In this episode, The Daily reports on hot takes of the week, top Opinion stories of the past two weeks along with other op-ed and contributing pieces that we received. The Daily explores graduation advice, documentary “October 8” and the behind the scenes of Bill Gates’ innovation process.
JILLIAN MOORE: My hot take is that red carpet fashion is so back. I think we’ll be looking at celebrity culture even more than we’re looking at the big fashion runway brands, so that’s super exciting for me.
HANNAH WEBSTER: My hot take is that even though it’s getting slightly warmer, I can’t study outside. I don’t understand how people focus when they’re outside and everyone’s walking by on campus, but I always see people at picnic tables around campus.
MADELINE KING: My hot take is that ranch is overrated and the average salad is better without any dressing at all, because the Earth gives us all the natural ingredients we need, so why should we need dressing?
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ALEXANDER HERNANDEZ GONZALEZ: You just heard hot takes from Multimedia Managing Editor Jillian Moore, Copy Chief Hannah Webster and Arts and Entertainment Editor Madeline King.
From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Alexander Hernandez Gonzalez.
ALICE OH: And I’m Alice Oh. We’re so back. This is Who Asked You?, a podcast capturing opinions on the issues that matter to us and you.
ALEXANDER HERNANDEZ GONZALEZ: Hello! This is Episode Four! Well, yes, it’s technically five, but you know what I mean. I hope you are doing okay and are ready to get into the conversation mode, so let’s get this show on the road!
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ALEXANDER HERNANDEZ GONZALEZ: Op-ed Contributor and former Forum editor of The Daily Troy Appel raised a very interesting question to our readers: Can he graduate again? With Steve Carell as the 2025 Commencement speaker, he gives our soon-to-be grads some advice.
What do you think, Alice?
ALICE OH: Looks like Steve Carell has a lot to live up to now. Let’s see if he really breaks the mold of the cliche “the whole world is ahead of you” commencement speeches. I’m not particularly a fan of “The Office,” but I’m hoping Carell will be able to bring some laughter to nervous graduates.
ALEXANDER HERNANDEZ GONZALEZ: I feel like when this announcement came out, it was so sudden. I feel like even last year, I remember that excitement of Kathryn Hahn being the commencement speaker, and now with Steve Carell, with his main roles — “The Office,” “Despicable Me,” “Minions,” stuff like that. Yeah, it should be fun with Steve Carell. He’s a funny guy. (I’m) not that in touch or locked in into “The Office,” but I like some of his other stuff, like the “Minions.”
ALICE OH: Everyone expects him to be funny, so I’m excited about that. But also, I’m really curious about what actual advice he has to give graduates and I know everyone was reposting a lot on Instagram, and that’s how I found out.
ALEXANDER HERNANDEZ GONZALEZ: All the sort of funny stuff aside, I feel like he would have some interesting things to say, especially since he has kids that have gone to Northwestern and stuff like that. So I feel like it would be very interesting just to see what he brings to, you know, the commencement, and what sort of advice he would give to seniors, especially during a time where things are not going the smoothest currently, but hey, it’s fine. We’ll see what sort of light he brings into their commencement in the spring.
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ALICE OH: Medill junior Tobias Khabie offers his perspective as a member of the Jewish community and family member to residents of Israel. It’s a deeply emotional piece that calls out forms of antisemitism that have been excused during the ongoing war.
Alex, what were your impressions of this piece?
ALEXANDER HERNANDEZ GONZALEZ: I feel like this piece was very unique in the way that it sort of put his connection to the current and still ongoing Israel-Hamas War. And I just feel like this sort of approach of, yeah, just promoting “October 8,” the documentary that he does mention this piece, was very interesting.
And also just in general, how just students at Northwestern should be supporting their Jewish peers, specifically through this movie. I feel like even still there’s not a lot of conversation around, like, the sort of impacts that these sort of international situations have to students from Israel and Palestine, and the sort of ways that they, you know, transcribe themselves through film, media and journalism. So, I feel like this was a very interesting approach and something I appreciated.
ALICE OH: He definitely uses a lot of kind of graphic language, which I think is necessary, because those things are kind of covered up a little bit in media, or censored online, so I personally wasn’t able to see this side of the war previously, but now I’m, I know exactly the type of personal impact that it had on him. So definitely very eye-opening, I’d say, and super vulnerable. I really appreciate that he, you know, exposes his family and his background and how that impacts him more.
ALEXANDER HERNANDEZ GONZALEZ: Yeah, and I just feel like that sort of approach and like that sort of like perspective that he did take through was, very personal, very raw, which I appreciated, because I feel like it was sort of like, kind of like a personal narrative, like a POV or like point of view of his sort of experience when he got those WhatsApp messages from his family group chat, and then how what he saw on social media like impacted him and his family members that are here. And just in general, that sort of way that, kind of like you mentioned, the sort of being brutally honest, but also not being censored or filtered to the harsh realities that did occur from this sort of altercation and this sort of event. So, I do appreciate that sort of side that he does bring to this piece.
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ALEXANDER HERNANDEZ GONZALEZ: On Feb. 24, Opinion Contributor Aidan Klineman wrote about his experience at Bill Gates’ talk surrounding his latest memoir “Source Code” and the takeaways he will take along with him.
Did you have any takeaways from this piece, Alice?
ALICE OH: First off, what a once-in-a-lifetime event. It’s such a heartwarming story about the people and specifically, the friendships behind world-altering innovations and humanizes such insane developments.
So, I think we don’t often think about the behind the scenes, and we think about, you know, one person, we kind of idolize them, like Bill Gates. We don’t think about the friends that helped us along the way and the family members.
ALEXANDER HERNANDEZ GONZALEZ: I like the spontaneity sort of aspect to Aidan going into this sort of event.
I’ve probably mentioned multiple times, or, you know, in my sort of spontaneity op-ed, I just love the feeling of doing something on the spot and seeing what sort of outcomes you can get from it. And I feel like with this sort of situation, it’s a shining example of what spontaneity can provide to you.
And specifically towards the point of Bill Gates being very honest about the friends that helped him develop Microsoft, the sort of background he had in high school, having access to a computer, and just in general, the sort of hardships and realities that he did face as a child and as a teenager going into, you know, the higher education and just in general, starting to develop Microsoft with his friends and the sort of situations that he did have to endure, while actively gaining all this success, with that sort of success being at the main point, you just almost forget about all the realities and hardships that do come along with those successes.
So, it was very interesting. I appreciated this read a lot.
ALICE OH: I think usually, if you would, if you imagine, “oh, a Bill Gates talk,” you would think, “Oh, he’s talking about his success story.” You know, he’s talking about Microsoft and this product that he developed. But no, it’s more about the people that help you along the journey and the process of it, rather than the product.
So I think, you know, super insightful. It’s something that we need to remember. I think as ambitious students, sometimes we think about our end goal and not really the friends that we’re making along the way, where we kind of take these moments for granted, so definitely something to learn from.
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ALEXANDER HERNANDEZ GONZALEZ: Here are the other opinions from the last two weeks:
Fourth Wall: For this Presidents’ Day, a mediocre President by Opinion Contributor Aidan Klineman
LTE: As an Evanston resident, Northwestern — do better! by Op-ed Contributor Maria Tolpin
The transgender umbrella is failing — it’s time to face the truth by Op-ed Contributor Kevin Waldman
It will always be the ‘Gulf of Mexico’ by Opinion Editor Alexander Hernandez Gonzalez
Communal Shower Thoughts: Oversharers by Opinion Contributor Sylvie Slotkin
LTE: A response to Waldman as a nonbinary person by Op-ed Contributor Francesca Martinez
We Can Not Trade Hate for Hate by Op-ed Contributor Franke Gordon
Small businesses are needed more than ever by Opinion Editor Alexander Hernandez Gonzalez
Evanston’s Asian food scene needs an upgrade by Assistant Opinion Editor Alice Oh
Best Guess: The world is pie and other lies by Opinion Contributor Mika Ellison
Communal Shower Thoughts: Dance floor makeouts by Opinion Contributor Sylvie Slotkin
LTE: An open letter from SHAPE NU – Trump’s administration is impacting sexual health by SHAPE NU
Toward a New Magazine by Op-ed Contributor Allen You and
LTE: When questioning gender theory becomes an academic sin by Op-ed Contributor Kevin Waldman.
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ALICE OH: Do you have a hot take? Send it to [email protected] with the subject line “Hot Take” along with your detailed hot take to be featured in the next episode.
ALEXANDER HERNANDEZ GONZALEZ: From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Alexander Hernandez Gonzalez.
ALICE OH: And I’m Alice Oh. Thanks for listening to another episode of Who Asked You?
ALEXANDER HERNANDEZ GONZALEZ: This episode was reported by Alexander Hernandez Gonzalez and Alice Oh and produced by Anavi Prakash.
The Audio Editor is Anavi Prakash. The Multimedia Managing Editors are Kelley Lu and Jillian Moore. The Editor in Chief is Lily Ogburn.
Our theme music is “Thoughts” by KaizanBlu, used under a Creative Commons 4.0 International license and provided by the Free Music Archive.
Follow us on X and Instagram @thedailynu.
Alexander Hernandez Gonzalez is a Medill sophomore. He can be contacted at [email protected]. Alice Oh is a Medill and Bienen sophomore. She can be contacted at [email protected]. If you would like to respond publicly to this opinion episode, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.
Related Stories:
— Who Asked You: Best of Evanston edition
— Hernandez Gonzalez: It will always be the ‘Gulf of Mexico’
— You: Toward a New Magazine
