#AcademicRunPlaylist - 4/28/25

Author

Ben Waber
April 28, 2025

A selfie of me in front of a green, grassy field, with trees finally sprouting bright leaves and flowers beyond on the shore of the Charles River on a clear, sunny day. I'm a bald, middle-aged, white man with a red beard flecked with white. I'm wearing black sunglasses and a purple running shirt.

It was a perfect day to run over to the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University for a great panel with Ryo Fukuda, Ayu Yokogoshi, and Kohei Takeda on Japanese innovation and growth strategy, and you better believe on the way I listened to talks for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

First was a fantastic pair of conversations with Albert Churella on the history of the Pennsylvania Railroad company from 1917 to its unceremonious demise following its disastrous merger with New York Central at the Hagley Museum and Library. This has it all - corporate strategy, industry dynamics, fascinating government deals, crazy M&A, and the genesis of the Amtrak system. Highly recommend

Next was an excellent talk by Shari Liu on the integration between social and physical intelligence in the human mind (focusing on infants) at the Kempner Institute at Harvard University https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xojTiQC9uIc

Last was an amazing panel on big tech and AI boosters' appeal to eugenics and the inherent problems with the current narrative around AI with Anita Chan, Timnit Gebru, and Émile P. Torres at the Data & Society Research Institute. This is an essential conversation, and I loved the discussion around building alternative narratives around possible societal/technological futures. Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=212eiRF3BgE