Our Impact: Public Discourse
Public Discourse:
How does Hastings shape public understanding and conversation?
Our work aims for positive impact that makes the world a better place. Engagement and communication are core aspects of our mission. We shape public discourse on timely issues through webinars and other events, commentaries in Hastings Bioethics Forum, and media interviews.
- Webinars and other events: Our timely webinars include a series, launched in December 2025, on Frontiers in the Ethics of Human Reproduction, and the Big Question series, a collaboration between Hastings and the Museum of Science in Boston.
- Hastings Bioethics Forum: Our online publication publishes topical commentary that rapidly addresses emerging bioethics-related issues.
- Hastings in the media: Hastings experts are frequently quoted in the media, including the New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, and TV news. Recent examples include:
60 Minutes features Vardit Ravitsky in a segment on egg freezing. Egg freezing popularity increasing among young women to preserve their fertility – CBS News
NPR interviews Vardit Ravitsky on polygenic embryo screening. Autism, Cancer, and genetic testing : It’s Been a Minute : NPR
The New York Times essay quotes Vardit Ravitsky on the ethics of genetic testing of embryos before implantation. Opinion | I.V.F., Gene Selection and Embryo Screening: Is This the Future of Making Babies? – The New York Times
The Washington Post quotes Greg Kaebnick about the ethics of deliberate extinction. Mosquitoes could be driven to extinction with gene editing – The Washington Post
Fortune quotes Nancy Berlinger on the promise of AI chatbots to ease older people’s loneliness. The reality of AI’s promise to curb older adults’ loneliness | Fortune Well
USA Today mentions The Hastings Center and a Hastings Bioethics Forum essay on the anniversary of Terri Schiavo’s death. Terri Schiavo’s death divided America. The debate it raised lives on.
New York Times quotes Nancy Berlinger on ethical questions about memory care facilities. These Settings Aren’t Real. But for Dementia Patients, What Is? – The New York Times
NPR Morning Edition quotes Karen Maschke on the first living person in the world to get a pig kidney transplant. Surgeons transplant a genetically modified pig kidney into a human : Shots – Health News : NPR
