Our Data, Ourselves

Home , Andrea di Robilant, Craig Kallman, Formula Rossa, Linda Gregg, Masha Gessen, Mia Alvar

1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0SPRING/SUMMER1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 20181 1 1 0 0 1 COLUMBIA MAGAZINE 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 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1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 SPRING/SUMMER 2018 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 OUR1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1DATA,0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0OURSELVES1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1How0 1 1 1 1Advanced0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1Computing0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 Is0 1 Transforming1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1Medicine1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 11.18_Cover_Final.indd1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 4/11/181 0 1 11:000 1 AM1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 power cancer research at Columbia NATHAN PERKEL NATHAN

A NOTE ABOUT OUR COVER The caduceus has been widely used as a symbol of medicine in the United States ever since the US Army Medical Corps adopted it in 1902. However, the rod of Asclepius, a staff with one snake and no wings, is the classical symbol of healing, and the caduceus is symbolic of commerce and negotiation. Given the intersection between the value of data and society’s need to create best practices around its use, especially in the medical ﬁ eld, the editors 10 / 7 / 18 velocityride.org thought the use of the caduceus offered an interesting subtext.

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PAGE 30 CONTENTS

FEATURES

14 FROM CODE TO CURE By David J. Craig How computer science is changing medicine

24 DOUG MORRIS: THE GREATEST HITS By Paul Hond How a $25-per-week songwriter became the world’s most inﬂ uential record executive

30 power cancer research at Columbia POET IN MOTION By Paul Hond US Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith ’97SOA gives wings to words

36 SUPER FREAK By Rebecca Shapiro Stephen Dubner ’90SOA, coauthor of the mega-popular Freakonomics books and host of two hit podcasts, wants to tell you a few things you don’t know

40 THE POLITICS OF EATING WELL By Rebecca Shapiro A Q&A with Mark Bittman on Tracy K. Smith why our food system is ﬂ awed

NATHAN PERKEL NATHAN and how to ﬁ x it

COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 1

1.18_Contents_FINAL.indd 2 4/12/18 11:07 AM COLUMBIA CONTENTS MAGAZINE DEPARTMENTS

3 Executive Vice President, FEEDBACK University Development & Alumni Relations Amelia Alverson

8 Deputy Vice President for Strategic Communications COLLEGE WALK Jerry Kisslinger ’79CC, ’82GSAS Food Fight \ The Short List \ Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Neuron? \ The Book of Not Editor in Chief Sally Lee Forgetting \ Supremely Quotable Art Director 44 Jeffrey Saks EXPLORATIONS Managing Editor Was the Big Bang Really a Big Bounce? \ Rebecca Shapiro PAGE A prescription for pollution \ World’s 24 Senior Editors smallest tape recorder built from microbes \ David J. Craig, Paul Hond Yelp if you’ve got food poisoning \ Sticking Copy Chief up for science \ The next trend in eco Joshua J. Friedman ’08JRN fashion \ Study Hall Assistant to the Editor Julia Joy 48 NETWORK Editorial Assistant Catherine Elizabeth Hernandez High Roller \ Frozen Assets \ En Pointe \ Trail Head \ Ask an Alum \ Show People \ Newsmakers Senior Director for Strategic Communications Tracy Quinn ’14SPS

54 Director of Digital Strategy BULLETIN Gwynne Gauntlett University news and views PAGE Director for Marketing Research 40 Linda Ury Greenberg

58 Content Producer BOOKS Carolina Castro Speak No Evil, by Uzodinma Iweala \ The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, by Steve Subscriptions: Brusatte \ Autumn in Venice, by Andrea Address and archive assistance [email protected] di Robilant \ The Mars Room, by Rachel 212-851-4155 Kushner \ Plus, Leslie Jamison discusses The Recovering To update your address online, visit alumni.columbia.edu/directory, or call 1-877-854-ALUM (2586). 64 FROM TOP: MICHAEL CHO; NEMANJA OTIC / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO; J Ö RG MEYER FINALS Advertising: [email protected] What’s It Worth? 212-851-4155

PAGE Letters to the editor: 14 [email protected]

Columbia Magazine is published for alumni and friends of Columbia by the Ofﬁ ce of Alumni and Development.

/ColumbiaMag @columbiamag COVER: PUSHART

2 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

1.18_Contents_FINAL.indd 3 4/12/18 11:07 AM FEEDBACK

THREE SCRABBLE to the opening word would others will tag along hoping SCRIBBLE then have earned forty-six the cause is right. CHEERS I read Paul Hond’s article points for JOLTY, not thirty as Since I had sons of protest “Letter Head” in the Winter stated. In addition, your list age during that time, and Great issue! Loved 2017–18 issue with great of highest-scoring two-letter since I myself was an active the articles. Thank interest. My wife and I have words omitted QI, worth member of an antiwar group, you for the hard played Scrabble regularly for eleven points. These obser- I could only admire and work of producing a the past sixty years. We stick vations notwithstanding, I support these young peo- pretty much to our current look forward to reading a ple — especially their efforts stellar new edition. vocabularies. We do rely on follow-up article on Meller’s to promote voting rights in Natasha Kern ’71GS words with those high-value further accomplishments. the South, at great risk to White Salmon, WA letters — J, Q, X, Z. In a recent Alan H. Seplowitz themselves, which led to im- game, we both scored a little ’68CC, ’72PS portant changes. I supported This is a over four hundred. We slept Scarsdale, NY my sons’ work in Students wonderful issue. well that night. for a Democratic Society and Janet Healy ’78TC Roland Kuniholm ’51CC We got the points right but admired the courage demon- Syosset, NY Lititz, PA the sequence wrong: JOLTY strated by many in their was Meller’s second play. We e ort to introduce political As someone who occasion- regret the error. — Ed. relevance to the universities. Columbia Magazine ally plays Scrabble with his Now in my ninety-second has transformed children and teenage grand- MEMORIES OF 1968 year, I enjoy reading Columbia over the past children, I enjoyed reading I read with interest Phillip Magazine since it helps to year or so, very about Mack Meller’s expertise Lopate’s assessment of keep me relevant. positively. Keep up in this enduring game. But his experience during the Priscilla Ciccariello ’81LS the good work. I think you shortchanged Columbia protests of the Montauk, NY David Carrow ’71GS Meller with regard to his 1960s, having experienced Millville, NJ opening word against Debbie the sixties di erently myself During my ﬁ rst year at Stegman. As even a casual (“Confessions of a Reluctant Columbia Law School, I Scrabble player knows, the J Revolutionary,” Winter 2017– tried to come to terms with in JOLTY would have fallen 18). No protest movement is the takeover of the campus on a double-letter-score box, perfect, but that is the nature by students protesting the increasing the value of that of protest. Some participants Vietnam War. The literature letter from eight to sixteen will have an understanding passed out at the many infor- points. The double word of the varied and competing mation tables on Morningside score that always applies interests involved, while Heights attempted to explain

COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 3

1.18_Letters_FINAL.indd 3 4/10/18 12:33 PM FEEDBACK A WORTHY GOAL Your article on the football team’s apology for once having been Fans storm Baker Field in 1988. recent wins (“The Thrill of Victory,” young and bright. Please tell College Walk, Winter 2017–18) him not to worry; he was on notes that “in 1988, enthusiasts the right side. tore down the goalposts to The Columbia whose grad celebrate the end of a forty-four- school I attended in 1960–61 game losing streak.” I was among was a big, famous school that those happy few. In our well- had been coasting on its rep- earned delirium, we did indeed utation for a decade or two storm the ﬁeld with the intent (or three). Then came 1968: of tearing down the goalposts. loud voices, signs, demon- t However, if my memory is correct, strations. Lazy buttocks were the posts proved indestructible: kicked, and the gentleman heavy steel pipes cemented into president of the school was the ground. We soon abandoned told that unless your name our pursuit of this venerable, and was Eisenhower, you were certainly appropriate, tradition. expected to have some James Mummery ’65CC intellectual dimension and to Nellysford, VA take an interest in the school. Radical ideas on the Heights! The photo at left seems to Make no mistake, Columbia the rationale for such action, was, and I could never forgive who subsequently suggest that both memories and became a much better though it lumped in the Students for a Democratic graduated from the goalposts can be shaky. The day place through the efforts of so-called land grab for the Society for so drastically business school. I want after the game, the New York Mark Rudd and other “free construction of the gymna- slowing down my American- to register my — and I Times reported that Columbia radicals.” Neither Lopate nor sium in Morningside Park. I ization process and prevent- believe other veterans’ supporters had “brought down anybody else should feel too somewhat reluctantly agreed ing me from putting the — lack of enthusiasm the goal posts and carried them encrusted by embarrassment with the antiwar sentiment, maximum distance between for the Columbia stu- around the stadium.” — Ed. to admit it. but for a rationale of my myself and my Stalinist dent radicals’ antiwar Calvin K. Towle ’61GSAS own. Having brieﬂy fought birthplace, where thirty thou- organizations and activities. under these circumstances, Walpole, MA in the Hungarian Revolu- sand people, many of them I served in the US Navy for to have been deprived of my tion of 1956, during which students, lost their lives. many reasons, including education when Columbia Phillip Lopate’s article is we begged the West for help George Vizvary ’72LAW pride in national service student radicals periodically spot-on in many ways, yet without success, I thought, Palo Alto, CA during a dicult period shut down the campus. it is a view from the outside why should Vietnam get of US history. Following W. B. Shepard ’73BUS looking in and misses some more than we did? I am a Vietnam veteran who Vietnam combat duty, I Naples, FL key points. The administra- But what still irks me attended Columbia Business attended Columbia Business tion was so intent on running after these many years is the School in 1972–73. I am also School to get on with my life. It saddens me to see in a university system that untutored parroting by some the parent of two children I am particularly resentful, your pages Phillip Lopate’s it lost sight of its primary students of talking points of mission: to educate and communism with very little enlighten its students. It familiarity with its institu- KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS failed to provide a healthy CODE SCHOOL tional evolution in Hungary CODE SCHOOL and caring environment for BC Barnard College NRS School of Nursing and other countries. Some BUS Graduate School of Business OPT School of Optometry those under its stewardship. arguments were erudite, but CC Columbia College PH Mailman School of Public Health It was as stony cold as DM College of Dental Medicine PHRM School of Pharmaceutical Sciences most were along the lines of GS School of General Studies PS Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons Low Library. comparing the New York City GSAPP Graduate School of Architecture, SEAS Fu Foundation School of Engineering and And it is wrong to say that police to the KGB. Having Planning, and Preservation Applied Science the students felt immortal GSAS Graduate School of Arts and Sciences SIPA School of International and Public Affairs

been summoned to the AVO HON (Honorary degree) SOA School of the Arts AP PHOTO / ED BAILEY and cared nothing for their — the Hungarian equivalent JRN Graduate School of Journalism SPS School of Professional Studies own safety. I was there the JTS Jewish Theological Seminary SW School of Social Work of the KGB — when I was KC King’s College TC Teachers College night of the police action at ten, I was well aware of how LAW School of Law UTS Union Theological Seminary Avery and Mathematics. Most ludicrous the comparison LS School of Library Service of the occupiers had exited

4 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

1.18_Letters_FINAL.indd 4 4/10/18 12:34 PM apology for once having been the buildings to surrender young and bright. Please tell to the police. Then a faculty him not to worry; he was on group, arm in arm, formed a the right side. line between the police and The Columbia whose grad the students to prevent any Notice To school I attended in 1960–61 violence. Suddenly, without was a big, famous school that provocation and without a Our International had been coasting on its rep- word, the police attacked, utation for a decade or two clubs swinging. (or three). Then came 1968: We were not fearless; we Readers loud voices, signs, demon- were naive — naive to believe strations. Lazy buttocks were our rights would be respected. Effective June 1, alumni who live outside the kicked, and the gentleman Authority will do what it has president of the school was to if it is threatened. I was United States will continue to receive print told that unless your name badly beaten that night, and was Eisenhower, you were then, days later, the police copies of the summer and winter issues, expected to have some threatened me with another while the spring and fall issues will be intellectual dimension and to beating and false arrest if take an interest in the school. I refused to sign a bogus accessible online and through our free mobile Radical ideas on the Heights! statement. Weeks later they Make no mistake, Columbia threatened my father and app at magazine.columbia.edu/app. became a much better brother with false accusa- place through the efforts of tions. They played for keeps, Mark Rudd and other “free and we were innocents. radicals.” Neither Lopate nor Rob Smith ’71CC anybody else should feel too Fort Lauderdale, FL encrusted by embarrassment to admit it. In the spring of 1968, my Calvin K. Towle ’61GSAS curiosity drew me to a meet- under these circumstances, Walpole, MA ing of the revolutionaries to have been deprived of my at McMillin (now Miller) education when Columbia Phillip Lopate’s article is Theatre. On our way in, student radicals periodically spot-on in many ways, yet students received armbands shut down the campus. it is a view from the outside identifying with the impend- W. B. Shepard ’73BUS looking in and misses some ing strike. The hall was Naples, FL key points. The administra- packed to the gills with 1,500 tion was so intent on running students, both at floor level It saddens me to see in a university system that and in the galleries, and down your pages Phillip Lopate’s it lost sight of its primary on the stage the professors — mission: to educate and our moral mentors — were enlighten its students. It preaching fire and brimstone failed to provide a healthy about the University and its CODE SCHOOL and caring environment for wicked ways. NRS School of Nursing OPT School of Optometry those under its stewardship. At each climax the crowd PH Mailman School of Public Health It was as stony cold as rose to its feet as one, and PHRM School of Pharmaceutical Sciences PS Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons Low Library. all the assembled students SEAS Fu Foundation School of Engineering and And it is wrong to say that and faculty thrust their arms To ensure timely delivery of your biannual print Applied Science the students felt immortal forward rhythmically, fists SIPA School of International and Public Affairs subscription and future CAA newsletters, please SOA School of the Arts AP PHOTO / ED BAILEY and cared nothing for their clenched, shouting, “Strike! SPS School of Professional Studies own safety. I was there the Strike! Strike!” notify us of any changes to your e-mail or postal SW School of Social Work night of the police action at As I looked about me TC Teachers College address at [email protected]. Readers in UTS Union Theological Seminary Avery and Mathematics. Most at the outstretched arms of the occupiers had exited and listened to the raucous the United States will not be affected.

COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 5

1.18_Letters_FINAL.indd 5 4/10/18 12:34 PM FEEDBACK shouts of this mass of people That will mean consider- War, stood and called upon found them humorous, but “My mom has made so many — my friends and colleagues ing whether it makes more Deutsch to continue reading. they seemed to pair with — entranced by a messianic sense to have hate speech We said that after Pushkin, the futility of the football hysteria, I quietly removed and its ilk out in the open so we were looking forward to team. With the push over the my armband and slunk out its pernicious nature can be discussing Lermontov and, last several years for athletic sacrifices for my education. I still of the hall, cured forever, seen and addressed. It will yes, Pasternak. excellence, I believe it is time having learned a lesson that also mean dealing firmly The young man who for the accompanying band an entire university educa- with those who would take it attempted to stop the reading to mature as well. tion and a lifetime of reading into their own hands to shut looked around at the former I had the pleasure of watch- get emotional when I remember about the incomprehensible down speech to which they paratroopers, pilots, sailors, ing Columbia beat Cornell in rise of Nazism could never object, as some tried to do and Marines staring at him Ithaca on Saturday, Novem- have taught me. to the self-proclaimed “alt- and sat down as Professor ber 11, and I was absolutely telling her that not only had I Harvey Bordowitz ’69GS right” leader Richard Spencer Deutsch returned to Pushkin. mortified at the performance Avichayil, Israel when he spoke last year at None of us who stood in of the Columbia band. I was the University of Florida. that classroom would ever among other alumni, parents, FIGURES OF SPEECH It is well said that the say we fought for free speech. and coaches’ spouses who felt been accepted, but also that I’d Those who oppose provoc- answer to disagreeable You fought for the men in the same. Wrapping oneself ative speech on campus speech is not suppression your platoon, on your plane in bedsheets and toilet paper, because it “serv[es] no valid but more speech. or ship. But I’m very proud of banging on toilet seats, and academic purpose” should Donald Nawi ’61LAW the twenty-two-year-old who, running around like imma- received a scholarship that meant think twice (“Speech Therapy,” Scarsdale, NY in that long-ago classroom, ture children is not in keeping College Walk, Winter 2017– understood that free speech with the highest traditions of 18). First, speech should not Sixty-five years ago, when was worth standing up for. Columbia University. have to serve a purpose. I was a General Studies Robert W. Goldfarb ’54GS John Gadjo ’86SEAS I could say yes to Columbia, my Second, any invited speakers student, Wisconsin sena- Boca Raton, FL Fair Haven, NY are serving someone’s tor Joseph McCarthy — as purpose, or else they provocative and ubiquitous BA ND BEHAVIOR LEAGUE OF wouldn’t have been invited. in 1953 as President Trump It is with great pride that I THEIR OWN dream school.” No one should assume they is today — was making have watched the Columbia It was exciting to see the can be objective arbiters headlines warning that the football team mature and big news about the women’s of what serves a purpose. words of writers and think- play with enthusiasm, class, cross-country team winning Besides, the only speech ers he judged as subversive and a winning attitude (“The the Ivy heptagonal cham- Indira Martinez that needs to be protected is were dragging the nation Thrill of Victory,” College pionships, their first team Columbia School of Social Work, unpopular speech. into communism. Walk, Winter 2017–18). Over title since 2005 (“Women’s Class of 2019 College campuses must In a European poetry the years I have noted the cross-country team claims lead, not follow. As labo- class, Professor Babette quirkiness of the band that Ivy title,” Bulletin, Winter ratories for ideas, they are Deutsch began reading lines “plays” at the football 2017–18). What a disap- where bad ideas should go from Pushkin when a young games. I never pointment not to get any •24•18 to die, but they should die student leaped to his feet particularly further details about our 10 of starvation, not execution. and shouted that he would female athletes’ achieve- Suppressing bad ideas doesn’t report her to University ments, but rather to read kill them; it makes martyrs o£cials for quoting “a Red.” QUESTIONS? about the men’s team placing out of them. Let history be This was not an idle threat COMMENTS? second and a specific male our guide, and let’s err on for Deutsch, a poet whose athlete’s accomplishments the side of free speech. The early work celebrated the instead. Your editors may WE WELCOME THEM ALL! On Columbia Giving Day 2017, Columbians from all 50 states alternative is worse. Russian Revolution. Her want to consider the subtly E-MAIL US AT: and 61 different countries came together to join a movement. Rahul Deshmukh ’13SPS husband, born in Ukraine, sexist message sent when the [email protected] Students, faculty, and researchers across our campuses tap Brooklyn, NY was in the midst of translat- achievements of women at OR WRITE TO US: into the energy of Giving Day, harnessing resources that drive ing Boris Pasternak’s novel Columbia are not treated as Columbia Magazine One Day. academic excellence, discovery, and creative problem-solving. Columbia, like other edu- Dr. Zhivago. Columbia Alumni Center standalone news in With your support, Columbia can do more for students like cational institutions, will Suddenly, without any 622 W. 113th Street, MC 4521 your magazine. New York, NY 10025 Indira, and more for our world. indeed have to draw lines coordination, about six of us, Katherine Anderson ’99PS One Columbia. Letters may be edited for brevity and clarity. regarding speech on campus. all veterans of the Korean Brooklyn, NY Find out how to make your impact through our next Real Impact. Columbia Giving Day: October 24, 2018. 6 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 #ColumbiaGivingDay | givingday.columbia.edu

1.18_Letters_FINAL.indd 6 4/10/18 12:34 PM found them humorous, but “My mom has made so many they seemed to pair with the futility of the football team. With the push over the last several years for athletic sacrifices for my education. I still excellence, I believe it is time for the accompanying band to mature as well. I had the pleasure of watch- get emotional when I remember ing Columbia beat Cornell in Ithaca on Saturday, Novem- ber 11, and I was absolutely telling her that not only had I mortiﬁed at the performance of the Columbia band. I was among other alumni, parents, and coaches’ spouses who felt been accepted, but also that I’d the same. Wrapping oneself in bedsheets and toilet paper, banging on toilet seats, and running around like imma- received a scholarship that meant ture children is not in keeping with the highest traditions of Columbia University. John Gadjo ’86SEAS I could say yes to Columbia, my Fair Haven, NY

LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN dream school.” It was exciting to see the big news about the women’s cross-country team winning the Ivy heptagonal cham- Indira Martinez pionships, their ﬁrst team Columbia School of Social Work, title since 2005 (“Women’s Class of 2019 cross-country team claims Ivy title,” Bulletin, Winter 2017–18). What a disappointment not to get any •24•18 further details about our 10 female athletes’ achievements, but rather to read about the men’s team placing second and a speciﬁc male athlete’s accomplishments instead. Your editors may On Columbia Giving Day 2017, Columbians from all 50 states want to consider the subtly and 61 different countries came together to join a movement. sexist message sent when the Students, faculty, and researchers across our campuses tap achievements of women at into the energy of Giving Day, harnessing resources that drive Columbia are not treated as One Day. academic excellence, discovery, and creative problem-solving. standalone news in With your support, Columbia can do more for students like your magazine. Indira, and more for our world. Katherine Anderson ’99PS One Columbia. Brooklyn, NY Find out how to make your impact through our next Real Impact. Columbia Giving Day: October 24, 2018. #ColumbiaGivingDay | givingday.columbia.edu

1.18_Letters_FINAL.indd 7 4/10/18 12:34 PM TV, you know this moment. let’s try to encourage that The judge chews thought- friendly competition.” COLLEGE fully and makes notes on a Their first idea was to give scorecard. He might take away T-shirts advertising another bite; he might whis- hashtags that students could WALK per to another judge. The use to promote #TeamJohnJay, tension builds. And finally #FerrisForever, and #JJsFam he speaks. on social media. At the same NOTES “This dish is clearly all time, Columbia was also FROM 116TH about texture, with the crispy bringing in celebrity chefs for STREET AND tostones complementing “meet and eat” events with the slow-braised meat,” says students. Using cookbooks BEYOND Samuelsson. “Tostones can written by the guest chef, be dicult to do well, but Columbia Dining would these are executed perfectly. recreate some of the chef’s The dish is well-balanced and famous dishes to serve flavorful. Well done, chef.” to students. The chef exhales, and the Dunn was pleasantly crowd erupts in applause. surprised by the enthusias- It’s a routine that Sam- tic feedback from the guest uelsson knows well. In chefs — Robert Irvine, the addition to working as a chef notoriously cranky host and restaurateur — he is of several Food Network the owner of Harlem’s Red shows, lavishly praised the Rooster and Streetbird, as dining sta’s rendition of well as nine other restau- one of his dishes — but rants worldwide — Samu- when it came time to pick elsson is a regular judge on a judge for the Battle of the the Food Network’s Chopped Dining Halls, they knew it and Iron Chef America. But had to be Samuelsson. today at Columbia he is eval- “We’ve had a relationship uating an unusual group of with Marcus Samuelsson for FOOD FIGHT contestants: the chefs at the several years. He’s a fixture Tableside at the Battle of the Dining Halls University’s three residential in the neighborhood. We dining halls. actually share vendors with This is the inaugural Battle him and sometimes even buy he lights are chef, waits to judge their of the Dining Halls — a Food cornbread from his restau- dimmed, and interpretations of global Network–style competition rant,” Dunn says. “Plus, the the crowd sits in street food. held earlier this academic students love him.” hushed antic- One of the chefs steps year in the auditorium at That much is clear as the ipation. On a forward and presents her Lerner Hall. Vicki Dunn, the competition reaches its Tlarge stage, a dozen chefs dish: a Dominican-inspired executive director of Colum- climax. Samuelsson works dressed in paper toques brisket slider with pickled bia Dining, says that the the audience, slinging Red stand grouped according red onions, arugula, and rivalry between Ferris Booth Rooster hats and jumping to their red, baby blue, and cilantro-jalapeño crema. Commons, John Jay, and JJ’s o the stage to pose for navy T-shirts. One member Instead of bread, the beef Place is not new. selfies with students. But he of each group holds a tray is sandwiched between two “It started three or four also takes his job seriously, covered by a shiny silver tostones, or bright-yellow years ago at a meeting carefully tasting each entry dome. All eyes are focused fried plantains. She steps with our student advisory — the brisket slider from on the table in front of them, back, and Samuelsson committee,” Dunn says. JJ’s Place, a Caribbean jerk-

where Marcus Samuelsson, takes a bite. “The kids were getting ﬁred BRIAN REA chicken pita sandwich from an Ethiopian-born, If you’ve ever watched a up about their favorite John Jay, and a pork-belly Swedish-raised celebrity cooking contest on reality dining halls. So we thought, pho gyro from Ferris.

8 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

1.18_CW_FINAL.indd 8 4/11/18 1:55 PM TV, you know this moment. let’s try to encourage that “I’m always happy to do The judge chews thought- friendly competition.” events in the community,” fully and makes notes on a Their fi rst idea was to give Samuelsson says between THE SHORT LIST scorecard. He might take away T-shirts advertising bites of gyro. “Also — no lie another bite; he might whis- hashtags that students could — this is good food. Colum- Share science per to another judge. The use to promote #TeamJohnJay, bia should be proud of what EXPLORE with the kids tension builds. And fi nally #FerrisForever, and #JJsFam they’re doing here.” at the Columbia Alumni Association’s he speaks. on social media. At the same When it comes time for Family STEM Day, featuring hands-on “This dish is clearly all time, Columbia was also the formal evaluations, science activities and a talk by Columbia about texture, with the crispy bringing in celebrity chefs for Samuelsson is joined onstage tostones complementing “meet and eat” events with by a panel of fi ve students, astronomer David Kipping. June 10 at the slow-braised meat,” says students. Using cookbooks who were selected by video Dodge Fitness Center. Register online at Samuelsson. “Tostones can written by the guest chef, application to serve as his caafamilystemday2018.eventbrite.com be di cult to do well, but Columbia Dining would co-judges. Together, they’ll these are executed perfectly. recreate some of the chef’s each take another taste of the The Harlem The dish is well-balanced and famous dishes to serve entrées, confer, and agree on LISTEN Chamber Players fl avorful. Well done, chef.” to students. a winner. close out their tenth-anniversary season The chef exhales, and the Dunn was pleasantly Before the grand prize, with a gala concert at Miller Theatre, with crowd erupts in applause. surprised by the enthusias- Samuelsson announces performances of excerpts from opera It’s a routine that Sam- tic feedback from the guest the audience-choice award classics, including Bizet’s Carmen and uelsson knows well. In chefs — Robert Irvine, the (everyone at the event has Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. June 1 at 7 p.m. addition to working as a chef notoriously cranky host had the opportunity to and restaurateur — he is of several Food Network vote for this honor via text harlemchamberplayers.org the owner of Harlem’s Red shows, lavishly praised the message). It’s JJ’s Place, Rooster and Streetbird, as dining sta ’s rendition of by a landslide. The crowd The Wallach Gallery well as nine other restau- one of his dishes — but in front of the JJ’s booth SEE presents Relational rants worldwide — Samu- when it came time to pick cheers, hoping that it’s a Undercurrents, a major elsson is a regular judge on a judge for the Battle of the harbinger of the grand survey of twenty-fi rst-century the Food Network’s Chopped Dining Halls, they knew it prize, and the other teams Caribbean art. Curated by and Iron Chef America. But had to be Samuelsson. fi dget nervously. Tatiana Flores ’95CC, ’03GSAS. today at Columbia he is eval- “We’ve had a relationship Everyone looks to Samu- A video June 1–September 23. uating an unusual group of with Marcus Samuelsson for elsson. He consults with one still from wallach.columbia.edu/exhibitions contestants: the chefs at the several years. He’s a fi xture of the student judges one Water and Dreams, University’s three residential in the neighborhood. We last time, and she confi rms 2014, by dining halls. actually share vendors with it: the winner is JJ’s Place. Caribbean The Rare Book and artist David Manuscript Library in This is the inaugural Battle him and sometimes even buy On stage, the spotlight Gumbs. VISIT of the Dining Halls — a Food cornbread from his restau- narrows on the crew from Butler Library presents two exhibitions: Network–style competition rant,” Dunn says. “Plus, the JJ’s, who whoop and holler “1968: The Global Revolutions,” on view held earlier this academic students love him.” and pat each other on the until June 4, relates the Columbia campus year in the auditorium at That much is clear as the back. Christina Appollonio, protests to political upheaval worldwide, Lerner Hall. Vicki Dunn, the competition reaches its the chef and general man- and “Yiddish at Columbia,” open until executive director of Colum- climax. Samuelsson works ager, steps forward and June 15, showcases Yiddish memorabilia the audience, slinging Red accepts the sort of ornate bia Dining, says that the from the University’s archives. rivalry between Ferris Booth Rooster hats and jumping championship belt more library.columbia.edu/locations/rbml.html Commons, John Jay, and JJ’s o the stage to pose for associated with boxing Place is not new. selfi es with students. But he gloves than oven mitts. “It started three or four also takes his job seriously, “Respect!” yells someone Graduat ed in a years ago at a meeting carefully tasting each entry from John Jay, as their REUNITE year that ends in with our student advisory — the brisket slider from team shu es o the stage a 3 or an 8? Alumni from select schools are committee,” Dunn says. JJ’s Place, a Caribbean jerk- and starts packing up. “But invited to attend a reunion and walk down

“The kids were getting ﬁ red BRIAN REA chicken pita sandwich from don’t worry. We’ll get you memory lane with classmates. Visit your up about their favorite John Jay, and a pork-belly next year.” school’s website for dates and activities. dining halls. So we thought, pho gyro from Ferris. — Rebecca Shapiro

COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 9

1.18_CW_FINAL.indd 9 4/11/18 1:55 PM COLLEGE WALK “For communication, science WHO’S AFRAID OF THE BIG BAD NEURON? needs di erent tools,” he A Presidential Scholar draws science into friendlier territory says. “There’s a lot of good science writing, but most of it is aimed at an audience atteo Farinella a suggestion: why not create a recesses of the brain would studies in mind, brain, and that’s already interested in was torn. Grow- comic about neuroscience? be more alluring than behavior. Intrigued by the science. Many people think ing up in Italy, Farinella was skeptical. simply a textbook done in program’s cross-disciplinary science is too complex, and he was crazy for Although graphic novels like comic form. “When you approach — the postdoctoral they shy away. But no one is science. He also Maus and Persepolis had apply narrative structure,” scholars and their faculty scared of comics.” Mloved to draw, fi lling sketch- taken on weighty topics of says Farinella, who is thirty- mentors come not only Working with faculty books with autobiographical history and politics, most three and has dark, wavy from the natural sciences advisers Marguerite Holloway comics in the manner of his people associated comics hair and a six-day beard, but also from the social ’88JRN, the director of favorite graphic novelists, with kids’ stu . Certainly a “the information is much sciences, the arts, and the the School of Journalism’s like Art Spiegelman, Daniel lot of scientists did, Farinella easier to remember, more humanities — Farinella wrote science and environmental Clowes, and Chris Ware. felt. But Roš pushed him, vivid, more interesting, “the proposal of my dreams,” journalism program, and But in high school, and the two began collabo- more engaging.” he says. He included excerpts Barbara Tversky, a professor Farinella had to choose: rating on a book, Neurocomic Farinella and his wife, from Neurocomic. of cognitive psychology at science or art? — a kind of guided tour of Pamela, a native New Yorker, Farinella was one of Teachers College, Farinella “A false dichotomy,” he says. the brain for the layperson. moved to the city in 2015, three postdoctoral appli- is designing experiments to Farinella chose science, Published in 2013, and Farinella began looking cants selected for the 2016 test readers’ responses to earning his PhD in neurosci- Neurocomic’s enthusiastic for ways to pursue his dual class, where he joined an scientifi c information pre- ence at University College reception a rmed Farinel- interests. He heard about a Israeli neuroscientist and sented in di erent formats: London in 2013. But he never la’s belief that storytelling three-year research program an MIT-trained historian articles and comics. “I think stopped drawing. One day, a involving human protago- at Columbia called Presiden- and fi lmmaker. His research comics can change attitudes research fellow in his nists who fi nd themselves tial Scholars in Society and examines the e ectiveness of about science,” he says, “and From lab, Hana Roš, made fl ung into the surreal Neuroscience, dedicated to comics in explaining science. as a scientist I’d like some The Senses evidence to back it up.” In The Senses (see excerpt at left), which was published last year, the reader takes an Alice-like trip through the neuronal wonderland of the skin, eyes, ears, nose, and tongue, meeting talking proteins and receptors as well as pioneering scientists. No one will confuse it with the Journal of Neuroscience, but with such intricate material, it’s not child’s play, either.

FROM THE SENSES, BY DR. MATTEO FARINELLA © NOBROW 2017 “For me, it doesn’t matter if you ﬁ nish my books and don’t remember the science,” Farinella says. “But if you come away thinking, ‘Science is fun. I want to read more about science,’ then maybe the next time you see a New York Times piece about the brain, you won’t just skip it.”

MISHA FRIEDMAN — Paul Hond

10 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

1.18_CW_FINAL.indd 10 4/11/18 1:55 PM “For communication, science WHO’S AFRAID OF THE BIG BAD NEURON? needs dierent tools,” he THE BOOK OF NOT A Presidential Scholar draws science into friendlier territory says. “There’s a lot of good science writing, but most of FORGETTING it is aimed at an audience Journalist Masha Gessen on memory and Stalin’s Gulag studies in mind, brain, and that’s already interested in behavior. Intrigued by the science. Many people think program’s cross-disciplinary science is too complex, and approach — the postdoctoral they shy away. But no one is scholars and their faculty scared of comics.” mentors come not only Working with faculty from the natural sciences advisers Marguerite Holloway but also from the social ’88JRN, the director of sciences, the arts, and the the School of Journalism’s humanities — Farinella wrote science and environmental “the proposal of my dreams,” journalism program, and he says. He included excerpts Barbara Tversky, a professor from Neurocomic. of cognitive psychology at Farinella was one of Teachers College, Farinella three postdoctoral appli- is designing experiments to Revered cants selected for the 2016 test readers’ responses to Russians wanted to do a book about forget- That exchange gave Gessen a title for class, where he joined an scientific information pre- on a poster ting,” Masha Gessen said recently her book Never Remember: Searching in central “ Israeli neuroscientist and sented in dierent formats: Moscow: during a talk in Pulitzer Hall. for Stalin’s Gulags in Putin’s Russia. an MIT-trained historian articles and comics. “I think Czar Nicholas Gessen, a New Yorker sta writer, Featuring essays by Gessen and pho- and filmmaker. His research comics can change attitudes II, Soviet was recounting a meeting she’d tographs by Misha Friedman, it is the secret-police examines the eectiveness of about science,” he says, “and hadI two years ago with Irina Flige, an fourteenth book published by Columbia founder Felix comics in explaining science. as a scientist I’d like some Dzerzhinsky, activist in St. Petersburg working to raise Global Reports, an imprint devoted to evidence to back it up.” and Stalin. awareness of the suppressed history of in-depth works of journalism on topics In The Senses (see excerpt Soviet state terror, especially Joseph often neglected by budget-squeezed at left), which was published Stalin’s forced-labor camps. From the American news outlets. last year, the reader takes an early 1930s to 1953, millions of people, In Pulitzer Hall, Gessen, who emi- Alice-like trip through the many accused of disloyalty to the state, grated from Russia to the US with her neuronal wonderland of the died in the Gulags, sometimes from parents in 1981, sat between Friedman skin, eyes, ears, nose, and bullets, but usually from disease, starva- and Columbia journalism dean tongue, meeting talking pro- tion, hypothermia, and exhaustion. emeritus Nicholas Lemann, director teins and receptors as well of Columbia Global Reports. Behind as pioneering scientists. No them, on a screen, floated Friedman’s one will confuse it with the Gessen found that many haunting black-and-white panoramas Journal of Neuroscience, but of abandoned camps: watchtowers, with such intricate material, Russians had lost their gloomy forests, wooden barracks, it’s not child’s play, either. barbed wire, overgrown fields marked

FROM THE SENSES, BY DR. MATTEO FARINELLA© NOBROW 2017 “For me, it doesn’t matter taste for introspection. with crosses. if you ﬁnish my books In 2016, Gessen and Friedman trav- and don’t remember the Flige agreed to speak with Gessen, eled to Gulag sites (the word “Gulag” is science,” Farinella says. “But but she did not accept the premise of a an acronym for the government agency if you come away thinking, book about forgetting. Forgetting pre- that ran the camp system), starting with ‘Science is fun. I want to supposes remembering, Flige explained. places that Gessen had visited twenty read more about science,’ And because Russia never fully con- years before, when it seemed that then maybe the next time fronted, historically or legally, the burgeoning memorialization eorts you see a New York Times realities of Soviet terror, there was no would lead to a meaningful reckoning piece about the brain, you separation between past and present. with the past. But Gessen found that won’t just skip it.” Without such a break, there could be no many Russians had lost their taste for

MISHA FRIEDMAN — Paul Hond remembering, and thus no forgetting. introspection. She attributed this to a

COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 11

1.18_CW_FINAL.indd 11 4/11/18 1:55 PM COLLEGE WALK kind of “memory fatigue,” a result of President Vladimir ON EQUAL PAY Putin’s stoking of nostalgia “I was the law school’s represen- for past imperial glories and tative on the University Senate. his ambiguous stance toward [There] was a commission on the By way of Stalin — what Gessen calls status of women, and the first example, she Putin’s “desire to turn mem- thing we wanted was the pay pointed to the ory to mush.” figures. The University was very Kremlin’s use Some in the audience reluctant to come forward. But we of the nebu- objected to Gessen’s critique wanted it just to ensure that the of the Russian state. One lous, deper- women were getting the same self-identified Soviet-born SUPREMELY sonalized pay for the same work.” term “repres- man accused Gessen of sion” instead peddling “hysteria” and QUOTABLE of “terror” to “half-truths” to advance an ON SOCIAL PROGRESS “extreme anti-Russian arlier this year, Ruth Bader “When I talk about my agenda.” He said that Ginsburg ’59LAW, ’94HON mother, I sometimes ask the JOIN THE Russians would never view held court at the first Columbia question, ‘What is the differ- Gessen and Friedman, who University women’s conference, ence between a bookkeeper COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY CLUB are Jewish, as Russians E in the Garment District and a a three-day gathering where Columbia (“I’m a Jew,” he added); alumnae celebrated, networked, and Supreme Court justice?’ [The OF NEW YORK that Russians see the Gulag honed their leadership skills. The answer:] One generation.” system as having been set up name of the conference, “She Opened by Jews; and that Gessen’s the Door,” honored Winifred Edgerton ENGAGE IN THE LEGACY OF “propaganda” was not ON ARGUING HER Merrill 1886GSAS, the first woman to “conducive to any kind of FIRST CASE BEFORE THE ALUMNI FELLOWSHIP receive a Columbia degree. political diplomacy.” Gessen SUPREME COURT Justice Ginsburg, the first female declined to respond. “I was terribly nervous; I didn’t full professor at Columbia’s School Afterward, while attend- dare eat anything for lunch. But Our Spring Membership Specials include of Law and the second woman to be ees lined up to get their then I looked up at that bench: three months of membership, books signed, a Russian appointed to the US Supreme Court, the nine most important judges woman took issue with was the keynote speaker. Known for a $200 house credit, plus in the United States. I had a cap- Gessen’s assertion that her women’s-rights advocacy, uncom- tive audience. They had no place free membership for graduating seniors. public debate in Russia has promising dissents, and lace jabots, been “destroyed.” She said Ginsburg talked with CNN anchor to go. They had to listen to me. this portrait of her country Poppy Harlow ’05CC about life on and Then, suddenly, instead of feeling FIND THE DETAILS AT was “unfair” and “painful,” off the bench, handing down some nervous and inadequate, a great and that if free speech was choice opinions. feeling of power came over me.” COLUMBIACLUB.ORG/CLUB-NEWS dead anywhere, it was dead in New York City. ON CONQUERING INSECURITY These disputes under- “My first day in law school, there was someone in the class who volunteered to scored the conundrum of answer the professor’s question. He was brilliant. I came home at the end of the historical memory that day and said to my husband, ‘If they’re all that smart, I’ll never make it in this place.’ Gessen presented at the outset: the domestic nature Then I decided that this person would be my model, that I would speak in class of Stalinist terror, and how as often as he did. This brilliant person was Tony Lewis, who among other things it pitted Russians against reported on the Supreme Court for the New York Times.” COLUMBIA Russians. That makes it impossible to tell stories, said ON THE COURTEOUS COURT UNIVERSITY Gessen, “because how do you “Although the press tends to play up the 5–4 divisions, we are unanimous CLUB tell a story about how we did much more often than we divide 5–4. There is a collegial spirit that prevails; this to ourselves?” NEW YORK the Supreme Court is more collegial than any other place I’ve ever worked.” — Paul Hond

12 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

Columbia Mag_March_2018_Final.indd 1 3/30/18 10:49 AM 1.18_CW_FINAL.indd 12 4/11/18 1:55 PM ON EQUAL PAY “I was the law school’s represen- tative on the University Senate. [There] was a commission on the status of women, and the ﬁrst thing we wanted was the pay ﬁgures. The University was very reluctant to come forward. But we wanted it just to ensure that the women were getting the same pay for the same work.”

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ENGAGE IN THE LEGACY OF ON ARGUING HER FIRST CASE BEFORE THE ALUMNI FELLOWSHIP SUPREME COURT “I was terribly nervous; I didn’t dare eat anything for lunch. But Our Spring Membership Specials include then I looked up at that bench: three months of membership, the nine most important judges a $200 house credit, plus in the United States. I had a cap- tive audience. They had no place free membership for graduating seniors. to go. They had to listen to me. Then, suddenly, instead of feeling nervous and inadequate, a great FIND THE DETAILS AT feeling of power came over me.” COLUMBIACLUB.ORG/CLUB-NEWS

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Columbia Mag_March_2018_Final.indd 1 3/30/18 10:49 AM 1.18_CW_FINAL.indd 13 4/11/18 1:55 PM Armed with enormous amounts of clinical data, teams of computer scientists, statisticians, and physicians are rewriting the rules of medical research

The deluge is upon us. We are living in the age of big data, and with every link we click, every message we send, and every movement we make, we generate torrents of information. In the past two years, the world has produced more than 90 percent of all the digital data that has ever been created. New technologies churn out an estimated 2.5 quintillion bytes per day. Data pours in from social media and cell phones, weather satellites and space telescopes, digital cameras and video feeds, medical records and library collections. Technologies monitor the number of steps we walk each day, the structural integrity of dams and bridges, and the barely perceptible tremors that indicate a person is developing Parkinson’s disease. These are the building blocks of our knowledge economy. This tsunami of information is also providing opportunities to study the world in entirely new ways. Nowhere is this more evident than in medicine. Today, breakthroughs are being made not just in labs but on laptops, as biomedical researchers trained in mathematics, computer science, and statistics use powerful new analytic tools to glean insights from enormous data sets and help doctors prevent, treat, and cure disease. “The medical ﬁ eld is going through a major period of transformation, and many By David J. Craig \ Portraits by Jörg Meyer of the changes are driven by information

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1.18_Data_FINAL.indd 14 4/11/18 8:17 AM are predicting outbreaks of infectious Armed with enormous diseases by monitoring Google search queries and social-media activity; and amounts of clinical data, they are developing novel cancer treatments by using predictive analytics to model the internal dynamics of diseased teams of computer cells. These ambitious projects, many of which involve large interdisciplinary scientists, statisticians, teams of computer scientists, engineers, statisticians, and physicians, represent and physicians are the future of academic research. “Our ability to collect, analyze, and interpret more and larger data sets rewriting the rules of is infusing new ideas and energy into virtually every academic fi eld today — medical research from data-rich disciplines like astron- omy, biology, and climate science to increasingly data-driven professions like law, business, and journalism,” says The deluge is upon us. technology,” says George Hripcsak ’85PS, Jeannette M. Wing, director of Colum- We are living in the age of big data, and ’00PH, a physician who chairs the bia’s Data Science Institute, which with every link we click, every message Department of Biomedical Informatics at supports collaborations between data we send, and every movement we make, Columbia University Irving Medical Cen- scientists and researchers in other fi elds we generate torrents of information. ter (CUIMC). “Diagnostic techniques like across the University. “Since data is In the past two years, the world has genomic screening and high-resolution everywhere, data science is applicable produced more than 90 percent of imaging are generating more raw data everywhere. What’s happening at the all the digital data that has ever been than we’ve ever handled before. At the medical campus right now represents a created. New technologies churn out an same time, researchers are increasingly kind of collaboration we’re bringing to estimated 2.5 quintillion bytes per day. looking outside the confi nes of their own every corner of Columbia.” Data pours in from social media and cell laboratories and clinics for data, because phones, weather satellites and space tele- they recognize that by analyzing the huge NEW INSIGHTS ON scopes, digital cameras and video feeds, streams of digital information now avail- DRUG SAFETY medical records and library collections. able online they can make discoveries that For CUIMC researcher Nicholas Technologies monitor the number of were never possible before.” Tatonetti, any sizable collection of digital steps we walk each day, the structural To date, the most dramatic achieve- medical records represents a treasure integrity of dams and bridges, and the ments of data science in medicine trove of potential discoveries. barely perceptible tremors that indicate a have been in the realm of genomics. Consider, for example, what the young person is developing Parkinson’s disease. Physicians at many leading health-care computer scientist has been able to These are the building blocks of our organizations and medical schools, accomplish in recent years by mining knowledge economy. including Columbia’s, now routinely an FDA database of prescription-drug This tsunami of information is also analyze the DNA of their patients, side e ects. The archive, which con- providing opportunities to study the parsing the millions of chemical units tains millions of reports of adverse drug world in entirely new ways. Nowhere that make each one of us unique, in reactions that physicians have observed is this more evident than in medicine. order to more precisely diagnose illness. in their patients, is continuously mon- Today, breakthroughs are being made not This has enabled physicians to craft itored by government scientists whose just in labs but on laptops, as biomedical personalized treatments for many forms job it is to spot problems and pull drugs researchers trained in mathematics, com- of cancer, as well as for certain cardio- o the market if necessary. And yet by puter science, and statistics use powerful vascular, neurological, pulmonary, and drilling down into the database with his new analytic tools to glean insights from ophthalmological disorders. own analytic tools, Tatonetti has found enormous data sets and help doctors But the use of data science in med- evidence that dozens of commonly pre- prevent, treat, and cure disease. icine extends far beyond genomics. scribed drugs may interact in dangerous “The medical fi eld is going through a Today, researchers at CUIMC are using ways that have previously gone unno- major period of transformation, and many the power of data to identify previously ticed. Among his most alarming fi ndings: of the changes are driven by information unrecognized drug side e ects; they the antibiotic ceftriaxone, when taken

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1.18_Data_FINAL.indd 15 4/11/18 8:17 AM with the heartburn medication tions run in families,” says Tatonetti, not- lansoprazole, can trigger a type of heart ing that the results could help researchers arrhythmia called QT prolongation, identify genes that contribute to disease. which is known to cause otherwise A thirty-fi ve-year-old with a neatly healthy people to suddenly drop dead. trimmed beard and tattoos on his fore- “What’s surprising is that neither arms, Tatonetti is part of a new wave of of those medications had ever been tech-savvy medical researchers who have linked to heart problems on its own,” largely bypassed traditional investigative says Tatonetti, an assistant professor of approaches, such as observing patients biomedical informatics, systems biology, fi rsthand in clinical studies, in favor of and medicine. “That’s part of the reason sifting through piles of existing medical nobody had spotted the risk.” data in search of scientifi c gold. The Tatonetti made the discovery by potential for this kind of research, its employing a novel deductive technique: proponents say, has grown dramati- he searched the FDA database for cally in recent years as the health-care instances of people developing heart industry has fully embraced digital problems after taking drugs that aren’t record-keeping: whereas ten years ago known to cause cardiovascular issues the majority of US health-care institu- but that share numerous other side tions still relied on paper fi les to track e ects with medications that are. Then, their patients’ medical care, today only a to assess the strength of the correlations small percentage of them do. he found, he designed a set of algo- “The shift toward electronic record- rithms inspired by an analytic approach keeping has just totally blown open the called signal-detection theory, which possibilities for what you can do as a was developed by the US Air Force medical researcher,” says Tatonetti. “A in the 1940s to help radar operators few years ago, if I’d told epidemiologists determine whether objects picked up by that I was planning to investigate how their antennas were actually airplanes. a person’s birth month relates to her These tools enabled Tatonetti to separate health, they would have laughed me out the signal from the noise in the FDA of the room.” archive, accomplishing something that Tatonetti came to Columbia, he says, was, to a data scientist, akin to detecting because CUIMC was one of the fi rst a pea beneath a pile of mattresses. medical centers to adopt electronic But Tatonetti didn’t stop there. He GEORGE HRIPCSAK NICHOLAS TATONETTI record-keeping and therefore possesses then dove into CUIMC’s own patient archive, which contains clinical data on Raymond Woosley, a national expert seasonal environmental conditions — like fi ve million patients dating back to 1989. on QT prolongation who assisted in levels of sunlight, mold, or air pollu- “The shift toward electronic This confi rmed that people who had Tatonetti’s investigation. tion — a ect pregnant women and their been prescribed ceftriaxone and lanso- Since coming to Columbia straight unborn children. And later this year, record-keeping has just totally blown prazole at the same time often developed out of Stanford’s graduate school in Tatonetti and several colleagues will pub- irregular heartbeats. Finally, Tatonetti 2012, Tatonetti has surprised colleagues lish a groundbreaking analysis of CUIMC open the possibilities for what you can teamed up with Robert Kass, a CUIMC time and time again with his ability to medical records that reveals the relative pharmacologist, to undertake a series of glean answers to big, bold questions heritability of 467 medical conditions do as a medical researcher.” experiments to see exactly how ceftri- by trawling collections of digital health — from anxiety to celiac disease to cystic axone and lansoprazole a ect the heart. records. Last year, he published a com- fi brosis — for which no reliable estimates The results were dramatic: in combina- prehensive analysis of how a person’s of heritability have ever been available. one of the richest patient databases in the tion, the drugs were shown to block an birth date infl uences his or her lifetime The key to the mystery had been staring world. Today it contains tens of millions electric pathway inside heart cells that risk for developing many common health at researchers for years, right on the of hospital intake forms, lab results, X-ray controls their pulsing. problems. That study, which is based on hospital intake forms that every patient reports, prescription orders, immuniza- “The scope of data collection that Tatonetti’s analysis of the medical records fi lls out: the familial relationships of the tion records, echocardiograms, vital signs, went into these studies, and the level of of ten million people in the United States, patients’ emergency contacts. doctors’ and nurses’ notes, and discharge analytic sophistication that was required South Korea, and Taiwan, will likely be “We mapped out the relationships of summaries. Faculty in Columbia’s along the way, is like nothing else I’ve picked over for years by public-health millions of patients and then looked to Department of Biomedical Informatics ever seen in the area of drug safety,” says researchers eager to understand how see the degree to which medical condi- have pioneered innovative ways of using

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1.18_Data_FINAL.indd 16 4/11/18 8:17 AM tions run in families,” says Tatonetti, not- such data — both to improve patient care racial disparities in health-care access, ing that the results could help researchers and to advance scientifi c knowledge. On country-by-country di erences in how identify genes that contribute to disease. the clinical side, they have developed physicians treat common diseases, and A thirty-fi ve-year-old with a neatly artifi cial-intelligence systems that can problems that arise when children are trimmed beard and tattoos on his fore- analyze a patient’s entire medical history prescribed adult medications, to name a arms, Tatonetti is part of a new wave of within seconds and then alert a CUIMC few. Hripcsak himself is using the archive tech-savvy medical researchers who have physician if, for instance, the patient is to assemble what will be a fi rst-of-its-kind largely bypassed traditional investigative due for an immunization, is allergic to a catalog revealing the rates at which people approaches, such as observing patients medication that he or she is about to be who take any of thousands of prescription fi rsthand in clinical studies, in favor of prescribed, or is showing early signs of drugs experience side e ects. He says sifting through piles of existing medical di cult-to-diagnose conditions like that physicians currently have no way of data in search of scientifi c gold. The chronic kidney disease. To support new knowing how frequently many drug side potential for this kind of research, its kinds of research, they have created special e ects occur, because the clinical trials proponents say, has grown dramati- database-management tools that enable conducted by pharmaceutical companies cally in recent years as the health-care CUIMC o cials to share patient data with prior to releasing new drugs — which industry has fully embraced digital researchers at Columbia and beyond in remain a primary source of scientifi c record-keeping: whereas ten years ago ways that protect the patients’ privacy. information about drug safety today the majority of US health-care institu- “A big priority within the research — are too small to accurately assess their tions still relied on paper fi les to track community right now is fi guring out prevalence. But Hripcsak believes that their patients’ medical care, today only a how scientists from di erent medical by documenting all the health problems small percentage of them do. centers can pool our data, so that we can that millions of people have experienced “The shift toward electronic record- all conduct more powerful studies,” says shortly after starting on prescription keeping has just totally blown open the George Hripcsak, the chair of the drugs, and then using a number of ana- possibilities for what you can do as a biomedical-informatics department. He lytic tricks to weed out incidental correla- medical researcher,” says Tatonetti. “A says that CUIMC is at the forefront of tions in the data, he will be able to provide few years ago, if I’d told epidemiologists e orts to meet this challenge. “We’ve orga- solid estimates for the prevalence of many that I was planning to investigate how nized a number of national and interna- drug side e ects for the fi rst time. a person’s birth month relates to her tional consortiums that expand scientists’ “Does a particular medication carry a health, they would have laughed me out access to medical data while at the same 20 percent chance of causing a seizure of the room.” time protecting patient privacy.” or a 0.2 percent chance? That di erence Tatonetti came to Columbia, he says, The most ambitious of these initiatives, might determine whether or not you pre- because CUIMC was one of the fi rst the Observational Health Data Sciences scribe it to somebody,” he says. “But today, medical centers to adopt electronic and Informatics program (OHDSI), physicians are often in the dark when NICHOLAS TATONETTI record-keeping and therefore possesses has created a data-sharing network that trying to make these kinds of judgment calls. They’ll read the list of potential side seasonal environmental conditions — like e ects on a drug’s label but have little idea levels of sunlight, mold, or air pollu- “The shift toward electronic what real risk they pose.” tion — a ect pregnant women and their In addition to containing enormous unborn children. And later this year, record-keeping has just totally blown amounts of information of value to physi- Tatonetti and several colleagues will pub- cians and patients, the new catalog could lish a groundbreaking analysis of CUIMC open the possibilities for what you can also be a boon for researchers. medical records that reveals the relative “One of the things I’ll be using the heritability of 467 medical conditions do as a medical researcher.” catalog for is to spot more dangerous — from anxiety to celiac disease to cystic drug combinations,” says Tatonetti. fi brosis — for which no reliable estimates “Knowing the rates at which certain side of heritability have ever been available. one of the richest patient databases in the enables researchers at academic insti- e ects occur will provide us clues as to The key to the mystery had been staring world. Today it contains tens of millions tutions in twenty-fi ve countries to study which pairs of drugs — among the thou- at researchers for years, right on the of hospital intake forms, lab results, X-ray the medical records of some four hun- sands of pairs that may at fi rst glance hospital intake forms that every patient reports, prescription orders, immuniza- dred million people, drawn from eighty appear to be troublesome — are the most fi lls out: the familial relationships of the tion records, echocardiograms, vital signs, health-care organizations around the important to investigate.” patients’ emergency contacts. doctors’ and nurses’ notes, and discharge world. Researchers participating in the None of this is to say that data mining “We mapped out the relationships of summaries. Faculty in Columbia’s network, of which CUIMC is the coordi- is going to replace traditional forms of millions of patients and then looked to Department of Biomedical Informatics nating center, are now mining the records medical research. Both Hripcsak and see the degree to which medical condi- have pioneered innovative ways of using for insights into any number of topics: Tatonetti acknowledge, for example, that

COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 17

1.18_Data_FINAL.indd 17 4/11/18 8:17 AM the only way to evaluate the safety of new Shaman, who studied hydrology and drugs is to see how they work on small atmospheric sciences for many years numbers of people in closely monitored before turning his attention to infl uenza, clinical trials. But they predict that as made this discovery by reanalyzing data the insights of big-data analytics are that a group of Mount Sinai Hospital gradually integrated into routine medical virologists had collected in a series of lab practice, with data scientists tapping into experiments that assessed the impact of the rivers of digital information fl owing humidity and temperature on the fl u’s out of doctors’ o ces and sharing their transmissibility. The virologists had insights with practitioners in real time, a concluded that these factors had only a fundamentally di erent kind of health- modest impact on fl u transmission; Sha- care system will emerge. man, who as an environmental scientist “This will create what data scientists was accustomed to dealing with such like to call a ‘learning health system,’ data sets, showed that humidity was, in where medical treatments and proce- fact, a very important factor. dures can be continuously monitored “Whereas the original authors had and tweaked, in accordance with how looked at the e ects of relative humidity, they’re performing,” says Hripcsak. or the amount of water vapor in the air “Eventually, we’ll also have massive as a percentage of what it can hold at a quantities of data coming in from mobile given temperature, my team looked at monitoring devices, like smart watches the e ects of absolute humidity, which is that record your vital signs. By analyzing a more straightforward, mass-based that data, we could enable a physician to measure, and we found that its e ects provide you individually tailored medical were pronounced,” he says. advice without you even stepping into his Armed with this insight, Shaman and or her o ce.” his colleagues began work on a fl u forecasting system that was one of the fi rst of USING DATA TO PREDICT its type. In order to train their computer EPIDEMICS to predict future epidemics, they fi rst Every year, in the fall or winter, a wave downloaded and studied information of infl uenza hits the United States. And about every case of infl uenza reported to every year, health o cials struggle to the US Centers for Disease Control and respond, because they don’t know when Prevention (CDC) since 2003, along with JEFFREY SHAMAN the fl u will strike or what parts of the detailed climate data covering the same country will be hardest hit. In a typical fl u season, tens of thousands of Amer- forecast produced by his team might temperate regions in both the Northern icans are killed by the virus, but if the declare, for example, that there is a and Southern Hemispheres during cold Shaman’s team studied information timing and severity of outbreaks could 60 percent chance of the city’s fl u season months — had been di cult to explain. be anticipated, then health o cials could peaking in intensity in fi ve weeks. Shaman achieved a major breakthrough about every case of infl uenza reported respond more e ectively and save lives. “That can give health-care workers in this area when, in 2008, he discovered Je rey Shaman ’03GSAS, an associate more time to prepare,” says Shaman, that the fl u virus is adept at spreading in to the CDC since 2003, along with professor of environmental health sci- whose team currently publishes weekly conditions of low humidity, such as those ences at Columbia’s Mailman School of fl u forecasts for eighty-one US cities and that prevail in North America during climate data from the same period. Public Health, has found a way to predict all fi fty states on its Columbia website. the winter. “No one’s sure why this is, fl u outbreaks using big-data analysis. “They can stock up on medications like but there are a number of theories that Originally trained as a climate scientist, Tamifl u, assign more sta to emergency attempt to explain why the fl u virus, when period. The researchers then developed Shaman has for the past several years rooms, and launch public-awareness expelled from a host as tiny airborne a computer model capable of making been developing computer systems that campaigns to maximize their impact.” droplets, would be sensitive to ambient probabilistic predictions based on a can anticipate the timing and magni- Predicting fl u outbreaks has long been humidity,” he says. “Some scientists have steady stream of fl u data it would receive tude of fl u epidemics by analyzing many a dream of public-health researchers, but speculated that when it’s less humid, from a number of disease-monitoring di erent types of data, some of which until recently scientists knew too little chemical changes occur in the droplets organizations, including the CDC, and pertain to actual incidences of infl uenza about how infl uenza spreads. Even the that may protect fl u viral particles trapped climate data. They also taught the system and others to conditions in which the most obvious feature of infl uenza’s global inside and make them more likely to to incorporate data that Google had just virus generally likes to spread. A typical migration cycle — that it emerges in infect people who inhale them.” begun releasing daily on the locations and

18 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

1.18_Data_FINAL.indd 18 4/11/18 8:17 AM Shaman, who studied hydrology and numbers of people searching for fl u- engineer, and computer scientist who is atmospheric sciences for many years related keywords. working on the project. before turning his attention to infl uenza, “The Google data stream was vital In the US, meanwhile, Shaman’s team made this discovery by reanalyzing data because it gave us nearly instantaneous is attempting to plug some major gaps in that a group of Mount Sinai Hospital knowledge about what was happening our knowledge of how infl uenza spreads virologists had collected in a series of lab on the ground,” says Sasi Kandula, a from person to person. One possibil- experiments that assessed the impact of Columbia computer scientist who has ity that has long kept epidemiologists humidity and temperature on the fl u’s contributed to the project. “Traditional awake at night, Shaman says, is that transmissibility. The virologists had epidemiological data, which consists of some people carrying the fl u virus may concluded that these factors had only a doctors’ reports of fl u cases, is typically a not develop symptoms and therefore go modest impact on fl u transmission; Sha- week or two old by the time an organiza- about their days blithely infecting others. man, who as an environmental scientist tion like the CDC releases it.” The winter before last, Shaman and his was accustomed to dealing with such In 2012, after nearly four years spent colleagues, as part of a federally funded data sets, showed that humidity was, in developing their system, Shaman and his study, began collecting nasal swabs from fact, a very important factor. colleagues began releasing real-time fl u large numbers of people in schools, “Whereas the original authors had predictions. The next year, CDC o cials daycare centers, and other public places looked at the e ects of relative humidity, evaluated the Columbia team’s predic- in New York City. or the amount of water vapor in the air tions along with those produced by fi ve “We’re on the lookout for people who as a percentage of what it can hold at a other research groups, and they declared aren’t visibly sick, yet are shedding the given temperature, my team looked at the Columbia team’s the most reliable. virus,” says Shaman. the e ects of absolute humidity, which is Since then, Shaman and his colleagues He says that if signifi cant numbers a more straightforward, mass-based have been refi ning their models. By of asymptomatic people are found to measure, and we found that its e ects studying the pace at which infl uenza be contagious, this might prompt city were pronounced,” he says. spreads through populations of varying health o cials to proactively screen Armed with this insight, Shaman and densities and cities with di erent types people for infl uenza. No matter what his colleagues began work on a fl u fore- of infrastructure, for example, they’ve he and his colleagues discover through casting system that was one of the fi rst of improved the geographic resolution of swab sampling, Shaman says, the study its type. In order to train their computer their predictions to the point where, last will move them one step closer to to predict future epidemics, they fi rst winter, they developed a new forecasting their ultimate goal, which is gaining a downloaded and studied information system able to specify where in large comprehensive understanding of how about every case of infl uenza reported to cities the fl u would hit fi rst, down to the infl uenza moves through populations. the US Centers for Disease Control and level of individual neighborhoods. “Right now, fl u forecasting is probably Prevention (CDC) since 2003, along with At the same time, the researchers have at the point where weather forecasting JEFFREY SHAMAN detailed climate data covering the same taken their work to the international was fi fty years ago,” says Shaman, who notes that his forecasts are used only temperate regions in both the Northern informally by health o cials. “But as we and Southern Hemispheres during cold Shaman’s team studied information develop better, more sophisticated infl u- months — had been di cult to explain. enza surveillance, and as we’re better able Shaman achieved a major breakthrough about every case of infl uenza reported to assimilate all the available data, that in this area when, in 2008, he discovered situation is going to change very quickly.” that the fl u virus is adept at spreading in to the CDC since 2003, along with conditions of low humidity, such as those UNLOCKING THE POWER OF that prevail in North America during climate data from the same period. CITIZEN SCIENTISTS the winter. “No one’s sure why this is, A woman who complains to her doctor but there are a number of theories that about extreme menstrual pain is likely attempt to explain why the fl u virus, when period. The researchers then developed stage, collaborating with scientists in to be told, It’s a normal part of being a expelled from a host as tiny airborne a computer model capable of making Hong Kong and several other cities in woman, so tough it out. droplets, would be sensitive to ambient probabilistic predictions based on a Southeast Asia to build fl u-prediction And yet, too often, the pain is not humidity,” he says. “Some scientists have steady stream of fl u data it would receive systems designed specifi cally for that normal: it’s the result of a disease called speculated that when it’s less humid, from a number of disease-monitoring region. “Forecasting fl u outbreaks in endometriosis, which occurs when uterine chemical changes occur in the droplets organizations, including the CDC, and this part of the world is important, since cells migrate outside the uterus, form- that may protect fl u viral particles trapped climate data. They also taught the system new and dangerous strains of the virus ing lesions that glom onto other organs. inside and make them more likely to to incorporate data that Google had just often emerge there,” says Wan Yang, a Experts say that this condition, which infect people who inhale them.” begun releasing daily on the locations and Columbia epidemiologist, environmental can damage the reproductive system if

COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 19

1.18_Data_FINAL.indd 19 4/11/18 8:17 AM left untreated, often goes undiagnosed, Harvard paper states that endometriosis because its primary symptom is an pain always strikes women in sync with intense pelvic pain that occurs around the their periods, Elhadad’s data reveals same time as a woman’s period. Accord- that many endometriosis patients su er ing to many women’s health advocates, chronic pain that can persist for months the tendency of physicians to dismiss this or even years. pain as ordinary menstrual cramps has “It’s actually been common knowledge perpetuated a cycle of misinformation for quite some time now among women about endometriosis, with the medical with the disease, and some savvy gyne- establishment viewing it as an uncommon cologists, that the pain can persist out- disorder and therefore investing little side of a woman’s period,” she says. “But money in its research. ours is the fi rst study to document it.” Three years ago, Noémie Elhadad Other fi ndings were completely ’06SEAS, a Columbia medical researcher unexpected. After asking to see their who su ers from endometriosis, decided subjects’ medical histories, for exam- to take matters into her own hands. A ple, Elhadad and her colleagues, who computer scientist who specializes in include biomedical informatics PhD wresting insights from messy data sets, candidate Mollie McKillop ’14PH, like collections of doctors’ notes or discovered that many of the women had patients’ comments in online forums, a history of urinary problems, such as she fi gured that if no major funding was incontinence or painful urination, not available for a study on endometriosis, previously linked to endometriosis. The she’d come up with a technological hack researchers are now scouring the data to conduct one on the cheap. And one they received via the smartphone app night while participating in a patient to determine, for example, if a history support group with fellow “endo” patients, of urinary issues may be linked to the as women with the disease call them- severity of the disease, responsiveness to selves, she had an idea for how to do it. certain pain-management strategies, or “I noticed that a lot of women were a woman’s chances of su ering what is using smartphone apps that track your perhaps the most feared outcome of the menstrual cycle, based on information disease: infertility. you enter about any cramping, bloating, “We know already that about half of or bleeding you experience each day,” all women with endometriosis lose their says Elhadad. “And I thought, why don’t NOÉMIE ELHADAD ability to have children, often at a very we design a similar tool for women with endometriosis? Then they can docu- puter in Elhadad’s o ce at CUIMC, where noting that previous studies on the ment the nuances of their condition as she and the members of her research team disease have been too small to provide In less than two years, Citizen Endo citizen scientists.” analyze it for insights into how the disease a proper accounting of its symptoms. Elhadad realized her vision last year, manifests in di erent women. “And plenty of the information that is has amassed the largest launching a crowdsourcing project called “A lot of the women choose to partic- available, we’re fi nding out now, is just Citizen Endo. At the heart of the e ort is ipate simply because they’re passionate plain wrong.” collection of clinical data about a smartphone app, Phendo, that Elhadad about helping to push the science for- Consider, for example, what the cur- developed with a $50,000 grant from the ward,” says Elhadad. rent medical literature says about the endometriosis in existence. Endometriosis Foundation of America. The goal of the project, Elhadad says, pain endured by endometriosis patients. The project has already amassed the larg- is to describe the full range of endome- A seminal paper on the topic, published est collection of clinical data about endo- triosis’s symptoms, and thereby help by Harvard scientists in 2002, suggests young age, but we can’t predict who metriosis in existence. Nearly three thou- physicians diagnose and treat more that the pain is restricted to the pelvic this will happen to,” Elhadad says. “I’ve sand endometriosis patients in sixty-fi ve cases. (The disease is typically treated region. But that’s not true, according to heard twenty-two-year-old women say countries have used the app on a daily with laparoscopic surgery to remove the Elhadad. She says that her data indicates things like, ‘Well, I don’t really want basis, some for several months at a stretch, lesions and hormonal therapy to prevent that more than half of all women with to have a child right now, but maybe I to document their pain, energy levels, their regrowth.) the disease have pain that radiates down should start trying before it’s too late.’ moods, diet, physical activities, medica- “Today, a doctor who’s trying to diag- their back, arms, or legs — sometimes That’s a horrible situation to be in. But tions, and pain-management strategies. nose endometriosis doesn’t have a lot in combination with pelvic pain and if we can identify those patients who The data is then transmitted to a com- of information to go on,” says Elhadad, sometimes without it. And while the are likely to become infertile, we could

20 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

1.18_Data_FINAL.indd 20 4/11/18 8:18 AM Harvard paper states that endometriosis share that information and help them municate back and forth in ways that pain always strikes women in sync with make better choices.” benefi t everybody,” she says. “I mean, their periods, Elhadad’s data reveals The Columbia researchers say they’re sure, I now have access to huge amounts that many endometriosis patients su er still at the beginning of their evidence- of information about these women’s chronic pain that can persist for months gathering journey. Later this year, daily lives. But I need to give them or even years. they will enroll an additional seven back something in return. And what “It’s actually been common knowledge thousand women in Citizen Endo. I’m going to give them should be the for quite some time now among women They are also planning to expand the most personalized, intimate, and timely with the disease, and some savvy gyne- scope of their project to eventually health advice they’ve ever received about cologists, that the pain can persist out- incorporate analyses of their subjects’ their condition.” side of a woman’s period,” she says. “But hormonal profi les, which they would ours is the fi rst study to document it.” acquire by having women submit blood COMPUTING Other fi ndings were completely or saliva samples. There’s no end to the VS. CANCER unexpected. After asking to see their discoveries this e ort could yield, the It has been nearly forty years since scien- subjects’ medical histories, for exam- researchers say, since scientists currently tists discovered that cancer is caused by ple, Elhadad and her colleagues, who know so little about endometriosis. fl aws in our DNA, and that insight still include biomedical informatics PhD Among the questions they hope to guides most oncology research today, candidate Mollie McKillop ’14PH, investigate are what causes the disease; inspiring scientists to hunt for cancer- discovered that many of the women had whether it might be treated without causing genes and to search for drugs that a history of urinary problems, such as surgery; and how prevalent it is (some help people with particular mutations. incontinence or painful urination, not gynecologists have estimated that Andrea Califano, the founding director previously linked to endometriosis. The 6 to 10 percent of all women may have and chair of CUIMC’s Department of researchers are now scouring the data endometriosis, although they say this Systems Biology, has taken a di erent they received via the smartphone app assessment is very speculative). approach to studying the disease. to determine, for example, if a history “Just about anything we learn is going Rather than relying on genetic mutations of urinary issues may be linked to the to be valuable, because we’re starting as signposts in his quest to understand severity of the disease, responsiveness to from a place of such ignorance,” says cancer, Califano has plunged headlong certain pain-management strategies, or Elhadad, noting that women with the into the messy interior dynamics of a woman’s chances of su ering what is disease currently go an average of seven cancer cells, attempting to determine perhaps the most feared outcome of the years before being diagnosed. how the tens of thousands of proteins disease: infertility. Elhadad suspects that women are operating inside cells can conspire to “We know already that about half of enthusiastic about participating in make them divide uncontrollably. It is an all women with endometriosis lose their Citizen Endo because they’re grateful approach that has required him to build ability to have children, often at a very that medical professionals are now one of the most complex, data-intensive mathematical models of cellular activity noting that previous studies on the in existence — yet it is revealing that can- disease have been too small to provide In less than two years, Citizen Endo cer may be a simpler and more treatable a proper accounting of its symptoms. disease than we fi rst thought. “And plenty of the information that is has amassed the largest “What my team is doing is akin to available, we’re fi nding out now, is just dismantling a car that’s broken down and plain wrong.” collection of clinical data about then rebuilding it, one piece at a time, in Consider, for example, what the cur- hopes of diagnosing the problem,” says rent medical literature says about the endometriosis in existence. Califano, a former theoretical physicist pain endured by endometriosis patients. who worked for several years as a compu- A seminal paper on the topic, published tational biologist at IBM’s Thomas J. by Harvard scientists in 2002, suggests young age, but we can’t predict who listening to them. And she says that she Watson Research Center before coming that the pain is restricted to the pelvic this will happen to,” Elhadad says. “I’ve hopes to make their e orts more reward- to Columbia in 2003. “We think this may region. But that’s not true, according to heard twenty-two-year-old women say ing by eventually adding new features to be the only way we’ll ever truly under- Elhadad. She says that her data indicates things like, ‘Well, I don’t really want her smartphone app to give women indi- stand how a cancer cell works.” that more than half of all women with to have a child right now, but maybe I vidualized tips on how best to manage Califano set out on this path about the disease have pain that radiates down should start trying before it’s too late.’ their condition. ten years ago, when cancer researchers their back, arms, or legs — sometimes That’s a horrible situation to be in. But “One of the wonderful things about were beginning to realize, after years in combination with pelvic pain and if we can identify those patients who mobile technology today is that medical spent hoping that the Human Genome sometimes without it. And while the are likely to become infertile, we could researchers and study subjects can com- Project would produce a clear road map

COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 21

1.18_Data_FINAL.indd 21 4/11/18 8:18 AM for fi ghting cancer, that the disease for cancer patients who test positive involves far more genes than anyone had for the proteins. previously imagined. Although a handful “Often, the recommendations are for of genetic mutations wield a strong drugs that no physicians would have ever infl uence in causing some types of cancer even thought to use for a certain kind of — thereby giving researchers clues to cancer,” says Califano. “The system can developing new, personalized treatments reveal that someone with brain cancer — most forms of the disease turn out needs the same medication as someone to involve dozens, or even hundreds, of with lung cancer or someone with leuke- mutations, each contributing a small mia. This is because some of the master portion of a person’s overall risk. To regulators we’ve identifi ed crop up in all make matters more confusing, the genes sorts of cancers that nobody knew had at the roots of cancer vary considerably underlying similarities.” from one person to the next, even among To date, Califano’s diagnostic technol- people whose tumors start in the same ogy has been used in only a handful of organ and otherwise look identical. cases, when terminally ill cancer patients “So this raised the question: is cancer in the fi nal stages of the disease sought not one disease but actually thousands of experimental treatments. But the results di erent diseases that we’d have to cure have been so promising — with some individually?” says Califano. “My hunch, patients having had their lives extended and my hope, was that this wasn’t the by six months or longer — that the FDA case. I still believed there had to be some recently approved a clinical study in common cellular mechanisms shared by which dozens of men and women with many cancers that we just hadn’t noticed pancreatic cancer will have their protein yet. And I thought to fi nd them, we’d levels assessed by Califano’s team during have to look beyond genes — straight their initial phase of treatment. Califano into the guts of the cell.” and his colleagues will then identify a To many biologists, this seemed like an handful of drugs that might help each exercise in futility. No practical methods patient and then work closely with of studying the inner dynamics of entire scientists in the laboratory of CUIMC cells existed at the time; biologists who pancreatic-cancer specialist Kenneth studied interactions among proteins Olive to test their e ectiveness in mice therefore restricted their analyses to that have been injected with the patient’s small groups of molecules extracted from ANDREA CALIFANO own cancer cells. cells. Moreover, many biologists thought “While we’re performing these individ- that diseased cells would be especially seamlessly orchestrating the activities The therapeutic implications of these ually tailored experiments on mice, the di cult to study, since their interior of hundreds of other proteins, which, in discoveries could be profound. Califano patients will receive traditional care,” Olive mechanics were going haywire. turn, force the cells to divide and persist says that the cancer-driving proteins says. “And then, based on the response of a “I never bought that idea,” says in a malignant state. Califano’s team that he and his colleagues have iden- person’s mouse avatar, we will select which Califano. “Maybe it’s my background as has accomplished this using a sophis- tifi ed are active in certain subsets of one, among a dozen additional drugs, a physicist, but I tend to assume that ticated investigative strategy, which people with many di erent types of should be given to the patient.” nature is operating as e ciently as possi- involves measuring the activity levels cancer — an assessment based on their Califano hopes the technology, if it ble unless evidence tells us otherwise. of all the proteins in large numbers of analysis of cells drawn from more than proves successful, will be widely used one I saw no reason to suspect that cells with healthy and cancerous cells; determining twenty thousand patients from across day in conjunction with DNA tests — virtually identical capabilities of spread- which proteins are capable of binding the United States. The researchers have thus marrying the best cancer diagnosing rapidly throughout your body aren’t to one another; mapping out all their also conducted experiments on mice to tics of the genetics era and the emerging operating in an extremely orderly and potential relationships in gigantic sun- determine which of approximately 120 age of high-powered protein analysis. consistent manner.” burst-shaped charts; and then training FDA-approved drugs and 340 experi- “The best cancer care is going to It turns out that he may be right. In a computer algorithm to identify which mental compounds are most e ective result from bringing together genetics, a series of stunning papers published proteins are most infl uential in making a against cancer cells that contain height- proteomics, and other novel approaches over the past few years, Califano and cell cancerous. It took one of the largest ened levels of these proteins; based like immunotherapy,” Califano says. several members of his lab have identi- supercomputers in the world, built on the results, they’ve developed a “We must embrace cancer as a highly fi ed dozens of proteins that they say act under Califano’s oversight at CUIMC in computer-based diagnostic system complex disease and throw everything as “master regulators” in cancer cells, 2008, to perform the calculations. that recommends treatment strategies we have at it.”

22 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

1.18_Data_FINAL.indd 22 4/11/18 8:18 AM for cancer patients who test positive for the proteins. “Often, the recommendations are for USING DATA FOR GOOD drugs that no physicians would have ever So what does it take to be a data scientist? Advanced skills in computer science, even thought to use for a certain kind of statistics, or math is a sound start — but it’s only a start. Intellectual versatility is cancer,” says Califano. “The system can essential, since data scientists often collaborate with experts in fi elds as varied as reveal that someone with brain cancer business, medicine, law, fi nance, journalism, and urban planning. And then there is needs the same medication as someone the need to navigate the tricky ethical implications of one’s work. Are data scientists with lung cancer or someone with leuke- prepared to ensure the responsible use of data through the entire data life cycle, from mia. This is because some of the master collection to analysis to interpretation? Or might a project jeopardize people’s privacy, regulators we’ve identifi ed crop up in all as occured when the political-consulting fi rm Cambridge Analytica misused data from sorts of cancers that nobody knew had tens of millions of Facebook profi les in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election? underlying similarities.” Jeannette M. Wing, the director of Columbia’s Data Science Institute, says that she To date, Califano’s diagnostic technol- came to Columbia last year in part to promote discussion among faculty and students ogy has been used in only a handful of about these types of complex issues. A former corporate vice president of Microsoft cases, when terminally ill cancer patients Research, she notes that the nascent fi eld of data science, which she defi nes elegantly in the fi nal stages of the disease sought as “the extraction of value from data,” has yet to establish best practices for handling experimental treatments. But the results such challenges. And she thinks have been so promising — with some that Columbia, which created its patients having had their lives extended Data Science Institute in 2012 by six months or longer — that the FDA — years before similar research recently approved a clinical study in centers began to pop up at other which dozens of men and women with universities — is poised to lead pancreatic cancer will have their protein the conversation. levels assessed by Califano’s team during “In addition to being fi ve years their initial phase of treatment. Califano ahead of the curve in promoting and his colleagues will then identify a interdisciplinary data-science proj- handful of drugs that might help each ects, Columbia has an advantage patient and then work closely with in that lots of our scholars in the scientists in the laboratory of CUIMC social sciences and humanities pancreatic-cancer specialist Kenneth want to be a part of this dialogue,” Olive to test their e ectiveness in mice she says. “And if the fi eld of data that have been injected with the patient’s science is going to evolve in a ANDREA CALIFANO own cancer cells. socially responsible way, you have “While we’re performing these individ- to include their perspectives.” The therapeutic implications of these ually tailored experiments on mice, the Wing has certainly succeeded in discoveries could be profound. Califano patients will receive traditional care,” Olive raising the visibility of data science says that the cancer-driving proteins says. “And then, based on the response of a at Columbia since arriving here. that he and his colleagues have iden- person’s mouse avatar, we will select which The Data Science Institute, initially tifi ed are active in certain subsets of one, among a dozen additional drugs, based in the engineering school, people with many di erent types of should be given to the patient.” has been elevated to a University- cancer — an assessment based on their Califano hopes the technology, if it wide research center; its 250 analysis of cells drawn from more than proves successful, will be widely used one affi liated faculty and researchers JEANNETTE M. WING twenty thousand patients from across day in conjunction with DNA tests — are engaged in projects that touch the United States. The researchers have thus marrying the best cancer diagnos- nearly every academic discipline. Wing has also launched a postdoctoral fellowship pro- also conducted experiments on mice to tics of the genetics era and the emerging gram in data science, an undergraduate research program for promising young talent in determine which of approximately 120 age of high-powered protein analysis. the fi eld, a seed-grant program to support new research collaborations, and a fundrais- FDA-approved drugs and 340 experi- “The best cancer care is going to ing initiative aimed at creating new data-science faculty positions. mental compounds are most e ective result from bringing together genetics, In all of her efforts, Wing says, she is guided by a simple mantra: “data for good.” against cancer cells that contain height- proteomics, and other novel approaches “I always say that at Columbia, we are harnessing the power of data science across ened levels of these proteins; based like immunotherapy,” Califano says. all fi elds to drive exploration, provide insights, and make predictions to inform better on the results, they’ve developed a “We must embrace cancer as a highly decisions,” she says. “‘Data for good’ means using the power responsibly and ethically computer-based diagnostic system complex disease and throw everything to tackle society’s greatest challenges.” that recommends treatment strategies we have at it.”

COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 23

1.18_Data_FINAL.indd 23 4/11/18 8:18 AM H o w a $ 25 - ve pe ti t r-w u he ee me ec w k so eca ex or ngwriter b rd ld’s eco most inﬂ uential r B y ho Pau el C l Ho icha nd \ Illustrations by M

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1.18_Morris_FINAL_0406.indd 24 4/6/18 2:58 PM ORR M IS G

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H D T T S H TE E GREA

H o w a $ 25 - ve pe ti t r-w u he ee me ec w k so eca ex or ngwriter b rd ld’s eco most inﬂ uential r B y ho Pau el C l Ho icha nd \ Illustrations by M

COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 25

1.18_Morris_FINAL_0406.indd 25 4/6/18 2:58 PM “I know who I am, I know what I do, and Morris’s parents were concerned. His father, Walter Bernard Morris isn’t being glib. He speaks in essences, like some inverted Morris ’21CC, ’23LAW was a lawyer; his mother, a ballet instruc- Dylan, all enlightened literalness instead of riddles. For Morris, the I’m not interested in tor. They lived in Woodmere, Long Island, one of the Five Towns, secret of the record business isn’t very complicated at all. where generally the notion was that your son would go to college “It starts with the song,” he says. “If you don’t have a song, you showing off. You get past that quick,” and enter an established, stable profession, not one that involved have nothing.” says Doug Morris ’60CC, seated ankle-over-knee on the taupe- plunking out three-chord ditties about girls. “The big question in This lesson was brought home in the spring of 1967, when and-cream sofa in his oce on lower Madison Avenue. “I’m my family,” says Morris, “was, ‘Who’s gonna take care of Doug?’” Morris was at Laurie Records. A band from Ohio, the Music interested in doing a good job, and that’s about it. That’s really At Columbia, Morris, handsome and charismatic, majored in Explosion, sent Morris a song called “Little Bit O’ Soul.” Morris the truth.” sociology and economics. By his own account “a terrible stu- liked it and bought the master for five hundred bucks. Laurie Morris, seventy-nine, compact, barrel-chested, dressed in an dent,” he was a member of the glee club (“it was an honor to be released the record, catalog number 3380. This would be impeccably tailored dark suit and striped tie, his brow grooved included”) and even crooned once or twice at the Friday Night Morris’s case study for deciphering the music business. like a musical sta, his head hedged with combed-back white, is Dance in John Jay Hall. “I had one goal in college,” says Morris, Morris hadn’t thought much about what actually happens to a the jukebox hero you never heard of. As the only person to run “and that was to get ahead in the music business.” record once it goes out into the universe. Then one day, seated at each of the “Big Three” record companies — Warner, Universal, Between classes, he’d take the subway to the record-factory his desk behind the sales executive, Murray Singer, Morris saw, and Sony — Morris has presided over rosters of artists whose mecca of Midtown and show his songs to Lou Levy, a Tin Pan on Singer’s desk, an order for three hundred copies of Laurie gazillion-selling records are the soundtrack of modern life: U2, Alley–era music publisher whose catalog included “Strangers in 3380. His first order! And a big one, too. Excited, Morris asked Stevie Nicks, Led Zeppelin, Phil Collins, Foreigner, Dr. Dre, the Night” and “The Girl from Ipanema.” Levy oered Morris Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, twenty-five dollars a week to write for his company, Leeds Music. Beyoncé, Adele, Lady Gaga, Kanye West, Taylor Swift, and many Levy then shared one of Morris’s compositions with Jim Fogel- more, including his favorite act, the Rolling Stones, which Morris son, “a famous A&R man who signed me, believe it or not, to pronounces with an emphasis on the first word. His delivery of Epic Records,” now a division of Sony. The song, a piano-banger retro syllabic stresses (Broadway is Broadway) and dropped Rs is with Elvis-like vocal reverb called “Frigid Digit,” got a brief notice classic “New Yawk”; U2’s Bono is said to do a spot-on imitation. in the October 29, 1960, issue of the music-industry magazine Morris got his start in the “rekkid business” in the early 1960s, Cash Box, which called it “a rocker of questionable taste.” Morris “It starts with the in the tiny, cigar-stained oces of those Brill Building–era reports that a friend just sent him a copy. “He got it for five music factories near Times Square. His current oce is more dollars on eBay.” ample. In 2011, at age seventy-three, Morris became chairman Morris smiles. He can poke fun at himself, but at his core, song. If you don’t and CEO of the Sony Music Group and led Sony to six straight never far from the surface, lies the mettle and command of the years of increased profit and market share before handing o nine-figure dealmaker. A soft-spoken leader (“I hate screamers”), day-to-day operations last year. He was named chairman in he’s also a sensitive listener: Ertegun called him “the finest record 2017 — a mostly ceremonial position, as Morris would be the man I ever worked with,” and Grammy-winning singer Mary J. have a song, you first to tell you. Blige, at the unveiling of Morris’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Ensconced in a sunny chamber with high ceilings, a baby Fame in 2010, called him “my father in the music business.” grand piano, and an uptown view of the Chrysler Building, But what really distinguishes Morris from many record exec- have nothing.” Morris is surrounded by mementos: a painting by Bono that utives is his firsthand knowledge of the creative side. “I know Morris bought to benefit the Irish Hospice Foundation (“not only what it feels like when a record does well, and I know what it is Bono brilliant, he is so generous and nice it defies anything”); feels like when it bombs,” he says. “I know the anticipation and a signed Robert Rauschenberg Earth Day poster from Morris’s excitement, and I know the disappointment. I think under- late friend and colleague Ahmet Ertegun, founder of Atlantic standing how artists feel when they put out a record has helped Records (“the most remarkable, brilliant person you could ever me in my career.” meet”); and, on the table, a circa 1995 photo of Morris with Singer who placed it, but Singer, busy, dismissed it as a blip, not Tupac, Snoop, and Suge Knight. worth pursuing. So Morris investigated. He traced the order to Morris, a family man with a wife, two sons, and six grand- Morris’s first big smash came in 1966, two stores in the town of Cumberland, Maryland. Morris had children, has never been fodder for the tabloids. Elegant and while working as a songwriter and producer for Laurie Records, never heard of the place. He called the stores and asked the understated, he rejects the cultural stereotype of the debauched whose top act was the Chions, known for hits like “He’s So Fine” clerks what was going on. They told him that a local disc jockey record mogul hoovering cocaine o his desk. “There are a lot of and “One Fine Day.” Morris spent a week writing a new song for played the record and started getting requests from all over the lovely, lovely people in the business,” he says. “It’s a business for the group called “Sweet Talkin’ Guy.” The record, which Morris state. Now the discs were flying o the shelves. people who love music. That’s what it is.” also produced, reached number ten on the Billboard charts. Morris told his bosses at Laurie, and they began promoting the Morris began his career as a musician. At age ten, he was writ- Shortly afterward, Morris was promoted to executive vice record. The song charted in June, and by July 1967, “Little Bit O’ ing songs at the family piano, back when the year’s chart-topper president of Laurie. An A&R man now, his job was no longer to Soul” was number two in America. was Dinah Shore’s “Buttons and Bows.” Then, in 1955, at seventeen write songs; it was to find them. That’s when Morris realized: you don’t manufacture a hit, — A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-wop-bam-boom! The seminal cry of Identifying a hit song requires intuition and intellect, which for simply by playing it over and over. People have to ask for it. They rock ’n’ roll buzzed Morris’s ears. “Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Fats Morris translates to a simple, binary question. “Either you like it or have to want it. And if a record sparks, you fan that little flame Domino — it was a revolution in music, and I loved it,” he says. you don’t,” he says, with a wave of his hand. with all you’ve got.

26 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

1.18_Morris_FINAL_0406.indd 26 4/6/18 2:59 PM Morris’s parents were concerned. His father, Walter Bernard Morris isn’t being glib. He speaks in essences, like some inverted The insight emboldened Morris to start his own label, Big Morris ’21CC, ’23LAW was a lawyer; his mother, a ballet instruc- Dylan, all enlightened literalness instead of riddles. For Morris, the Tree Records, in 1970. “We didn’t have very much money, and tor. They lived in Woodmere, Long Island, one of the Five Towns, secret of the record business isn’t very complicated at all. I didn’t know anyone,” he says. “I just thought I would know where generally the notion was that your son would go to college “It starts with the song,” he says. “If you don’t have a song, you how to make good records. And we got hits right away.” In 1971, and enter an established, stable profession, not one that involved have nothing.” Lobo’s “Me and You and a Dog Named Boo,” a strummy ode plunking out three-chord ditties about girls. “The big question in This lesson was brought home in the spring of 1967, when to itinerant road life, peaked at number five. Two years later, my family,” says Morris, “was, ‘Who’s gonna take care of Doug?’” Morris was at Laurie Records. A band from Ohio, the Music Morris cowrote and produced a song buried on the B-side of an At Columbia, Morris, handsome and charismatic, majored in Explosion, sent Morris a song called “Little Bit O’ Soul.” Morris album by the hard-rock trio Brownsville Station. Few listeners sociology and economics. By his own account “a terrible stu- liked it and bought the master for five hundred bucks. Laurie would have guessed that the song, “Smokin’ in the Boys’ Room,” dent,” he was a member of the glee club (“it was an honor to be released the record, catalog number 3380. This would be with its musk of lavatory stalls and juvenile rebellion, was the included”) and even crooned once or twice at the Friday Night Morris’s case study for deciphering the music business. brainchild of a thirty-five-year-old Ivy League graduate. Still, Dance in John Jay Hall. “I had one goal in college,” says Morris, Morris hadn’t thought much about what actually happens to a Morris thought it was too close to “Jailhouse Rock” and didn’t “and that was to get ahead in the music business.” record once it goes out into the universe. Then one day, seated at release it as a single. Yet magic happened: “A DJ in Portland, Between classes, he’d take the subway to the record-factory his desk behind the sales executive, Murray Singer, Morris saw, Maine, started playing it, and in two days it was the most mecca of Midtown and show his songs to Lou Levy, a Tin Pan on Singer’s desk, an order for three hundred copies of Laurie requested song in the city,” Morris says. So, following the Alley–era music publisher whose catalog included “Strangers in 3380. His first order! And a big one, too. Excited, Morris asked formula for “Little Bit O’ Soul,” Big Tree got behind the song, the Night” and “The Girl from Ipanema.” Levy oered Morris and it climbed to number three in the country, an twenty-five dollars a week to write for his company, Leeds Music. anthem for long-haired teenage boys. Levy then shared one of Morris’s compositions with Jim Fogel- Morris says that this sort of radio-based grassroots son, “a famous A&R man who signed me, believe it or not, to miracle — the local DJ who starts a wildfire with a Epic Records,” now a division of Sony. The song, a piano-banger single spark — still happens, as in the case of 2015’s with Elvis-like vocal reverb called “Frigid Digit,” got a brief notice “Fight Song” by Rachel Platten, which went to number in the October 29, 1960, issue of the music-industry magazine one on the adult charts. “A small station in Baltimore Cash Box, which called it “a rocker of questionable taste.” Morris “It starts with the played it, and two days later people had bought five reports that a friend just sent him a copy. “He got it for five hundred copies,” Morris says. “We picked up the dollars on eBay.” record and sold several million.” Morris smiles. He can poke fun at himself, but at his core, song. If you don’t At Big Tree, Morris put out other million-sellers: never far from the surface, lies the mettle and command of the the dance-floor pop-funk of “You Sexy Thing” by nine-figure dealmaker. A soft-spoken leader (“I hate screamers”), Hot Chocolate (number three) and the mellow he’s also a sensitive listener: Ertegun called him “the finest record mustache-and-heartstring longings of “I’d Really man I ever worked with,” and Grammy-winning singer Mary J. have a song, you Love to See You Tonight” (number two) by England Blige, at the unveiling of Morris’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Dan and John Ford Coley. Fame in 2010, called him “my father in the music business.” Big Tree was bearing fruit, and in 1978, Morris got a But what really distinguishes Morris from many record exec- have nothing.” phone call from Jerry Greenberg at Atlantic Records. utives is his firsthand knowledge of the creative side. “I know Greenberg said that his boss, Ahmet, would like to talk. what it feels like when a record does well, and I know what it Ahmet Ertegun: the bald, bespectacled, worldly, feels like when it bombs,” he says. “I know the anticipation and earthy, neatly goateed son of the Turkish ambassador excitement, and I know the disappointment. I think under- to the US, devotee of Black American music, signer of standing how artists feel when they put out a record has helped Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, illustrious bon vivant, me in my career.” and the subject, in 1978, of a thirty-five-thousand-word Singer who placed it, but Singer, busy, dismissed it as a blip, not profile in the New Yorker. “I was beyond excited,” Morris says. “I worth pursuing. So Morris investigated. He traced the order to went to Ahmet’s o«ce at Atlantic, and he said he liked what we Morris’s first big smash came in 1966, two stores in the town of Cumberland, Maryland. Morris had were doing and that he wanted to buy Big Tree and have me run while working as a songwriter and producer for Laurie Records, never heard of the place. He called the stores and asked the the Atlantic sub-label Atco, which had, believe it or not, Swan whose top act was the Chions, known for hits like “He’s So Fine” clerks what was going on. They told him that a local disc jockey Song Records — Led Zeppelin’s custom label — and Rolling and “One Fine Day.” Morris spent a week writing a new song for played the record and started getting requests from all over the Stones Records.” the group called “Sweet Talkin’ Guy.” The record, which Morris state. Now the discs were flying o the shelves. Morris was going electric. From England Dan to England Mick. also produced, reached number ten on the Billboard charts. Morris told his bosses at Laurie, and they began promoting the It was radical. He had always been a songs guy, a singles guy, but Shortly afterward, Morris was promoted to executive vice record. The song charted in June, and by July 1967, “Little Bit O’ this scene was the album, that ambitious, unified musical state- president of Laurie. An A&R man now, his job was no longer to Soul” was number two in America. ment, requiring long-term commitment and cultivation. “I grew a write songs; it was to find them. That’s when Morris realized: you don’t manufacture a hit, beard and got a gold watch,” Morris says with a chuckle. “I signed Identifying a hit song requires intuition and intellect, which for simply by playing it over and over. People have to ask for it. They Stevie [Nicks] from Fleetwood Mac and Pete Townsend from the Morris translates to a simple, binary question. “Either you like it or have to want it. And if a record sparks, you fan that little flame Who.” Morris and Ertegun worked in adjoining o«ces, and “we you don’t,” he says, with a wave of his hand. with all you’ve got. began each day with a high-five and ended it with a hug.” In 1980,

COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 27

1.18_Morris_FINAL_0406.indd 27 4/6/18 2:59 PM Ertegun made Morris president of Atlantic. One of Morris’s fi rst “File sharing,” they called it. Morris preferred “stealing.” tasks was to fi nd a producer for Nicks. In Witt’s account, record executives, attached to the lush He called Jimmy Iovine, a skinny twenty-six-year-old kid margins and unmatched profi ts of the fourteen-dollar compact from Red Hook who produced Patti Smith’s single “Because the disc, were slow to respond to the digital revolution. Piracy Night” and Tom Petty’s album Damn the Torpedoes. “He was spread, CD sales plunged, and the industry was upended. just so smart and talented,” Morris says. “You couldn’t stop Thousands of jobs were lost. Jimmy with a machine gun.” Iovine agreed to produce At fi rst, Morris wasn’t sure what to do. He wasn’t a Nicks’s album Bella Donna, which hit number one tech guy. He knew rhythm and blues, not algo- in America. rithms and bytes. He also knew ledger balances Morris’s stock continued to rise, and in 1990 he was and copyright law. And he took it personally named co-chairman and co-CEO, with Ertegun, of when artists got cheated. It was Morris who, Warner Music Group, Atlantic’s parent company. That through the Recording Industry Association year, Morris, in a move that would have enormous of America, brought the legal fi ght to Napster global impact, put up half the money for Iovine’s new (shuttered in 2001) and LimeWire (found label, Interscope. liable for copyright infringement in 2010). Morris was taken with Iovine’s “ability to see around And it was Morris who got pilloried in the corners,” and when Iovine told him that hardcore West tech press for suggesting that the record Coast rap, still a niche genre, was going to go mainstream, industry, made up of music lovers and Morris listened. In 1992, the pair fl ew to post-riot Los not technologists, was naturally unpre- Angeles to meet with Marion “Suge” Knight, the imposing pared to adapt quickly and e ciently to three-hundred-pound cofounder, with Dr. Dre, of Death the Internet. Tech pundits derided him Row Records, and a reputed member of the LA gang the as a relic, out of touch, the face of an Bloods. Knight agreed to a distribution deal with Inter- outmoded industry. scope. Death Row, home to Dre, Snoop, and Tupac, entered “What people don’t realize,” says the Warner fold. Morris, “is that there were huge compa- The West Coast style, known as “gangsta rap,” indeed blew nies that tried and failed to monetize digital up, and Warner was red-hot. Morris was named chairman music. Microsoft, Sony. People said, ‘Why and CEO of Warner Music US. But trouble was around the didn’t you guys do it?’ Because we’re musicians, corner. Rap had come under scrutiny. People like former US we don’t know how. ‘Why didn’t you hire some- drug czar William Bennett and US senator Robert Dole sounded one?’ Well, if Microsoft and Sony couldn’t do it, we the alarm about the e ects of albums like Doggystyle on Ameri- weren’t going to do it.” ca’s youth. Along with activist C. Delores Tucker, chairwoman of The guy who did it was Apple cofounder and CEO Steve the National Political Congress of Black Women, they prevailed Jobs. In 2001, Jobs came to Morris’s o ce and “articulated a clear upon the Time Warner board to stop distributing rap music with thought that went from buying songs on iTunes to downloading violent or misogynistic lyrics. them onto the iPod — it made a lot of sense,” Morris says. Though Morris, congenitally averse to censorship, stood by the rappers, his bosses fretted because the new scheme would “unbundle” the whom he saw as vital artists channeling their own experience. Tupac, Eminem. CD sales soared, and by the turn of the mil- album — letting consumers buy individual songs for ninety-nine Rifts opened in the company over what to do. In June of 1995, lennium, Universal’s market share peaked at nearly 40 percent, cents apiece — Morris reasoned that most of Universal’s music was Morris’s boss, Michael Fuchs, the former chief of HBO and head with profi ts of more than one billion dollars — the biggest record being stolen anyhow. And so he licensed all of it to Apple. of Warner’s worldwide music division, summoned Morris to his company in the world. Today, in the post-CD era, the American record industry o ce. Warner was having its best year ever, so Morris expected a It’s not for nothing that Bono once called Morris “a character generates about half of the fi fteen billion dollars it earned in positive encounter. It was an incredible shock, then, when Fuchs who has risen several times from the ashes.” 1999. But revenues are rising. “We’re coming back slowly,” says fi red him. “Thrown out the window and splat on the pavement” is Morris, pointing to popular streaming services like Spotify and how Morris puts it. “The whole thing was very painful. But what I Apple Music and to the online music-video platform Vevo, which learned is that it’s not how you go down, it’s how you get up.” In his excellent 2015 book How Music Got Morris cofounded in 2009 with the idea that if you sifted out the Hours after his fi ring, Morris got a call from Seagram’s CEO, Free: A Story of Obsession and Invention, Stephen Witt ’11JRN premium music videos from the junk-fi lled seas of the Internet Edgar Bronfman Jr., who owned MCA Music Entertainment, tells how the record industry, personifi ed by Morris at Universal, and gathered them in one place, you could sell ads, licensing an ossifi ed outfi t known in the industry as Music Cemetery of was nearly consumed by the fl ames of digital technology. rights, and subscriptions. America. Bronfman wanted Morris to raise the dead. Morris In 1996, a highly compressed audio-coding format called Vevo now gets twenty-fi ve billion views per month, and grossed accepted. When Fuchs, to complete the rap purge, cut ties with MP3 was patented in the US. This innovation allowed people $650 million in 2017, breaking even for the fi rst time, with profi ts Interscope, Morris pounced: he called Iovine and convinced him to store songs on their computers and transmit them online. expected in 2018. to sell 50 percent of Interscope to MCA for $200 million. Morris Soon, digital-audio exchanges like Napster (launched in 1999) “I don’t know anything about technology,” says Morris, his arm and Bronfman renamed the company Universal Music Group, appeared, attracting millions of erstwhile CD purchasers who stretched out on the sofa back. “I know common sense.” and Morris assembled a hit squad: U2, Mariah Carey, Snoop, could now download music for free. The phone rings. Morris picks up.

28 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

1.18_Morris_FINAL_0406.indd 28 4/6/18 2:59 PM “File sharing,” they called it. Morris preferred “stealing.” “Good morning, Jimmy,” he says, breaking into a warm, bright In Witt’s account, record executives, attached to the lush smile. Morris and Iovine still speak every day, a habit of thirty- margins and unmatched profi ts of the fourteen-dollar compact fi ve years. “I just read the article. I thought it was terrifi c.” disc, were slow to respond to the digital revolution. Piracy Morris is referring to a Billboard piece in which Iovine, spread, CD sales plunged, and the industry was upended. now the head of Apple Music, disputes what he sees as a Thousands of jobs were lost. too-optimistic Wall Street report on the economics of music At fi rst, Morris wasn’t sure what to do. He wasn’t a streaming. “It’s interesting,” Morris tells him, “because you’re tech guy. He knew rhythm and blues, not algo- going against all the conventional wisdom. It’s gonna cause some rithms and bytes. He also knew ledger balances controversy, Jimmy.” and copyright law. And he took it personally As Morris talks, it’s plain that his magnetism is bound up in his when artists got cheated. It was Morris who, lively interest in others, in the refi ned pleasure he takes in their through the Recording Industry Association gifts. “Really smart, Jimmy,” he says. “Really, really smart. All of America, brought the legal fi ght to Napster right, kiddo. See ya later, pal.” (shuttered in 2001) and LimeWire (found Iovine calls Morris “one of the greatest executives for executives liable for copyright infringement in 2010). ever,” and Morris is as esteemed in the industry for his recruit- And it was Morris who got pilloried in the ment and nurturing of executive talent as he is for his hit-making. tech press for suggesting that the record In 1990 he hired Sylvia Rhone to run Atlantic’s East West industry, made up of music lovers and Records — the fi rst Black woman to head a major label and soon not technologists, was naturally unpre- the most powerful woman in the business (she now runs Epic pared to adapt quickly and e ciently to Records). There’s Craig Kallman, CEO of Atlantic Records the Internet. Tech pundits derided him (“I knew who he was and what he would become”), Monte as a relic, out of touch, the face of an Lipman, CEO of Republic Records (“I met him and knew he was outmoded industry. something special”), and many more. “It’s all about recognizing “What people don’t realize,” says the brilliance in other people,” Morris says. Morris, “is that there were huge compa- This spirit extends to his management philosophy, which nies that tried and failed to monetize digital he sums up in two words: be nice. “Everyone has feelings and music. Microsoft, Sony. People said, ‘Why the need to feel included, and that’s what I always did. I never didn’t you guys do it?’ Because we’re musicians, wanted anyone to leave the o ce and have a bad night. Everyone we don’t know how. ‘Why didn’t you hire some- likes to be respected, paid well, appreciated for what they con- one?’ Well, if Microsoft and Sony couldn’t do it, we tribute. And when you do that day in and day out, people start weren’t going to do it.” believing in you.” Morris gives a verbal shrug. “I like to be treated The guy who did it was Apple cofounder and CEO Steve nice, and I fi gure everyone else does. It’s not rocket science.” Jobs. In 2001, Jobs came to Morris’s o ce and “articulated a clear Not for Morris, it isn’t. You like it or you don’t. It’s not how you thought that went from buying songs on iTunes to downloading go down, it’s how you get up. And if you don’t have a song, you them onto the iPod — it made a lot of sense,” Morris says. Though have nothing. his bosses fretted because the new scheme would “unbundle” the Tupac, Eminem. CD sales soared, and by the turn of the mil- album — letting consumers buy individual songs for ninety-nine lennium, Universal’s market share peaked at nearly 40 percent, cents apiece — Morris reasoned that most of Universal’s music was Morris has songs. Again. with profi ts of more than one billion dollars — the biggest record being stolen anyhow. And so he licensed all of it to Apple. Shortly after speaking with Columbia Magazine, Morris, never company in the world. Today, in the post-CD era, the American record industry down for the count, announces a new venture. He has secured It’s not for nothing that Bono once called Morris “a character generates about half of the fi fteen billion dollars it earned in the funding for an independent record company called 12 Tone. who has risen several times from the ashes.” 1999. But revenues are rising. “We’re coming back slowly,” says Nearly fi fty years after founding Big Tree, Morris is getting back Morris, pointing to popular streaming services like Spotify and to his roots: heading up his own label. Apple Music and to the online music-video platform Vevo, which This time, however, there won’t be vinyl or CDs. With stream- In his excellent 2015 book How Music Got Morris cofounded in 2009 with the idea that if you sifted out the ing, you don’t need any sort of disc. Technology has changed, but Free: A Story of Obsession and Invention, Stephen Witt ’11JRN premium music videos from the junk-fi lled seas of the Internet music is still music. And Morris is still a passionate suitor. tells how the record industry, personifi ed by Morris at Universal, and gathered them in one place, you could sell ads, licensing “The one thing I learned is, no matter how you push to was nearly consumed by the fl ames of digital technology. rights, and subscriptions. do other things, fi ght to make a living doing what you love,” In 1996, a highly compressed audio-coding format called Vevo now gets twenty-fi ve billion views per month, and grossed he says. MP3 was patented in the US. This innovation allowed people $650 million in 2017, breaking even for the fi rst time, with profi ts Of all Morris’s maxims, this one carries the full weight of a to store songs on their computers and transmit them online. expected in 2018. sixty-year career. Soon, digital-audio exchanges like Napster (launched in 1999) “I don’t know anything about technology,” says Morris, his arm “I’m telling you,” he says, like a songwriter reworking a line, appeared, attracting millions of erstwhile CD purchasers who stretched out on the sofa back. “I know common sense.” fi nding the kernel, the universal vein. “If there’s something you could now download music for free. The phone rings. Morris picks up. love, you fi ght for it.”

COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 29

1.18_Morris_FINAL_0406.indd 29 4/6/18 2:59 PM 30 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

1.18_Smith_FINAL.indd 30 4/11/18 9:05 AM POET IN MOTION US POET LAUREATE TRACY K. SMITH ’97SOA GIVES WINGS TO WORDS

BY PAUL HOND PHOTOGRAPHS BY NATHAN PERKEL

n the fall of 1995, Tracy K. Smith ’97SOA sat in a classroom in Dodge Hall at Columbia University, listening to the poet Lucille Clifton talk about her late husband. Clifton, a visiting professor and one of America’s most beloved poets, often spoke about the interplay Iof her personal life and her writing, but one story was of particular interest to Smith: after Clifton lost her husband, strange poems began coming to her, as if from outside her own mind — poems that were telling her about the future. At the time, Smith, a young graduate student, was still mourning the loss of her mother, who had died the year before of cancer. Kathryn Smith had been a devout Christian, proper and gracious, the backbone of the family, and she and Tracy, the youngest of five children, had had an intense bond. Now, at age fifty-nine, she was gone. Yet here was Clifton, in class, intimating that her dead husband was not exactly dead. “I remember her saying that there is energy all around us, communicating with us — if only we could listen,” Smith says. Smith has been listening ever since, her crystal-clear receptiveness and hunger for contact leading to four books of emotionally potent, revelatory poetry. She won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for her collection Life on Mars, and her coming-of-age memoir Ordinary Light was a finalist for the 2015 National Book Award. Last year, Smith attained one of poetry’s highest honors when the Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, acting on the consensus of more than a hundred poetry authorities nationwide, named Smith the US Poet Laureate for 2017–18. This past March, Smith was appointed to a second term. In her work, Smith hurls herself through the weather of human feeling: love and loss, desire and need, dread and awe. Whether contemplating the worm inside the mescal bottle (“Its last happy exhalations, / Lungs giddy, mouth spilling / A necklace of minuscule bubbles”) or deep- space images of dust funnels and stars (“We saw to the edge of all there is / So brutal and alive it seemed to comprehend us back”), there is always some underlying ache for “those moments

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1.18_Smith_FINAL.indd 31 4/11/18 9:05 AM where you don’t have control, where you William Matthews, and was drawn to the wish something could overtake you, which Spanish concept of duende, the myste- I think is a big part of what being alive rious, frenzied soul-force that seizes the is about,” she says. Lately her mind has artist and drives creativity. been on the idea of compassion, and she is During Smith’s senior year of college, using her pulpit as poet laureate to bring her mother fell ill. After graduation, the Word to places on the map often over- Smith moved back to California to be looked by the culturati: a church in South with Kathryn, who, as her condition Carolina, an opioid treatment center in worsened, never lost faith in her deliver- Kentucky. She wants people outside of cit- ance — or in Smith’s. In Ordinary Light, ies and college towns to get the chance to Smith recounts being in a room with her talk about, as she says, “the big questions mother, who, delirious from medications, of feeling and experience that poetry puts emerges from her fog into a perfect lucid- us in mind of.” ity, speaking with unseen companions. Smith writes mostly in free verse Smith is startled: it’s as if her mother “can (unrhymed, unmetered), with the occa- see through this world to the next, to the sional formal composition — a sonnet, a places where ghosts and angels sit and villanelle — stitched neatly into the fabric walk and gesture unseen among us.” When of her slender books. Each poem begins Smith asks her who’s there, Kathryn says, its life as “an anxiety, some sort of unrest, clearly, “There are two angels sitting here, good or bad, something I’m unsettled by Tracy, and one of them just told me you’re or worried about, something I don’t have a going to become a writer.” grasp on,” Smith says. “A poem allows me to wrestle with these ideas and inklings and get somewhere with them.” As she “ I find poetry lifts us out of our works, her ear gets busier, “listening to conscious concerns and helps us the sounds of words, and the images that emerge organically, and the ideas that think in different ways.” those things give way to. “I find poetry lifts us out of our conscious concerns and helps us think in Smith’s father, Floyd William Smith, with paperback mysteries, National dierent ways. You’re playing with form, was a patriotic, sci-fi-loving Air Force Geographic, and Yes I Can, by Sammy you’re listening to strange associations, avionics engineer who, after retiring from Davis Jr. But the literature that made the and something you didn’t know you knew the military, worked on the Hubble Space biggest impression on young Smith came comes out. That fascinates me. It’s one Telescope. Her mother ran the household, from school. She recalls being at home at of the things that made me want to write went to church, sewed dresses and quilts, age eleven, in the blue-velvet chair, book poems: teaching myself something I didn’t made a heavenly Alabama lemon-cheese open, and reading the words: think I knew.” layer cake, and later taught school. But beneath the surface of family life I’m Nobody! Who are you? mith first encountered the power of and the Smiths’ poised adherence to a code Are you — Nobody — too? language through nursery rhymes of excellence that was their answer to the Sand the Bible, and from the locutions assumptions of the white world around “I thought: she’s talking to me,” Smith of her Alabama-born parents. She grew up them, Smith, at age ten, lived with “a vague says. “Someone’s talking to me.” in Fairfield, California, halfway between knowledge that pain was part of my birth- The poet, Emily Dickinson, made Smith Weeks later, Smith, her siblings, and her San Francisco and Sacramento, and one right.” There was this unspoken thing whose feel understood. “I wanted to be able to think father stood at Kathryn’s bedside, saying “I town away from Travis Air Force Base. presence she felt in her Southern-raised and communicate in that way,” she says. love you” and “Goodbye,” when they heard It was the 1970s, when, as Smith writes, parents — what Smith memorably calls “the After her high-school and Bible-school “a sound that seemed to carve a tunnel “everything shone bright as brass”: there pain we hate most because we know it has years, Smith, who had always dreamed of between our world and some other . . . an were Saturday-morning cartoons, sprawl- been borne by the people we love.” moving east, went to Harvard, where she otherworldly breath, a vivid presence that ing family breakfasts. Outside, a flowering Floyd Smith found comfort in books, indulged her love of those other prophets, blew past us without stopping.” yard hopped with finches that “scattered and whenever his daughter complained the poets. She fell hard for the work of For Smith, the death of her mother was like buckshot” at human approach, and of boredom, he encouraged her to read. Elizabeth Bishop, Rita Dove ’98HON, “a huge loss that changed everything,” she roads led to pastures where unsaddled At the house, titles by Sir Walter Scott Philip Larkin, Seamus Heaney (one of says. And so when she entered Columbia horses came to your hand for apples. and Edgar Allan Poe shared shelf space her professors), Yusef Komunyakaa, and to study poetry, she had her subject.

32 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

1.18_Smith_FINAL.indd 32 4/11/18 9:05 AM William Matthews, and was drawn to the mith lives with her husband, literary Almost all the poems that Smith wrote in Spanish concept of duende, the myste- scholar Raphael Allison, and their her two years at Columbia “were engaged rious, frenzied soul-force that seizes the Sdaughter and twin sons in a one- with trying to resolve the fact that my artist and drives creativity. story house of wood beams and high mother was dead,” Smith says. During Smith’s senior year of college, windows on a pinecone-strewn street near her mother fell ill. After graduation, Princeton University, where Smith directs hile Ordinary Light and Life Smith moved back to California to be the creative-writing program. on Mars reflected the loss of with Kathryn, who, as her condition Inside, the house is open, light-filled. Wher parents (Floyd Smith died worsened, never lost faith in her deliver- Crayola art covers the fridge. Books line in 2008), Smith’s new work, Wade in the ance — or in Smith’s. In Ordinary Light, the hall. In the living room, on a white Water, winds its way through the idea of Smith recounts being in a room with her sofa, Coco, a chocolate Labrador retriever, America itself. mother, who, delirious from medications, is hunched expectantly, a toy bone in her At the heart of the collection lies a series emerges from her fog into a perfect lucid- jaws. The muted trumpet of Miles Davis of “found poems,” existing documents that ity, speaking with unseen companions. purrs from a small speaker. On a table Smith has rendered into lines and stanzas. Smith is startled: it’s as if her mother “can sits an eye-grabbing artifact: a late-1950s These historical texts include letters from see through this world to the next, to the green-gray typewriter that belonged to Black soldiers of the Civil War and their places where ghosts and angels sit and Kathryn Smith. loved ones. walk and gesture unseen among us.” When As Allison herds Coco out of the room, A letter from Bel Air, Maryland, in Smith asks her who’s there, Kathryn says, Smith looks back on her time at Colum- August 1864 reads, clearly, “There are two angels sitting here, bia, “running around New York with my Tracy, and one of them just told me you’re classmates, going to parties, meeting in Mr. president It is my Desire to be free going to become a writer.” cafés at night to workshop poems.” Her to go to see my people on the eastern shore my mistress wont let me you will please “ I find poetry lifts us out of our let me know if we are free and what i conscious concerns and helps us can do think in different ways.” Smith has been thinking about America’s “anxiety about welcoming strangers, and two years in the MFA program were both not just strangers but people who are from with paperback mysteries, National grounding and transformational. She here who we’re not willing to welcome,” Geographic, and Yes I Can, by Sammy remembers Clifton, who died in 2010, she says. “I thought maybe these letters Davis Jr. But the literature that made the talking in class about the prophetic were where I needed to start. There was biggest impression on young Smith came poems she wrote after her husband’s a kind of disregard in the attitude toward from school. She recalls being at home at death, but Smith wouldn’t see them for these Black citizens, who were not consid- age eleven, in the blue-velvet chair, book another decade. ered citizens fully at that point, yet who open, and reading the words: “Finally, in her last book, Mercy [2004], were serving the nation in war. those poems appear, in a series called ‘the “I want to find out what our anxiety is I’m Nobody! Who are you? message from The Ones (received in the about. Poems help me ask these questions Are you — Nobody — too? late 70s),’” Smith says. “I use those poems of myself, guiding me toward a better clar- now to say to my students, ‘Write some ity around questions of compassion.” “I thought: she’s talking to me,” Smith poems that are not in your own voice, that In Wade in the Water, Smith artfully says. “Someone’s talking to me.” are coming from a body of knowledge you interrogates racism, sexism, xenophobia, The poet, Emily Dickinson, made Smith Weeks later, Smith, her siblings, and her don’t have, that are prophetic, that come and environmental destruction (the poem feel understood. “I wanted to be able to think father stood at Kathryn’s bedside, saying “I from outside the human.’ For them it’s “Watershed” blends the text of a New and communicate in that way,” she says. love you” and “Goodbye,” when they heard probably going to be an exercise, though York Times Magazine exposé on chemical After her high-school and Bible-school “a sound that seemed to carve a tunnel for Clifton it was real. But I think we can dumping with testimony of near-death years, Smith, who had always dreamed of between our world and some other . . . an teach ourselves to imagine diërently by experiences, to remarkable eëct), but she moving east, went to Harvard, where she otherworldly breath, a vivid presence that moving in these directions.” does not read as a “political poet” in the indulged her love of those other prophets, blew past us without stopping.” Smith also studied with Lucie Brock- doctrinaire sense. She’s a seeker, an asker the poets. She fell hard for the work of For Smith, the death of her mother was Broido ’82SOA, former director of Colum- of questions at a moment when empathy Elizabeth Bishop, Rita Dove ’98HON, “a huge loss that changed everything,” she bia’s MFA poetry program; Linda Gregg, is often politicized. Smith plays with this Philip Larkin, Seamus Heaney (one of says. And so when she entered Columbia later a colleague of Smith’s at Princeton; idea in “Political Poem,” a title that “makes her professors), Yusef Komunyakaa, and to study poetry, she had her subject. and poet and memoirist Mark Doty. you expect something dogmatic,” Smith

COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 33

1.18_Smith_FINAL.indd 33 4/11/18 9:05 AM says. Instead, you get a dreamlike vision founded in 1890 with the goal of accul- of two mowers in a fi eld, a mile apart, and turation, and which gained autonomy in the poet imagining what would happen if the 1920s. “It’s a beautiful place, where they saw each other across that distance students are so mindful of their own cul- and waved — how their work would “carry ture and language, of the ways language is them / into the better part of evening, vital to identity, and of the threats that put each mowing / ahead and doubling back, language at peril. There was a sense of the then looking up to catch / sight of his living word, sacred and religious, which echo, sought and held . . . ” relates to poetry in many ways.” And then there are angels: the pair of On a trip to South Carolina, Smith went bikers, all leather jackets and corroded to rural sites: a church, a school involved teeth, in “The Angels”; and the celestial in the Brown v. Board of Education associations of the title poem, “Wade in the Supreme Court cases. Congressman Water,” named for a spiritual sung along Jim Clyburn joined Smith and framed the Underground Railroad as a reminder to his introduction around Black history, people escaping slavery to take to the water, “which was perfect, because so much of to throw the dogs o the scent. the poetry in my readings is drawn from These elements link Smith’s personal history, or from thinking about the con- history to America’s, and to the ever- nection between current events and the rushing current that runs through all history of civil rights and the Civil War,” things, from the river to the stars. Smith says. “I met a lot of people who “I think my work is motivated by a wish were happy and proud. A woman told to connect to something outside of what me, ‘I brought my daughter here because we can see and understand,” Smith says. I wanted her to see that someone who “Something that might help us to deal with looks like her can do what you’re doing.’ what we’re confronted with — the real.” There was a motivation that had to do with selfhood and o ering role models for he position of poet laureate was a new generation of Black kids. It was a established in 1985, a revision to the really special trip.” Ttitle of consultant in poetry, which If being a poet is to ask questions, being dates to 1937. In total, forty-eight Amer- poet laureate is also to fi eld them. People ican poets, including Bishop and Dove, at Smith’s readings usually want to know have served as America’s o cial bard. where poems come from and how they’re Smith is the third Columbia graduate to made, while the press makes its perennial hold the post, along with Daniel Ho man demand that poetry justify itself. “Why ’47CC, ’56GSAS (1973–74) and Anthony bother being a poet?” a reporter from Hecht ’50GSAS (1982–84). PBS NewsHour asked Smith, naming The poet laureate opens and closes the runaway technology and political strife Library of Congress’s annual literary series as possible disincentives. “What kind of with a reading and a lecture, gives read- impact could you possibly have amidst all ings and interviews, and generally serves that?” On CBS This Morning, an anchor- as a national consciousness-raiser for the woman noted to Smith that many people art form. Shortly after Smith’s appoint- “I think my work fi nd poetry “di cult” and “boring.” ment, Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico, But Smith says poetry is necessary a poetry lover, invited her to his state. is motivated by a in twenty-fi rst-century life, “because it Smith visited Cannon Air Force Base, and rewards us for naming things in their at night she gave a reading of her own wish to connect complexity. It creates a vocabulary for poems and those of other poets. “Some our di cult-to-name feelings; it brings us people wanted to read some of the poems to something in touch with the quiet voice of the inner I had read, in their own voices,” Smith outside of what life, which most facets of consumer culture says. “It was another way of sharing these are drowning out. I think poetry is one texts — almost as o erings to each other.” we can see and way of saying, ‘None of that’s important. She also visited the Santa Fe Indian There’s something quiet that I house that’s

School, which the US government understand.” worth contemplating.’” PHOTO / ALAMY STOCK KOCH PRZEMYSLAW

34 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

1.18_Smith_FINAL.indd 34 4/11/18 9:06 AM founded in 1890 with the goal of accul- turation, and which gained autonomy in the 1920s. “It’s a beautiful place, where students are so mindful of their own culture and language, of the ways language is vital to identity, and of the threats that put language at peril. There was a sense of the living word, sacred and religious, which WADE IN THE WATER relates to poetry in many ways.” for the Geechee Gullah Ring Shouters On a trip to South Carolina, Smith went to rural sites: a church, a school involved One of the women greeted me. in the Brown v. Board of Education I love you, she said. She didn’t Supreme Court cases. Congressman Know me, but I believed her, Jim Clyburn joined Smith and framed And a terrible new ache his introduction around Black history, Rolled over in my chest, “which was perfect, because so much of Like in a room where the drapes the poetry in my readings is drawn from Have been swept back. I love you, history, or from thinking about the connection between current events and the I love you, as she continued history of civil rights and the Civil War,” Down the hall past other strangers, Smith says. “I met a lot of people who Each feeling pierced suddenly were happy and proud. A woman told By pillars of heavy light. me, ‘I brought my daughter here because I love you, throughout I wanted her to see that someone who e performance, in every looks like her can do what you’re doing.’ Handclap, every stomp. There was a motivation that had to do I love you in the rusted iron with selfhood and o ering role models for Chains someone was made a new generation of Black kids. It was a To drag until love let them be really special trip.” Unclasped and left empty If being a poet is to ask questions, being In the center of the ring. poet laureate is also to fi eld them. People at Smith’s readings usually want to know I love you in the water where poems come from and how they’re Where they pretended to wade, made, while the press makes its perennial Singing that old blood-deep song demand that poetry justify itself. “Why at dragged us to those banks bother being a poet?” a reporter from And cast us in. I love you, PBS NewsHour asked Smith, naming e angles of it scraping at runaway technology and political strife Each throat, shouldering past as possible disincentives. “What kind of e swirling dust motes impact could you possibly have amidst all In those beams of light that?” On CBS This Morning, an anchor- at whatever we now knew woman noted to Smith that many people We could let ourselves feel, knew fi nd poetry “di cult” and “boring.” To climb. O Woods—O Dogs– But Smith says poetry is necessary in twenty-fi rst-century life, “because it O Tree—O Gun—O Girl, run— rewards us for naming things in their O Miraculous Many Gone— complexity. It creates a vocabulary for O Lord—O Lord—O Lord— our di cult-to-name feelings; it brings us Is this love the trouble you promised? in touch with the quiet voice of the inner life, which most facets of consumer culture are drowning out. I think poetry is one way of saying, ‘None of that’s important. There’s something quiet that I house that’s

worth contemplating.’” PHOTO / ALAMY STOCK KOCH PRZEMYSLAW

COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 35

1.18_Smith_FINAL.indd 35 4/11/18 9:06 AM S U P E R F R E A K Stephen Dubner ’90SOA, coauthor of the mega-popular Freakonomics books and host of two hit podcasts, wants to tell you a few things you don’t know By Rebecca Shapiro

IT’S a Saturday information was some- night in New York, and thing they really didn’t best-selling author Stephen know, whether it was worth Dubner ’90SOA is onstage at knowing, and whether it was Joe’s Pub with Columbia linguis- demonstrably true, as a rmed by tics professor John McWhorter the guest fact-checker. and Columbia engineering pro- The stakes aren’t terribly high: fessor Mike Massimino ’84SEAS, there’s no prize money, so the win- discussing a delicate matter: how does ner only takes home bragging rights. an astronaut on a six-hour spacewalk Still, the guests are impressive — a go to the bathroom? mix of academics and professionals, The conversation is a part of all experts in their ﬁ elds — and they Dubner’s podcast Tell Me Something present a pleasing potpourri of miscel- I Don’t Know, which is taped in front lanea. CUNY history professor Jordi

of a live audience at di erent venues Getman Eraso tells the story behind LEFT: RT IMAGES / ALAMY STOCK PHOTOS; RIGHT: AUDREY BERNSTEIN around the country. For each episode, Spain’s wordless national anthem. Dubner chooses a cohost (this week Carol Willis ’79GSAS, the curator of it’s McWhorter) and a professional Manhattan’s Skyscraper Museum, fact-checker (the New York Times talks about the “skinny skyscraper,” a opinion editor and writer Bari Weiss kind of building unique to New York. ’07CC). Then, in a twist on the usual Harvard researcher Georgios Pyrgio- quiz-show format, Dubner challenges takis, who works in nanotechnology, his guests to tell him an interesting explains how water can be used to fact or idea on a topic of their choos- ﬁ ght bacteria. And Massimino, a ing. At the end of the night, the audi- veteran of two space-shuttle missions, ence votes for their favorite contestant takes the audience through the

based on three criteria: whether the intense training regimen required for CREDITS GO HERE

36 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

1.18_Dubner_FINAL_0402.indd 36 4/2/18 2:44 PM LEFT: RT IMAGES / ALAMY STOCK PHOTOS; RIGHT: AUDREY BERNSTEIN CREDITS GO HERE

COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 37

1.18_Dubner_FINAL_0402.indd 37 4/2/18 2:44 PM a spacewalk — including how to pee in Florence — who was a first cousin of exe- to graduate school. “I loved music, but I his research to ask questions about every- a spacesuit (the answer: a sophisticated cuted spy Ethel Rosenberg — changed her didn’t like touring or making records,” he day life. How does a baby name aect that diaper, known at NASA as a Maximum name to Veronica; Sol morphed into Paul; says. “Writing always came naturally to child’s future career? Do real-estate agents Absorbency Garment). and all eight Dubner children were named me. So I figured I should take the thing have their clients’ best interests at heart? Integral to the show’s quick, informal after saints. The family never missed Mass that I was good at and get better.” Is sumo wrestling fixed? style is Dubner, an aable, inquisitive at their local church, and they kept a shrine Dubner applied to Columbia’s MFA “I remember calling my wife from the host, who banters with his guests in a way with a wooden crucifix on top of the book- program in fiction, initially thinking he hotel room and telling her, ‘I have no that makes their often esoteric knowledge shelf. But their Christian piety also meant wanted to write novels (“top-tier education idea if anyone’s going to be interested in seem entirely relatable. It’s clear that this fully relinquishing their Jewish past; wasn’t really a part of my early life, so I was these things — in sumo wrestling and isn’t for show — ostage, too, Dubner is Dubner’s maternal grandmother visited just knocked over and thrilled when I got baby names,’” Dubner says. “But I didn’t chatty and always eager to learn more, the occasionally, but his father’s parents had in,” he says). For his thesis, he started work care. Every time I asked a question that I kind of person you might initially dread disowned their son when he converted, on a novel based on his family’s unusual thought I knew the answer to, Levitt would as a seatmate on a long plane ride, before even sitting shiva for him. religious path. But as he started doing totally upend the way I thought about it.” inevitably succumbing to his charms. “As the youngest of eight children, I research, his journalistic instincts kicked in. As it turned out, people did care. The “I actually came up with the idea for the naturally knew the least about my family’s “I kept wanting more facts, more infor- article got an overwhelming reader podcast on a plane,” Dubner says. “I was past,” Dubner says. mation,” Dubner says. “So I started inter- response, and Dubner’s literary agent traveling a lot and would get to chatting His father died when Dubner was a viewing my mom, and my dad’s estranged with the people sitting next to me. I found teenager, and once his brothers and sis- family. And I realized that I was good at that asking a simple question — what’s ters had left for college, he grew especially getting stories out of people.” “THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT THE LIVE FORMAT something I don’t know about what you do? — yielded the best conversations.” THAT JUST ENCOURAGES GOOD CONVERSATION.” Dubner has built a brand around his ability to ask the right questions. Along with University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt, he is the coauthor of the wildly successful Freakonomics books and the host of the Freakonomics Radio podcast, all of which use data and economic theory to explain every- day phenomena. As of 2017, the three Freakonomics books had sold over seven million copies worldwide (or as Dubner says, “more than one copy per every thousand people on earth”), and the podcast gets eight million downloads per month. If Levitt is the mad scientist of the operation, Dubner is his translator, close with his mother. He excelled at Dubner completed his MFA but aban- suggested that he and Levitt collaborate a journalist uniquely gifted at breaking math and science and also worked on his doned his novel, and eventually got a job on a book. down complex information. high-school newspaper, but he was more writing for the New York Times Magazine. “I was actually hesitant at first,” Dubner Dubner says that curiosity has been a focused on writing music for his rock In 1996, he published a feature on his fam- says. “This is not how book deals usually constant in his life, though his natural pro- band. When his mother suggested selling ily and his subsequent decision to return emerge — I was the journalist, and he was clivity for probing questions wasn’t always their old farmhouse and moving to North to Judaism. Two years later, he turned the the subject. But we worked well together. encouraged, especially in an unconven- Carolina, Dubner was happy to follow, article into his first book, a memoir called LEFT AND RIGHT: ANTHONY WASHINGTON; CENTER: LUSY SUTTON Levitt has this incredible way of looking at tional family with an unusual past. and he earned his undergraduate degree Turbulent Souls. Then he got an assign- the world, and I was able to frame that in a Dubner grew up the youngest of eight at Appalachian State University. ment that would change the course of his way that people could really grasp.” children in a small town in rural upstate After college, Dubner toured briefly career: a profile of Steven Levitt, a young The original Freakonomics book was New York. His parents, born Solomon with a band called the Right Profile — economist who had recently made waves published in 2005, debuting at number Dubner and Florence Greenglass, were “a sort of mash-up of blues and Rolling for a paper linking legalized abortion and two on the New York Times bestseller list. both raised in pious Jewish households in Stones–style rock and punk — this was decreased crime rates. But while plenty of books have a stint as a Brooklyn. As young adults, though, each the early eighties, after all.” The band was “I went to Chicago intending to meet bestseller, momentum for Freakonomics converted to Roman Catholicism. moderately successful and even wound with him for three hours,” Dubner says. built exponentially. By 2009, when Such conversion was basically unheard up getting a record deal with Arista. But “I ended up staying three days.” Dubner and Levitt published the sequel, of in the postwar Jewish diaspora, but Dubner realized the lifestyle wasn’t for Dubner found that Levitt was looking at SuperFreakonomics, sales of the first the Dubners approached it with rigor. him; he decided to quit music and go economics in an entirely new way, using volume were over four million. Dubner

38 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

1.18_Dubner_FINAL_0402.indd 38 4/2/18 2:45 PM to graduate school. “I loved music, but I his research to ask questions about every- explains the success in a way that feels Dubner says that he’s been pleasantly didn’t like touring or making records,” he day life. How does a baby name aect that plucked from the pages of the book. surprised by the direct impact that some says. “Writing always came naturally to child’s future career? Do real-estate agents “It’s called the blockbuster eect,” he episodes have on people. After an early me. So I figured I should take the thing have their clients’ best interests at heart? says. “It’s impossible to go from small to episode called “The Upside of Quitting,” that I was good at and get better.” Is sumo wrestling fixed? big. But to go from big to really big is not for example, Dubner started hearing from Dubner applied to Columbia’s MFA “I remember calling my wife from the actually that hard with something like a listeners who had finally quit a bad job or program in fiction, initially thinking he hotel room and telling her, ‘I have no book, which thrives on word of mouth.” left a toxic relationship and credited the wanted to write novels (“top-tier education idea if anyone’s going to be interested in In other words, the book went viral. show for giving them the final push. A wasn’t really a part of my early life, so I was these things — in sumo wrestling and Dubner’s publisher, William Morrow, was story about Al Roth ’71SEAS, a Stanford just knocked over and thrilled when I got baby names,’” Dubner says. “But I didn’t one of the first to tap into the blogosphere, economist and Nobel laureate who is in,” he says). For his thesis, he started work care. Every time I asked a question that I circulating galleys to bloggers and other using an economic principle called market on a novel based on his family’s unusual thought I knew the answer to, Levitt would people who might be inclined to spread design to help people who need a kidney religious path. But as he started doing totally upend the way I thought about it.” the word on social media — people who to match with a donor, has inspired sev- research, his journalistic instincts kicked in. As it turned out, people did care. The would today be called “influencers.” eral organ donations. “I kept wanting more facts, more infor- article got an overwhelming reader Dubner and Levitt picked up on that “I had people coming up to me for years mation,” Dubner says. “So I started inter- response, and Dubner’s literary agent digital success and launched a website. telling me that they got a kidney because viewing my mom, and my dad’s estranged family. And I realized that I was good at getting stories out of people.” “THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT THE LIVE FORMAT THAT JUST ENCOURAGES GOOD CONVERSATION.”

Then, in 2010, long before podcasts of that show,” Dubner says. “I’m a pretty had become mainstream, they started analytical guy, but the mushy side of me Freakonomics Radio. For the last eight was very moved by that.” years, it has consistently ranked as one of While each episode of Freakonmics is iTunes’s most downloaded podcasts. scripted, with a hefty dose of reporting “I’ve always liked radio. Growing up in involved, Tell Me Something I Don’t Know a small town in upstate New York, it felt is far more casual, which Dubner like a connection to the broader world,” welcomes. “I think there’s something Dubner says. “I’m sure Levitt won’t mind about the live format that just encourages me saying that the podcast is really my good conversation,” he says. “People are project; he does it as a favor to me. But I spontaneous. When it works well — as it do think that it’s given us room to tackle did in the episode with Mike Massimino so many more things than we’d be able to — people forget that we’re recording a do in books, which can be very slow.” podcast. It’s like a great dinner party, Dubner completed his MFA but aban- suggested that he and Levitt collaborate Over the course of 314 episodes, the without the dinner.” Still, he hopes that doned his novel, and eventually got a job on a book. podcast has examined everything from listeners leave the episodes having learned writing for the New York Times Magazine. “I was actually hesitant at first,” Dubner the economics of sleep (people who sleep something and curious to learn more. In 1996, he published a feature on his fam- says. “This is not how book deals usually better make more money), the question And if Dubner were a guest on his own ily and his subsequent decision to return emerge — I was the journalist, and he was of tipping in restaurants (what happens show and had to tell you something you to Judaism. Two years later, he turned the the subject. But we worked well together. when you eliminate tipping and raise didn’t know about being one of the world’s article into his first book, a memoir called LEFT AND RIGHT: ANTHONY WASHINGTON; CENTER: LUSY SUTTON Levitt has this incredible way of looking at menu prices?), and whether boycotts most successful authors, it would likely be Turbulent Souls. Then he got an assign- the world, and I was able to frame that in a actually work. They’ve had an economist the same thing he would say about being a ment that would change the course of his way that people could really grasp.” edit the online-dating profile of a hapless podcast host or a magazine journalist. career: a profile of Steven Levitt, a young The original Freakonomics book was twentysomething and tried to determine “I’ve been surprised to find that whether economist who had recently made waves published in 2005, debuting at number the most ecient way to exercise. Some I’m writing an article or a book or hosting for a paper linking legalized abortion and two on the New York Times bestseller list. topics expand on concepts introduced a podcast, for me the work is actually very decreased crime rates. But while plenty of books have a stint as a in the book (“people are always very much the same,” he says. “You find inter- “I went to Chicago intending to meet bestseller, momentum for Freakonomics interested in baby names,” says Dubner), esting people to talk to. You don’t ask any with him for three hours,” Dubner says. built exponentially. By 2009, when but most are new, and the podcast format yes-or-no questions. And you don’t try to “I ended up staying three days.” Dubner and Levitt published the sequel, allows them to tackle more timely issues, pretend that you’re smarter than you are Dubner found that Levitt was looking at SuperFreakonomics, sales of the first like what Uber can teach us about the or that you know more than you do. It’s economics in an entirely new way, using volume were over four million. Dubner gender pay gap. that simple.”

COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 39

1.18_Dubner_FINAL_0402.indd 39 4/2/18 2:45 PM THE BIG IDEA and race and environmental policy. I wanted to focus on the ways these issues are interconnected.

Let’s start with labor. e Politics Of Well, the plight of most food workers Eating Well today resembles that of industrial work- Former New York Times columnist and best-selling cookbook author Mark Bittman is a lecturer in health policy and management at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health. A leader in the progressive food movement, Bittman examines the intersection between food, public health, and social justice. We asked him to explain why he thinks our food system

is ﬂawed and how he recommends ﬁxing it. By Rebecca Shapiro Ú

Columbia Magazine: For most of your Then a couple of critically important Your first major initiative at Columbia career, you were primarily a cookbook books came out — Fast Food Nation, by Eric was hosting a free weekly lecture author. When did you become inter- Schlosser, and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, series. Why did you choose that ested in food as a public-health issue? by Michael Pollan ’81GSAS — and I real- public format? Mark Bittman: It was gradual. In the ized — rather late, upon reflection — that Just before I started teaching at 1990s, I saw that there were big prob- I, too, could be tackling these issues more Columbia, I lived in Berkeley for a year. lems with the ways we produced and aggressively. I had been writing for the In California there’s a near constant consumed food, and that those problems New York Times for over a decade at that public conversation about how to were getting worse. I saw the decline point, so I began with periodic pieces in remake the food-production system. I of small farming, the beginning of the the Sunday Review. Eventually I went to wanted to continue that conversation obesity epidemic, and the surge in the Opinion section and became the first on the East Coast, while shifting the cases of diabetes that followed. I saw the food opinion writer for a major paper. focus away from agriculture. There’s increased reliance on hyper-processed more agriculture on the West Coast, food. And more. So I started gradually You joined the Mailman School in and so there’s more opportunity for NEMANJA OTIC / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO incorporating environmental and social 2016. What drew you to academia? agricultural change there, but there issues into my food writing. As a first I felt I had accomplished all that I could was definitely still room for a broader step, I started working on a comprehen- as a columnist. I wanted to work collabo- conversation here. sive vegetarian cookbook, How to Cook ratively on these issues with like-minded We have a public-health crisis related Everything Vegetarian, and I began to people who shared my concerns. For to food production, and while much of encourage people to incorporate more the most part, it’s been an inspiring and that has to do with agriculture, it also

plants into their diets. productive environment. has to do with labor and immigration PHOTO; / ALAMY STOCK ASSOCIATES PHOTO / DEMBINSKY DEMBINSKY CAROL BOTTOM: IMAGES VIA GETTY O’BRIEN / CORBIS ERIN PATRICE RIGHT: TOP

40 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

1.18_BigIdea_FINAL_0402.indd 40 4/2/18 1:06 PM and race and environmental policy. I ers a hundred years ago. Eight of the ten How can we address that problem? wanted to focus on the ways these issues worst paying jobs in America are in food The fast answer is with organization are interconnected. production or are related to food. That and, well, rabble-rousing. But on a basic means that the people who are bringing level it starts with empathy. Most people Let’s start with labor. us food, who arguably have the most in the United States could aord to pay e Politics Of Well, the plight of most food workers important jobs in the United States, often more for food as a percentage of their Eating Well today resembles that of industrial work- can’t aord to feed themselves. income, and a small increase in food

Your ﬁrst major initiative at Columbia costs could make a big dierence in the was hosting a free weekly lecture lives of food workers. The best example series. Why did you choose that of a program putting this principle into public format? practice comes from the Coalition of Just before I started teaching at Immokalee Workers, an advocacy group Columbia, I lived in Berkeley for a year. in Florida that launched the penny-a- In California there’s a near constant pound tomato campaign. They used public conversation about how to protests and boycotts to basically shame remake the food-production system. I fast-food companies and retailers — wanted to continue that conversation including Walmart — into paying a on the East Coast, while shifting the penny per pound more for tomatoes focus away from agriculture. There’s at the wholesale level. The cost passed more agriculture on the West Coast, on to consumers was minuscule, but it and so there’s more opportunity for translated into higher wages for pickers. NEMANJA OTIC / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO agricultural change there, but there was deﬁnitely still room for a broader Many low-wage food workers are conversation here. immigrants. How have recent changes We have a public-health crisis related to immigration policy affected to food production, and while much of food production? that has to do with agriculture, it also The more President Trump limits immi-

has to do with labor and immigration PHOTO; / ALAMY STOCK ASSOCIATES PHOTO / DEMBINSKY DEMBINSKY CAROL BOTTOM: IMAGES VIA GETTY O’BRIEN / CORBIS ERIN PATRICE RIGHT: TOP gration, the harder it is for American

COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 41

1.18_BigIdea_FINAL_0402.indd 41 4/2/18 1:07 PM agriculture to function; we don’t yet Sixty percent of government-subsidized onerous student-loan obligations often has really been a front-runner in terms have enough data to know for sure, but agriculture is going to fund crops like prohibit people from going into or stay- of progressive food policy — it adopted it can’t help but have an impact. These corn and soy, which are mostly used to ing in agriculture. We need legislation a national food policy in 2003, which are jobs that are almost universally feed animals or fuel cars. The fewer that adds farmers to the Public Service proved to dramatically reduce poverty taken by immigrants, both legal and regulations we have, of course, the easier Loan Forgiveness program. and child mortality. Some of the policies undocumented. And it’s not just the it is for industrial agriculture companies Finally, small farmers need better there, like mandating that a percentage policies but also the rhetoric, which has to continue these damaging practices. access to markets. The majority of our of school lunches be sourced from local been racist and anti-poor and generally It also makes it easier for them to make produce is purchased in huge quanti- farmers, are things I’d like to see here. discouraging to immigrant workers. money and encourages their But the government changed hands dominance in American in 2016, and a number of the policies What other proposed policies could food production. stalled or were reversed. impact the food landscape? Trump made a number of promises on In your ﬁrst New York You’ve written extensively on the campaign trail that could drastically Times column, you obesity and how the American diet aect how we produce and consume issued a food manifesto, has declined. How do you think the food. Luckily, he hasn’t gotten around outlining your priorities government should legislate these to many of them yet, but most of us for the future. One of kinds of issues? are concerned about environmental the focal points was deregulation, school food, health care, promoting small farmers. and of course continued unqualiﬁed Right. Small farmers are support for industrial agriculture with crucial for the environment continued ignorance of the better alter- and for our health. We need natives. One very concrete threat is to the kinds of farmers that “It’s a happy coincidence that eating what’s better for your body is also better for our collective body.”

the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance are growing nourishing food for people, ties and plugged into a system geared Program (SNAP) — commonly called instead of commodity crops that are to them. Someone that has three acres food stamps — which will come up for intended for animals or cars or processed might have trouble breaking into that a vote in 2018 as a part of the farm bill. junk that makes us sick. system and finding a market for their SNAP is an entitlement program. If we So, first of all, we need to get land products. So they need to be near cities The obesity epidemic is dire and is single- make qualifying for it more dicult, and into the right hands. Are there people that have policies for buying from small handedly reversing a hundred years of knowledge about it harder to come by, it who want to farm and grow good food? farmers — that can figure out how to progress in public health. For the first will fundamentally limit access to food I think there are, but many can’t aord aggregate enough broccoli from local time in generations, today’s children have for millions of Americans. land. There are credible solutions — farms, for example, that it equals a ship- shorter life expectancies than their par- land trusts for preserving farmland, ment from California. ents, largely because a third of them are Can you talk a little about how farm business incubators, and federal likely to develop type 2 diabetes. JOSHUA ROPER / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO environmental regulations affect and state programs — but the barriers What other countries should we look The Aordable Care Act (ACA) was food production? remain high. There’s also been a shift to as models for food policy? a step in the direction of an integrated Food production and the environment in the farming population — a recent I’m spending the next six months trav- national health-care system, which I are inextricably linked. Our current survey by the National Young Farmers eling in the hopes of figuring out exactly think is our only hope for combating agriculture system is responsible for more Coalition found that a majority of new that. It’s a tough question, because problems like obesity and diabetes. But greenhouse-gas emissions than any other farmers don’t come from farming fam- governments are constantly changing, we need national dietary standards that

sector of our economy, aside from energy. ilies, and have college educations. But and that can curtail progress. Brazil PHOTO WERDINGER / ALAMY STOCK LEON are easy for people to understand and

42 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

1.18_BigIdea_FINAL_0402.indd 42 4/2/18 1:07 PM onerous student-loan obligations often has really been a front-runner in terms follow. Our current dietary standards are You try to buy real food, and you prepare prohibit people from going into or stay- of progressive food policy — it adopted hundreds of pages long, and they focus it yourself, and lo and behold, it’s healthy. ing in agriculture. We need legislation a national food policy in 2003, which on minutiae — how much of individual It takes practice, but it’s fun. that adds farmers to the Public Service proved to dramatically reduce poverty nutrients people should be getting. There are, of course, things we can do Loan Forgiveness program. and child mortality. Some of the policies Instead, we need to prioritize some policy-wise to make it easier for everyone Finally, small farmers need better there, like mandating that a percentage big-picture messages: a plant-based diet, to have access to good, real food. But we access to markets. The majority of our of school lunches be sourced from local reduced calorie consumption in general, also need to encourage the kind of culture produce is purchased in huge quanti- farmers, are things I’d like to see here. less sugar, and real, unprocessed foods. that values cooking and making good But the government changed hands food decisions. Even if you live in what in 2016, and a number of the policies What about things like food labeling? people call a food desert, with a limited stalled or were reversed. Under the Obama administration, we budget and no access to a fancy farmers’ made a little progress on getting nation- market, you can make better choices. You’ve written extensively on al label enhancements. As a part of the Rice and canned beans, with onions and obesity and how the American diet ACA, every chain restaurant nationwide peppers or carrots, is cheaper and much has declined. How do you think the is now required to post nutrition content more nutritious for a family than getting government should legislate these and calorie counts. We’ve had a similar McDonald’s. We just need to make that kinds of issues? policy in New York for several years, the norm. If you spend a lot of time around public-health people, you start to hear the mantra, “We have to make the healthy choice the easy choice.”

You’re known as a fierce advocate for a plant-based diet, though you’re not a vegetarian yourself. The personal decisions we make are important, and this is an area where we can encourage people to make reason- able changes. Our current diet is killing us individually, and it’s environmentally unsustainable. It’s a happy coincidence that eating what’s better for your body is also better for our collective body. I wanted to help people see that there’s a very manageable way to do that. For many years I’ve adopted what I call the “vegan before six” diet — I avoid meat and dairy ties and plugged into a system geared products during the day (before 6 p.m.) to them. Someone that has three acres and relax about it at night. But that’s might have trouble breaking into that only one way to address the issues, and it system and finding a market for their might not be the most practical one for a products. So they need to be near cities The obesity epidemic is dire and is single- and while there’s no hard science yet on lot of people. that have policies for buying from small handedly reversing a hundred years of whether it has had an impact on people’s farmers — that can figure out how to progress in public health. For the first choices, I continue to think that it’s a step What else can people do to be aggregate enough broccoli from local time in generations, today’s children have in the right direction. responsible food consumers? farms, for example, that it equals a ship- shorter life expectancies than their par- Well, what I’ve tried to do with my lecture ment from California. ents, largely because a third of them are What do you think is the most series and my columns is to help peo- likely to develop type 2 diabetes. important thing people can do to ple understand how all these issues are JOSHUA ROPER / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO What other countries should we look The Aordable Care Act (ACA) was improve their diets? connected. This is about every aspect of to as models for food policy? a step in the direction of an integrated They can cook more. Home cooking was democracy, and I believe that we need to I’m spending the next six months trav- national health-care system, which I the foundation of most of my career, and be a more engaged citizenry. I don’t care eling in the hopes of figuring out exactly think is our only hope for combating it’s something about which I remain pas- whether you organize around labor or the that. It’s a tough question, because problems like obesity and diabetes. But sionate. It’s an important way forward. environment or race. Almost every issue governments are constantly changing, we need national dietary standards that The way you control what you put in your aects food, and vice versa. It’s all the

and that can curtail progress. Brazil PHOTO WERDINGER / ALAMY STOCK LEON are easy for people to understand and mouth and in your body is by cooking. same struggle.

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1.18_BigIdea_FINAL_0402.indd 43 4/2/18 1:07 PM back outward. (To imagine version of the idea is among how this would work, picture the most sophisticated and EXPLORATIONS an airtight room whose walls mathematically compelling collapse inward, like a gar- yet dreamed up. With a bit bage compactor’s, until the more fine-tuning, they say, FRONTIERS OF air molecules inside build up her hypothesis could even be RESEARCH AND so much pressure that they testable; this would move the DISCOVERY cause the now-miniaturized Big Bounce notion out of the room to explode.) realm of pure theory and into Ijjas’s vision is radical, going that of verifiable science. against a century’s worth of To this end, Ijjas is now received wisdom among phys- designing computer pro- icists about how matter and grams that simulate what the energy behave. For example, universe would have looked Einstein’s general theory of like in the moment it shifted relativity predicts that if any from a period of contraction large celestial object implodes to a period of expansion; by abruptly, it will devour itself, studying these simulations, disappearing into an infinitely she hopes to determine what small and dense point known evidentiary traces of the event as a singularity. Astronomers might still be observable. have found evidence of this “It’s possible that a bounce happening many times when could have left a distinct massive stars have died; the imprint on the Cosmic Micro- result is what’s commonly wave Background, which is Was the known as a black hole. The the ancient light that’s still idea that our universe could visible from the first moments Big Bang somehow avoid this same our universe started to fate, if the whole thing were expand,” she says. Really a Big Bounce? to shrink down to nearly a Ijjas is pursuing this work singularity — which is what with a great sense of urgency. bounce theorists suggest hap- Her goal is to develop analytic ince the 1960s, most recent years as a leading pened fourteen billion years techniques that will help her cosmologists have proponent of this alternative ago — strikes most cosmolo- search for signs of a bounce embraced the idea vision, which is known as gists as far-fetched. in data produced by a new that our universe “Big Bounce” theory. And in Seemingly outlandish generation of telescopes was born some four- a new paper in the Journal of ideas sometimes pay o in scheduled to be built in the Steen billion years ago, when Cosmology and Astroparticle physics, though. The Belgian early 2020s. Such analyses an infinitesimal, ultra-dense Physics, the thirty-three-year- theorist Georges Lemaître was could prove valuable, she speck of matter exploded and old Hungarian-born theorist dismissed by his peers when says, whether or not she finds eventually became all the oers her most detailed in 1931 he proposed that the evidence of a bounce. planets, stars, and galaxies explanation yet for how the universe had sprouted from “My goal isn’t necessar- we see around us today. But universe could undergo such a tiny “Cosmic Egg”; three ily to prove my own ideas not all cosmologists buy this fluctuations. Specifically, her decades later, he was vindi- right, but to learn something origin story: others have paper addresses how the uni- cated when telescopes found fundamental about the nature proposed that our universe is verse, after a period of con- traces of interstellar radiation of the universe,” she says. eternal, and that it has always traction, might have reversed that could only be remnants DANIEL HERTZBERG / THE ISPOT.COM “If my hypothesis turns out been expanding and contract- course and begun to expand: from a time when the universe to be wrong, this will just ing like a gigantic lung. she hypothesizes that there is was extraordinarily small, strengthen the case for the Big Anna Ijjas, an associate an as-yet-unrecognized form hot, and compact. And today, Bang — and for the idea that research scientist at Colum- of energy that, if squeezed even physicists who are deeply time had a definite starting bia’s Center for Theoretical into a small enough space, skeptical of Big Bounce theory point. And that in itself would

Physics, has emerged in can suddenly push everything concede that Ijjas’s latest PHOTO / ALAMY STOCK MIRA TOP: be quite satisfying.”

44 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

1.18_Expl_FINAL.indd 44 4/12/18 11:08 AM back outward. (To imagine version of the idea is among how this would work, picture the most sophisticated and A prescription for pollution an airtight room whose walls mathematically compelling collapse inward, like a gar- yet dreamed up. With a bit s Americans take more and they took samples, with an average of about bage compactor’s, until the more fine-tuning, they say, more prescription drugs, scien- eight different medications found in each spot. air molecules inside build up her hypothesis could even be tists say that a new environmen- “Some levels are high enough that you so much pressure that they testable; this would move the tal threat is emerging: discarded could be concerned about the effects on cause the now-miniaturized Big Bounce notion out of the pharmaceuticals are beginning fish and other aquatic organisms,” says Juhl, room to explode.) realm of pure theory and into Ato contaminate our rivers, ponds, and lakes. whose collaborators on the project include Ijjas’s vision is radical, going that of verifiable science. Now a study conducted by a team of scientists from the EPA, Queens College, and against a century’s worth of To this end, Ijjas is now researchers that includes Andrew Juhl, an the environmental group Riverkeeper. received wisdom among phys- designing computer pro- aquatic biologist at Columbia’s Lamont- Pharmaceuticals can enter waterways, icists about how matter and grams that simulate what the Doherty Earth Observatory, has detected experts say, both as a result of people dump- energy behave. For example, universe would have looked sixteen commonly prescribed medications at ing unused pills down their drains and as a Einstein’s general theory of like in the moment it shifted multiple sites along a 155-mile stretch of the result of them excreting unmetabolized pills relativity predicts that if any from a period of contraction they’ve taken. Because drug molecules are large celestial object implodes to a period of expansion; by not removed by water-treatment systems, abruptly, it will devour itself, studying these simulations, they get pumped out with recycled water. disappearing into an infinitely she hopes to determine what Juhl and his colleagues found the highest small and dense point known evidentiary traces of the event concentrations of drugs not near New York as a singularity. Astronomers might still be observable. City, as one might expect, but rather near the have found evidence of this “It’s possible that a bounce sewage outfalls of several upstate municipal- happening many times when could have left a distinct ities, including Orangetown, Kingston, Troy, massive stars have died; the imprint on the Cosmic Micro- and Albany. They suspect this is because pol- result is what’s commonly wave Background, which is lutants in New York Harbor may get diluted known as a black hole. The the ancient light that’s still The Hudson River near Peekskill, by the ocean’s tides. idea that our universe could visible from the first moments New York. Juhl hopes that his study will prompt other somehow avoid this same our universe started to Hudson River. The researchers discovered signif- scientists to investigate the effects of phar- fate, if the whole thing were expand,” she says. icant levels of drugs — among them antibiotics, maceutical pollution on wildlife. to shrink down to nearly a Ijjas is pursuing this work pain relievers, and drugs for treating high blood “Now we have a baseline for conducting singularity — which is what with a great sense of urgency. pressure, high cholesterol, epilepsy, ulcers, and toxicological studies that look at how particu- bounce theorists suggest hap- Her goal is to develop analytic heartburn — at all seventy-two locations where lar species of fish could be affected,” he says. pened fourteen billion years techniques that will help her ago — strikes most cosmolo- search for signs of a bounce gists as far-fetched. in data produced by a new Seemingly outlandish generation of telescopes ideas sometimes pay o in scheduled to be built in the Harris Wang physics, though. The Belgian early 2020s. Such analyses World’s smallest theorist Georges Lemaître was could prove valuable, she dismissed by his peers when says, whether or not she finds tape recorder built in 1931 he proposed that the evidence of a bounce. universe had sprouted from “My goal isn’t necessar- from microbes a tiny “Cosmic Egg”; three ily to prove my own ideas decades later, he was vindi- right, but to learn something hrough a few clever molecular cated when telescopes found fundamental about the nature hacks, researchers at Columbia traces of interstellar radiation of the universe,” she says. University Irving Medical Center that could only be remnants DANIEL HERTZBERG / THE ISPOT.COM “If my hypothesis turns out have converted a strain of bacteria from a time when the universe to be wrong, this will just into a microbial “tape recorder” was extraordinarily small, strengthen the case for the Big Tthat they say could be used to detect the pres- hot, and compact. And today, Bang — and for the idea that ence of invasive microbes, or worrisome levels even physicists who are deeply time had a definite starting of familiar molecules, inside the human body. skeptical of Big Bounce theory point. And that in itself would The researchers, led by cell biologist

concede that Ijjas’s latest PHOTO / ALAMY STOCK MIRA TOP: be quite satisfying.” Harris Wang, modiﬁed an ordinary

COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 45

1.18_Expl_FINAL.indd 45 4/12/18 11:08 AM EXPLORATIONS Yelp if laboratory strain of the ubiquitous human-gut Hygiene. The scientists have microbe E. coli, enabling it to record, in its own you’ve got now released the results of Sticking up for science DNA, information about any microorganisms the experiment. It shows that or chemical compounds with which it interacts. food between 2012 and 2017 their The new, specially engineered E. coli can also automated system identified olumbia’s Sabin document the order in which it encounters other poisoning 8,523 complaints of food-borne Center for substances, thereby time-stamping the events. illness and ten situations in Climate Change “Such bacteria, swallowed by a patient, might which restaurants were later Law recently be able to record the changes they experience confirmed by authorities to launched a web- through the whole digestive tract, yielding an have served contaminated Csite that documents the unprecedented view of previously inaccessible food to multiple customers. US government’s eorts to phenomena,” says Wang, whose paper appeared “This represents a nearly suppress the work of scien- in the journal Science. 45 percent increase in the tists working on environ- To create this tool, the researchers exploited total number of complaints mental, public-health, and a part of E. coli’s immune system that snips we would usually receive in climate issues. The website, out pieces of DNA from invading viruses and that period,” says city health called the Silencing Science then stores the foreign code for the purpose of commissioner Mary T. Bassett Tracker, records attempts by quickly recognizing and attacking the viruses ’79PS, noting that her staff the Trump administration in the future. (This special immune function, investigates all reports of to restrict or distort public which is found in many bacteria and is known food-borne illness. “These are as CRISPR-Cas, has been used by other scien- incidents that might otherwise tists as a gene-editing technology.) Wang have gone unreported.” modified CRISPR-Cas to record not only viral The Columbia technology DNA but a variety of chemical signals. For is designed to flag any Yelp example, his engineered E. coli could detect the reviews that contain words like presence of certain sugars in the gut that indi- “sick,” “vomit,” and other terms cate an infection. that might indicate a person fter eating a has experienced food poisoning. restaurant meal City inspectors then contact that makes them the author of the review — just ill, many people will as they would contact anyone go straight to the who files a report of food-borne Areview site Yelp to voice their illness through the city’s 311 complaints rather than alert complaint line or website — to health authorities. The result is learn more about what they ate LEFT: STEVE GSCHMEISSNER / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY; RIGHT: LJS PHOTOGRAPHY / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO that outbreaks of food poisoning and their symptoms. THE NEXT TREND IN ECO FASHION could be can sometimes go undetected Gravano and Hsu say that footwear made of kelp, whose fibrous blades a team for days or even weeks, leading their computer system has of Columbia researchers has turned into a strong more people to become sick. worked so well in New York that and supple thread. The researchers, led by Theanne But what if health officials they are planning to roll it out in Schiros, who teaches at both Columbia Engineering could monitor, in real time, all other cities, possibly with a new and the Fashion Institute of Technology, say that the comments posted on Yelp feature that will scan Twitter algae-based fabric could be used to produce any for clues about where and when for tweets about bad meals and number of biodegradable types of clothing. The such outbreaks are occurring? upset stomachs. mass harvesting of kelp, meanwhile, would give A few years ago, a team of “Extracting information coastal communities around the world incentive “The CRISPR-Cas system is a natural bio- E. coli Columbia computer scientists from social media is of high to preserve their local ecologies and provide work logical memory device,” says Wang, who notes bacteria. led by Luis Gravano and Daniel importance these days, that his technology will need to be made more Hsu developed an artificial- because lots of people who for fishermen in the off-season. A startup co-led ecient before it can be used clinically. “From intelligence system that does wouldn’t think to file an official by Schiros, called AlgiKnit, recently won twenty- an engineering perspective that’s actually quite just that, and they began sharing government complaint will five thousand dollars in National Geographic’s nice, because it’s already a system that has been their results with food inspectors nevertheless go online and Chasing Genius Challenge to perfect its plans for honed through evolution to be really great at at the New York City Depart- tell everyone in the world that manufacturing kelp-based sneakers (a prototype of storing information.” ment of Health and Mental they’re sick,” says Gravano. which is pictured above), shirts, and accessories.

46 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

1.18_Expl_FINAL.indd 46 4/12/18 11:08 AM Hygiene. The scientists have now released the results of STUDY Weekend ceasefire Gunshot- Sticking up for science related deaths and injuries decline the experiment. It shows that HALL RESEARCH 20 percent on the weekend when between 2012 and 2017 their BRIEFS the NRA holds its annual convention, automated system identified discussion about scien- olumbia’s Sabin apparently because its tens of thousands of attendees 8,523 complaints of food-borne Center for tific research. It concludes temporarily holster their weapons. The new study by illness and ten situations in Climate Change that the largest number of Columbia economics PhD student Andrew Olenski and which restaurants were later Law recently anti-science actions so far Harvard economist Anupam Jena seems to show that confirmed by authorities to launched a web- have occurred at the Envi- experienced gun users, not just novices, are susceptible have served contaminated Csite that documents the ronmental Protection to firearm accidents. food to multiple customers. US government’s eorts to Agency, followed by the “This represents a nearly suppress the work of scien- Departments of the Interior Risky waters Columbia environmental scientists 45 percent increase in the tists working on environ- and Energy. Upmanu Lall and Haowei Wu ’17SEAS have found that between 3 and 10 percent of municipal water systems total number of complaints mental, public-health, and A collaboration with in the United States are in violation of federal health we would usually receive in climate issues. The website, the Climate Science Legal standards each year. Their study reveals that in 2015, as that period,” says city health called the Silencing Science Defense Fund, the Silencing many as twenty-one million Americans were exposed to commissioner Mary T. Bassett Tracker, records attempts by Science Tracker also links to unsafe drinking water. ’79PS, noting that her staff the Trump administration legal resources for whis- investigates all reports of to restrict or distort public tleblowers and scientists. The science of fear A team of Columbia neuroscien- food-borne illness. “These are tists led by René Hen has identified a group of neu- incidents that might otherwise rons in mice that are at the root of the brain’s anxiety have gone unreported.” response. The scientists hope that by further investi- The Columbia technology gating these neurons they will be able to develop new is designed to flag any Yelp treatments for anxiety disorders. reviews that contain words like Tragic reactions Robin Williams’s suicide in 2014 “sick,” “vomit,” and other terms inspired a wave of copycat deaths, according to a that might indicate a person new study by Columbia epidemiology PhD candidate has experienced food poisoning. David Fink. In the five months following the comedian’s City inspectors then contact death, Fink shows, the suicide rate in the US increased the author of the review — just by 10 percent and the number of people who killed as they would contact anyone themselves by asphyxiation (as Williams did) rose by who files a report of food-borne 32 percent. Fink says that US news organizations illness through the city’s 311 contributed to the problem by failing to follow World complaint line or website — to Health Organization guidelines that suggest reporters learn more about what they ate LEFT: STEVE GSCHMEISSNER / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY; RIGHT: LJS PHOTOGRAPHY / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO avoid detailing the suicide methods of celebrities. and their symptoms. THE NEXT TREND IN ECO FASHION could be Smog-day blues Air pollution lowers productivity Gravano and Hsu say that footwear made of kelp, whose fibrous blades a team even among white-collar workers who spend their days their computer system has of Columbia researchers has turned into a strong indoors, say economists Michaela Pagel of Columbia worked so well in New York that and supple thread. The researchers, led by Theanne Business School and Steffen Meyer of Germany’s they are planning to roll it out in Schiros, who teaches at both Columbia Engineering Leibniz University. By analyzing the job performance other cities, possibly with a new and the Fashion Institute of Technology, say that of more than one hundred thousand private investors feature that will scan Twitter algae-based fabric could be used to produce any from 2003 to 2015, the researchers found that the for tweets about bad meals and number of biodegradable types of clothing. The investors took fewer steps to execute trades on days when smog levels spiked. upset stomachs. mass harvesting of kelp, meanwhile, would give “Extracting information coastal communities around the world incentive from social media is of high Time is ticking away A new blood test developed to preserve their local ecologies and provide work by Columbia epidemiologist W. Ian Lipkin promises to importance these days, revolutionize the diagnosis of tick-borne illnesses. The because lots of people who for fishermen in the off-season. A startup co-led test, called the Tick-Borne Disease Serochip, will enable wouldn’t think to file an official by Schiros, called AlgiKnit, recently won twenty- five thousand dollars in National Geographic’s medical workers to distinguish between Lyme disease government complaint will and seven other conditions spread by tick bites much nevertheless go online and Chasing Genius Challenge to perfect its plans for faster and with greater reliability than is possible with tell everyone in the world that manufacturing kelp-based sneakers (a prototype of current diagnostic methods. they’re sick,” says Gravano. which is pictured above), shirts, and accessories. — Julia Joy

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1.18_Expl_FINAL.indd 47 4/12/18 11:08 AM Martin Lewison and his wife Cheryl ride Ohio’s Woodstock Express (left) and Frozen Assets NETWORK celebrate coaster number 1,600 (inset). achel Drori ’09BUS YOUR ALUMNI has never had much CONNECTION time for home cooking. As a busy marketing professional turned RCEO, she’s always appreciated the convenience of frozen food. High But fi nding healthy options in a freezer Roller aisle stocked with microwavable meals ven in the thrill-a- ridden the world’s fastest, isn’t always easy. So in second universe of which is Formula Rossa at 2015, Drori decided roller coasters, Abu Dhabi’s Ferrari World; 2007, and she encouraged his to remedy that prob- Taiwan’s Gravity and the world’s tallest, burgeoning hobby. lem by founding Max is unique. The which is Kingda Ka, at New While the Lewisons love Daily Harvest, a Ecoaster lifts riders 114 feet Jersey’s Six Flags Great the cultural exchanges of superfood company. into the air before bringing Adventure; the longest, foreign parks, he says that The New York City–based them to a lurching stop at which is Steel Dragon 2000, their most unusual ride startup offers frozen smooth- what looks like the end of in Japan; and the weirdest, was on a farm in Indiana, ies, meal bowls, snacks, and the track. For a few tense which is without a doubt where the owner had built a desserts made from plant-based seconds, riders have a bird’s- the Hundeprutterutchebane twenty-foot-high corkscrew ingredients and curated by chefs eye view of the whole park. (the word means “dog-fart coaster on top of an A-frame and nutritionists who look to Then the world drops away roller coaster”) in Denmark, shed behind his house. The food trends for recipe inspiration. — the track is falling! which entertains riders with car had only one seat, and it All items are sold through a sub- Actually, it’s just swinging. the sounds of fl atulence. came with instructions: lean scription delivery service at seven The section of track — with Lewison has even built his to the right at the start, lean to eight dollars each, and most the train still on it — pivots career around roller coasters. to the left at the loop. can be prepared quickly with a from horizontal to vertical, As an assistant professor of “Most people don’t get blender, stove, or microwave, leaving riders facing the business management at to add that one to their list,” with the sole addition of water, ground. They contemplate Farmingdale State College he says. milk, or another liquid base. this new perspective for a in New York, he researches Ask Lewison why the With Daily Harvest, Drori few moments until — click and teaches the business of couple devotes so much time wants to rebrand frozen food as — the cars are released and amusement parks. to roller coasters and he’ll more than just fast and easy. She they plummet downward Lewison enjoyed theme talk about the thrill of defy- says that items in grocery-store at fi fty-six miles per hour, parks as a kid growing up in ing gravity, the intellectual freezer aisles have changed tearing into a series of New Jersey, but by the time he stimulation of learning the little since the 1950s — the era LEWISON’S FAVORITE loops and tunnels. entered Columbia in 1984, his technology behind them, the of Betty Crocker and TV dinners AMERICAN RIDES Martin Lewison interests lay elsewhere — his variations in style, size, color, — and that the category is ripe ’88CC travels the world economics classes, and the fra- layout, and sensation. He’ll for innovation: “People have tra- The Phoenix for just this sort of ternity Beta Theta Pi. When talk about the idea of “collect- ditionally associated frozen food Knoebels Amusement Resort Elysburg, Pennsylvania terrifying experience. he was working on a doctorate ing” rides, of having a reason with things like a bag of chicken nuggets. Nobody has thought Nitro, El Toro, Kingda Ka He has ridden 1,665 at the University of Pittsburgh to travel the world. Six Flags Great Adventure coasters, including the in the mid-1990s, a friend “But mostly, not much has much about what it could be.” Jackson Township, New Jersey Gravity Max, mostly introduced him to the won- changed since I was a ten- Drori hopes that people will

Phantom’s Revenge with his wife Cheryl. ders of Kennywood, a local year-old kid on the board- MARTIN LEWISON begin to associate frozen food Kennywood The Lewisons have vis- century-old amusement park walk,” he says. “I like roller with healthy eating, and says West Mifﬂ in, Pennsylvania ited coasters in thirty- with several classic wooden coasters because they’re fun.” that the frozen ingredients in her

two countries. They’ve coasters. He met Cheryl in — Alan Wechsler GIVENS JONATHAN BOTTOM: HARVEST; OF DAILY COURTESY TOP: harvest bowls and chia parfaits

48 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

1.18_Network_FINAL.indd 48 4/11/18 3:22 PM Rachel Drori STARTUP SPOTLIGHT with one of her frozen Frozen Assets smoothies.

achel Drori ’09BUS are more nutritious than fresh has never had much produce because they’re picked time for home cooking. at peak ripeness. “For example,” As a busy marketing she says, “frozen blueberries are professional turned actually healthier than the fresh RCEO, she’s always appreciated ones at Whole Foods, which are raised forty-three million dollars meal kit, but it’s also a lot of the convenience of frozen food. harvested while still green and in Series B financing. work,” says Drori. “Then there are But finding healthy degrade significantly in For promotion, Daily Harvest subscription meals that require options in a freezer nutrient content during plays into the aesthetic of “food less prep time, but they’re full of aisle stocked with their long journey to an porn” by posting gorgeous additives and preservatives.” microwavable meals end user.” images of their offerings on “Everything we do is meant isn’t always easy. So in Drori’s message is Instagram. “People eat with for busy people who don’t have 2015, Drori decided clearly resonating. their eyes first,” Drori says. She time to cook or do research, 2007, and she encouraged his to remedy that prob- Over the last three adds that the company also and who want someone they burgeoning hobby. lem by founding years, Daily Harvest sets itself apart from other food trust to tell them what to eat,” While the Lewisons love Daily Harvest, a has added over one startups by reaching custom- Drori continues. “Convenience the cultural exchanges of superfood company. hundred thousand ers who, so to speak, have too without compromising nutrition foreign parks, he says that The New York City–based subscribers and has much on their plates. is where Daily Harvest really their most unusual ride startup offers frozen smooth- attracted celebrity investors like “It can be a romantic idea stands out.” was on a farm in Indiana, ies, meal bowls, snacks, and Gwyneth Paltrow and Serena to make things with a delivery — Julia Joy where the owner had built a desserts made from plant-based Williams. Last year, the company twenty-foot-high corkscrew ingredients and curated by chefs coaster on top of an A-frame and nutritionists who look to shed behind his house. The food trends for recipe inspiration. car had only one seat, and it All items are sold through a sub- came with instructions: lean scription delivery service at seven to the right at the start, lean to eight dollars each, and most to the left at the loop. can be prepared quickly with a “Most people don’t get blender, stove, or microwave, to add that one to their list,” with the sole addition of water, he says. milk, or another liquid base. Ask Lewison why the With Daily Harvest, Drori couple devotes so much time wants to rebrand frozen food as to roller coasters and he’ll more than just fast and easy. She talk about the thrill of defy- says that items in grocery-store ing gravity, the intellectual freezer aisles have changed stimulation of learning the little since the 1950s — the era technology behind them, the of Betty Crocker and TV dinners variations in style, size, color, — and that the category is ripe layout, and sensation. He’ll for innovation: “People have tra- talk about the idea of “collect- ditionally associated frozen food ing” rides, of having a reason with things like a bag of chicken EN POINTE May Kesler ’82PS, who laced up her first pair of to travel the world. nuggets. Nobody has thought ballet slippers at age two, has been dancing for over sixty years. “But mostly, not much has much about what it could be.” Now she appears in several professional productions a year and changed since I was a ten- Drori hopes that people will regularly incorporates dance into her physical-therapy practice near year-old kid on the board- MARTIN LEWISON begin to associate frozen food Washington, DC. Kesler was selected to represent the capital city in walk,” he says. “I like roller with healthy eating, and says photographer Jonathan Givens’s new book, Dance Across the USA, coasters because they’re fun.” that the frozen ingredients in her which showcases dancers in front of iconic American landmarks. — Alan Wechsler GIVENS JONATHAN BOTTOM: HARVEST; OF DAILY COURTESY TOP: harvest bowls and chia parfaits

COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 49

1.18_Network_FINAL.indd 49 4/11/18 3:22 PM NETWORK Stephens spends his sum- Trail Head mers leading teams of volun- ASK AN ALUM ON THE RECORD teers who build the trails, and Francesco Spampinato ’06GSAS is a historian in the fall he scouts routes for of contemporary art and an enthusiast of vinyl he term trailblazer the following year — usually records. His 2017 book Art Record Covers explores is tossed around hiking around fifteen miles a the connections between fine art and mass media frequently. But day. In the winter, he’s more for Paul Stephens often in his oce, fundraising through a survey of over five hundred album covers. ’09JRN, the and planning for the next sea- Paul Stephens COLUMBIA MAGAZINE: How does this book relate to Tdescription isn’t just lauda- clearing a son. He expects the trail will your studies? tory: it’s literal. trail in the be completed by 2024. Caucasus FRANCESCO SPAMPINATO: I’m interested in For the past three sum- “The same things that Mountains. understanding what happens when art and pop culture mers, Stephens, thirty-six, has drove me to be involved in converge. My book, which is the first to focus specifically been bushwhacking through journalism are driving me in on covers by modern and contemporary artists, examines forests, climbing mountains, exploring the Caucasus as nications gig with USAID, this project: curiosity about the evolution of the record cover format in relation to ar- and navigating glaciers as a Peace Corps volunteer in the United States Agency for other people, commitment to tistic movements and styles. he attempts to build the first Georgia between 2005 and International Development. thinking about larger issues in long-distance hiking trail 2007. He returned to the “I was visiting these dif- a region, and belief in creative CM: Talk about the relation- through the Caucasus Moun- US to study journalism at ferent mountainous regions, solutions,” Stephens says. ship between pop culture tains, which divide a portion Columbia, then spent a few and I started thinking that it While working on the trail and art. of Asia and Europe. years in Yemen, writing about would be amazing if they were recently, Stephens found FS: In the 1960s, the pop-art An avid outdoorsman who international aairs. In 2011, connected,” Stephens says. himself in a village that had movement collapsed hierar- grew up in a small town in he moved back to Georgia, This idea led Stephens to been continuously inhabited chies between highbrow and Indiana, Stephens first started where he landed a commu- found the Transcaucasian for thousands of years, before lowbrow — between paintings Trail initiative, which he now harsh winters and a lack of and comic books, for example directs. His goal is to develop economic opportunity drove — and, in many ways, art and a three-thousand-kilometer- most families away. Over a pop culture have been con- long route, which will link meal, one of the villagers told nected ever since. Musicians were inspired by visual artists more than twenty existing Stephens and his crew of to develop a new form of, let’s say, avant-garde for the JOURNEYS & SAFARIS and proposed national parks volunteers that he hoped the masses. Pop music was no longer just entertainment; it across three countries. Such hikers coming through the became a way to convey political messages and to reshape a trail would not only create village might give his grand- society. And musicians started to collaborate with pop opportunities for pleasure kids a reason to move back. artists, like Andy Warhol, Peter Blake, and Jann Haworth. but bring in much-needed For Stephens, it was a con- tourist money, says Stephens: crete armation of the trail’s CM: Most people stream and download their music. Why “Attracting world-class recre- mission — to ensure that the are physical records still relevant? ational hiking to the region natural and cultural heritage FS: I think we somehow need to have a tangible expe- could dramatically increase of the region will be enjoyed rience with music. The mid-2010s saw a huge revival of economic opportunities for by future generations. vinyl records; US sales have grown every year for twelve the local people.” “I hope that it helps people years straight. For me, this comeback is about more than The Caucasus — which appreciate the incredible just nostalgia. The Internet has caused us to lose some of spans Georgia, Armenia, and diversity of the region, and our previous ways of interacting with reality, and a record Azerbaijan, and parts of Rus- that it gives them pride in is a touchable and relatable thing. sia, Iran, and Turkey — is one their culture and history. of the most diverse regions And I hope that, as we work CM: What makes a great album cover? in the world. Its Christian to literally connect commu- FS: It should make you stop and think critically about AFRICA • ASIA • SOUTH AMERICA • AUSTRALIA • EUROPE and Muslim communi- nities, people will begin to what you’re looking at. A great cover by an artist isn’t a ties speak more than forty understand each other better.” Inspirational Custom Vacations mere transposition of his or her work but an image that indigenous languages, and its Stephens says. “We’re hikers, adapts to the rules of media and marketing, and that also terrain ranges from glaciers but we’re not just focused on

+1 855 468 5555 FABIAN WEISS echoes the music. It maintains the intellectual dimension and sixteen-thousand-foot the pretty landscape. There’s of the artist’s oeuvre but in a dierent context. redsavannah.com mountains to grasslands and so much more to this project.” — Julia Joy

subtropical rainforests. — Kelley Freund OF TASCHEN COURTESY ALBUM COVERS CONTRASTO; LOMBEZZI, MARTINO LEFT:

50 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

1.18_Network_FINAL.indd 50 4/11/18 3:22 PM Stephens spends his sum- mers leading teams of volun- ASK AN ALUM ON THE RECORD 5 important album covers worth a second look teers who build the trails, and Francesco Spampinato ’06GSAS is a historian Record: The Velvet Underground in the fall he scouts routes for of contemporary art and an enthusiast of vinyl & Nico (self-titled), 1967 Artist: Andy Warhol the following year — usually records. His 2017 book Art Record Covers explores hiking around fi fteen miles a “This is one of the most iconic covers the connections between fi ne art and mass media of all time. Warhol’s artwork suggests day. In the winter, he’s more that even bananas can be repurposed often in his o ce, fundraising through a survey of over fi ve hundred album covers. as mass media — the image on the and planning for the next sea- cover is a sticker that, once removed, COLUMBIA MAGAZINE: How does this book relate to reveals a peeled banana underneath. son. He expects the trail will your studies? As the band’s manager, Warhol also be completed by 2024. proposed a new role for the artist as a FRANCESCO SPAMPINATO: I’m interested in “The same things that producer of mainstream culture.” understanding what happens when art and pop culture drove me to be involved in converge. My book, which is the fi rst to focus specifi cally Record: Nervous Breakdown journalism are driving me in on covers by modern and contemporary artists, examines (Black Flag), 1980 this project: curiosity about Artist: Raymond Pettibon the evolution of the record cover format in relation to ar- other people, commitment to “Pettibon is an artist who really tistic movements and styles. understands the relationship thinking about larger issues in between art and music. His cover a region, and belief in creative for Black Flag’s fi rst EP refl ects the CM: Talk about the relation- solutions,” Stephens says. energy of punk and the compelling ship between pop culture need of young people to rebel against While working on the trail and art. the society of adults.” recently, Stephens found FS: In the 1960s, the pop-art himself in a village that had movement collapsed hierar- been continuously inhabited chies between highbrow and for thousands of years, before Record: Artpop (Lady Gaga), 2013 lowbrow — between paintings Artist: Jeff Koons harsh winters and a lack of and comic books, for example “In the late 1980s and early economic opportunity drove 1990s, Koons did a series of erotic — and, in many ways, art and most families away. Over a photos and sculptures of himself pop culture have been con- with his then wi fe, the porn star meal, one of the villagers told nected ever since. Musicians were inspired by visual artists Cicciolina. Gaga approached him Stephens and his crew of to create something similar. She to develop a new form of, let’s say, avant-garde for the volunteers that he hoped the even references Koons in her song masses. Pop music was no longer just entertainment; it ‘Applause’ with the lyric, ‘One second hikers coming through the became a way to convey political messages and to reshape I’m a Koons, then suddenly the village might give his grand- Koons is me.’” society. And musicians started to collaborate with pop kids a reason to move back. artists, like Andy Warhol, Peter Blake, and Jann Haworth. For Stephens, it was a con- Record: Windowlicker (Aphex Twin), 1999 crete a rmation of the trail’s CM: Most people stream and download their music. Why Artist: Chris Cunningham mission — to ensure that the “The cover of this single is derived are physical records still relevant? natural and cultural heritage from Cunningham’s music videos for FS: I think we somehow need to have a tangible expe- Aphex Twin. I remember the joy of of the region will be enjoyed rience with music. The mid-2010s saw a huge revival of watching his work on MTV and then by future generations. seeing it at major art shows. It was vinyl records; US sales have grown every year for twelve “I hope that it helps people proof for me that art can originate in years straight. For me, this comeback is about more than pop culture and then be appreciated appreciate the incredible just nostalgia. The Internet has caused us to lose some of and acknowledged by the art world.” diversity of the region, and our previous ways of interacting with reality, and a record that it gives them pride in is a touchable and relatable thing. their culture and history. Record: Beat Bop And I hope that, as we work (Rammellzee vs. K-Rob), 1983 CM: What makes a great album cover? Artist: Jean-Michel Basquiat to literally connect commu- FS: It should make you stop and think critically about “This is a fundamental record. First, nities, people will begin to because this ten-minute rap battle is what you’re looking at. A great cover by an artist isn’t a understand each other better.” a hip-hop milestone. Second, because mere transposition of his or her work but an image that Basquiat made the cover in his Stephens says. “We’re hikers, adapts to the rules of media and marketing, and that also neo-expressionist style borrowed but we’re not just focused on from infographics and cartoons. Third,

FABIAN WEISS echoes the music. It maintains the intellectual dimension the pretty landscape. There’s because grafﬁ ti artist Rammellzee of the artist’s oeuvre but in a di erent context. raps on it. Last but not least, because so much more to this project.” — Julia Joy Basquiat produced it himself.”

— Kelley Freund OF TASCHEN COURTESY ALBUM COVERS CONTRASTO; LOMBEZZI, MARTINO LEFT:

COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 51

1.18_Network_FINAL.indd 51 4/11/18 3:22 PM NETWORK NEWSMAKERS My hope is to help ● Four Columbia alumni worked on a winner Show People of the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film expand access to the Since Richard Rodgers ’23CC, Festival this year. Casting director Jessica Daniels ’54HON fi rst teamed up with Oscar Schwarz ’07SOA, production designer Markus study of journalism Hammerstein II ’16CC, ’54HON, hun- Kirschner ’09SOA, post supervisor Andrew dreds of Columbians have performed, Hauser ’12SOA, and co-producer Rob Cristiano to those who couldn’t written, directed, produced, composed, ’13SOA were all honored for their contributions and choreographed on the Great White to The Miseducation of Cameron Post. The fi lm, otherwise aord it.” Way. Here are seven alumni-affi liated starring Chloë Grace Moretz, is set in a gay shows in Broadway theaters right now. conversion-therapy center in the early 1990s. ● Huck Hodge ’08GSAS won the Charles Ives —DOROTHY BUTLER GILLIAM ’61JRN, Anastasia twice as Living Award, which grants $200,000 over a two- 1754 SOCIETY MEMBER Book written by Terrence McNally many musical year period to a promising American composer. ’60CC, directed by Darko numbers as Hodge’s work, which is inspired by light patterns Tresnjak ’98SOA Lee’s animated in nature, has been performed at Carnegie Hall, Based on the animated fi lm of fi lm version. Lincoln Center, and many festivals. He teaches PLAN NOW TO MAKE the same name, McNally and composition at the University of Washington. Tresnjak’s musical tells the story Chicago ● Wei Zhang ’09GSAS and Andrea Young ’06CC, of a young amnesiac orphan Written by John ’12GSAS are recipients of 2018 Breakthrough who turns out to be the Grand Kander ’54GSAS and Prizes, a group of awards commonly known as Duchess Anastasia of Russia. Fred Ebb ’57GSAS the Oscars of science, which are funded by Mark MORE The current production Zuckerberg’s Silicon Valley Community Founda- Angels in America: A Gay of Kander and Ebb’s clas- tion. Zhang, a mathematics professor at MIT, and POSSIBLE Fantasia on National Themes sic show opened in 1996, Young, a physicist at the University of California, Written by Tony Kushner making it the longest- Santa Barbara, each won in the New Horizons ’78CC, ’10HON running musical revival in category, which recognizes extraordinary contri- This Tony Award–winning epic Broadway history. butions by junior researchers. about the AIDS epidemic landed ● Life and Nothing More, a feature fi lm written Kushner a Pulitzer Prize for SpongeBob and directed by Antonio Méndez Esparza ’08SOA, Advancing the cause of her life drama in 1993. Now the two-part SquarePants: The won the John Cassavetes Award at the 2018 play is back on Broadway in a Broadway Musical Film Independent Spirit Awards. The Cassavetes production starring Nathan Lane Music supervision by award is given annually to the best feature made and Andrew Garfi eld. Tom Kitt ’96CC for under $500,000. Life and Nothing More The first African American female reporter to be hired by The Washington Post, Theatrical magic brings follows a young African-American boy searching Dorothy Butler Gilliam has worked for decades to increase diversity in Carousel the world’s most famous for a connection with his absent father. Music by Richard Rodgers, book sponge to life as he fi ghts ● Radhika Jones ’08GSAS has been named editor the media. Now she is including a gift in her will to fund need-based and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II to save the town of Bikini in chief of Vanity Fair magazine. Jones, who has Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Bottom, accompanied a PhD in comparative literature from Colum- scholarships at Columbia Journalism School. musical about a carnival barker in by an impressive array of bia, was previously the managing editor of the dire straits is widely considered one songs by David Bowie, Paris Review and editorial director of the books of the best shows of the twentieth John Legend, Cyndi department at the New York Times. century. This spectacular revival Lauper, They Might Be ● Junk, a play by Ayad Akhtar ’02SOA, won this What will your gifts make possible? Contact us at 800-338-3294 or features choreography by former Giants, and others. year’s Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Columbia student Justin Peck. Inspired by American History. The play, which [email protected] to learn more about giving through your will Waitress ran on Broadway from October 2017 through Frozen Directed by Diane January 2018, explores how the reckless sales of and other creative ways to support Columbia students. TETRA IMAGES / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO Book by Jennifer Lee ’05SOA Paulus ’97SOA junk bonds in the 1980s transformed our econ- This musical fairy tale is the latest Tony Award winner omy. Akhtar won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for his Disney phenomenon to make Paulus directs this feel- last play, Disgraced. the leap from screen to stage. good musical about a — Carolina Castro The show follows a princess as pregnant waitress who she searches for her sister in a pins her hopes and dreams Find and connect with all your classmates at winter wonderland, and features on a pie-baking contest. alumni.columbia.edu giving.columbia.edu/PlanNow2018

52 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 800-338-3294 • [email protected]

1.18_Network_FINAL.indd 52 4/11/18 3:23 PM 4/11/18 3:23 PM

or or 800-338-3294 PLAN NOW TO MAKE PLAN NOW POSSIBLE MORE giving.columbia.edu/PlanNow2018 —DOROTHY BUTLER GILLIAM ’61JRN, —DOROTHY SOCIETY MEMBER 1754 My hope is to help help to is hope My the to access expand of journalism study who couldn’t those to it.” aord otherwise 800-338-3294 • [email protected] 800-338-3294 ““

[email protected] to learn more about giving through your will will your about giving through learn more to [email protected] and other creative ways to support Columbia students. support Columbia to ways and other creative Contact us at us at Contact possible? gifts make will your What scholarships at Columbia Journalism School. Journalism Columbia scholarships at need-based fund need-based a gift in her will to she is including the media. Now Dorothy Butler Gilliam has worked for decades to increase diversity in in diversity increase decades to for Butler Gilliam has worked Dorothy , Post Washington The by be hired to reporter American female African ﬁrst The Advancing the cause of her life the cause of her Advancing

1.18_Network_FINAL.indd 53 TETRA IMAGES / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

Find and connect with with Find and connect at classmates your all alumni.columbia.edu CEO of Merck & Co. ALEX HALLIDAY from 1985 to 1994 and TO LEAD EARTH BULLETIN is currently chairman of INSTITUTE Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. The remainder of the UNIVERSITY Vageloses’ $250 million gift lexander N. Halliday, NEWS AND will support Columbia’s A a British geochemist VIEWS precision-medicine pro- known for his pioneering grams, basic medical research on the origins of our research, and the creation of solar system, joined Colum- an endowed professorship bia this spring as director of named for the Vageloses’ its Earth Institute. longtime physician and The current vice president friend Thomas P. Jacobs, of the UK Royal Society, who is a professor of clinical Halliday taught at Oxford medicine at the College of University before coming Physicians and Surgeons. to Columbia and oversaw The Vageloses, who met at Oxford’s science and engi- Columbia in the 1950s, are neering division from Diana and among the University’s most 2007 to 2015. P. Roy generous and active alumni. Vagelos Roy chairs the Columbia University Irving Medical VAGELOS GIFT WILL ELIMINATE DEBT FOR Center’s Board of Advisors COLUMBIA MEDICAL STUDENTS and co-chairs the Univer- sity fundraising campaign; Diana is the vice chair of the . Roy Vagelos ’54PS and any grants or scholarships Barnard Board of Trustees. PDiana Vagelos ’55BC they may receive. But within The couple has been giving recently gave $250 million to the next five years or so, the back to Columbia scholar- the College of Physicians and new endowment is expected ship funds for more than Surgeons, with a major por- to generate enough income five decades. tion of the gift, $150 million, to replace all their loans In honor of the Vageloses’ funding an endowment with grants. lifetime of giving to the med- that will help Columbia P. Roy Vagelos, a physician, ical school — their total gifts eliminate loans for medical scientist, and pharmaceu- now exceed $310 million As the head of the Earth students who qualify for tical executive who himself — the University recently Institute, Halliday will lead “Generations of financial aid. attended Columbia on a renamed the school the Roy one of the world’s largest net- students and “Roy and Diana Vagelos scholarship, says that his and Diana Vagelos College of works of researchers devoted patients will truly understand that having a family’s gift is intended to Physicians and Surgeons. to addressing problems scholarship fund of this mag- ensure that future graduates “There are no more fitting rooted in man’s relationship benefit from the nitude puts medical school of the medical school can names to have a£liated to the natural environment. generosity of within reach of the most tal- aord to pursue careers in with our medical school It comprises thirty Columbia their spirit and ented students, regardless of areas like family medicine, than those of Roy and Diana centers and more than five their ability to pay,” says Lee pediatrics, and research, Vagelos, who have made such hundred full-time researchers the sweep of Goldman, head of Columbia’s rather than being driven into tremendous contributions to in disciplines as diverse as their vision.” medical campus. more lucrative specialties for science, medicine, and edu- earth science, climatology, Currently, about half of all the sole purpose of paying o cation,” says President Lee C. global health, agriculture, Columbia medical students student debt. Bollinger. “Generations of urban planning, economics, qualify for financial aid; “We want P&S graduates students and patients will law, and engineering. BRIAN HATTON many of them take out thirty to be able to do what they benefit from the generosity In his own research, thousand dollars or more really love to do,” says of their spirit and the sweep Halliday develops analytic

per year in loans on top of Vagelos, who served as the of their vision.” / MIKE MCLAUGHLIN ATHLETICS CU RIGHT: UNIVERSITY; OXFORD DIVISION, AND LIFE SCIENCES PHYSICAL, MATHEMATICAL, LEFT: techniques for determining

54 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

1.18_Bulletin_FINAL_0409.indd 54 4/9/18 4:14 PM CEO of Merck & Co. ALEX HALLIDAY from 1985 to 1994 and TO LEAD EARTH is currently chairman of INSTITUTE Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. The remainder of the Vageloses’ $250 million gift lexander N. Halliday, will support Columbia’s A a British geochemist precision-medicine pro- known for his pioneering grams, basic medical research on the origins of our research, and the creation of solar system, joined Colum- an endowed professorship bia this spring as director of Members named for the Vageloses’ its Earth Institute. of the women’s longtime physician and The current vice president fencing friend Thomas P. Jacobs, of the UK Royal Society, team who is a professor of clinical Halliday taught at Oxford celebrate their Ivy medicine at the College of University before coming title. Physicians and Surgeons. to Columbia and oversaw The Vageloses, who met at Oxford’s science and engi- Columbia in the 1950s, are neering division from FENCING, SQUASH TEAMS WIN IVY LEAGUE TITLES among the University’s most 2007 to 2015. generous and active alumni. Roy chairs the Columbia he Lions women’s and men’s fencing teams both topped the Ivies this year, with University Irving Medical Tthe women winning the league title outright and the men sharing the trophy with Center’s Board of Advisors Harvard and Penn. At the Ivy League championship tournament in February, the and co-chairs the Univer- Lions women swept the competition, winning all six of their matches on the strength sity fundraising campaign; of dominant performances by freshman Sylvie Binder, junior Iman Blow, and soph- Diana is the vice chair of the omore Violet Michel. By winning thirteen of her fourteen bouts in the foil division, Barnard Board of Trustees. Binder came home with the 2018 women’s foil Ivy League individual championship. The couple has been giving Blow went on to capture the NCAA women’s title in foil the next month. back to Columbia scholar- The men’s fencing team pulled through dramatically in the final match of the Ivy ship funds for more than League tournament, beating the formerly undefeated Penn squad to clinch a share of five decades. the title. They were led by freshman Sidarth Kumbla and sophomore Nolen Scruggs, In honor of the Vageloses’ both of whom were named first team All-Ivy. lifetime of giving to the med- The Columbia men’s squash team also had a stellar year, winning its first Ivy League ical school — their total gifts title and finishing the season ranked third nationally — its best finish ever. Led by Alexander now exceed $310 million As the head of the Earth Halliday senior Osama Khalifa, the Ivy League player of the year for the third consecutive — the University recently Institute, Halliday will lead season, and freshman Velavan Senthilkumar, who, along with Khalifa, made the renamed the school the Roy one of the world’s largest net- All-American first team, the Lions went 16–2 overall and 8–1 in league play. and Diana Vagelos College of works of researchers devoted Physicians and Surgeons. to addressing problems “There are no more fitting rooted in man’s relationship names to have a¢liated to the natural environment. the age and celestial origins climate scientists under- fields, but among everyone with our medical school It comprises thirty Columbia of chemical elements found stand the e¦ects of increased in our society,” says Hall- than those of Roy and Diana centers and more than five deep within the earth, in carbon emissions; Halliday iday, who received one of Vagelos, who have made such hundred full-time researchers meteorites, and on the says that his commitment to the American Geophysical tremendous contributions to in disciplines as diverse as surfaces of other planets. climate-change response is Union’s highest honors, science, medicine, and edu- earth science, climatology, His work has reshaped part of what drew him to the the Harry H. Hess Medal, cation,” says President Lee C. global health, agriculture, scientists’ understanding Earth Institute. in 2016. “I could not be Bollinger. “Generations of urban planning, economics, of how our solar system “It is a critical time for us more enthusiastic about the students and patients will law, and engineering. formed and evolved, as well to expand the conversation opportunity to engage fac- BRIAN HATTON benefit from the generosity In his own research, as the natural processes that about climate change and ulty, students, policymakers, of their spirit and the sweep Halliday develops analytic influence climate on earth. sustainability — not only and citizens in this work

of their vision.” / MIKE MCLAUGHLIN ATHLETICS CU RIGHT: UNIVERSITY; OXFORD DIVISION, AND LIFE SCIENCES PHYSICAL, MATHEMATICAL, LEFT: techniques for determining In recent years, it has helped among researchers in many at Columbia.”

COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 55

1.18_Bulletin_FINAL_0409.indd 55 4/9/18 4:15 PM BULLETIN LISA ROSEN METSCH NAMED DEAN OF GENERAL STUDIES COLUMBIA TO HOST OBAMA FOUNDATION SCHOLARS isa Rosen-Metsch ’90GS, an internationally recognized AIDS researcher who L most recently chaired the Mailman School of Public Health’s Department of Sociomedical Sciences, has been named dean of the School of General Studies. olumbia University She succeeds Peter Awn, who led the School of General Studies for more than Cannounced this spring twenty years and continues to teach in the religion department. that it has partnered with the A Brooklyn native raised by two New York City public-school teachers, Rosen- Obama Foundation, created Metsch is an expert in the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS by former president Barack among populations with substance-abuse disorders. Before Obama ’83CC and former HIGH SCHOOL joining the Mailman School of Public Health in 2012, she was a ﬁ rst lady Michelle Obama, professor at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine. to host an annual cohort of UNDERGRADUATES & GRADUATE STUDENTS Rosen-Metsch is herself an alumna of the School of General Obama Foundation Scholars. PROFESSIONALS Studies, which is the University’s liberal-arts school for “These will be rising leaders nontraditional undergrad uates — those who have taken an from around the world, for Explore more than 50 areas of study. academic break before attending college or who are pursuing whom we will design a special dual degrees. In 1990, Rosen-Metsch earned dual bachelor’s yearlong resident program of degrees through a joint program between Columbia and the Session 1: May 21–June 29 | Session 2: July 2–August 10 Lisa Rosen-Metsch education and training, on full Jewish Theological Seminary. scholarship, after which the Rosen-Metsch says that her interest in AIDS prevention arose from her expe- scholars will return home and rience at the School of General Studies, where she interned alongside Columbia continue their work,” wrote spscolumbiaedusummer AIDS researchers. “My years as a General Studies student were transformative President Lee C. Bollinger and extraordinary,” she said. “The potential to help navigate Columbia’s future by in an e-mail announcing the returning to the school that gave me so much is humbling, exciting, and inspiring.” program on March 23. About a dozen Obama Foundation Scholars will arrive this fall; in subsequent IRVING FAMILY GIVES $700 MILLION FOR CANCER years, the University will host SUMMER PROGRAMS FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS RESEARCH AND CARE a larger number of scholars selected through an open DESIGNED FOR OUTSTANDING STUDENTS GRADES 9–12 AND GRADUATES olumbia University profound impact on cancer application process. C and NewYork- research and clinical The residency program is Presbyterian Hospital care. The new funds will part of the Columbia World recently announced support the recruitment Projects (CWP) initiative, that Florence Irving of top cancer scientists which Bollinger established and her late husband, and clinical specialists, last year to support academic Herbert Irving, have Herbert and as well as the expansion endeavors that address press- given $700 million to Florence of CUIMC’s Herbert ing global problems. Irving advance cancer research and Irving Comprehensive “The Obama Foundation clinical care. Cancer Center, where more than Scholars program will be one The bequest, which includes $600 four thousand new patients are treated aspect of what we hope is million in new funds along with pre- each year. a vibrant intellectual life at viously announced pledges, brings the Florence Irving says that she and CWP, with classes, fellow- Irvings’ total donations to Columbia Herbert, who died in 2016 after a long ships, conferences, and pub- SUMMER IMMERSION PROGRAMS COLLEGE EDGE TOP: SARA FOX; BOTTOM: CHARLES MANLEY and NewYork-Presbyterian to more and successful career at the helm of lications,” Bollinger wrote. Study at our NYC campus or abroad in one of our pre-college Earn college credit while attending Columbia University classes than $900 million over the past three the food-distribution company Sysco, “Our special area of interest summer programs. with undergraduates during the summer or academic year. decades. (The medical campus shared always took great pride in their associa- is studying the ways in which by the two institutions in Upper Man- tion with CUIMC. academic research is suc- New York Barcelona Summer–Fall | Fall–Spring hattan was renamed the Columbia Uni- “It meant everything to him to be cessfully (or unsuccessfully) Session 1: June 25–July 13 July 1–July 21 versity Irving Medical Center in 2016.) able to support world-class research implemented, so that people Session 2: July 17–August 3 The Irvings’ gift is the largest ever and caregiving that makes a di erence outside universities can bene- Session 3: August 6–10 to CUIMC; it is expected to have a in people’s lives,” she says. ﬁ t from this knowledge.”

56 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 spscolumbiaeduhs

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HIGH SCHOOL HIGH SCHOOL PROFESSIONALS spscolumbiaeduhs Explore more than 50 areas of study. than 50 areas more Explore spscolumbiaedusummer COLLEGE EDGE EDGE COLLEGE classes University Columbia while attending credit Earn college during the summer or academic year. with undergraduates | Fall–Spring Summer–Fall UNDERGRADUATES & GRADUATE STUDENTS & GRADUATE UNDERGRADUATES : July 2–August 10 2: July 2–August 29 | Session 21–June 1: May Session Barcelona 21 July 1–July

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TOP: SARA FOX; BOTTOM: CHARLES MANLEY olumbia University olumbia University announced this spring About a dozen Obama The residency is program “The Obama Foundation “These will be rising leaders from around the world, forfrom around the world, whom we will design a special ofyearlong resident program on full and training, education scholarship, after which the scholars will return home and wrote continue their work,” LeePresident C. Bollinger in an e-mail announcing the 23. on March program Scholars will Foundation arrive this fall; in subsequent will host years, the University number of scholarsa larger selected through an open process. application part of the Columbia World Projects (CWP) initiative, establishedwhich Bollinger last year to support academic address press- that endeavors ing global problems. be one will Scholars program aspect we hope is of what intellectuala vibrant life at with classes, fellow- CWP, ships, conferences, and pub- wrote. Bollinger lications,” “Our special area of interest in whichis studying the ways academic research is suc- cessfully (or unsuccessfully) peopleimplemented, so that outside universities can bene- t from this knowledge.” ﬁ that it has partneredthat with the created Obama Foundation, Barackby former president Obama ’83CC and former Obama,rst Michelle lady ﬁ to host an annual cohort of Scholars. Obama Foundation COLUMBIA TO HOST FOUNDATION OBAMA SCHOLARS C Speak No Evil BOOKS By Uzodinma Iweala ’11PS (HarperCollins)

hirteen years ago, Uzodinma Iweala yells, as he twists Niru’s ear and slams his ’11PS burst onto the literary scene head into the kitchen table. with Beasts of No Nation, a daring, The reaction is shocking, but also compli- gut-twisting novel about a child cated. Niru’s father has been responsible for soldier in an unnamed African teaching his son how to be safe in a country Tcountry. Written in pidgin English, the book that fears him. He’s long told Niru that “the felt so authentic that many wondered if safest place for a man to be, especially in Iweala was writing from his own experience. America, is inside his own house.” It’s no In fact, Iweala is the son of a prominent longer clear to Niru if that’s true. But Niru Nigerian doctor and was raised in a tony sub- doesn’t feel at home anywhere else, either urb of Washington, DC. The novel emerged — in Meredith’s liberal, accepting house, he not from some unspeakable childhood trauma chokes down turkey sandwiches and longs but from Iweala’s senior thesis at Harvard. for his mother’s spicy chicken-pepper soup. Iweala’s new novel, Speak No Evil, seems Later, in bed with a man for the fi rst time, to hew closer to the contours of his own life. Niru’s knees buckle and he bolts, running It follows a high-achieving Nigerian- back to his family’s kitchen table. American teenager at a Washington Perhaps the most illuminating passages prep school through the di cult come when Niru’s father squirrels him away process of coming out to conservative to Nigeria for a horrifying dose of “spiritual immigrant parents. Though the novel counseling and deliverance.” It’s not Niru’s lacks the freewheeling confi dence fi rst trip to the motherland, but now he must ‘‘ and bold experimentation of Iweala’s reckon with the forces that have shaped his debut, Speak No Evil showcases the father — a “true village boy,” who returns author’s adeptness at weaving vivid, home burdened with the pressure of proving emotional stories about coming of that his life in America has been a success age in a world often unsafe for young (a gay son, clearly, is not part of the plan). Black men. Niru’s vaunted brother, a medical student, When we fi rst meet Niru, the book’s amusingly diagnoses the phenomenon as narrator, he is living “an uncom- Nigeriatoma: “an acute swelling of ego and plicated life with my Harvard early pride that a ects diaspora Nigerian men.” admission and two proud parents.” The book ends with a twist, narrated not by But when his friend Meredith comes Niru but by Meredith, a strange choice — in on to him, Niru shuts down — in her voice, naturally, the story becomes about some ways, this is the culmination of a her. “I am always someone’s accessory, some- Autumn in Venice lifetime of unwanted touch: “The white kids one’s afterthought, the supporting actress By Andrea di Robilant ’79CC, ’80SIPA (Knopf) used to touch me all the time when I was in another person’s drama,” she says. In this younger, like they owned me.” Meredith’s case, that’s exactly what she is. The drama touch is di erent: Niru wants to want it. But is Niru’s, and the last chapter a sobering fi nally he admits that, despite every e ort, he reminder that for someone like him, tragedy doesn’t: “Meredith, I think — I’m gay.” might be lurking anywhere. Meredith is sympathetic to a fault. Trying Speak No Evil has been anticipated for over to give him a helpful push, she downloads the a decade — in between novels, Iweala worked dating app Grindr onto Niru’s phone. When for an NGO in Nigeria and earned a medical Niru’s father fi nds it — and the notifi cations degree at Columbia. But though the demons in populating the home screen from men who his new novel are subtler than the gun-wielding want to date his son — the confrontation is warmongers of Beasts of No Nation, they are swift and violent. “You want to go and do gay there nonetheless, and equally harrowing. marriage, is that what you want?” his father — Rebecca Shapiro

58 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

1.18_Books_FINAL.indd 58 4/9/18 1:17 PM between Hemingway Speak No Evil EXCERPT and his fourth wife, Mary Welsh Hemingway. By Uzodinma Iweala ’11PS (HarperCollins) The Rise and Fall of the Drawing heavily on personal letters and journals, yells, as he twists Niru’s ear and slams his Dinosaurs di Robilant ’79CC, ’80SIPA, head into the kitchen table. By Steve Brusatte ’13GSAS A rising star in paleontology, Brusatte has whose great-uncle was part of

The reaction is shocking, but also compli- discovered ten new species of dinosaurs and led several expeditions. Hemingway’s social circle in cated. Niru’s father has been responsible for His fi rst book is a narrative history of dinosaurs — from the earliest Venice, details every corner teaching his son how to be safe in a country vertebrates to the giant asteroid that took out Tyrannosaurus rex. of the Hemingways’ painful that fears him. He’s long told Niru that “the [CAT] scans tell us quite a bit about our patient. First off, Rex had a distinctive fi fteen-year union. Mary’s safest place for a man to be, especially in miseries are at times almost America, is inside his own house.” It’s no brain. It didn’t look anything like our brain but was more of a long tube with a slight breathtaking and include a longer clear to Niru if that’s true. But Niru kink at its back, surrounded by an extensive network of sinuses. It’s also a relatively life-threatening miscarriage doesn’t feel at home anywhere else, either and near-fatal car and plane — in Meredith’s liberal, accepting house, he large brain, at least for a dinosaur, which hints that T. rex was fairly intelligent. crashes, as well as her hus- chokes down turkey sandwiches and longs Now, measuring intelligence is riddled with uncertainties, even for humans: just band’s physical and mental- for his mother’s spicy chicken-pepper soup. health crises, infi delity, mega- think of all of the IQ tests, exams, SAT scores, and other things that we use to try Later, in bed with a man for the fi rst time, ‘‘ lomania, epic self-absorption, Niru’s knees buckle and he bolts, running to assess how smart people are. However, there is a straightforward measure that violence, emotional abuse, back to his family’s kitchen table. and, fi nally, abandonment Perhaps the most illuminating passages scientists use to roughly compare the intelligence of different animals. It’s called of her through suicide. And come when Niru’s father squirrels him away the encephalization quotient (EQ). It’s basically a measure of the relative size of nearly all of this behavior is to Nigeria for a horrifying dose of “spiritual accompanied by the con- counseling and deliverance.” It’s not Niru’s the brain compared to the size of the body (because, after all, bigger animals have sumption of truly staggering fi rst trip to the motherland, but now he must ‘‘bigger brains simply because of their body size: elephants have bigger brains than quantities of alcohol. reckon with the forces that have shaped his The couple had been mar- father — a “true village boy,” who returns us but are not more intelligent). The largest tyrannosaurs like T. rex had an EQ in ried for two years when, in home burdened with the pressure of proving the range of 2.0 to 2.4. By comparison, our EQ is about 7.5, dolphins come in around 1948, they traveled to Venice that his life in America has been a success from their home in Cuba. (a gay son, clearly, is not part of the plan). 4.0 to 4.5, chimps at about 2.2 to 2.5, dogs and cats are in the 1.0 to 1.2 range, and Widely regarded as past his Niru’s vaunted brother, a medical student, mice and rats languish around 0.5. Based on these numbers, we can say that Rex prime, Hemingway was suf- amusingly diagnoses the phenomenon as fering from writer’s block and Nigeriatoma: “an acute swelling of ego and was roughly as smart as a chimp and more intelligent than dogs and cats. That’s a hadn’t published a book in pride that a ects diaspora Nigerian men.” whole lot smarter than the dinosaurs of stereotype. nearly a decade. One day, on a The book ends with a twist, narrated not by hunting expedition (the writ- Niru but by Meredith, a strange choice — in er’s notorious love a air with her voice, naturally, the story becomes about guns and killing animals is on her. “I am always someone’s accessory, some- Autumn in Venice gruesome display through- one’s afterthought, the supporting actress out this book), Hemingway By Andrea di Robilant ’79CC, ’80SIPA (Knopf) in another person’s drama,” she says. In this is introduced to Adriana, case, that’s exactly what she is. The drama the teenage daughter of an is Niru’s, and the last chapter a sobering olstoy famously researched account of Ernest aristocratic local family. reminder that for someone like him, tragedy said it about Hemingway’s years-long Described by di Robilant as might be lurking anywhere. families, but obsession with his “last muse,” possessing “jet black hair, Speak No Evil has been anticipated for over the observation Adriana Ivancich, a beautiful beautiful dark eyes, slender a decade — in between novels, Iweala worked applies equally to Italian woman he met when legs, and a svelte, youthful for an NGO in Nigeria and earned a medical Tmarriages: all the happy ones she was eighteen and he a silhouette,” the girl, naive degree at Columbia. But though the demons in are alike, but each unhappy month shy of fi fty. Theirs was and not yet fl uent in English, his new novel are subtler than the gun-wielding marriage is unhappy in its a puerile relationship that almost instantly attracts the warmongers of Beasts of No Nation, they are own way. This truth is amply was absorbed, enabled, and attention of the older man. there nonetheless, and equally harrowing. demonstrated in Andrea eventually outlasted by the An aging male artist besot- — Rebecca Shapiro di Robilant’s meticulously much more compelling one ted with a young beauty who

COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 59

1.18_Books_FINAL.indd 59 4/9/18 1:18 PM BOOKS revives his dormant creativ- willing to pay if it made her the criminal-justice system: ity? It’s a story as old as the husband happy and a nicer e Mars Room Where is the line between green hills of Africa. Poor person to be around.” policing crime and condemn- By Rachel Kushner ’01SOA (Scribner) Mary, a former globetrot- Passages like that are not ing poverty? What sort of life ting journalist who gave up only excruciating to read, on the outside is even available her career to be “simply [a] but they also trigger a kind n a recent interview with the New Yorker, Rachel to the formerly incarcerated? wife,” is condemned to watch of cognitive dissonance from Kushner ’01SOA said that most incarcerated How do we reconcile the many from the sidelines as her the vantage point of 2018. men and women she has known “go to prison chances that protect some with beloved Papa pines after this The Hemingwayesque way not on account of their irreducible uniqueness the swift penalties for others? Botticelli angel — without, of life feels so alien and as people but because they are part of a mar- Despite this wide scope, the in di Robilant’s fi rm opin- removed from this #MeToo Iginalized sector of the population who never had a novel belongs to Romy. Her ion, ever consummating the moment of women’s empow- chance, who were slated for it early on.” Her third frank, unsentimental voice relationship — for the next erment and the rejection novel, The Mars Room, o ers a crushing account of renders prison in gut-wrench- eight years. Adriana fulfi lls of a host of negative “isms” one such ordinary life on the margins. ing specifi cs: “The clock on her designated role, shaking that the Nobel Prize winner At twenty-nine, Romy Hall is serv- the wall had a red wedge . . . Papa out of his doldrums embodies. What can we learn ing two consecutive life sentences for the women who could not and inspiring his next book, from reading about a macho, at Stanville Women’s Correctional tell time,” she says. “Everything Across the River and into the egomaniacal, lion-killing Facility in California. Romy — who in prison is addressed to the Trees, whose main female entitled white male whose spent her neglected San Francisco woman for whom the red character is a thinly dis- women are relegated to adolescence drinking, stealing, and wedge is painted on the clock guised version of her. When such hoary supporting roles getting high — grew up to make her face, the imbecile.” Yet Romy’s Hemingway returns to Cuba, as long-su ering wife and living as a stripper at a seedy club intelligence and humanity — Adriana and her family join sprightly muse — and who, that gives the book its title. When a along with those of her fellow him, taking up residence at at fi fty, loses his head over the Mars Room regular starts stalking inmates — are undeniable. Finca Vigía, his estate near latter like a dopey adolescent? her, Romy kills him in what the Even as she grows nostalgic, as Havana. There Papa, his The answer isn’t exactly courts deem a murder rather than any caged human might, her creative juices still fl owing, clear, except that the man’s self-defense. Her arrest leaves her memories, laced with irony thanks to the presence of his best work, against all fi ve-year-old son in the precarious custody of her and self-awareness, never youthful muse, cranks out expectation, has managed mother, whom Romy detests. Throughout the tell- oversimplify the past. his last great masterwork, to remain great and serves ing of this bleak backstory, Kushner resists painting Romy’s voice would have The Old Man and the Sea. as an irreplaceable guide to her protagonist as singular or special. The book carried me easily through a In between her frequent technique for any aspiring neither fl inches nor sensationalizes, guiding us from long, uneventful diary of life attempts to keep her hus- fi ction writer. And the Hem- Romy’s past to the darkest corners of the prison- behind bars. But troubling band’s cruelty in check, Mary ingway mystique continues industrial complex with a sure and powerful hand. news about her son soon makes a feeble attempt or to exert a powerful hold on Like Kushner’s previous novels, Telex from Cuba churns the plot, driving her to two to assert herself, writing our collective imagination, and The Flamethrowers, The Mars Room takes on urgent action and an ending to Hemingway after a par- steadily spawning new biog- multiple voices and perspectives. This variety lends both jaw-dropping and inev- ticularly awful episode that raphies, memoirs, and even the book, for all its focus on captivity, a tremendous itable. Kushner has written a she’s had enough and wants novels (see the best-selling freedom and range of movement. We inhabit the potent tragedy, not by crafting a divorce. But he easily talks The Paris Wife) — not to rural landscape surrounding Stanville through a heroine who could have gone her out of it with a “Stick mention a minor tourism Gordon Hauser, Romy’s civilian GED instructor; on to do great things, but by with me, Kitten.” (Other industry in places as far- the streets of Los Angeles through corrupt cop gently insisting on the worth of Hemingway biographies have fl ung as Paris, Havana, Key Doc Richards, now serving time; and solitary an unremarkable life. At times suggested that he feared the West, and Ketchum, Idaho. confi nement through Sammy Fernandez, a repeat Romy appears not only ordi- cost of divorce, telling friends Autumn in Venice, the latest o ender and Romy’s eventual “cellie.” Interspersed nary but even invisible: her it was cheaper to stay mar- contribution to this canon, with these narratives are excerpts from found victim knows her only by her ried.) As mistreated as she may showcase Ernest Hem- documents, appearing without preface or com- stage name; Gordon fi nds no is, Mary loves Papa, and she ingway, at least in his later mentary. Lists of visitor regulations — “No high trace of her on Google. But The strikes a grim and all-too-fa- years, as Exhibit A in the fi ves . . . Keep crying to a minimum” — appear, as Mars Room places her front miliar bargain: she’ll tolerate Museum of Lousy Human do passages from Ted “Unabomber” Kaczynski’s and center, someone Kushner’s Adriana’s presence and Beings, but his fans will diaries, which Gordon reads while adjusting to the lucky readers can’t help but see its attendant humiliation savor every syllable. isolated valley. These interludes add texture to the clearly and won’t soon forget.

because it is “a price she was — Lorraine Glennon novel, while hinting at questions that vex critics of JEFFREY SAKS — Mia Alvar ’07SOA

60 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

1.18_Books_FINAL.indd 60 4/9/18 1:18 PM READING LIST the criminal-justice system: New and e Mars Room Where is the line between noteworthy policing crime and condemn- By Rachel Kushner ’01SOA (Scribner) ing poverty? What sort of life releases on the outside is even available n a recent interview with the New Yorker, Rachel to the formerly incarcerated? THE WIFE BETWEEN US Kushner ’01SOA said that most incarcerated How do we reconcile the many by Greer Hendricks ’94JRN men and women she has known “go to prison chances that protect some with and Sarah Pekkanen not on account of their irreducible uniqueness the swift penalties for others? Don’t expect another as people but because they are part of a mar- Despite this wide scope, the thriller about a Iginalized sector of the population who never had a novel belongs to Romy. Her jealous ex-wife. chance, who were slated for it early on.” Her third frank, unsentimental voice As the jacket copy novel, The Mars Room, o ers a crushing account of renders prison in gut-wrench- warns, it’s best to one such ordinary life on the margins. ing specifi cs: “The clock on assume nothing. At twenty-nine, Romy Hall is serv- the wall had a red wedge . . . Hendricks and ing two consecutive life sentences for the women who could not Pekkanen fi rst at Stanville Women’s Correctional tell time,” she says. “Everything met a decade ago, Facility in California. Romy — who in prison is addressed to the when Hendricks became writing about our e orts also died, of complications spent her neglected San Francisco woman for whom the red Pekkanen’s editor at Simon & to fi ght al-Qaeda and the from alcoholism. Yurchyshyn adolescence drinking, stealing, and wedge is painted on the clock Schuster. Their fi rst novel as Taliban and capture Osama wasn’t close with her parents getting high — grew up to make her face, the imbecile.” Yet Romy’s a writing team is a wickedly bin Laden. A feat of both — her father was abusive and living as a stripper at a seedy club intelligence and humanity — clever mind-bender, in the investigative reporting and her mother enabled him — that gives the book its title. When a along with those of her fellow tradition of Gone Girl and storytelling, Coll’s book is but after they died, she found Mars Room regular starts stalking inmates — are undeniable. The Girl on the Train. vitally important to under- an illuminating stash of their her, Romy kills him in what the Even as she grows nostalgic, as standing America’s place old letters and photographs. courts deem a murder rather than any caged human might, her FEAST by Hannah Howard in the world in the early In her memoir, Yurchyshyn self-defense. Her arrest leaves her memories, laced with irony ’09CC Howard is a food twenty-fi rst century. traces her parents’ lives, fi ve-year-old son in the precarious custody of her and self-awareness, never writer, a recipe developer, trying to understand them mother, whom Romy detests. Throughout the tell- oversimplify the past. and also a recovering CENSUS by Jesse Ball better — especially the cir- ing of this bleak backstory, Kushner resists painting Romy’s voice would have anorexic. In her memoir, she ’04SOA Ball’s eighth novel cumstances surrounding her her protagonist as singular or special. The book carried me easily through a writes about being driven is also his most personal. father’s sudden death. neither fl inches nor sensationalizes, guiding us from long, uneventful diary of life by two competing urges: Inspired by his brother Romy’s past to the darkest corners of the prison- behind bars. But troubling her insatiable appetite and Abram, who had Down YOU CAN STOP HUMMING industrial complex with a sure and powerful hand. news about her son soon her desperate desire to stay syndrome, Census is the story NOW by Daniela Lamas Like Kushner’s previous novels, Telex from Cuba churns the plot, driving her to thin. Howard’s account of of a father and his disabled ’08PS As a critical-care and The Flamethrowers, The Mars Room takes on urgent action and an ending her time at Columbia, when son traveling across the doctor, Lamas treats people multiple voices and perspectives. This variety lends both jaw-dropping and inev- she was simultaneously country for the father’s job as at their sickest. While the book, for all its focus on captivity, a tremendous itable. Kushner has written a in the thrall of her illness a census taker. Like Cormac many medical narratives freedom and range of movement. We inhabit the potent tragedy, not by crafting and working as a hostess at McCarthy’s The Road, the focus on the ways that rural landscape surrounding Stanville through a heroine who could have gone some of New York’s most novel takes place in a futur- technology can save lives, Gordon Hauser, Romy’s civilian GED instructor; on to do great things, but by high-profi le restaurants, is istic dystopia and is imbued Lamas is concerned with the streets of Los Angeles through corrupt cop gently insisting on the worth of particularly moving. with a dark surrealism. But what happens to those Doc Richards, now serving time; and solitary an unremarkable life. At times the focal point is clearly the patients afterward. With a confi nement through Sammy Fernandez, a repeat Romy appears not only ordi- DIRECTORATE S by Steve very relatable love between journalistic fl air (Lamas was o ender and Romy’s eventual “cellie.” Interspersed nary but even invisible: her Coll Columbia Journalism father and son. a reporter before going to with these narratives are excerpts from found victim knows her only by her School dean Steve Coll won medical school), she writes documents, appearing without preface or com- stage name; Gordon fi nds no a Pulitzer Prize for his last MY DEAD PARENTS about a salesman who found mentary. Lists of visitor regulations — “No high trace of her on Google. But The book, Ghost Wars, which by Anya Yurchyshyn ’10SOA a kidney donor on social fi ves . . . Keep crying to a minimum” — appear, as Mars Room places her front chronicled US involvement When Anya Yurchyshyn was media , an elderly man whose do passages from Ted “Unabomber” Kaczynski’s and center, someone Kushner’s in Afghanistan from the sixteen, her father was killed heart was replaced by a diaries, which Gordon reads while adjusting to the lucky readers can’t help but see Soviet invasion through in a mysterious car accident battery-operated pump, and isolated valley. These interludes add texture to the clearly and won’t soon forget. September 11, 2001. Here, in his native Ukraine. Sixteen other remarkable examples

novel, while hinting at questions that vex critics of JEFFREY SAKS — Mia Alvar ’07SOA he picks up the narrative, years after that, her mother of modern medicine at work.

COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018 61

1.18_Books_FINAL.indd 61 4/9/18 1:18 PM BOOKTALK Sobering Words In her new memoir, The Recovering: Intoxication and Its Aftermath, Leslie Jamison, the director of the nonﬁ ction concentration in the graduate writing program at Columbia’s School of the Arts, explores the links between alcohol addiction, recovery, and creativity

to the world that it’s all a big myth: that toward dramatic infl ation when it comes you don’t need to be inside a dysfunc- to addiction narratives? tionality to access your most creative LJ: In the literary world there’s a premium self. I wanted to uncouple all these links put on originality. It’s as if you have to up between dysfunctionality and mean- the ante to make your story worth telling. ing-making, addiction and creativity, I resist that idea not only because it can darkness and truth, but what I found lead to exaggeration or fabrication, but was something much more complicated also because it implies that only extraor- and vexed. dinary lives are worth narrating. Most experiences are very un-extraordinary, CM: In what way? but that doesn’t mean there’s not a mean- LJ: Well, Charles Jackson and John ingful narrative lying inside them. Berryman both tried to write from and about sobriety, and neither one fully suc- CM: That belief must be pretty central to ceeded; and David Foster Wallace wrote your life as a teacher. a beautiful book about recovery, but he LJ: One of the most frequent anxieties Columbia Magazine: Tell us a little also committed suicide in his forties. students articulate when they write about the genesis of the book. There is a relationship between addic- personal essays is that nobody would care Leslie Jamison: Alcohol was a domi- tion and creativity; people have created about their lives. But I tell them writing nant force in my life for years, and when incredible work from that space of thrall doesn’t have to be some hubristic act of I stopped drinking at twenty-seven I and darkness. But that isn’t the only way asserting that your life has been more decided to interrogate and document work can be made. extraordinary than someone else’s. It’s what addiction and recovery had been about fi nding the meaning inside the like for me. I wanted to bring my story CM: You say that female alcoholics rarely experiences you have at your disposal. In into chorus with the stories of others, get to strike “the same rogue silhouettes fact, there is something about unoriginal- so I incorporated academic research on as male ones.” Can you talk about these ity that can be a source of power rather famous writers who had struggled with gender di erences? than shame. In recovery communities, addiction and also interviewed other men LJ: Very similar addictions get narrated storytelling is absolutely central, and the and women in recovery communities. in very di erent ways depending on all story is seen as a gift or o ering. What kinds of variables, like gender, race, and matters isn’t telling a unique story, it’s CM: You say that as a young writer you class. Stories of appealing roguishness telling a story that has been told before idolized legendary drinkers like Faulkner, seem to attach more readily to male and will be told again. Cliché sometimes Fitzgerald, and Hemingway and felt quite addictions. Their drinking is often seen exposes us to the truth of our lives, and invested in the relationship between as proof of a certain authenticity or inner this book, in many ways, is a celebration creativity and addiction. depth. Women’s addictions are often of the ordinary story. LJ: Yes, in some ways I wrote the book narrated as a form of hysteria or melo- for selfi sh reasons. I wanted to believe I drama, or as an abnegation of their role CM: Your book has already been highly could be just as creative in my sobriety. as caregivers. They are the archetypal praised. Have you convinced yourself that The book explores how authors including bad mothers. you are a better writer without alcohol David Foster Wallace, John Berryman, than with it? and William S. Burroughs got sober — or CM: In the book you talk about having LJ: Well, the book is the artifact of what tried to get sober — and how sobriety to resist your “hunger for a story larger it’s trying to prove. In that sense, I do feel MEL MARCELO became part of their creative process. My than my own, with taller buildings and proud of it. initial desire was to prove to myself and sharper knives.” Is there a tendency — Sally Lee

62 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2018

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“Data science can help us understand how to treat cancer with bacteria.” Tal Danino, Director, Synthetic Biological Systems Laboratory

Analyzing complex tumor data, biomedical engineer Tal Danino studies the relationship between cancer and bacteria to improve treatments.

Data and Society is a Columbia commitment. Find yours. commitment.columbia.edu

Photo credit: Soonhee Moon

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