Quantum Potential

Retired four-star general Paul M. Nakasone is challenging outdated ideas about what keeps a country safe.

In this episode of Quantum Potential, Gen. Nakasone, former NSA director, founding director of the Vanderbilt Institute of National Security, Distinguished Research Professor of Engineering Science and Management, and special advisor to the chancellor, joins Provost C. Cybele Raver to discuss the challenges of national security ...

In this episode of Quantum Potential, Amanda Little, writer-in-residence at Vanderbilt’s College of Arts and Science, joins Provost C. Cybele Raver to discuss how journalism can highlight the tipping points humanity faces and how people-first storytelling can move us from observation to action. Little shares how she uncovers the stories behind the science, making potentially polarizing topics digestible for broad audiences, and how...

In this episode of Quantum Potential, Craig Lindsley, William K. Warren, Jr. Professor of Medicine, University Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry, Chemistry and Pharmacology and executive director of the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, joins Provost C. Cybele Raver to discuss transformative research exploring how subtle tweaks to brain chemistry could change the way we treat neurodegenerative diseases and chroni...

In this episode of Quantum Potential, deconstruct the political polling process with Josh Clinton, co-director of the Vanderbilt Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, professor of political science and NBC News senior election analyst. Clinton joins Provost C. Cybele Raver to discuss how transparency and increasing public literacy about statistics—including an awareness of limitations—can disrupt Americans’ mounting dist...

In this live performance turned Quantum Potential episode, Provost C. Cybele Raver hosts an extraordinary musical collaboration between Ji Hye Jung, associate professor of percussion at Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music, and the multi–Grammy Award–winning Attacca Quartet—Amy Schroeder and Domenic Salerni (violins), Nathan Schram (viola), and Andrew Yee (cello). The result? A rich exploration of what it means to be a classical musi...

In this episode of Quantum Potential, Felipe Barrera-Osorio joins Provost C. Cybele Raver to discuss his groundbreaking research—comparing the impact of need-based versus merit-based micro-scholarship programs in rural, low-income communities in Cambodia, Colombia and Mexico. He explains how these programs were so successful that national governments around the world expanded investments in education.

Associate Professor of Public P...

How does the part of the brain connected to learning intersect with addiction? In the latest episode of Provost C. Cybele Raver’s ‘Quantum Potential’ podcast, Erin Calipari, director of the Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research takes us inside the neuroscience of addiction. 

The Quantum Potential podcast is produced by Vanderbilt University. The leadership team includes Metanoya Z. Webb, director of content and editorial strategy...

In this thought-provoking episode of Quantum Potential, Vanderbilt University Provost C. Cybele Raver hosts renowned developmental psychologist David Yeager, professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, co-founder of the Texas Behavioral Science and Policy Institute, and author of 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People, for a closer look at how older adults can connect with and empower the next generation...

In this episode, Provost Raver welcomes chemist Brian Bachmann, who is the principal investigator for the Vanderbilt Laboratory for Biosynthetic Studies. Bachmann talks about his work discovering useful chemicals made from natural products (compounds made by tiny living things like bacteria and fungi) that are paving new avenues for drug discovery. He also unpacks how he is using biosynthesis to identify individuals’ specific type/...

How do we create a more “person-centered” judicial system, and when is fairness more valued than winning? Join the latest episode of Provost Cybele Raver’s ‘Quantum Potential’ podcast with law professor Lauren Sudeall. 

Vanderbilt University provost C. Cybele Raver explores civil justice inequities with Lauren Sudeall, law professor and director of Vanderbilt's Access to Justice program. Through her groundbreaking research in r...

In our premiere episode, Vanderbilt University provost C. Cybele Raver hosts acclaimed poet Major Jackson for a deep dive into what he calls "sacred secular conversation." During this extraordinary conversation, they explore the intersection of music and poetry, pluralism, and living with uncertainty. Jackson, who describes the act of writing as a “dialogue with the subconscious,” also reads from his latest book, Razzle D...

Journey into the Extraordinary - Join Vanderbilt University Provost C. Cybele Raver as she guides us through humanity’s greatest frontiers in her new Quantum Potential podcast. Tune in twice each month hear about Vanderbilt’s groundbreaking collaborations that weave together science and music, hard data and creative expression, empirical evidence and poetry—proving that in the pursuit of knowledge, there are no boundaries.

The Quant...