MIT News

Established after World War II, the School of Humanities, Arts, and Sciences is an integral part of the MIT experience. Three faculty reflect on the school's ongoing impact.

Show notes and transcript:
https://news.mit.edu/2026/podcast-shass-special-sauce-0922

In this episode, MIT President Sally Kornbluth sits down with associate professor of political science and faculty co-director of MIT-Africa, Mai Hassan. Her work looks at bureaucracy, public administration, and the state in Africa, and more recently, how people mobilize against repressive dictatorships.

Show notes and transcript:
https://news.mit.edu/podcast/bureaucracies-dictatorships-and-power-africas-people-mai-hassan

The Curiosity Unbounded podcast brings you behind the scenes at MIT through conversations between MIT President Sally Kornbluth and the people working in its labs and in the field. Along the way, Sally and her guests discuss pressing issues, as well as what inspires the people running at the world’s toughest challenges at one of the most innovative institutions on the planet.

In this episode, MIT President Sally Kornbluth sits down with newly tenured associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, Desirée Plata. Her work focuses on making industrial processes more environmentally friendly, and removing methane (a key factor in global warming) from the air.

Show notes and transcript:
https://news.mit.edu/podcast/how-free-range-kid-maine-helping-green-industrial-practices-desiree-plata

The Curiosity Unbounded podcast brings you behind the scenes at MIT through conversations between MIT President Sally Kornbluth and the people working in its labs and in the field. Along the way, Sally and her guests discuss pressing issues, as well as what inspires the people running at the world’s toughest challenges at one of the most innovative institutions on the planet.

MIT researchers have made an open-source version of the “City Scanner” mobile pollution detector that lets people check air quality anywhere, cheaply. Pictured are some examples of the latest version of the device, called Flatburn, as well as a researcher attaching a prototype to a car.

Read the article: https://news.mit.edu/2023/low-cost-device-can-measure-air-pollution-anywhere-0316

In a new study, MIT researchers have developed strategies for beneficial electric vehicle charging to reduce peak electricity demand and store solar energy.

Read the article: https://news.mit.edu/2023/minimizing-electric-vehicles-impact-grid-0315