Berkeley Talks

Latest Episodes:

New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor on breaking the story that ignited #MeToo Jan 15, 2019

Show notes

Jodi Kantor is a New York Times investigative reporter and a recipient of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for her reporting on the #MeToo movement. Her work has exposed abuses of power, from Harvey Weinstein to Amazon. Kantor joined UC Berkeley's 2018 graduation celebrations as the commencement speaker for journalism students. Afterwards, she sat down with former Mother Jones editor Deirdre English to discuss the reporting process and holding established systems accountable.

This interview was recorded on May 24, 2018, for On Mic, a podcast by the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. It was produced by Lee Mengistu and Cat Schuknecht. For more conversations with some of the world's best writers, journalists and documentarians, check out other On Mic episodes. Technical facilities for On Mic are underwritten by the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation.

Listen and read the transcript on Berkeley News (news.berkeley.edu).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Berkeley Law Professor Daniel Farber on presidential power and individual rights Jan 07, 2019

Show notes

Presidential power is always a hot topic, but never more so than today. This lecture, given by Berkeley Law Professor Daniel Farber on Sept. 25, 2018, explains the constitutional limits on the president and how individual rights are affected. Dan Farber is the Sho Sato Professor of Law at UC Berkeley and the faculty director of the Center for Law, Energy and the Environment. Professor Farber serves on the editorial board of Foundation Press. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Life Member of the American Law Institute. He is the editor of Issues in Legal Scholarship. He is the author of 18 books including, Research Handbook on Public Choice and Public Law, Judgment Calls: Politics and Principle in Constitutional Law, and Retained by the People: The Silent 'Ninth' Amendment and the Rights Americans Don’t Know They Have. He is also the author of Presidential Administration Under Trump.

Listen and read the transcript on Berkeley News.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Astronomer Bob Kirshner on the accelerating universe to accelerating science Dec 25, 2018

Show notes

Twenty years ago, astronomers were astonished to learn from observations of exploding stars that cosmic expansion is speeding up. We attribute this to a mysterious “dark energy” that pervades the universe and makes up 70 percent of it. Scientists are working in many ways to learn more about the nature of dark energy, but our reservoir of ignorance is deep.

On Oct. 24, astronomer Bob Kirshner gave the 2018 Distinguished Lecture in Astronomy, “From the Accelerating Universe to Accelerating Science,” for which he summarizes the present state of knowledge and looks ahead to new ways to use infrared observations of supernovae to improve our grip on dark energy.

Kirshner leads the science program at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, which makes over $100 million in grants for basic science each year, and served on the astronomy faculty at Harvard for 30 years.

The Distinguished Lecture in Astronomy is an annual public lecture sponsored by the Department of Astronomy at UC Berkeley.

Listen and read the transcript on Berkeley News.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Clinicians discuss where health and human rights meet Dec 24, 2018

Show notes

There are a greater number of forcibly displaced people in the world today than at any time since the end of World War II, and the Bay Area has welcomed many of these individuals. Hear from clinicians, including Sita Patel, who received her master’s degree and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from UC Berkeley and is an associate professor in clinical psychology at Palo Alto University, who are working directly with Bay Area refugees and asylum seekers about how they are restoring health and awakening hope in response to human rights abuses.

This Commonwealth Club of California program, called “A Global Perspective on Healing After Trauma: Where Health and Human Rights Meet,” took place on Nov. 15, 2018 and was supported by the Northern California Grantmakers Funder Network on Trauma and Resilience.

Listen and read the transcript on Berkeley News.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Pollan on science, psychedelics and the human mind Dec 22, 2018

Show notes

In May 2018, Michael Pollan, the Knight Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism at UC Berkeley and author of a multitude of best-sellers, including The Omnivore’s Dilemma, sat down with former Mother Jones editor Deirdre English to discuss his new book, How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression and Transcendence.

This interview was recorded for On Mic, a podcast by the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. It was produced by Lee Mengistu and Cat Schuknecht. For more fascinating conversations with some of the world's best writers, journalists and documentarians, check out other On Mic episodes. Technical facilities for On Mic are underwritten by the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation.

Listen and read the transcript on Berkeley News.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jennifer Doudna on gene editing and the unthinkable power to control evolution Dec 01, 2018

Show notes

Berkeley biochemist Jennifer Doudna joins oncologist Siddartha Mukherjee to discuss unprecedented advancements in gene editing and the effect new technologies will have on the future of humanity.

Dr. Doudna’s research has led to what is being called the biggest scientific discovery of our era: the development of the genetic editing tool, CRISPR-Cas9. This revolutionary technology has quickly transformed the landscape of genome engineering, creating limitless possibilities for impact within biomedicine, agriculture, climate and energy, and more, including treating — and possibly curing — genetic diseases.

Dr. Mukherjee is a celebrated physician and researcher. His book, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, won the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction in 2011, was named one of the 100 most influential books written in English since 1923 by TIME magazine, and was listed as one of the 100 notable books of 2010 by the New York Times magazine.

This conversation, which took place on Jan. 18, 2018, was sponsored by the Innovative Genomics Institute.

Listen and read the transcript on Berkeley News.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anthropologist Eugenie Scott on evolution and creationism as science and myth Nov 30, 2018

Show notes

Myths symbolize ideas, values, history and other issues that are important to a people. They may be true or false, mundane or fantastic; their significance is their meaning, not their narrative content. Science is a way of knowing about the natural world. Its conclusions tentatively may be true or false, but its significance is its explanatory power: one has confidence in the process of science, even though some explanations change over time.

Myth and science thus seem very different, but each has been utilized by proponents of both sides of the Christian creationism and evolution controversy.

Anthropologist Eugenie Scott, founding executive director of the National Center for Science Education Understanding, explores how this role is essential in comprehending — much less mediating — this persistent conflict.

Sponsored by the Graduate Division, this lecture, given on Oct. 4, 2018, is part of the Charles M. and Martha Hitchcock Lecture Series.

Listen and read the transcript on Berkeley News.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Reich on why the common good disappeared and how we get it back Nov 29, 2018

Show notes

Professor of Public Policy Robert B. Reich ignites a discussion of the good we have had in common, what happened to it and what we might do to restore it. His goal is not that we all agree on the common good. It is that we get into the habit of thinking and talking about it, listening to each other's views and providing a means for people with opposing views to debate these questions civilly.

This lecture, given on Oct. 12, 2018, was presented by the Cal Class of 1968 and the Goldman School of Public Policy's Center on Civility and Democratic Engagement, which was founded by the Class of 1968.

Listen and read the transcript onBerkeley News.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Artistic Director Robert Battle on the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Nov 29, 2018

Show notes

For over 50 years, Cal Performances at UC Berkeley has fostered a strong partnership with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Since the company's debut performance at Wheeler Hall in March of 1968, it has played a central role in Cal Performances’ dance programming for half a century. To commemorate the milestone 50th anniversary, then-executive and artistic director of Cal Performances Matías Tarnopolsky sat down with Battle in March 2018 for a conversation about his experience as an African American choreographer, artistic influences and vision for the Ailey company.

Listen and read the transcript on Berkeley News.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Commentator Van Jones on seeking environmental justice during climate change Nov 27, 2018

Show notes

Across America, low-income and minority communities are being hit hardest by the economic and health impacts of climate change. Van Jones — news commentator, author and founder of Dream Corps — discusses how we can seek environmental justice for the country’s most vulnerable communities.

This talk, given on Nov. 13, 2018, is the UC Berkeley College of Natural Resources Horace M. Albright Lecture in Conservation and also part of the UC Berkeley School of Public Health’s 75th Anniversary Speaker Series.

Listen to the episode and read the transcript on Berkeley News (news.berkeley.edu).

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected