Jacob Sweet
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Lots of writing in @newyorker, @theatlantic, @Harpers, @voxdotcom, etc. Formerly at @harvardmagazine food blog: jacobsweeteats.substack.com
Articles by Jacob Sweet
Nobody knows what the point of homework is
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Nobody knows what the point of homework is
As the Covid-19 pandemic began and students logged into their remote classrooms, all work, in effect, became homework. But whether or not students could complete it at home varied. For some, schoolwork became public-library work or McDonald’s-parking-lot work.
Knights-Errant, by Jacob Sweet
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The Instagram Reels Gold Rush Original
Koch, who is twenty-five, had been promoting his solo music on Instagram for years. By October of 2021, he had more than twenty thousand followers, an audience that was large enough for Instagram to select him for the Reels Play Bonus, a new program that paid creators for the views they got on short-form videos known as Reels. Koch ignored the offer at first, but changed his mind and looked at what others were posting on Reels. The answer, in large part, was face-filter videos.
The Fast-Food Stars of TikTok
Before Milad Mirghahari began posting videos on TikTok, he didn’t know his job at Subway could be deeply captivating to millions of people. His parents, both immigrants from Iran, bought their first Subway franchise more than twenty years ago, and later opened a second store in Cedar Grove, New Jersey, near their home. After school, Mirghahari would eat a sandwich while his older brothers worked. At sixteen, he followed their lead and took an official part-time position. Read Full Article »
The Fast-Food Stars of TikTok
When the pandemic began, life became very boring for the twenty-year-old New Jersey Institute of Technology student and sandwich artist. With many people unwilling to venture inside for a sub of remarkable length, Mirghahari amused himself by making TikToks. He discovered that people were more impressed by the location of his videos than by the content.
Scoring Moves
In track, sprinters kick off their starting blocks with all their might, springing forward like an arrow from a bow. In basketball, an emphatic dunk is invariably preceded by an emphatic push off the floor. But athletes don’t have the advantage of a solid surface in water polo. Momentum is at a premium; wasted movement is punished. Alex Tsotadze ’22 [’23], an attacker and co-captain of the men’s water polo team, is an expert at exploiting aquatic physics.
Freedom from Food
Montage A lifelong struggle with body image led Juna Gjata to podcasting. by Jacob Sweet When Juna Gjata ’17 was growing up, everyone she knew seemed to be on a diet. Weight-conscious adults ordered salads with dressings on the side, requested coffee without milk or sugar, and ate unflavored rice cakes. Her high-school friends followed along. “None of us were overweight,” she says.
Permafrost Fare
Community cookbooks are not known for remarkable scope and ambition. As delicious as a favorite pasta salad might be, it tastes about the same whether made in Arkansas, Nevada, or Maine, jokes Marylène Altieri, Schlesinger Library curator of books and printed materials. A recipe for soured seal liver is different. “Place liver in enamel pot or dish and cover with blubber,” wrote Shishmaref Day School student Agnes Kiyutelluk.
Staying Steady
John Harvard's Journal Field hockey goalie Ellie Shahbo’s quiet dominance by Jacob Sweet Look up Crimson field hockey goalkeeper Ellie Shahbo ’22 [’23] and you’ll find a flurry of improbable athletic feats: a fully extended back-handed stick-save to clinch a win over Princeton, a diving stop to shut out the University of New Hampshire, three straight penalty-shootout saves to upset second-ranked Michigan.
The End of the Harvard Square Pit
On a hot June afternoon, the Harvard Square Pit was quiet. In the submerged hangout spot beside the entrance to the MBTA’s Red Line station, pigeons outnumbered people even as commuters whizzed to and from work. Soon, these passersby will be staring at fences: in early July, the city of Cambridge will begin demolishing the Pit, a famous eighties and nineties enclave for free spirits, misfits, castaways, and those craving some spontaneous companionship.
“No Going Back to Normal”
Your independent source for Harvard news since 1898 | SUBSCRIBE Log in | Register Articles News more News A Harvard graduate’s design of the newly relevant Holodomor Memorial in Washington, D.C. 7.28.22 Harvard experts on what's next for abortion access, laws, and politics 7.18.22 Research more Research Students more Students Alumni more Alumni A Harvard graduate’s design of the newly relevant Holodomor Memorial in Washington, D.C. 7.28.22 Harvard Squared more Harvard Squared Opinion more...
The Long Game
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Harvard Alumni Day Debuts
Your independent source for Harvard news since 1898 | SUBSCRIBE Log in | Register Articles News more News Harvard’s emotional celebration provides closure for the classes of 2020 and 2021—and honors those who served during the pandemic.
Somethings Old, Somethings New
Your independent source for Harvard news since 1898 | SUBSCRIBE Log in | Register Articles News more News Research more Research A searching examination of the places kept “outside history,” and steps to come to terms with the University’s past 4.26.22 Students more Students Alumni more Alumni Harvard Squared more Harvard Squared Opinion more Opinion President Bacow on maintaining University values while adopting the best lessons learned during the pandemic May-June 2022 Arts more Arts Erin...
Michelle Wu Tells the Truth
Your independent source for Harvard news since 1898 | SUBSCRIBE Log in | Register Articles News more News Research more Research A searching examination of the places kept “outside history,” and steps to come to terms with the University’s past 4.26.22 Students more Students Alumni more Alumni Harvard Squared more Harvard Squared Opinion more Opinion President Bacow on maintaining University values while adopting the best lessons learned during the pandemic May-June 2022 Arts more Arts Erin...
The Student Commencement Speakers
Your independent source for Harvard news since 1898 | SUBSCRIBE Log in | Register Articles News more News Research more Research A searching examination of the places kept “outside history,” and steps to come to terms with the University’s past 4.26.22 Students more Students After much debate, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences votes to adopt a system of previous-term registration for classes.
Katie Lapp Steps Down as Executive Vice President
On the morning of May 12, Katie Lapp, Harvard’s executive vice president since 2009, announced that she will be stepping down from her position at the end of the summer. Moving into her position will be Meredith Weenick ’90, M.B.A. ’02, the current vice president for campus services.
“Ukraine Today, Taiwan Tomorrow?”
As Russia continues its war in Ukraine, many have wondered about the potential consequences for Taiwan. Could China be emboldened by Russia’s aggression, or would the costly military stalemate and strong Western response discourage a reining in of Taiwan? For Steven Goldstein, emeritus professor of government at Smith College and associate of the Fairbank Center of Chinese Studies, the answer is closer to the first: recent events will reinforce, rather than deter, China’s designs on Taiwan.
Harvard’s Undergraduate Council Kerfuffle
After 40 years, the Undergraduate Council (UC)—the Harvard College student government—is dead. During a four-day referendum voting period that concluded in late March, 75 percent of nearly 4,000 voting students decided to dismantle their current representative body and replace it with a new form of government: the Harvard Undergraduate Assembly (HUA). For years, the Council had not been taken seriously by a considerable portion of the student body.
Harvard Horizons Spotlights Seven Scholars
Delivering brief presentations on subjects from infrastructural aesthetics to aliens, seven Harvard Horizons scholars shared their research to an enthusiastic Sanders Theater crowd. The students had been selected in what Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) Dean Emma Dench described as a “fierce competition” across 57 graduate programs. The seven winners, who spoke this Tuesday, received ten weeks of presentation coaching as part of this opportunity to speak about their work.
The Most Popular Chess Streamer on Twitch Original
In the early afternoon of February 1st, the American chess Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura was live-streaming to some of his 1.4 million Twitch followers, deciding how to approach his next online game: “Do I play solid?” he asked from a hotel room in Berlin. “Or do I go for broke?” He was in fourth place with just two games left in a blitz tournament—quick matches in which each side gets three minutes to move—and was debating between a sturdy opening likely to result in a draw or a dynamic one.
Harvard’s Social Media Influencers
Your independent source for Harvard news since 1898 | SUBSCRIBE Log in | Register Articles News more News Research more Research A searching examination of the places kept “outside history,” and steps to come to terms with the University’s past 4.26.22 Students more Students After much debate, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences votes to adopt a system of previous-term registration for classes.
Harvard Graduates Leave No One Behind
Your independent source for Harvard news since 1898 | SUBSCRIBE Log in | Register Articles News more News Harvard’s emotional celebration provides closure for the classes of 2020 and 2021—and honors those who served during the pandemic.
Blanche Calloway, Cab’s Enterprising Older Sister
Treasure The success and struggles of a pioneering musician by Jacob Sweet Before swing-era singer, actor, and bandleader Cab Calloway was a household name, he wasn’t even the biggest name in his household. That distinction went to Blanche Calloway, his vocalist older sister and the first woman to lead an all-male jazz orchestra. Blanche left Baltimore for Chicago in 1921 and joined the cast of “Plantation Days,” a popular black musical revue, as a singer and performer in 1923.
Are We Entering a Second Cold War?
In a discussion of the Russia-Ukraine War hosted by the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Arne Westad, Elihu professor of history at Yale University, began with an overarching statement: “There is absolutely no doubt that this is, first and foremost, a war of conquest that we haven’t seen in Europe since 1944,” he said—different from the Soviet interventions in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and the Balkans.
Civil Rights Attorney Sherrilyn Ifill to Receive 2022 Radcliffe Medal
Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education fund, will receive the Radcliffe Medal on May 27, 2022, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study announced on Friday. The lawyer and scholar will join Madeleine Albright, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and other world leaders as recipients of the Institute’s highest honor since the award’s inception in 1987.
Meteorologist Matthew Cappucci’s Weather Obsession
Matthew Cappucci ’19 has never exactly fit in, and at a bingo hall 40 minutes east of Washington, D.C., it is no different. He is so much younger than his adversaries that a nearby grandmother feels compelled before each game to tell him which bingo sheet to use and how a “bingo” can be achieved. Cappucci thanks her for her generosity amid the competition. Players speak only in the moments between rounds and surround themselves with special bags for their ink daubers and auto-filling tablets.
History-Making Harvard Skier Pushes His Limits
Everyone has jitters in the moments before a mass-start cross-country ski race, and for good reason. When the gun goes off, dozens of competitors, with just a few feet of space between them, simultaneously accelerate—kicking and gliding forcefully as they convene into a narrowing track. With skis nearly touching, athletes fight to secure a spot as close to the front as possible. Collisions are common, as are NASCAR-style pileups that can take out a throng of competitors in an instant.
Emily Oken's Studies on Nutrition During Pregnancy
Your independent source for Harvard news since 1898 | SUBSCRIBE Log in | Register Search form Search Articles News more News Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin pose for a photo prior to their talks at the Beijing Olympics in February.
Milton Avery, Wadsworth Atheneum
Before painter Milton Avery’s works were featured in the world’s most prestigious museums—and long before they fetched bids in the millions—the artist now known for his playful use of color and diverse stylistic repertoire lived an under-the-radar life in Hartford, Connecticut. Laboring and clerking at various factories and offices, Avery, born in 1885, supported his family while painting and taking art classes in the hours before and after work.
College Admits 7.9 Percent of Early Applicants
The College has admitted 7.9 percent of early-action applicants to the class of 2026, slightly up from the 7.4 percent admitted from that pool last year—and well below the 13.9 percent admitted from the 2024 pool. Of the 9,406 students who applied early to the 2025 class, 740 were admitted. Last year, 743 students were selected of the 10,087 who applied early. Continuing the relief first implemented for the class of 2025, this year’s applicants were not required to submit SAT or ACT scores.
Math Professor Lauren Williams Explores New Ground
Your independent source for Harvard news since 1898 | SUBSCRIBE Log-In | Register Search form Search Articles News more News Harvard Medical School Photograph by Niko Yaitanes/Harvard Magazine Harvard Medical School experts on viral evolution, vaccines, the immune system—and what’s next 1.24.22 Loeb House, where the governing boards convene Photograph courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Caroline Culler The 2022 nominees outline their views of the University and their prospective service.
Houghton Library Features Children’s Books in Opening Exhibit
With the extensive collection of children’s books donated by Peter J. Solomon ’60, M.B.A. ’63, the newly renovated Houghton Library could have opened an exhibit of the genre’s “greatest hits.” Among other treasures, Solomon’s collection includes first editions of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit. But in “Animals Are Us,” an exhibit open in the library through January 7, 2022, guest curators H. Nichols B.
My Plan to Dominate My Local Turkey Trot
When the state senator Terrence Murphy established a turkey trot, in 2017, in his home district, which spans New York’s Dutchess, Westchester, and Putnam counties, he was trying to raise money for local food banks, not attract the nation’s—or even the area’s—best runners. The ubiquitous Thanksgiving Day races are known not for the athletic prowess of the competitors but for the ridiculous costumes: turkeys, pilgrims, and pumpkin pies.
Committee Recommends a More Transparent Tenure Process
In 2020, fifteen years after the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) adopted the current form of its formal tenure process, FAS dean Claudine Gay announced a review of the pressure-filled process that has sparked controversy in recent years. The 106-page report, released on Tuesday afternoon, presents a mixed review of the process.
China’s Excess Wind Energy
There’s a problem with sustainable energy, and it will only grow with time. Now that wind and solar have become cheaper sources of electricity than fossil fuels in some places, the problem is intermittency—what to do when the wind dies or the sun goes down.
The Food Waste Problem
Your independent source for Harvard news since 1898 | SUBSCRIBE Log in | Register Articles News more News A Harvard graduate’s design of the newly relevant Holodomor Memorial in Washington, D.C. 7.28.22 Harvard experts on what's next for abortion access, laws, and politics 7.18.22 Research more Research Students more Students Alumni more Alumni A Harvard graduate’s design of the newly relevant Holodomor Memorial in Washington, D.C. 7.28.22 Harvard Squared more Harvard Squared Opinion more...
The Harvard Context: Football Coach Tim Murphy as a Leader and Coach
This is the eleventh post of "The Context"—a biweekly series of archival stories—offering our readers a useful background to some of the most important (and fun!) subjects in the news today. We hope you enjoy it. With a dominant victory last weekend against Brown, Crimson football coach Tim Murphy became the winningest coach in Ivy League history. His 180th win, achieved in his twenty-eighth year at Harvard, put him ahead of Carmen Cozza, who led Yale between 1965 and ’96.
The Context: Resurrecting the Woolly Mammoth
This is the tenth post of "The Context"—a biweekly series of archival stories—offering our readers a useful background to some of the most important subjects in the news today. We hope you enjoy it. What can you do these days with significant private funding and the latest advancements in synthetic biology? Possibly, thousands of years after the species went extinct, bring back the woolly mammoth.
Why Were So Many Running World Records Broken During the Pandemic?
Normally, on his long-run days, the twenty-seven-year-old marathoner C. J. Albertson would wake up excited. As an élite runner sponsored by Brooks, he is paid to run farther and faster than almost anyone else. But, one Sunday morning in late November, he woke up not wanting to run at all. Lying in bed, he began to rationalize why running outdoors didn’t make sense: the temperature was rising, and a semi-recent wildfire near Fresno, where he lives, made the air smoky.
The Context: How the United States Can Cut Greenhouse-Gas Emissions
This is the ninth post of "The Context"—a biweekly series of archival stories—offering our readers a useful background to some of the most important subjects in the news today. We hope you enjoy it. Can the United States reduce its contribution to climate change as quickly as President Joe Biden has promised? In April, after re-joining the Paris Agreement, the president set a U.S. goal of reducing its greenhouse-gas emissions by 50 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.
University Approves New Law School Shield
More than five years after the Harvard Corporation acceded to Harvard Law School’s decision to abandon its shield, associated with slavery, it has approved the school’s replacement. The new shield was developed by the HLS Shield Working Group, first convened in 2020, and design firms PopKitchen and Studio Rainwater. “I am grateful to our community for taking part in this important process and for the values and aspirations they ascribe to HLS,” wrote Dean John F. Manning in an email.
The Context: The Gig Economy and the Future of Work
This is the eighth post of "The Context"—a biweekly series of archival stories—offering our readers a useful background to some of the most important subjects in the news today. We hope you enjoy it. The future of the gig economy will likely be put on the ballot again—this time in Massachusetts.
Harvard Class of 2025 Needs Overflow Housing
Anticipating a larger student body than usual, the Harvard College Dean of Students Office (DSO) has announced additional housing locations for undergraduates. For first-year students, the College will use both 1201 Massachusetts Avenue and a series of apartments on Prescott Street beside the Yard—both of which have been used previously to accommodate undergraduates during House-renewal construction.
How to Take a European Bike Vacation
Ten years after his graduation from law school, Michael J. Lyon, J.D. ’84, took his first European bike trip. He wanted to spend time riding alongside his uncle, an eclectic, intelligent man who had taken several bike trips through Eastern Europe, among other unique expeditions, during the Cold War. Lyon planned a trip for France. He found a good route—from Bordeaux, through the French Basque area, over the Pyrenees—and flew with his uncle to Paris, their bikes packed in large boxes.
How Harvard Profited On Keeping Time
Today, most people don’t think much about the accuracy of clocks. A functioning cell phone displays the correct time right away, no effort needed. But in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, coordinating clocks across the world was complicated and important work.
The Context: Affirmative Action and Harvard
This is the seventh post of "The Context"—a biweekly series of archival stories—offering our readers a useful background to some of the most important subjects in the news today. We hope you enjoy it.
The Context: Life on the Mesopotamian Marshes-and the Specter of Drought
This is the sixth post of "The Context"—a biweekly series of archival stories—offering our readers a useful background to some of the most important subjects in the news today. We hope you enjoy it. As the battle for Mosul in 2016 was raging in Iraq and journalists headed toward the region, photojournalist Emilienne Malfatto went the opposite direction.
From Corporate Lawyer to Waffle Entrepreneur
By the time Emily Cole Groden, J.D. ’15, was 10 years old, she knew what she wanted to do for the rest of her life: practice corporate law. She didn’t know exactly what that entailed, but she was resolute in her decision. “My dad was a corporate lawyer, and we were very close,” she explains. “And so I figured, you know, if he likes it, I’ll like it.” But after a few years in corporate law, Groden switched to a less-trodden path: selling healthy, frozen waffles.
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