions.

About 100 years ago, there were less than five puffins left in all of Maine. But now, thanks to the conservationists, the Atlantic puffin is making a comeback on a few islands. And they’re becoming a model for how people can help other species on the brink. Journalist Derrick Jackson, an Environmental Writing Fellow at the Union of Concerned Scientists, has been following the story for decades. Here, he talks about what it takes to bring an animal back from local extinction, the sometimes sticky ethics of conservation, and what it’s like to be an environmental reporter in today’s changing climate.

Artificial intelligence has the potential to enrich our lives. But it can also drive people apart and cause tremendous harm. Olaf Groth, a professor at Hult International Business School and CEO of the Cambrian Group, explores how this technology is reshaping societies in his new book, "Solomon's Code: Humanity in a World of Thinking Machines." He co-authored the volume with Mark Nitzberg. In this episode, Groth, an alumnus of Tufts’ Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, talks about artificial intelligence — both its promise and its perils.

Nicholas Kristof is a journalist, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, and longtime columnist for the New York Times. He has written extensively about immigration around the world, critiquing policies but also telling the stories of the families living with their consequences. As the son of an immigrant, Kristof is sympathetic to those looking for a better life in the United States, but also concerned for Americans who have not benefited from immigration. Kristof spoke on campus as part of the Merrin Moral Voices series at Tufts Hillel. Here, Kristof talks about the moral quandaries of immigration, what the world can learn from Canada, and what goes on behind the scenes of some of his most gut-wrenching reporting.

Deke Sharon, often called “the father of contemporary a cappella,” has made it his life’s work to bring vocals-only music to the masses. As director of the Tufts ensemble the Beelzebubs in the early 1990s, his experimental take on a Peter Gabriel song—with voices standing in for instruments—inspired a new era in a cappella performance. Sharon has also helped popularize a cappella through movies like "Pitch Perfect," television, and even Broadway. Earlier this year, Sharon was back at Tufts for a residency where he coached nine singing groups, culminating in a first-of-its-kind all-Tufts a cappella concert. In between rehearsals, he sat down to talk about his career and his mission to create harmony through harmony.

Space wasn’t always on Dr. Ellen Ochoa’s radar. So how did this high school flute player make her way to outer space? In a conversation with Professor Karen Panetta of the School of Engineering, Ochoa discusses her love of music — she even played her flute in space — and how she navigated her path to NASA. She also gives advice to students and describes her own role models, while sharing her perspectives on the STEM disciplines — that’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Michael McFaul, who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014 under the Obama administration, shares in a wide-ranging conversation his view on Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election as well as his fears about a new arms race, and what it has meant for him to be banned from returning to Russia. McFaul is the author of "From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador In Putin's Russia."

Documentary filmmaker and 1967 Tufts graduate David Sutherland is known for creating intimate portraits of people living on the margins of society. His most recent film, "Marcos Doesn’t Live Here Anymore," premiering on PBS, shows the human cost of U.S. immigration policy by following Elizabeth Perez and her husband, Marcos, as they fight to reunite their family after Marcos is deported. In this episode, Sutherland talks about how he met Elizabeth and Marcos, why he found them so appealing, and what he hopes viewers will take away from their story.

As America gets closer to the 2020 presidential election, everyone wants to know, “Who will run?” But there’s another important question to ask: ”Who will turn out to vote?” There’s a gap in voter turnout between white people and people of color -- a gap that has an impact on election outcomes, and on our democracy. So where does this turnout gap come from? Who votes, who doesn’t vote, and why? Indiana University’s Bernard Fraga wrestles with these questions in his new book, "The Turnout Gap: Race, Ethnicity, and Political Inequality in a Diversifying America." Here, Fraga explores the historical roots of these disparities and argues that it’s up to politicians, parties, and us to fix them.

Earlier this year, Tufts hosted its annual celebration honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., that included a conversation — inspired by him — on resilience and hope. This year’s program welcomed Tufts alums Christina Greer and Zerlina Maxwell. In this wide-ranging conversation, they also share their thoughts on gender, race, and the intersection of the two.

Artist Lynda Cutrell wants to change how people look at mental illness. In an exhibit on display at Tufts, she uses photography, painting, sculpture and video to challenge what we think we know about people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder while highlighting what scientists have actually discovered about these illnesses. It’s a subject close to her heart. In this episode of Tell Me More, Cutrell, a graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts, talks about how her own family’s struggles with mental illness pushed her to make art that was not just beautiful, but meaningful.

Singer-songwriter Gotye’s best-known song, Grammy-winning “Somebody That I Used to Know,” is about the pain of being treated as an inconsequential thing of the past. When it comes to music, Gotye, whose real name is Wally De Backer, has great respect for things of the past. Specifically, he has a passion for old electronic instruments, and is determined to show that they matter.

Singer-songwriter Gotye—whose real name is Wally De Backer—has a passion for forgotten electronic instruments like the Ondioline, the Theremin, and the Rhythmicon, which he talks about with instrument designer Mike Buffington in a special two-part series of Tell Me More. In this bonus episode, Gotye and Buffington get deep about these lost instruments.

Time magazine named Temple Grandin one of the world’s 100 most influential people for her work to improve the quality of life of beef cattle and for her powerful advocacy for neuro-diverse individuals. In this episode of Tell Me More, Grandin shares how growing up with autism helped her understand the different ways animals experience the world, why she believes we need to fix how we socialize with dogs, and some of the most important lessons she’s learned over her pioneering career.

Life is Good president and Tufts graduate Lisa Tanzer emphasizes the importance of knowing what you stand for when it comes to the corporate brand, and she gives essential advice to students and business leaders alike, including the most important lesson she’s learned in her career.

Professor and author Dr. John Rich talks about applying a systems approach to tackling the consequences of trauma in the lives of young African-American men. Dr. Rich is the author of "Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Trauma and Violence in the Lives of Young Black Men." Now a professor at the Drexel University School of Public Health, Dr. Rich previously served as medical director of the Boston Public Health Commission, and as a primary care physician at Boston Medical Center.

Blockbusters like Patty Jenkins’ "Wonder Woman" show the power that female filmmakers can have in Hollywood today. But what are the continuing challenges they face? In her new documentary “Half the Picture,” filmmaker Amy Adrion gathers insights from numerous successful female directors on their career paths, struggles, and hopes for the future. In this episode, Adrion takes a hard look at those continuing challenges, and puts a spotlight on the wins by some of the women making films today.

The week before the death of President George H.W. Bush, former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu, who served as President Bush’s chief of staff from 1989 to 1991, reminisced about his time spent with the late president while Bush campaigned for the all-important New Hampshire primary. Sununu also shares his predictions for the 2020 presidential race, weighing in on whether a republican should contest President Trump for the GOP nomination.

Bill McKibben offers his perspectives on climate change, including the critical underestimation that scientists made during the past 30 years, the best way for individuals to make a difference, and the one fact about our climate that you need to know—to understand our century. McKibben is the founder of 350.org, the first global grassroots climate change movement. His 1989 book The End of Nature is regarded as one of the first written for a general audience on the realities of climate change.

On average, we lose three rhinos every day to poaching. At this rate, rhinos in the wild may become extinct within a decade. In this episode, Matt Lindenberg, founder and executive director of the Global Conservation Corps, offers the drivers behind rhino poaching, the value of rangers—the unsung heroes of conservation—and the unique approach that Lindenberg’s organization is taking to curb the crisis.

To date this year, there have been 297 mass shootings in America, including the recent tragedy at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. In this episode, former U.S. Congressman Steve Israel and filmmaker Sarah Ullman, co-founder of the SuperPAC One Vote at a Time, offer their perspectives on gun violence and gun control—one of the most divisive issues in America today. Israel is the author of Big Guns, a satire of America’s gun lobby. Ullman is a 2010 graduate of Tufts University.

Dr. Daniel Kraft is a physician-scientist, inventor, entrepreneur, and innovator. With more than 25 years of experience in clinical practice, biomedical research, and healthcare innovation, Kraft envisions the reinvention of medical education, revolutions in dentistry, must-have technologies for parents—and the apps that could help change the lives of patients. He came to Tufts to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the School of Dental Medicine.

The 72nd Governor of Virginia and former chairman of the 2000 Democratic National Convention, Terry McAuliffe talks about his work to decrease gun violence and introduce criminal justice reform in Virginia. Also, hear his suggestions on how to get young people re-engaged in politics. McAuliffe spoke at an event co-sponsored by the Tufts Political Science department and JumboVote, the school’s “get-out-the-vote” initiative.

Congressman Joaquín Castro, a Texas democrat representing the 20th Congressional District, talks about civic life, the importance of the youth vote, the role of the United States in foreign affairs—and the best way to reach your elected officials. Castro also serves on the House Intelligence and Foreign Affairs Committees, and is First Vice Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. He came to Tufts as a guest of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the Tisch College of Civic Life.

Author and journalist Morgan Jerkins discusses switching between writing fiction and non-fiction, what interests her most as a writer, and her advice for young people. Jerkins is the author of The New York Times best-seller, "This Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in White America." The book is a collection of essays that weave together her commentary on pop culture, feminism, African-American history, misogyny, and racism along with her own experiences.

Visual artist Angela Lorenz offers insights into artistic experimentation, discusses graffiti in ancient Rome, and relates an artistic tragedy involving graham crackers. Lorenz’s work Victorious Secret, a re-envisioning of an often misinterpreted Roman mosaic, is on view at Tisch Library. She dedicated the artwork to celebrate 40 years of Title IX and came to Tufts as a guest of the Consortium of Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora.