Hammer and Chisel

Santa Clara Magazine talks with Madeleine Albright—about Putin and Ukraine, Havel and the Czechs, and Foreign Policy 101.

Some advice that Madeleine Albright shares: “Foreign policy is just trying to get some country to do what you want.” Which leads to a question: “So, what are the tools?” The first woman to serve as secretary of state, she spoke with SCM in May. We discussed a course that she’s taught, The National Security Toolbox (perhaps the topic for her next book, “a kind of Foreign Policy 101”); we covered Russia, Putin, and Ukraine; and the Czech lands and Václav Havel. Albright was present for the unveiling of the bust of Havel in the U.S. Capitol last year, and the playwright-turned-president remains a touchstone for her as “a great kind of ethical and moral figure … My parents were part of the first generation of Czechoslovaks and very proud of this democracy. And it was destroyed.”

post-image Madeleine Albright: on campus for the President's Series in May for a talk and student Q&A. Illustration by Sam Kerr
Spin Masters

In searching for patterns that would differentiate one species of webspinners from the next, Professor Janice Edgerly-Rooks wondered: What if you put their steps to music? Would you be able to hear the differences?

A Strong Red

Santa Clara’s signature red has been around since the late 1800s. Before it was made official, though, we were almost the blue Broncos.

Unspooling Stories

Art historian Andrea Pappas explores the sneaky feminism woven into colonial embroideries.

The Pope, AI, and Us

Santa Clara’s Markkula Center joins the Vatican in contemplating—what else?—the ethics of AI and other disruptive tech.