Interviews of Four MBArtists unveil the synergy between creative expression and business innovation According to official HBS data for the MBA class of 2027, only 5% of the student body majored in arts or humanities-related subjects at undergrad. This figure may bear little surprise to those who perceive business school as a petri dish for quarter zip-wearing cogs in the shareholder value machine. Yet, through the power of investigative journalism, I discovered four intriguin

Reflection, politics and confessions Editor’s Note: This issue’s From the Archives piece originally ran in November 2025, when deepening institutional crises in Venezuela became central to global strategic debates. Recent U.S. military action—the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro—and shifting sanctions and investment policies have thrust questions around the country’s stability, regional geopolitics, and America’s role in the world back into public attention. Ref

Combining the joys of education and the wonders of travel to get a secret-third thing Our final semester of Harvard Business School started in a spirit of irreverent disruption which belies the severely regimented nature of this MBA—with a snow day and cancelled classes leading into the chaotic add/drop period which comes with course selection. This is the only time you can (i) show up in class having brazenly not read the case (sloth) (ii) not show up at all (sloth pt. 2) (i

Jake Goodman (MBA ‘26) shares his reminders of patriotism The White House’s website declares “we have unmistakably entered a Golden Age of American greatness,” but you might not feel like it. I’m not talking about the kind of partisan battling that accompanies living under a president whose policies you may disagree with. I’m talking about how a sense of patriotism has become a political badge rather than a default state of national engagement. I’ve noticed an elevation in wh

This year marks the two hundred and fiftieth of the American experiment. It also marks the passing of the baton on to the ninetieth generation of this publication’s leadership. Holding it, we reckon with time - as do the institutions where longevity is both asset and liability. The Harbus  has long printed bound collections of every issue published during the school year. Our little office under Gallatin Hall, if you ever stop by and visit, has a shelf of them going back to t

Jess Williams’ (MBA ‘26) journey from South Dakota to HBS. As all of us learned during START week, students at HBS come from an almost unbelievable variety of backgrounds. My own section included classmates from 25 countries who collectively spoke 33 languages, and hallmark events like Flag Day reinforce the truly global nature of this place. This isn’t by accident. The admissions process intentionally solves for this, prioritizing unique experiences, geographic diversity, an

Dawn arrives for a new, yet old, American populism. America’s newest tribunes make for an unlikely pair. One of them built a career on the story of his origins. From Appalachia, he scaled the ladder that America keeps insisting still exists. Up, up he climbed, past the Marines, Ohio State, Yale Law, a bestselling memoir, and the Senate. The improbable final rung delivered him into the White House. Along the way, he accumulated patrons — professors, politicos, billionaires, a

How CPG brands launch, test, and learn in real time. In a pivotal case that could reshape the nation’s electoral landscape, the Supreme Court is set to decide whether Louisiana’s newly drawn congressional map — crafted to amplify voting power — crosses a constitutional line by prioritizing race over neutral redistricting principles. The paradox at the heart of this legal showdown — ensuring fair representation while avoiding racial gerrymandering — has the nation holding its

How CPG brands launch, test, and learn in real time. Every December, grocery aisles and online carts transform into test markets disguised as celebrations. Shelves fill with limited-edition packaging, seasonal flavors, and giftable product bundles all designed not only to capture holiday excitement but to generate priceless data. For consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies, the holidays are no longer just the biggest sales moment of the year; they are a strategic laboratory f

Opportunity begins when children have agency abundance. This year, the Cato Institute and YouGov found that   62%  of Americans under 30 view socialism favorably. Less than a decade ago, that figure was nearly 20 percentage points lower at 43% . The median age of a first-time homebuyer today is 40 years old . A current total of $1.8 trillion in student debt has expanded balance sheets more than opportunity. “Affordability,” the political buzzword of 2025, is emblematic of our

Many of you have likely come across David Epstein’s Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World . Epstein argues that, in an era that rewards adaptability, breadth of thought, and cross-domain synthesis, generalists often find creative solutions that specialists might overlook. But in a world increasingly shaped by AI, where specialized models outperform humans in narrow domains, and expertise can be outsourced to algorithms, what happens to the generalist edge? Thi

Jake Goodman (MBA ‘26) shares his musings as the leaves turn. Oh boy, by golly, deck the halls, it’s time to pontificate. I’m ready to make the argument that you don’t need to have passion for your career path. First, I will chart the history of career passion as a modern bourgeois phenomenon driven by the entanglement of the means of production with a consumerism that is obsessed with seeing the worker in the things consumed. Second, I will write a series of paragraphs that

As HBS students, we know how to dress for interviews and parties. But in the halls of Shad, our fashion instincts are tested. How do you project effortless cool and  Fortune 500 CEO potential with workout clothes? For context, I was diagnosed as fashionably challenged at age 10 (please clap) after wearing Velcro sneakers with flashing lights to the rec-center dance. Since then, I’ve sought to better understand my disability by observing the fashionably gifted. After years of

It’s not you. It’s all of us. Member 1 : Hey. Member 2 : Hi. Member 3 : Hello. Member 4 : I’m sorry for being late. I overslept. Should we start with FIN 1 today? Member 5 : Sorry I was also late. I was pitching my AI startup to a VC in London, and the call went over because we were riffing on API infrastructure. Member 6 : Me, too. Not the call part, but the remorse part. I was thinking hard about the best way to put this. Here goes. I can’t come to these anymore. Member 3 :