Technology and the Public Interest
Books, essays, and commentary from John Palfrey
Essays
Notes from AI Action Summit in Delhi, India, February 2026
Reflections on AI, governance, and the public interest from the AI Action Summit in Delhi.
Read essayConcord Free Public Library 150th Anniversary Celebration
Remarks on libraries, civic institutions, and the enduring importance of public knowledge.
Read essayInvesting in the Arts—in Chicago and Beyond
Thoughts on philanthropy, culture, and why investing in the arts matters for public life.
Read essayCommentary from John Palfrey
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What I’m Looking For in a Short Paper: Hacking Class 2013-2014
I am teaching a winter-term seminar course at Phillips Academy to ten seniors entitled “Hacking: A Course in Experiments.” I had a great time teaching it last year as well with ten students (I miss them!), and now have the privilege of repeating it for a new group of students. We are starting today. The…
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Live-Blogged Notes from New York Times Schools for Tomorrow Conference 2013
These are my live-blogging notes from morning sessions — especially Sal Khan’s keynote — at the New York Times Schools Conference on September 17, 2013 at the Times Center. Here are some high-points from Sal Khan’s keynote, which expand on the basics about reach that you may already know (reaches 200 countries, 8 million registered…
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Bookshelf: Ideas for Secondary School Teachers, with a Bent Toward the Digital
In each of the last two academic years, I’ve made short lists of books I’ve liked, related mostly (but not exclusively) to secondary education and the digital world, to share with the faculty of Phillips Academy. We buy a stack of each of the books, placed on the shelf outside my office, and share them…
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All-School Meeting Remarks: Opening of School, 2013 at Phillips Academy
I thought I would share on this blog a copy of what I said, more or less, to the assembled 1,129 students and to hundreds of faculty of Phillips Academy this morning to open our school year. The All School Meeting, held in Cochran Chapel, started with a procession of 58 flags representing the countries…
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Khan Academy meets Phillips Academy
Sal Khan and his traveling team of six teachers and developers from Khan Academy are on campus at Phillips Academy this morning. We are delighted to welcome them to a special faculty meeting. We are pleased to welcome friends from the Andover public schools ( Superintendent Marinel McGrath and AHS Principal Christopher Lord), the Lawrence…
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“Super late to the party: Dan Cohen & the DPLA”
Super late to the party: Dan Cohen & the DPLA. An enthusiastic take by Sarah Barbrow on Dan Cohen’s appointment as the founding executive director of the Digital Public Library of America, which I share.
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Do We Still Need Libraries?
The New York Times is running one of its Room for Debate series on the future of libraries. The four debaters (so far) are Luis Herrera, director of the San Francisco Public Library (and a board member of the Digital Public Library of America); Susan Crawford, visiting professor at Harvard Law School; Buffy J. Hamilton,…
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Concussion: Returning the Student Athlete Back to Life, with Dr. Gerard Gioia
Tonight at the Phillips Academy faculty meeting, we are talking with Dr. Gerard Gioia of the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC. The purpose of this discussion is to ensure that we are adopting best practices to protect our students from traumatic brain injury (TBI), or concussions, and that we have sound policies and…
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Claude Steele’s Whistling Vivaldi: And Other Clues to How Stereoptypes Affect Us
Book page for Claude Steele, Whistling VivaldiTonight in the faculty meeting at Phillips Academy, we will discuss Claude Steele’s Whistling Vivaldi. It’s an exceptionally good book on many levels. The social science is deep and revealing; the personal narratives are compelling; and the ideas for concrete action at schools are constructive. It seems fitting to be…
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Mimi Ito Comes to Andover
This morning, Prof. Mizuko (Mimi) Ito is at Phillips Academy, Andover, to lead us, as a faculty, in a community conversation to start off the year. Mimi is setting forth the core data and arguments behind Connected Learning, which is our professional development theme at Andover for the year. She has us all on an…
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New post on a new blog
With thanks to my friends at Phillips Academy and the Berkman Center, I’ve got a new look to my old blog. I’m excited to write my first post to try it out, on the day when all the Phillips Academy faculty return from the summer (welcome back, colleagues!) for our Convocation ceremony together tonight in…