Mayim's Monday Moment

Tackling What’s Going on at Our Elite Universities

One of the best things about working on MBB is the huge variety of issues we tackle.

If you’ve listened to our podcast, you know a guiding principle for us is to create episodes and a community that gets to think beyond what you ever thought possible.This means we have so many different kinds of avenues to get there.

We talk to celebrities who share deeply about their journeys. So many actors and performers we admire and are curious about have opened up about depression, suicide, alcohol and substance abuse. They’ve talked about imposter syndrome - even at the height of their careers - and they’ve talked about what they’ve done to try and better understand themselves.

We talk to experts in the fields of medicine and health and nutrition. We’ve learned about cutting edge research, biohacks aplenty, and some fundamental things about sleep, exercise, gut health, dieting, and the intersection of mind and body.

We talk to spiritual guides and mystical seekers who have dedicated their lives to helping others delve into their deepest and most intimate complex interactions as humans, with an emphasis on the scientific bases for spiritual enlightenment and growth.

Something we started doing pretty recently - and something which has been spurred on by our expansion to Substack - is responding to things in the news cycle that directly impact our mental health. Whether it’s reacting in real time to the controversy surrounding the devastating fires in Los Angeles in January, finding experts to explain about what’s going right and wrong in Washington, DC, or understanding how microplastics directly impact our health, Jonathan and I feel any mental health discussion we have cannot be separated from the things we are all experiencing in the news.

All of these things obviously impact us in different ways, but if we’ve learned anything here at MBB, it’s that you can’t separate out what’s happening from how you react to it. They are one and the same in your brain. We firmly believe no matter what “side” you are on politically, these are conversations we all deserve to be part of together so we can learn how to move forward as a society with humanity and compassion.

This week’s episode has us tackling what’s going on at elite Universities all over the country. We are using the example of Harvard’s recent antisemitism and Islamophobia reports as a jumping off point to better understand where free speech and hate speech intersect, what Universities should be held accountable for, and how to frame the structure of the many educational institutions funded by governments that historically are hostile to the values of democracy, freedom, and tolerance.

This was not an easy episode to record, as it brings up a level of despair for many of us. After seeing his article in the Free Press about his decision to step down from his role on the Antisemitism Committee, we invited Rabbi Emeritus of Sinai Temple, David Wolpe to the Breakdown. Rabbi Wolpe was a Harvard Divinity School faculty member and was asked to join the Antisemitism Committee by then-President Claudine Gay after October 7. After Harvard’s refusal to protect the rights of minorities on campus, he stepped down and his resignation went viral. We talked to him about what he witnessed at Harvard and how what he experienced is a “canary in the coalmine” moment for all of us who value liberty and freedom.

Subscribers can comment on this and all other posts. You can also chat with me, the MBB team, and each other. And there’s lots more: ad-free versions of the podcast; weekly live video sessions where Jonathan and I reflect on our episode and are joined by special guests; bonus and never-before-seen footage. Join the conversation.