#AcademicRunPlaylist - 9/24/25

It is absolutely fall now in Boston, and the new season made a great backdrop while I listened to talks for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

First was an engaging conversation with Ann Kennedy on how the role of neuromodulators and subcortical processes on survival on the Brain Inspired podcast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmlVSnKXkxQ

Next was a wide-ranging talk by Kirsten Martin on privacy myths and mistakes at the Carnegie Mellon University Software and Societal Systems Department (CMUSSD) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J02IFo--jZA

Next was a fantastic conversation between friends of the playlist Ann Lipton and Michael Levin on company financial reporting frequency and XOM's unique new proxy voting plan for retail shareholders on the Shareholder Primacy podcast. Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USLPMw1J8yU

Next was an intriguing talk by Amin Rahimian on privacy-aware sequential learning at CMUSSD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxglkcHdbHo

Next was a fascinating talk by Emma Alexander on information optimization in the visual cortex and the role of food on driving constrained processing at the Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems - NICO https://www.youtube.com/live/kXaF0OQSCAE?si=SfqgFV02yVSaobmQ&t=258

Next was a great talk by Andrew Renninger on the changing nature of human mobility in cities, looking into the roles of remote work, climate change, and more at the Network Science Institute https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh49wbm6Rw8

Next was "Defiant Braceros" by Mireya Loza, who delivers an incisive, deeply researched book on the Bracero Program, which brought hundreds of thousands of male Mexican workers to US farms on temporary work permits from 1942-64. This book focuses more on the experiences of the workers themselves by combining rich interviews with other accounts, although Loza does bring in the macro economic and political perspective as well. It was startling how this program was framed in Mexico, and its complicated legacy is all the more important to understand today. Highly recommend https://uncpress.org/9781469629766/defiant-braceros/

Last was "The Indian Card" by Carrie Lowry Shuettpelz. This book is an extremely qualitative look at Native American identity, examined mostly through modern interviews and case studies. While Schuettpelz does provide a bit of historical background, those unfamiliar with apportionment or the host of programs introduced throughout US history that intruded on Native American identity determination will have a hard time contextualizing these examples. Much of this also reads like a memoir, which isn't my cup of tea but if you prefer that genre you'll like this book https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250367143/theindiancard/