Some Harvard professors canceled classes. Others tweaked their lesson plans and asked students to care for their mental health. This week on Newstalk, Harvard reacts to Trump's return to the White House.

The Harvard College Democrats are backed by a federally recognized PAC. Student leaders at the Harvard Republican Club have dined with former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and pulled off speaking events with multi-billionaire Peter Thiel. 

Talk to them, and you’ll find that the name-dropping is constant, and the access is unparalleled. They’ll also tell you that all of it — the organizing, the networking — is available to any Harvard student who wants in on the action. 

You’ll get the sense that Harvard’s run-up to Election 2024 goes far beyond the confines of campus. It takes students to the Republican National Convention and Democratic National Convention — to Pennsylvania, to Georgia — rubbing shoulders with some of America’s most powerful politicians, in some of the election’s most high-profile moments. Today on Newstalk, in an election special, we talk to the presidents of the Harvard Republican Club and Harvard College Democrats about the world of election organizing at Harvard.

Citing the Palestinian exception to free speech, a vocal pro-Palestine activist resigned as the chair of one of the IOP’s popular programs on campaigns and advocacy. 

The reason? Closed-door infighting over how to handle the 2024 elections and Israel-Palestine conflict in its programming. 

As concerns about free speech and censorship ramp up, the IOP shakeup marked a fundamental disagreement between the IOP’s top student leadership on how to handle political campus discourse on Israel and Palestine.

Today on Newstalk, we join our reporters to break down the dispute — and we join the student who resigned to hear his version of the story.

You’ll see it in emails, in videos, from students, from our deans — it’s everywhere. 

And, overwhelmingly, you’ll get the sense that Harvard’s concerned about the state of discourse on campus.

So what is intellectual vitality? A Harvard website says it’s about the college’s attempts to “establish a culture in which all members speak, listen, and ask questions of each other and ourselves with curiosity and respect.” The implication here is that the college isn’t quite hitting the mark.  That there isn’t as much curiosity and respect as there should be. That Harvard’s civil discourse isn’t intellectually vital.

And that’s meant that the college has rolled out measure after measure to try to change that. Hiring new people, putting on speaking events, getting students to talk about it with each other. And one of the newest phases of that came this fall, when intellectual vitality was included for the first time in mandatory training for freshmen entering the college and getting to know what Harvard is all about. 

But some people think that Harvard’s approach to all of this is wrong. That its attempts at intellectual vitality aren't helping. That it’s missing the real point — and the real problem.

One of them, Matteo Diaz, is a student who was asked by a Harvard administrator to record a video for that training. He didn’t see what came of it until this fall, when he and one of his peers, Saul Arnow, saw that intellectual vitality training before it was shown to freshmen. Matteo and Saul are on The Crimson’s editorial board, and they join host Frank S. Zhou to talk about why they think Harvard is falling short.

This week on Newstalk: is Harvard doing discourse wrong?

Audio excerpted in this episode from the Harvard College YouTube channel and Harvard College Dean of Students YouTube channel.

Newstalk is co-hosted and co-produced by Yael S. Goldstein and Frank S. Zhou.

Few things at Harvard are as tightly kept a secret as its admissions process. Every year, tens of thousands of applicants around the world hit submit, hope for the best. And then… it’s sort of a black box. The applications get sent off through the portal. Harvard’s admissions officers do their thing. And then on decision day, people get a yes, a maybe, or a no. 

At least, that’s how it used to be. For the past decade, Harvard’s admissions processes have been under the microscope. Its details scrutinized again, and again, and again — in the public eye, in a public controversy that made its way all the way up to the Supreme Court. 

It hinged on how Harvard thinks about race in its admission process, and whether its practices give preference to some racial groups more than others. On one end, we had SFFA: Students for Fair Admissions, led by a man named Ed Blum, alleging that Harvard’s admissions affirmative action practices did unfairly advantage some racial groups more than others. That they did break the law. On the other, we had Harvard insisting that affirmative action was absolutely essential to creating a more diverse Harvard. That there’d be no way to maintain its diversity without it. 

In June of last year, after nearly a decade of lawsuits, the Supreme Court weighed in. 

In a decision that made waves around the world, the Supreme Court ruled SFFA’s way. It said that Harvard would have to end all of its racial preferences in admissions. And Harvard said it would comply.

So all eyes turned to Harvard’s demographic numbers for the Class of 2028: the first class applied and admitted after the ruling. The first chance to see the ruling’s true impact on the University. 

Last week, after being delayed for months, those numbers came out. 

If people thought those numbers would tell the whole story, they were disappointed. Because they didn’t. But, if you looked closely, there was still a lot to see. And that’s exactly what our reporters did. This week on Newstalk, Harvard’s demographics for the class of 2028.

Newstalk is co-hosted and co-produced by Frank S. Zhou and Yael S. Goldstein.

Two Harvard graduate students charged with assault and battery during a pro-Palestine protest last May face yet another delay in their arraignment date.

A September 5th statement from the University provided updated guidance for those affected by doxing attacks, following months of criticism of its failure to protect students.

On Friday, President Alan Garber met with eight members of Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine in the Smith Campus Center to discuss the Harvard endowment. Outside the building, more than 80 students demanded divestment from Israel in the first pro-Palestine protest of the semester.

And, from our colleagues on the news desk, a deep dive into the Harvard Corporation’s selection of Harvard’s 31st president. How did Alan Garber successfully secure his position after a semester of extraordinary crisis?

Design by Sami E. Turner. 

Eight months after Garber was appointed interim president, the Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — announced it will delay a formal search until 2026. Garber will serve in the position until June 2027.

Stay on top of the news at thecrimson.com.

On Newstalk, host Frank S. Zhou '26 and reporters Ellie P. Cassidy '27 and Julian J. Giordano '25 take us inside the encampment to talk to six students demonstrating despite the threat of disciplinary consequences. 

Less than 20 years ago, Harvard faculty speaking with a collective voice helped oust a university president. But this proposal marks the first time Harvard's faculties have made a widespread push to unite under one governance body in more than a decade. Reporters Tilly R. Robinson '26 and Neil H. Shah join host Frank S. Zhou '26 to discuss what the move means for Harvard and the future balance of power at the university.

The “Doxxing” truck, as it’s known, has been a familiar presence on campus since October 7th. As the Harvard Undergraduate Association gears up for its own referendum on divestment, students are left with two major questions: what is Harvard doing to ensure the safety and security of its students, and are political statements in the purview of student governments? The Crimson Editorial Board members Vander O.B. Ritchie '26 and Jasmine N. Wynn '27 join host Yael S. Goldstein '26 to discuss.

This week on Newstalk, reporters Elyse C. Goncalves '27 and Matan H. Josephy '27 join host Yael S. Goldstein '26 to discuss the state of Harvard admissions and what the data tell us so far.

Today on Newstalk, two members of The Crimson’s Editorial Board, Tommy Barone ‘25 and Allison P. Farrell ‘26, join host Frank S. Zhou '26 to discuss what critics tend to get wrong, how students feel about expressing their opinions on campus, and ways out of Harvard's DEI dilemma.

This week on Newstalk, reporters Benjamin Isaac '27 and Kyle Baek '26 join host Yael S. Goldstein '26 to break down the Gino saga. 

This week on Newstalk, reporters S. Mac Healey '27 and Saketh Sundar '27 join host Yael S. Goldstein '26 to discuss.

While administrators cite a hands-off approach to social life — and a lack of available funding for College-organized parties and concerts — some students said officially sanctioned social events did not meet the mark.

This week on Newstalk, reporters Natalie K Bandura '26 and Azusa M. Lippit '26 join host Yael S. Goldstein to discuss. 

After Yale University and Dartmouth College announced they would return to standardized testing requirements, admissions experts are divided on whether Harvard will follow suit. This week on Newstalk, reporters Elyse C. Goncalves '27 and Matan H. Josephy '27 join host Frank S. Zhou '26 to discuss what's next. 

News clips in the episode’s opening montage come from CBS, NBC, ABC, and CBS Boston.

This week on Newstalk, reporters Emma H. Haidar '26 and Cam E. Kettles '26 join host Frank S. Zhou '26 to discuss the threats the subpoena poses to Harvard; Editorial Board members Saul I.M. Arnow '26 and Lorenzo Z. Ruiz '27 join host Yael S. Goldstein '26 to discuss reactions to the subpoena and its implications for higher education.

This week on Newstalk, reporters Cam E. Kettles '26 and Emma H. Haidar '26 join host Frank S. Zhou '26 to discuss Garber's rocky path ahead and potential contenders for the Harvard presidency.

Music in this episode comes from freesound.org.

But not Harvard’s unions. They know Garber well — and they can’t stand him.

This week on Newstalk (Season 2), reporters Aran Sonnad-Joshi '27 and Sheerea X. Yu '27 join host Yael S. Goldstein '26 to discuss Garber’s uneasy relationship with Harvard unions.

Harvard’s crisis didn’t end with Gay’s resignation.

As the University faces a federal lawsuit and congressional investigation into antisemitism, Newstalk takes you inside Harvard’s most tumultuous crisis in recent memory.

We take you inside the fallout — from the Capitol building to Harvard’s students and faculty — to break down Gay’s plagiarism allegations, her handling of campus antisemitism, and where the crisis moves next. Crimson reporters and host Frank S. Zhou ’26 bring you the latest from the students who lived — and broke — the news. 

Gay’s resignation — just six months and two days into the presidency — comes amid growing allegations of plagiarism and lasting doubts over her ability to respond to antisemitism on campus after her disastrous congressional testimony Dec. 5.

The Crimson is committed to providing extensive coverage of all this and more. Stay on top of the news by following The Crimson’s website (thecrimson.com) and our multimedia platforms.

Newstalk is hosted by Frank S. Zhou '26. This episode of Newstalk was produced by Frank S. Zhou '26. Music in this episode by Bea Wall-Feng '25.

Now, in news scooped by The Crimson, Harvard’s governing boards will allow Gay to stay on as university president. Our reporters were at the capitol, reporting on the testimony that fueled the calls for Gay’s resignation. 

As the fallout unfolds, the reporters who got the scoop — Claire Yuan '25 and Miles J. Herszenhorn '25 — join host Frank S. Zhou '26 to dive deep into what it’s like to be in the room, how trust eroded within the university, and where Harvard is going next. 

Also in this episode, reporters J. Sellers Hill '25 and Cam Kettles '26 discuss the new face of pro-Palestine protests at Harvard as the Palestine Solidarity Committee takes a back seat on protest organizing. 

Tomorrow, Harvard President Claudine Gay will stand before Congress’s House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Lawmakers will press her on antisemitism at Harvard as top donors continue to fume over the University’s handling of tensions on campus. Some have threatened to pull their funding. Others already have. How will the House committee grill her, and how will she respond?

This week on Newstalk, reporters Miles J. Herszenhorn ’25, Emma H. Haidar ’26, and Cam E. Kettles ’26 join host Frank S. Zhou ’26 to break down what to expect at the hearing and how donors are reacting on public platforms and private calls.

This week on The Harvard Crimson's Newstalk, reporters Ryan H. Doan-Nguyen '25 and Yusuf S. Mian '25 join host Frank S. Zhou '26 to discuss the findings of an inquest into the police killing of Sayed Faisal — and the backlash the report has sparked among some residents. Also in this episode, Rahem D. Hamid '25 talks about Claudia Goldin, the first Harvard professor to win a Nobel Prize since 2019 and the third woman ever to win a Nobel Prize in economics.

Fights erupted in Washington D.C. and at Harvard when affirmative action fell. In the crowds, a dozen Harvard student journalists set out to find what the protests — the fights, the fears — were really about.

Dozens of interviews. 10+ hours of tape. A look inside Harvard, from the students who saw it all.

Host Frank S. Zhou '26 joins half a dozen reporters to track down what exactly happened when affirmative action fell. Here's how it went down.

National Press Club press conference footage in this episode comes from C-SPAN.

At Harvard, he's found buildings and institutions with names intertwined with fraught histories. But, those names happen also to be some of the most memorable names of alumni and students' time at Harvard. This week on Newstalk, Nia L. Orakwue '25 and Natalie K Bandura '26 join host Frank S. Zhou '26 to discuss how Harvard navigates its denaming dilemma. 

But others disagree. This week on The Harvard Crimson’s Newstalk, Rahem D. Hamid '25 and J. Sellers Hill ’25 join host Frank S. Zhou ’26 to discuss the misunderstandings and dilemmas at the heart of Harvard's dance with free speech. What is the state of academic freedom at Harvard, today?

Mosaic news clips in this episode are excerpted from MSNBC, FOX News, and TVO today. 

This week on The Harvard Crimson’s Newstalk, Sally E. Edwards ’26 and Jack R. Trapanick ’26 join host Frank Zhou ’26 to discuss the Harvard alumni who run Massachusetts. What happens when key decision-makers have to make complicated decisions between conflicting parties — and one of them is the school they once called home?

Listen to The Unabomber: The Man, The Myth, and The Manifesto: https://unabomber.transistor.fm.
This week on The Harvard Crimson's Newstalk, a preview of Fifteen Minutes Magazine's 50-minute audio scrutiny, The Unabomber: The Man, The Myth, and The Manifesto. Also in this episode, Rahem D. Hamid '25 and Elias J. Schisgall '25 join host Frank S. Zhou '26 to share faculty opinions on the controversy surrounding sexual harassment allegations against Harvard professor John L. Comaroff as well as perspectives on Title IX policies and procedures.

This week on The Harvard Crimson's Newstalk, reporters J. Sellers Hill ’25 and John N. Pena ’25 join host Frank S. Zhou '26 to discuss Housing Day, one of the most memorable days of students’ freshman year. Hear students share their emotions of anticipation, nerves, and a little bit of nausea from the exhilarating River Run experience to the thunderous dorm storming, and join them mere hours after they learn about their new houses.

Also in this episode, Jack R. Trapanick ’26 and Dylan H. Phan ’26 analyze the pick of Boston’s new ‘Night Czar’ Corean Reynolds, who was appointed by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu ’07 as director of nightlife economy to bolster business and diversity in downtown Boston.