The Low Down

Several Columbia alumni are up for an award at this year's Tonys, set for Sunday, June 10 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Ahead of the event, which celebrates the best of the year in Broadway theater, read up on the talented and artistic Columbians in the running for the prize.

Arizona-based artist and photographer Lisa Robinson '90CC returns to the city of her Alma Mater this week, with the opening of her fascinating new exhibit, Terrestra.

If you haven’t heard of the Columbia Center for Jazz Studies, that’s a shame, but we can’t be too disappointed in you. After all, the center is still relatively new. It was founded in 1999 and, since then, it has been integrated into the Core Curriculum at Columbia College. That means a lot of College students are getting exposed to music that isn’t exactly topping the charts nowadays.

But the Center for Jazz Studies takes a more broad view of the genre than one might initially think. Courses at the center look at jazz as it relates to technology, community, innovation, and even neurology. It’s that last approach that you’re going to hear about in this episode.

Alex Finley* '94CC, '97JRN joined the CIA in 2003, where she spent close to six years as an officer of the CIA's Directorate of Operations, serving in West Africa and Europe. Before she joined the agency, she was no stranger to Washington DC or politics. As she puts it, "she chased puffy white men around Washington DC as a member of the wild dog pack better known as the Washington media elite."

After leaving the CIA in 2009, she returned to writing and soon found that her voice lent itself well to humor. In addition to her work for Slate, Reductress, and Funny or Die, she is also about to publish a book: Victor in the Rubble: A Satire of the CIA and the War on Terror, which goes on sale April 15. The book, which was inspired by her time at the CIA and some of the bureaucratic frustrations that she had, comes out next week. In a recent interview, Alex spoke about the book, her work with the agency, and what the future of the CIA might look like. 

From Rodger & Hammerstein's groundbreaking contributions to musical theater to Vampire Weekend's chart-topping indie rock, Columbians have made an indelible impression on the musical landscape. To highlight the impact they've had, we've compiled a short list of some of Columbia's musical heavy hitters, in order of graduation year.

We’re mixing things up a little bit here at The Low Down. We decided to feature a discussion from Past Present, a podcast that’s produced by three Columbia alumni: Nicole Hemmer '05GSAS, '06GSAS, '10GSAS (a research associate at the Miller Center for Public Affairs in Charlottesville, Virginia), Natalia Mehlman Petrzela '00CC (an assistant professor of history at The New School), and Neil Young '04GSAS, '05GSAS, '08GSAS (a historian and author of We Gather Together: The Religious Right and the Problem of Interfaith Politics).

Columbia Professor James Shapiro '77CC is no stranger to Shakespeare. He has lead lectures and seminars at Columbia about the bard since 1985 and has written several books on the subject. The talk we recorded specifically references his newest book, "The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606."

In this talk, Shapiro discusses the significance of that year, the events that influenced Shakespeare’s writing, why he chose to focus so intensely on Lear in this new book, and when his fascination with Shakespeare first began. So, curl up in a cozy armchair with a nice cup of tea and enjoy.

You might have seen Shakespeare in the news recently. Over 400 years ago, the Bard published three of his most famous tragedies (King Lear, Macbeth, and Antony and Cleopatra). Shakespeare's prolific year is the subject of a new book by James Shapiro ’77CC, The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606.

The Columbia University Club of New York and the Columbia Alumni Association (CAA) are hosted a special conversation with Shapiro about his new book in November 2015. To listen to an excerpt from his lecture, check out the podcast.

The book received a slew of praise from various publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Sunday Times.

Columbia News also posed five burning Shakespearean questions to Shapiro that you can check out here.

Amidst this publication news, there has been a flurry of Shakespearean controversy and Shapiro has been at the forefront of the debate.