The Story Behind the Most Famous Christmas Poem of All
The improbable tale of Santa Claus, Columbia, and Clement Clarke Moore’s “A Visit from St. Nicholas"
15 Unique Holiday Gifts from Columbia Alumni
Surprise your friends and family this December with scents, spices, and more
‘Santa Baby’ Changed My Life
For songwriter Philip Springer ’50CC, this Christmas classic is the gift that keeps on giving
11 Holiday Movies with Columbia Connections
From musical rom-coms to nostalgic TV specials, Columbia graduates (and dropouts) have worked on a variety of Christmas classics
Recent Stories
Can We Stop the Next Pandemic?
Hit with budget cuts, Columbia’s Global Alliance for Preventing Pandemics is working to get ahead of the next mass outbreak
How Corporations Trap Us Inside ‘Convenience Cocoons’
In The Age of Extraction, law professor Tim Wu warns about the unchecked power of tech platforms to manipulate our spending habits and emotions
The Many Shades of Authoritarianism
At Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute, pro-democracy activists from four different countries shared stories of repression and resilience
7 New Movies from Columbia Alumni Filmmakers
Stream or see in theaters these notable releases from Columbia directors, screenwriters, and producers
Spanish-Language Radio Has a Disinformation Problem
Verdad, an app founded by Martina Guzmán ’08JRN, uses AI to find conspiracy theories broadcasted on the air
How Reality TV Oversells the American Dream
Shows like American Idol and MasterChef give viewers an inflated sense of their own economic prospects, finds Columbia political scientist Eunji Kim
A Retail Innovator Looks to a More Sustainable Future
Yoox founder Federico Marchetti ’99BUS discusses teaming up with King Charles III, publishing a memoir, and trying to make luxury fashion more environmentally friendly
Think Like a Data Scientist — No Coding Required
In The Little Book of Data, ad-tech executive Justin Evans ’93CC shows that anyone can succeed in our information-based economy
The Myth of Competition
In Uncompete, Ruchika T. Malhotra ’10JRN touts the benefits of collaborating over competing, and gives concrete strategies for how to do it
Books
How Do You Write the Story of Mike Tyson?
For Baddest Man: The Making of Mike Tyson, Mark Kriegel ’86JRN had to revisit his own past as a sportswriter
Greed, Exploitation, and Elephants: The Story of a Failed Congo Conquest
A Training School for Elephants, by travel writer Sophy Roberts ’97JRN, tells the little-known tale of a Belgian king and Irish fixer in Africa
A Human History of Ancient Mesopotamia
In Between Two Rivers, Oxford historian Moudhy Al-Rashid ’05CC finds relatable slices of life in five-thousand-year-old clay tablets
The Dark and Enduring Legacy of Residential Schools
In We Survived the Night, Julian Brave NoiseCat ’15CC takes a deeply personal look at the historic efforts to erase Native culture