Collection No. 11 To confront pressing societal challenges, we need businesses focused on new ideas and new solutions—and old ideas executed in new ways. We talked with Yale SOM faculty and alumni about pushing limits, taking disciplined risks, and developing resilient ventures while sustaining a dual commitment to profit and purpose. Illustration by Eva Bee. Published January 21, 2026 ‘Tough Tech’ Requires a Different Kind of Venture Capital Katie Rae…
What is impact investing, and how does it differ from regular investing?Impact investing is about having an investment strategy that seeks to generate positive, measurable social or environmental outcomes. It seeks to create those returns across a spectrum: financial gain is part of it, on the investing side, and then the other part of it is purposeful, positive impact. That can encompass a whole set of things, ranging from climate…
In this bonus episode, Howie and Harlan are joined by Ania Jastreboff, a Yale School of Medicine endocrinologist and an expert on the science of obesity. They discuss her new book, co-authored with Oprah Winfrey, which reframes obesity as a treatable disease rooted in biology—not a failure of willpower. Show notes: Ania Jastreboff and Oprah Winfrey: Enough: Your Health, Your Weight, and What It’s Like To Be Free Yale Obesity…
Every year, hundreds of thousands of firms in the United States go under, leaving millions of employees scrambling to find new jobs. What happens to their career trajectories? Is their previous company’s failure seen as a red flag or not?Surprisingly, there hasn’t been much research on a question that affects so many workers. Previous studies have found that executives’ careers often falter afterward, but the fates of average employees have…
This commentary was originally published in Fortune. The views expressed are the author’s own.Eight strikes and Paramount’s out. Wait—isn’t it supposed to be three strikes? Paramount CEO David Ellison apparently did not get the memo. Ellison received official word last week that his company’s takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery had been rejected for the eighth time—and it won’t be trying a ninth time, as Ellison has just filed suit…
Has there been a shift in understanding of the relationship between work and wellbeing? Is more expected of leaders now?Yes, there has been a notable shift in how scholars and practitioners view the connection between work and wellbeing. Historically, work was seen primarily as a source of economic security and identity, with wellbeing considered a secondary outcome or the personal responsibility of the worker. Contemporary research, however, emphasizes that work…
During a triumphant Saturday press conference, President Donald Trump proudly boasted of a U.S. military operation removing the brutal Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. The news diverted attention from America’s affordability crisis, the loss of health care coverage for millions, and the Epstein files. Instead, all eyes turned to Venezuela.However impressively efficient the American strike may have been, the president’s motives have been muddled. Was it to curb drug trafficking? Halt…
Transcript Harlan Krumholz: Welcome to Health & Veritas, I’m Harlan Krumholz.Howard Forman: And I’m Howie Forman. We’re physicians and professors at Yale University, and we’re trying to get close to the truth about health and healthcare. Today, we’re excited to welcome Dr. Zeke Emanuel, and we have a lot to ask him, so I’m going to turn it over to you, Harlan.Harlan Krumholz: Just as you say, Howie, this is…
This commentary originally appeared in Fortune. The views expressed are the author’s own.Business leaders awoke on Saturday to a new reality in the aftermath of the successful U.S. military capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, who were dragged from their bedroom in the early morning hours. The couple was asleep at their home inside the heavily guarded Fort Tiuna military complex until they were seized by…
Keep big ideas in your back pocketJulia DiBenigno, Professor of Organizational BehaviorThe last year has been volatile. Turbulent periods often prompt us to hunker down and wait for stability to return. Yet these moments can also open windows for meaningful change. As the writer Vivian Greene observed, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.”In research and work with organizations…
Henry Kissinger wrote that “a bluff taken seriously is more useful than a serious threat interpreted as a bluff.” It is well past time to call Vladimir Putin’s bluff. President Donald Trump’s response to the highly-anticipated release of the Russia-Ukraine peace proposal, led by the U.K., France, Germany, and Ukraine, indicates how wide the gap between the two warring parties really is. Land concessions in Ukrainian-held territories, control of the…
In the 200th episode of Health & Veritas, Harlan offers end-of-the-year reflections on medicine drawn from his editor’s notes in JACC (the Journal of the American College of Cardiology), and Howie provides updates on gun violence, flu, measles, and the health benefits of yoga. Show notes: Editor’s notes by Harlan Krumholz “The Day I Became a Doctor” “When Your Patient Dies” “Rethinking Physician Certification: A Call for a Modern, Meaningful…
January 06, 2025We asked Yale SOM faculty for their best tips on living happily, healthily, and productively in the new year.January 21, 2025Ordinary investors generally can only see an average of analysts’ target prices for a given stock. In a new study, Yale SOM’s Thomas Steffen and Frank Zhang find that when the degree of variation within that “consensus” figure is large, it’s a bad sign for future returns.January 30,…
Which headline are you more likely to click on?Headline A: “Stocks Plunge Amid Global Fears.”Headline B: “Markets Decline Today.”Online publications frequently test headline options like this in what’s called an A/B test. In this case, a publication shows headline A to half of its readers, headline B to the other half, then measures which receives more clicks.Marketers have long used A/B tests to determine what drives engagement. Generative AI is…
Howie and Harlan are joined by Basmah Safdar, a Yale School of Medicine emergency physician and an expert on sex-specific differences in cardiovascular and microvascular health, which have important implications for the understanding and treatment of heart attacks, long COVID, and other conditions. Harlan reports on Australia’s ban on social media for kids, and a Medicare pilot program that will pay providers based on improved outcomes in chronic conditions. Howie…
How often do boycotts and other consumer protests change corporate behavior?Studies find boycott attempts are successful 25-40% of the time. However, boycott attempts only get analyzed after they’re getting some traction, and corporations don’t always follow through on their promises. So all we can say for certain is that boycotts lead to substantive changes often enough for activists, customers, and corporations to take them quite seriously.How should organizers frame their…
This commentary originally appeared in the Hartford Courant. The views expressed are the authors’ own.Recently, a controversial New York developer was shot down by Bethel, Connecticut, in its plan to build attainably priced apartments, following failed efforts in Granby and Manchester, as well as success in Avon, Cheshire and New London—with appeals underway in Rocky Hill, Simsbury, and West Hartford.For several decades, Connecticut municipalities have admirably strived to solve the…
Transcript Harlan Krumholz: Welcome to Health & Veritas. I’m Harlan Krumholz.Howard Forman: And I’m Howie Forman. We’re physicians and professors at Yale University, and we’re trying to get closer to the truth about health and healthcare.Our guest today is Dr. Sudhakar Nuti, but first, we like to check in on current or hot topics in health and healthcare. Harlan, what are you going to tell us about today?Harlan Krumholz: Today…
Howie and Harlan are joined by Peter Hotez, a vaccine expert and an outspoken opponent of health misinformation, to discuss vaccine skepticism and the forces—from wellness influencers to HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—that amplify it. Harlan reports on research reinforcing the link between social media and mental illness; Howie highlights two potential areas of common ground with the administration's health policy. Show notes: Social Media and Mental Health "Social…
The research is clear: the circadian rhythms of adolescents make it hard for them to wake up early. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control recommend that middle and high schools start no earlier than 8:30 a.m. so students can get enough sleep, making it more likely they attend class, excel in their studies, and graduate. But most school districts ignore the science, building schedules around…
Why do some independence movements succeed while many others fade or are crushed? The birth of Bangladesh in 1971 is a rare case in which a separatist movement not only gained mass support but also prevailed in open conflict against a powerful state. Explaining that success is not just a historical exercise. It also clarifies how states lose legitimacy and how climate shocks can transform diffuse frustration into coordinated political…
Partisan gerrymandering is having a heyday. Politicians in at least 16 states are enacting or considering new congressional maps designed to advantage one party over the other; most recently, California voters approved a map designed to increase Democratic seats, in order to counter a Republican-leaning map in Texas. Democrats and Republicans are locked in a zero-sum game—and democracy itself seems to be the only guaranteed loser.Is there a path to…
Is there a strategic argument for the U.S. resuming nuclear testing?What’s going on is very scary. Nuclear weapons of the major powers have not been tested since the early 1990s. Now there are signs the Russians may test a bomb. I think this would be for political shock effect, an escalation over the Ukraine war. Washington wants to deter them from doing this, so we threaten to test if they…
Q: Your career in renewable energy development began in the early 1990s. With that long view, what are the innovations that stand out to you?The technology has changed so much since I entered the field. The electrons coming from wind power have gotten much, much cheaper because wind turbines have gotten much, much more efficient. In most locations in the U.S., wind is now less expensive than legacy sources (e.g.,…
Do you think AI has the potential to dramatically change the model for consumer search?Compared with traditional search engines (e.g., non-AI Google search), AI-assisted search tools such as ChatGPT offer several advantages, especially when consumers are searching for complex and personalized products, such as vacation packages or wellness programs. First, instead of relying on simple keywords, consumers can now describe their needs in greater detail and with higher precision, leading…
Is the prevalence of sports betting changing the way people experience watching sports?Sports betting can certainly change how people experience sports. Interestingly, we have some research that says the money is not necessarily even the key to these effects. For example, there has been an explosion in fantasy football participation among fans. These activities fundamentally change the way that fans view sports. Their excitement is not driven by teams winning…
This commentary originally appeared in Fortune. The views expressed are the authors’ own.While President Trump’s unorthodox deal making style has intentionally resembled a “bull in a china shop,” it was more like a placid cow in a field last week in China. The world collectively took a deep breath following the U.S.-China summit, as neither Trump nor Chinese president Xi Jinping escalated the ongoing trade war between the two nations.…
Q: How did you come to focus on immigration?I did not start out intending to work on immigration policy. Before Yale, I had been an entrepreneur. After Yale, I was very lucky to land a fellowship in the Obama White House in the Office of Science and Technology Policy, helping develop a policy portfolio to enable startups to achieve greater growth. I thought I’d work on access to capital or…
Howie and Harlan are joined by Nate Wood, a Yale School of Medicine internist and trained chef, to discuss his work combining lifestyle guidance with hands-on training in making healthy, tasty food. Harlan shares new guidance on what counts as a healthy blood pressure; Howie provides an update on rising health insurance costs. Links: Blood Pressure Harlan Kumholz, "Severe Hypertension: The Next Never Event" JACC: 2025 High Blood Pressure Guidelines…
What was interesting to you about this question?I’m betting you’ve seen the bumper stickers appearing on Teslas: “I bought this car before I knew Elon was crazy.” Those bumper stickers, his role in DOGE, and all the headlines made us suspect Elon’s political activities might be having an impact on Tesla’s sales. Michael Jordan famously refused to endorse Harvey Gantt for Senate, explaining, “Republicans buy sneakers too.” Musk’s partisan activity…
This commentary originally appeared in Fortune. The views expressed are the author’s own.Communications scholar Marshall McLuhan’s prescient 1964 bestseller, Understanding Media, argued that “the media is the message,” in which the technology overtakes the spoken words it transmits. In fact, the core messages can get garbled if the media can’t keep up with the intended meaning. Ironically, the media echo chamber initially misunderstood key messages from Salesforce founder Marc Benioff…
Let’s say you see an interesting headline about new research, suggesting that a ride-share service reduced traffic jams in cities. You click the link, scroll down the article, and then discover that the study authors based their results on private data from the ride-share company itself. How much would that disclosure dampen your trust in the finding?Quite a bit, according to a new study co-authored by Prof. John Barrios. On…
This article was originally published on Ted and Logan’s Briefings on High-Tech Industries in August 2025 and updated in October. The views expressed are the authors’ own.The Magnificent Seven—Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Nvidia, and Tesla—used to compete in distinct lanes. AI has changed that. These 7 are now in a new pool without lanes and with more competitors: OpenAI, Oracle, AMD, IBM, Palantir, IBM, Anthropic, Salesforce.Over the history of…
Q: You have been recognized in the industry for an approach you call “collaborativity.” Would you explain collaborativity?Collaborativity is a concept I created a handful of years ago that I now use regularly with the team. Collaborativity is a way of codifying the creative process in a way that leans into the notion that creativity is quite iterative and collaborative in nature. Yet when you look at the creative industry,…
Howie and Harlan are joined by public health communicator Katelyn Jetelina for updates on COVID-19 and other issues, and to discuss how her emails to students and colleagues in the early days of the pandemic turned into a platform with global reach. Harlan looks at how AI is being used on both sides of the battle between providers and insurers over claims; Howie reports on a setback with a promising…
This commentary originally appeared in Time. The views expressed are the author’s own. Recently, we conducted a test that found five leading AI models—including Elon Musk’s Grok—correctly debunked 20 of President Donald Trump’s false claims. A few days later, Musk retrained Grok with an apparent right-wing update, promising that users “should notice a difference.” They did: Grok almost immediately began spewing out virulently antisemitic tropes praising Hitler and celebrating political…
This commentary originally appeared in Fortune. The views expressed are the author’s own. Apple received an unwanted spotlight last week when President Trump’s trade advisor, Peter Navarro, attacked CEO Tim Cook for not moving manufacturing out of China fast enough. In fact, having received similar pressure during Trump’s first term, Apple, in terms of what it sells in the U.S., now makes most iPhones in India and most laptops, AirPods,…
Howie and Harlan are joined by Seth Berkowitz, an internist and health equity expert, who argues that we know how to keep people healthier but are lacking the political will and commitment to do so. Harlan reports on a rapidly growing AI platform for doctors; Howie explains why the budget bill could reduce access to medical school. Links: OpenEvidence OpenEvidence “OpenEvidence, the Fastest-Growing Application for Physicians in History, Announces $210…
Collection No. 10 Every cultural institution has a mission that goes beyond the bottom line—enriching a community, preserving human achievement, delivering joy. But that mission also depends on business considerations—assembling financial and human capital, connecting with customers, considering long-term sustainability. We talked with leaders in the arts about the large and small strategic choices that their institutions must make to survive and succeed. Published July 16, 2025 Creating the Bilbao…
Q: How important has the master plan you developed in the ’90s been to the museum? We adopted our master plan in 1993, and we are still working on it. In fact, we’re now in our last major project, which is our new air and space center. If I go back to 1992, the year before we adopted the master plan, we knew we wanted to do air and…