Joe & Mika Join Harvard Institute of Politics As Visiting Fellows Summer/Fall 2017

MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough wore matching blue and white checked shirts on this morning's broadcast, carrying their engaged togetherness to a new level. The duo is clearly positioning themselves as the kind of bridge that America needs between a Conservative Republican (Scarborough) and Progressive Democrat (Brzezinski). It's not a bad idea because depending on just how intensely the Sanders camp holds the Democratic party in check, an alliance between the giant American middle is possible between educated liberal Democrats and moderate Republicans. 

Harvard Kennedy's School's Institute of Politics (IOP) has announced that the 'Morning Joe' duo will serve as Visiting Fellows this summer and fall. 

“For several years, ‘Morning Joe’ has been at the forefront of covering millennials in politics, and at Harvard they will engage directly with the young people who will reconnect America and serve as future political leaders,” said Congressman Bill Delahunt, Interim Director of the Institute of Politics.

Scarborough and Brzezinski will launch their IOP activities with a Washington, D.C. event bringing IOP students and alumni together in the Summer in Washington program. The couple will engage in Harvard campus events this fall. 

As a fellow, Brzezinski will work with Harvard researchers on two books: one on millennial women and one on women making comebacks in their careers. She said the media duo is eager to better understand student perspectives on the media and politics in a time of “great stress and upheaval.”

“It raises questions about how news is gathered, disseminated and consumed—it would be fascinating to have that conversation with the future,” she said.

Scarborough observed that many schools are stuck in “inward intellectual bubbles just like the media has been in ideological bubbles.” He hopes to encourage students to broaden their perspectives and information inputs.

Since 1966, the IOP Fellows Program has brought professionals in politics and public service to Harvard to share their experiences with students and the Harvard community and explore the most pressing public issues of the day. Former fellows include senators, governors, journalists and foreign leaders.