Laurie Zoloth, PhD

Prof. Zoloth discusses growing up in Los Angeles influenced by her post-war immigrant Jewish parents and the political activism of the 1960s. She describes going on the first Venceremos Brigade to Cuba, traveling by invitation to Maoist China as a trade unionist in the early 1970s, and becoming a licensed vocational nurse in Philadelphia. After moving to Berkeley, CA, Zoloth discusses her growing interest in philosophy, religion, and ethics at San Francisco State University. She describes her involvement in founding various organizations like the Society for Jewish Ethics and the International Society for Stem Cell Research. Zoloth recounts her experiences with “bioethics summer camp,” a relaxed event where bioethicists could discuss complex issues together. She details her work as an investigator and chair of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Bioethics Advisory Board, most notably during the 9/11 attacks, and as a bioethics advisor for NASA on issues like planetary protection, the ethics of space exploration, and the “Sundowner Report” on animal ethics.

She discusses her teaching and scholarship at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago and reflects on the challenges of balancing her career while raising five children. The interview concludes with a discussion of the role of bioethics in anticipating and reflecting on the ethical implications of climate science, scientific research, and public health. In her role as a scholar of ancient religious texts, she ends the conversation with thoughts about the importance of memory and prophecy in philosophy and theology.