Modus Mirandi Podcast with Thomas Hikaru Clark

Thomas Clark
  • 5.0 (11)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE

Hi, I'm Thomas Hikaru Clark! I grew up in Tokyo in a multi-cultural family where I learned to be always curious about the world. I've worked at a startup in Rome, been a high school teacher, meditated with Zen Buddhist monks in Japan, volunteered in Russia, and studied rituals in India. I now study language and cognition at MIT. Each episode, I talk with a guest and try to learn something new. There's no consistent theme between episodes, and the episode titles usually don't cover everything we talk about!

  1. 06/02/2025

    Declan Kunkel: Death Penalty, Political Polarization, and Financial Literacy

    Declan Kunkel is a graduate of Yale University and current graduate student at Cambridge.

    1h 35m
  2. Katya Ivshina: Applied Math PhD @Harvard • Geometric Machine Learning

    02/20/2024

    Katya Ivshina: Applied Math PhD @Harvard • Geometric Machine Learning

    Katya Ivshina is a PhD student in Applied Mathematics at Harvard studying geometric machine learning Katya's Instagram: @katya.ivshina Katya's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@KatyaIvshina YouTube канал Кати на русском: https://www.youtube.com/@ekaterinaivshina Timestamps: (0:00) Intro (1:16) Katya’s research explained at two different levels (23:25) What excites you about the future of this field? (29:20) Katya’s journey to doing a PhD at Harvard (42:20) Cultural differences in the US (54:22) What do you do outside of research and academics? (1:03:20) Advice for current and prospective grad students (1:14:05) Closing question: Topological data analysis explained simply

    1h 26m

  3. 11/21/2023

    Ana Tsai: Fruit Fly Embryos, Immortality and California Strawberries

    Ana Tsai is a PhD student in Biology at MIT from Stockton, California. (0:30) What was your childhood like? (3:25) Growing up with mixed heritage (9:50) Smell of freshly picked tomatoes (11:57) Did you ever imagine becoming a grad student? (15:18) Researching immortality (20:24) What do you do on a daily basis, Zelda protein (24:30) Humans (and fruit flies) are basically a donut (25:10) Optogenetics (28:40) Generalizing from fruit flies to other species (32:00) Setting goals in grad school (34:20) Teaching and connecting with students (42:00) Breaking out of bubbles (51:00) Bees are really cute (55:00) Potlucks with friends (57:15) Where do you see yourself going after grad school? (1:07:00) What would you tell someone who’s thinking about going into research?

    1h 12m

  4. 10/20/2023

    Gun Ahn: Understanding Happiness & Depression

    Gun Ahn is a visiting graduate student at MIT Brain and Cognitive Sciences, where he studies pathways in the brain that are important for our understanding of depression. He is the author of several books, including one about why Finland has the reputation as the happiest country in the world.

    1h 13m

  5. 08/30/2022

    Anna Ivanova: Language and Thought in the Brain

    Anna Ivanova recently completed a PhD in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from MIT. She studies language and cognition in the brain using tools such as fMRI brain imaging. She is now starting a post-doctoral researcher position at the MIT Quest for Intelligence.  Language models & speech vs. thought: https://theconversation.com/googles-powerful-ai-spotlights-a-human-cognitive-glitch-mistaking-fluent-speech-for-fluent-thought-185099  Language vs. computer code comprehension: https://news.mit.edu/2020/brain-reading-computer-code-1215  Mental health blog post: https://oge.mit.edu/the-breaking-point/

    1h 22m

  6. 05/20/2022

    Leora Eisenberg: Language and Identity in Ukraine, Russia, and Former USSR

    Leora Eisenberg is a PhD student in the Department of History at Harvard University. She is a a talented researcher and a lover of languages. She has studied Central Asian Soviet history, Ukrainian language policy, and other fascinating and timely topics. Join us for this wide-ranging and illuminating conversation!

    1h 5m

  7. 05/13/2022

    Lily George: Status Anxiety in the Modern World

    Lily George is my high school classmate and one of my oldest friends. Last year we did a book club and read Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton. In this podcast, we discuss some of the main themes of the book and their relevance in modern life.

    1h 23m

  8. 05/05/2022

    Anna Clark: Sustainability, Energy, and the Environment

    Anna Clark is a student at Stanford University, studying Engineering Physics. She is passionate about renewable energy and addressing climate change.

    1h 11m
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5
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11 Ratings

About

Hi, I'm Thomas Hikaru Clark! I grew up in Tokyo in a multi-cultural family where I learned to be always curious about the world. I've worked at a startup in Rome, been a high school teacher, meditated with Zen Buddhist monks in Japan, volunteered in Russia, and studied rituals in India. I now study language and cognition at MIT. Each episode, I talk with a guest and try to learn something new. There's no consistent theme between episodes, and the episode titles usually don't cover everything we talk about!

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