On this episode of Challenge. Change., Clark University Professor Asha Best and Stanford University Professor 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.

On this episode of Challenge. Change., Michael Butler, chair of Clark's Political Science Department 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 or Apple Podcasts. 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.

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 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 from Clark’s Robert H. Goddard Library
2. Clark’s Robert H. Goddard Collection
3. Clark’s Goddard Centennial Website

Challenge. Change. is produced by Melissa Hanson for Clark University. Listen and subscribe on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.