Yale Talk: Conversations with President Peter Salovey

Yale Talk is a podcast hosted by Yale University President Peter Salovey. About once a month, he will share news from campus or host faculty, students, staff, or alumni for a conversation. Yale is a place of many voices—students, faculty,  staff, and alumni who are bringing “light and truth” to our world in many different ways. Through this podcast, you can hear those voices, so you can learn more about the amazing work of education and scholarship taking place at Yale.

You can subscribe to Yale Talk using apps such as Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, SoundCloud, and Stitcher. Transcripts of recordings will also be available online.


Episodes

March 6, 2024

Professor John Tsang and President Peter Salovey discuss the vast possibilities of the Yale-backed Chan Zuckerberg Biohub New York and its ambition to engineer immune cells for early disease prevention, detection, and treatment.

Chan Zuckerberg Biohub New York

Yale Center for Systems & Engineering Immunobiology

January 30, 2024

To mark Yale Law School’s bicentennial, Dean Heather K. Gerken joins President Peter Salovey for a conversation about the impact the school has had on legal education over two centuries and what comes next. Dean Gerken discusses the Yale Law School’s focus on bolstering needs-based aid, increasing the number of veterans on campus, and preparing the next generation of lawyers and leaders to engage across divides in polarized times.

Yale Law School bicentennial website

Bicentennial video

January 11, 2024

In recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Yale and Slavery Working Group’s David Blight and Charles Warner Jr. join President Salovey to discuss their work to study Yale’s history in the service of a stronger, more inclusive university for the future.

November 9, 2023

For this Veterans Day podcast, President Peter Salovey talks with U.S. Air Force veteran Bob Atkinson ’24—an undergraduate in the Eli Whitney Students Program, two-time Bronze Star recipient, and Truman Scholar—about his leadership experiences in the military, on campus, and in the effort to eliminate the domestic opioid epidemic.

For more information, visit: Eli Whitney Students Program, Yale Veterans Network, and Yale Veterans Association

October 26, 2023

In commemoration of the Yale School of Nursing’s centennial and Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Dr. Nicole Seagriff joins President Peter Salovey for a conversation about YSN’s contributions to the field of nursing, the Community Health Center’s approach to promoting health equity, and The Pink Agenda’s work to raise resources and awareness for breast cancer research and care.

Yale School of Nursing Centennial Celebration

The Pink Agenda

Community Health Center, Inc.

October 10, 2023

Greg Sterling, The Reverend Henry L. Slack Dean of Yale Divinity School and the Lillian Claus Professor of New Testament, and President Peter Salovey discuss the Living Village Project, which will be a landmark on Yale’s campus and a replicable example for divinity schools, places of worship, and academic institutions to follow worldwide.

The Living Village

To learn more about living buildings, read and watch here

August 22, 2023

President Peter Salovey and Megan Ranney, dean of Yale School of Public Health, discuss a public health approach to the gun violence epidemic and her bold, inclusive vision for YSPH as it transitions into an independent school.

April 20, 2023

For Earth Day, Professor Menachem Elimelech and President Peter Salovey discuss the development of technologies that make sea and municipal wastewater potable.

April 12, 2023

Professor Theodore Kim, associate professor of computer science in the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science, co-leader of the Yale Computer Graphics Group, and a former senior research scientist at Pixar and two-time Academy Award winner, discusses the Yale Computer Graphics Group’s work to counter racial bias in animation technology with President Peter Salovey.

From Formulas to Film (a YouTube video featuring Professor Theodore Kim)

April 4, 2023

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Yale President Peter Salovey discuss one of the driving themes of the federal administration’s economic agenda: modern supply side economics. Modern supply side economics has vast implications for American policy from climate, innovation, tax policy, and infrastructure to workforce training, housing, health, and childcare. Secretary Yellen and President Salovey’s conversation includes context of Yale Tobin Center’s research and policy work across these areas – much of which has had national impact – as well as Tobin’s founding mandate to enhance diversity in the study of economics, where greater emphasis on modern supply side issues is credited with expanding interest in the field.

February 28, 2023

Dr. Ania Jastreboff, an associate professor in medicine and pediatrics (endocrinology) at Yale School of Medicine, co-director of the Yale Center for Weight Management, and medical director of the Yale Stress Center, and President Peter Salovey discuss breakthrough medical interventions for obesity and diabetes.

For more information, visit Yale Center for Weight Management  and Yale Stress Center

January 12, 2023

In recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, John Rice, the founder and chief executive officer of Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) and a member of the Yale board of trustees, and President Peter Salovey discuss MLT’s work advancing racial equity for individuals and employers.

December 8, 2022

Professor Jing Tsu and President Salovey preview the 2023 DeVane Lecture series, “China in Six Keys,” in which members of the Yale and New Haven communities will explore China’s complex relationship with the United States and examine contemporary issues in historical context.

November 11, 2022

Yale experts and President Salovey discuss assisting veterans with legal needs related to their military service and return to civilian life.

For more information, visit the Veterans Legal Services Clinic

October 25, 2022

Professor Katie Lofton and President Salovey discuss the newly renovated Humanities Quadrangle and the forms of reading, writing, and interpretation that it enables by bringing together faculty, students, and staff from across the humanities departments and programs.

September 13, 2022

Professor Sang Kim and President Salovey discuss global supply chain challenges and possible solutions.

August 15, 2022

Professor Hi’ilei Hobart, Mark Bomford, director of the Yale Sustainable Food Program, and President Salovey discuss food insecurity, sustainable agriculture, food sovereignty, and the ways scholars and students are addressing challenges facing agriculture and food systems.

April 21, 2022

For Earth Day, Indy Burke, dean of the Yale School of the Environment, and President Peter Salovey discuss how universities can offer solutions to climate change and help policy makers and the public implement sustainable actions.

March 23, 2022

Professors Jim Levinsohn and Tim Snyder discuss with President Salovey the crisis in Ukraine, international response to Putin’s war of aggression, and teaching students about global affairs during this grave time.

March 10, 2022

Drs. Stephanie Spangler and Saad Omer join President Salovey to reflect on what the community has accomplished during the pandemic and look ahead to what may come next.

February 28, 2022

Professor Amy Wrzesniewski and President Salovey discuss the “great resignation” and how people find meaning and satisfaction in their work.

January 17, 2022

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Patricia Melton, president of New Haven Promise, and President Salovey discuss helping students overcome obstacles to attending college.

(Learn more about New Haven Promise, Yale Pathways to Science, and Yale Peabody Museum.) 

December 9, 2021

Yuki Noguchi ’97 BA, a correspondent on the Science Desk of NPR, and President Salovey discuss health messaging and provide advice for students during this time of uncertainty.

November 10, 2021

Rod Lowe, a U.S. Army veteran and the senior associate director of major gifts for Yale Divinity School, discusses leadership and selflessness with President Peter Salovey.

October 4, 2021

Professors Robert Post and Jack Balkin join President Salovey for a conversation about the spread of misinformation and regulation in the information age.

September 10, 2021

Sterling Professor of History David Blight, who served as an advisor to the team of curators at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, and President Peter Salovey discuss commemorating tremendous loss, the purpose of memorialization, and teaching complex history.

August 3, 2021

Phoebe Mankiewicz, a Yale Ph.D. student, and President Salovey discuss innovative, interdisciplinary research that addresses indoor air pollution.

June 29, 2021

President Salovey discusses leadership lessons from the pandemic, favorite baseball memories, the role of athletics at Yale, and the rise of sabermetrics with William O. DeWitt Jr. ’63, chairman and CEO of the St. Louis Cardinals, and William O. DeWitt III ’90, president of the St. Louis Cardinals.

May 23, 2021

Michelle Hu ’20 and Vig Namasivayam ’20 discuss what it was like to graduate during a pandemic and provide advice to the Class of 2021.

May 9, 2021

Yale students Florrie Marshall and Ryan Tani join President Peter Salovey in a conversation about creating music and using it to connect people, communicate shared experiences, and mark historic moments.

March 9, 2021

President Peter Salovey and Professor Louise Glück discuss her discovery of poetry, the importance of mentorship, and her love of teaching. Their conversation is followed by a recording of Professor Glück’s reading of her poem “October.”

February 24, 2021

President Peter Salovey and Professor Willie Jennings discuss the shared endeavor of learning, the beauty of discovery, the dangers of isolation, and cultivating the habits and practices of a healthy intellectual life.

January 18, 2021

In recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, President Peter Salovey and Professor Phillip Atiba Goff discuss the science of racial bias, the work of the Center for Policing Equity, and the intersection of the COVID-19 pandemic and racial disparities.

December 9, 2020

Help Us Make History—an archival project launched by the Yale University Library in May 2020—invites undergraduate, graduate, and professional students to contribute their written and visual records of life on and off campus during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode of Yale Talk, President Salovey learns from University Archivist Michael Lotstein about how students, faculty, staff and alumni throughout the generations have helped to write Yale’s history. Current Yale College students Solomon Adams ’24, Emma Levin ’23, and Regina Sung ’24 contribute readings from among the hundreds of submissions that the project has received to date.

November 10, 2020

Yale has a proud tradition of involvement in, and ties to, military service. Through programs including the Warrior-Scholar Project, the Yale Veterans Network, and the Yale Veterans Association, the university warmly embraces its veterans, as well as those who are actively serving in the military and those who participate in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. For this Veterans Day podcast, President Salovey talks with three undergraduates in the Eli Whitney Students Program—James Hatch ’23, Andrew Nguyen ’22, and Allegra Pankratz ’21—about serving their country and finding community at Yale.

October 15, 2020

To commemorate Founders Day, President Peter Salovey discusses Yale’s responsibility to lead the change needed in society through education, scholarship, research, preservation, and practice. He is joined by the co-chairs of the President’s Committee on Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging: Kimberly Goff-Crews, university secretary and vice president for university life, and Gary Desir, vice provost for faculty development and diversity, Paul B. Beeson Professor of Medicine, and chair of the Department of Internal Medicine.

September 17, 2020

Preparations for this extraordinary academic year have been like no other. While implementing innovative teaching methods and setting up comprehensive health protective protocols, Yale also has been resuming its search for ideas and solutions. President Salovey discusses the ramping down and reactivation of research with Diondra Dilworth, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Chemistry, and Chris Londa, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Classics.

August 7, 2020

Sharing meals plays a big part in life at Yale. Although Yale Hospitality operations have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, its staff members have been contributing to the university and New Haven communities in numerous ways. In honor of Staff Spirit Week, President Salovey discusses with Maureen O’Donnell, residential dining general manager, and Joseph “Rusty” Hamilton, baker at the Culinary Support Center, how Yale staff is serving those in need during this public health crisis.

July 21, 2020

Anti-black violence, racism, and injustice are all too ubiquitous in our nation today and throughout history. As people called for actions to solve this crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed striking, long-standing health disparities in our nation. President Peter Salovey discussed the role Yale and other universities play in moving our society past these entrenched problems through our mission of education, research, and scholarship. He was joined by Elijah Anderson, Sterling Professor of Sociology and of African American Studies, and Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, associate professor of medicine and of epidemiology.

June 3, 2020

President Peter Salovey discussed the national and global economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lessons we can learn from past crises with three Yale faculty experts:

  • Pinelopi Goldberg, Elihu Professor of Economics and professor of management and former chief economist at the World Bank Group;
  • Andrew Metrick, Janet L. Yellen Professor of Finance and Management and director of the Yale Program on Financial Stability; and
  • Robert Shiller, Sterling Professor of Economics and Nobel Laureate.

(Recorded May 20, 2020)

April 22, 2020

In recognition of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, President Salovey and Professor Seto discuss urban population growth and how cities can be managed and built to optimize sustainability and health.

April 14, 2020

Ann Kurth, dean of the Yale School of Nursing, and Saad Omer, director of the Yale Institute for Global Health, joined President Peter Salovey in early April for a conversation about COVID-19 response and the immediate and long-term impacts of this pandemic.

March 8, 2020

Yale student-athletes Tori Andrew BF ’21 and Azar Swain TD ’21, who are among the best shooters in the Ivy League and NCAA, join President Peter Salovey for a conversation about the right mindset to lead and win—on the basketball court, in the classroom, and in life.

February 21, 2020

The HAPPINESS Project is one of the ways Yale faculty and students are tackling the complex, global challenges of connecting people with mental health services. The HAPPINESS Project aims to improve mental health care delivery in Nigeria, and the methods and technology developed through the project have the potential to help many other communities. Upon their return from Lagos, Nigeria, President Peter Salovey, Dr. Theddeus Iheanacho, Dr. Charles Dike, and Mr. Eddie Mandhry discuss the partnerships Yale is developing through this project and the Yale Africa Initiative.

January 20, 2020

In recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, President Salovey and Professor Feimster discuss the “long” civil rights movement, the contributions of civil rights activist Pauli Murray, and how Yale students are using the university’s archival and museum collections in their classes.