Iran's Low Cost, High Reward Strategy with International Relations Professor Michael Butler

Sounds of Clark University Commencement 2026

On this episode of Challenge. Change., relive the highlights of Commencement 2026, held on Monday, May 18, at the DCU Center in Worcester. Commencement speakers — including renowned astrophysicist and University of Chicago Professor Wendy L. Freedman; Sir Andrew Steer, one of the world’s foremost climate experts; Board of Trustees chair Roy DiNicola '90; William Stafford '26; and Nourhan Beshir Attia, M.S. '26 — noted the challenges that graduates, and the rest of the world, will face in the coming years, climate change chief among them. But they also underscored the importance of determination and confidence. Challenge. Change. is produced by Melissa Hanson for Clark University. Listen and subscribe on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/4UuYAjq1d3Hq45cjwxoCNL] or Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/challenge-change/id1608025510]. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.

Sustainable Beauty and Safe Products with Mia Davis '01, M.A. '03

Mia Davis '01, M.A. '03, remembers riding her bike to CVS as a kid to glance through the shampoos and conditioners available in the beauty aisles. Back then, she wondered why there were so many items and so much packaging — questions that remain relevant today. Davis has been working in the beauty industry as a sustainability leader for more than 15 years. She's currently the chief impact officer at Atmosphera, a climate-curated beauty brand that launched in the U.S. last month. Some of the biggest problems within the beauty industry are a lack of regulations around product safety and an overabundance of plastic packaging. "We really need to rethink the way that we're making this stuff, which is mostly plastic, and will be here on the planet long after we're gone. When you ask customers if they would like more sustainable packaging, they say yes," says Davis. "It really comes down to where company values are and if they're being made to do it because of policy or because of consumer demand and market regulation." On this episode of Challenge. Change., Davis speaks about enacting holistic sustainability practices and what it may take to make the beauty industry safer for people and the planet. "My blame here squarely lies with a chemical industry that's been really enjoying not having to test or disclose hazard data, sustainability information, worker rights information," she says. "I don't think that you, as a consumer, should have to have a Ph.D. in chemistry or be chasing down the supply chain to figure out if your shampoo is up to par. But I do think that the more educated we are, and the more questions we ask of companies, retailers, and policy-makers, that is how change happens. Challenge. Change. is produced by Melissa Hanson for Clark University. Listen and subscribe on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/4UuYAjq1d3Hq45cjwxoCNL] or Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/challenge-change/id1608025510]. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.

Detention Centers, Migration, and Isolation with Professors Asha Best and Emma Shaw Crane

On this episode of Challenge. Change., Clark University Professor Asha Best [https://www.clarku.edu/faculty/profiles/asha-best/] and Stanford University Professor Emma Shaw Crane [https://anthropology.stanford.edu/people/emma-shaw-crane]discuss detention and migration in the United States and why the government chooses remote locations for detention centers. "We can understand migrant detention alongside things like prisons and jails as fundamentally projects that are about breaking relationships and removing people from their families and communities as a form of punishment and as a form of torture," says Crane. "The placement of migrant detention centers in remote places is a part of this project of breaking relationships." Best believes that creative thinking about how to repair relationships without imprisoning people is necessary. "We have to become more imaginative in our solutions to problems," says Best. "This is about having a greater political imagination for how we think about problems, whether or not you think that's a problem of resource distribution or a problem of harm." Challenge. Change. is produced by Melissa Hanson for Clark University. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.

Iran's Low Cost, High Reward Strategy with International Relations Professor Michael Butler

On this episode of Challenge. Change., Michael Butler [https://www.clarku.edu/faculty/profiles/michael-butler/], chair of Clark's Political Science Department [https://www.clarku.edu/departments/political-science/]and professor of international relations, analyzes the war in Iran through the lens of international security and conflict resolution. "There's no real incentive or need for Iran to seek an exit strategy here," says Butler. "The Strait of Hormuz is a particularly good example of that. It’s a highly defensible waterway. It's a hugely significant one, but it's so narrow — with a few mines and with a relatively short distance, cruise missiles, and drones, they can turn that into a strategic nightmare. And there's not much that the U.S. can do about it, at least not without a more extensive escalation." Challenge. Change. is produced by Melissa Hanson for Clark University. Listen and subscribe on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/4UuYAjq1d3Hq45cjwxoCNL] or Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/challenge-change/id1608025510]. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts. Note: This episode was recorded on March 16. Details about the war in Iran have evolved since then.

Cataloging the Legacy of Robert and Esther Goddard with Katie Stebbins '10, Clark University's Digital Projects Librarian

Katie Stebbins ’10 of course became familiar with the name Robert Goddard during her time as a Clarkie — the University’s library is named after the physicist and alum who launched the world’s first liquid fuel rocket on March 16, 1926, an accomplishment that allowed man to reach the moon just 43 years later. But Stebbins, Clark’s digital projects librarian, did not have a deep knowledge of Goddard’s life, or of the influence of his wife, Esther Goddard, until she began organizing a special digital exhibit [https://clarkrhgcentennial.omeka.net/] of Goddard artifacts to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the rocket launch. “I look at Goddard as a gateway figure to a lot of 20th-century history, culture, and technology,” says Stebbins. On this episode of Challenge. Change., Stebbins offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into what it takes to organize a digital archive and shares more about the life of Esther Goddard, and how she supported Robert’s rocket experiments. “They were a team,” says Stebbins. “People have spent way too long talking about Robert without talking about Esther. She was his typist and his business manager. She photographed all the equipment. She had a movie camera, and she filmed all his tests. She transcribed and copied all his materials. She gave speeches, she did outreach. You can also only get to know him through her in a certain way.” To learn more about Robert and Esther Goddard, view 1. The digital exhibit [https://clarkrhgcentennial.omeka.net/] from Clark’s Robert H. Goddard Library 2. Clark’s Robert H. Goddard Collection [https://commons.clarku.edu/goddardcollection/] 3. Clark’s Goddard Centennial Website [https://www.clarku.edu/goddard/] Challenge. Change. is produced by Melissa Hanson for Clark University. Listen and subscribe on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/4UuYAjq1d3Hq45cjwxoCNL] or Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/challenge-change/id1608025510]. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.