Berkeley Talks

In episode 130 of Berkeley Talks, Eva Paterson, president and co-founder of the Equal Justice Society, talks in 2017 with Savala Nolan (then Savala Trepczynski), director of Berkeley Law's Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice, about when Paterson first realized the need for social justice, litigating implicit bias and why she loves — and hates — America. This conversation first appeared on Nolan's 2017 summer podcast series, Be the Change.Berkeley Talks is going on winter break. We'll be back with new episodes on Jan. 14, 2022.Listen to the episode and read a transcript on Berkeley News. (This page will go live Friday afternoon.)(The Atlantic photo by Edwin Tse) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Lewis Feldman, UC Berkeley professor of plant biology and executive director of the UC Botanical Garden, explores why some leaves appear to change color in the fall season — exhibiting reds, oranges and yellows — and the environmental influences that affect the brilliance of these colors. He also explains the evolutionary benefits of a tree losing its leaves.Listen to the episode and read a transcript on Berkeley News. (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A panel of artists, organizers and academics discuss UC Berkeley professor Eric Stanley's 2021 book that interrogates why, in a time when we're told LGBT rights are advancing in the U.S., anti-trans violence continues to rise.Panelists include:Angela Y. Davis, professor emerita, UC Santa CruzDean Spade, professor, Seattle University School of LawEric A. Stanley, associate professor, UC BerkeleyJules Gill-Peterson, associate professor, Johns Hopkins UniversityLaVelle Ridley, Ph.D. candidate, University of MichiganModerated by Courtney Desiree Morris, artist and assistant professor, UC BerkeleyThis Nov. 2, 2021 talk was co-sponsored by Berkeley's Othering & Belonging Institute, the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies, the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies, the Center for Research on Social Change, the Center for Race and Gender and the American Cultures Center.Listen to the episode and read a transcript on Berkeley News. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out informatio

A panel of scholars explore how technology is changing how and when we practice religion, as well as our notions of religious community, religious doctrine and what it means to be religious.Panelists at the Nov 2. event included: Steven Barrie-Anthony, research associate at the Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion Kelsy BurkeAssociate professor of sociology at the University of Nebraska-LincolnErika Gault, assistant professor of Africana Studies from the University of ArizonaHeather Mellquist Lehto, postdoctoral fellow with Arizona State University’s Center for the Study of Religion and ConflictModerated by Carolyn Chen, associate professor of ethnic studies at UC BerkeleyListen to the talk and read a transcript on Berkeley News. If you haven't already, please follow Berkeley Talks and review us on Apple Podcasts!(Photo by Ashkan Forouzani via Unsplash) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In episode 126 of Berkeley Talks, evolutionary biologist Erica Bree Rosenblum, a professor in UC Berkeley's Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, tells a story about when she held a little frog — the last known member of its species — in her hand as it died. "I am a scientist who studies extinction," says Rosenblum. "I am a scientist who thinks about biodiversity and interconnectedness every single day ... but the difference between thinking about it and feeling a life slipping away in my hand and knowing that it was the last of an entire branch of the biodiversity on our planet was emotionally impactful in a way that I never could have expected." In that moment, she says, she woke up to how hard it is to feel interconnectedness for students in society, even if we know it to be true. In this talk, Rosenblum explores why we keep this feeling of connection at arm's length and how we can begin to build it back into our lives. This talk was given on Oct. 8 and was sponsored by UC Berkeley's

A panel of leading Berkeley experts describe the harms of disinformation and potential solutions to its spread, from measures to strengthen old-school local news media to government regulation of tech titans like Facebook and Twitter. But there’s a critical obstacle: Efforts to directly block disinformation could challenge core American values, such as free speech and freedom of the press. Scholars in the panel: Geeta Anand, dean of Berkeley Journalism; Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of Berkeley Law; Hany Farid, associate dean and head of the School of Information; Susan D. Hyde, chair of the Department of Political Science; john powell, director of the Othering & Belonging Institute; and moderator Henry Brady, former dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy. Listen to the episode and read a transcript on Berkeley News. (Photo: Joe Flood via Flickr; Music: "Silver Lanyard" by Blue Dot Sessions) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Judith Butler, a professor in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Program of Critical Theory at UC Berkeley, and Mel Y. Chen, an associate professor in Berkeley's Department of Gender and Women’s Studies and director of the Center for the Study of Sexual Culture, joined in conversation about Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive's expansive exhibition, New Time: Art and Feminisms in the 21st Century.  "There's never been anything mild about feminisms, in the plural," said Butler at the Sept. 20 event. "It has always been a life and death struggle from the start." Listen to the episode and read the transcript on Berkeley News. (Artwork: "Stigmata" by Linda Stark, 2011) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In his inaugural address, President Biden called for Americans to unite more than any other U.S. president. But UC Berkeley experts say unity is unrealistic — at least, right now — and offer other ways to create a more just society. "Where we are today is a result of decades upon decades of systemic and structural race, class and gender-based injustice," said Sandra Bass, associate dean of students and director of the Public Service Center, during an April 9, 2021, panel discussion sponsored by UC Berkeley's Osher Lifelong Learning Center (OLLI). "To think that we can just jump over all of that and leave it unexamined and unresolved and go straight to unity is not just unrealistic. It ignores the genuine harm these systems have and continue to perpetuate, and suggests we all just need to move on without addressing them. We can't leapfrog over the damage that has been done. We have to go through it, not around it. Given our history, any hope of moving towards some understanding of our shared humanity, and our

Emiliana Simon-Thomas, science director of UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center, discusses happiness — what it means, where it comes from and how we can enhance it in each of our lives — during a Science at Cal lecture on July 28, 2021. Listen to the episode and read the transcript on Berkeley News. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In episode 121 of Berkeley Talks, graduate students Sierra Edd (Diné) and Ataya Cesspooch talk about their experiences at UC Berkeley as Native American students and reflect on the history and future of the Hearst Museum and Berkeley’s relationships with Indigenous communities. Edd and Cesspooch are co-hosts of Indigenous United, a podcast from Native American Student Development at Berkeley that explores Indigenous issues through interviews with Native artists, scholars and activists. Listen to the episode and read the transcript on Berkeley News. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Longtime venture capitalist Roger McNamee discusses how he, an early Facebook investor and former adviser to Mark Zuckerberg, came to realize the damage caused by the social media giant and others like it, and how he's committed to try to stop them. Listen to the episode and read the transcript on Berkeley News. (Photo by Alessio Jacona via Flickr) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In episode 119 of Berkeley Talks, Shane McCrae, a poet born in Portland, Oregon, who was kidnapped by his maternal grandparents at age 3, reads new works about his experience as a child growing up with his captors. The April 1 reading was part of the UC Berkeley Library’s monthly event, Lunch Poems. Listen to the episode and read the transcript on Berkeley News. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Berkeley's associate vice chancellor for research discusses the measures being taken to repatriate Native American ancestral remains and sacred artifacts held by the campus.Listen to the episode and read the transcript on Berkeley News. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today, we're sharing an episode from 2019:Brown v. Board of Education was hailed as a landmark decision for civil rights. But decades later, many consider school integration a failure. UC Berkeley professor Rucker Johnson's 2019 book, Children of the Dream: Why School Integration Works, shows the exact opposite is true. The book looks at decades of studies to show that students of all races who attended integrated schools fared better than those who did not. In this January 2019 interview with Goldman School of Public Policy Dean Henry Brady, Johnson explains how he and his team analyzed the impact of not just integration, but school funding policies and the Head Start program.Listen to the episode and read the transcript on Berkeley News. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode of Berkeley Talks, Bay Area labor lawyer Bill Sokol discusses the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, signed into law by President Biden on March 11, 2021."What I want to talk about," began Sokol, "is what I think is an incredibly spectacular piece of legislation, perhaps the largest, deepest, broadest piece of social legislation since the New Deal. And certainly, since the LBJ Great Society more than half a century ago."During his May 12 talk, sponsored by UC Berkeley's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), Sokol outlined the ways the act builds a bridge towards economic recovery, invests in racial justice and addresses intergenerational inequities that have worsened in the wake of COVID-19.Listen to the episode and read a transcript on Berkeley News. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode of Berkeley Talks, Berkeley Journalism Dean Geeta Anand and New York Times reporter and UC Berkeley alumnus Edward Wong discuss international reporting on China and the interplay among journalism, public opinion and government policy.Listen to the episode and read a transcript on Berkeley News. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode of Berkeley Talks, Adewale "Wally" Adeyemo, the deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and UC Berkeley alumnus, delivers the keynote address at Berkeley's commencement on Saturday, May 15."The Berkeley community is made up of people that show up in all the places where decisions and history tend to be made," said Adeyemo. "In fact, when I received the e-mail with the subject line “Cal Graduation speaker, ” I assumed it was a polite request for me to forward the speaking invitation to my boss, Janet Yellen — Secretary Yellen, the towering economic mind who has helped us weather the economic crises of the past 20 years — and a long-standing member of the UC Berkeley faculty.""I only have one advantage over Secretary Yellen today," he continued, "and that is: I graduated from Cal. I know there is no better place on Earth to get an education."Listen to the episode and read the transcript on Berkeley News. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode of Berkeley Talks, British filmmaker and video artist Steven McQueen, best known for his Academy Award-winning film 12 Years a Slave, talks about his first experience at Tate Modern in London as an 8-year-old, how he's never pursued a project for the money and why he thinks experiencing art in the world — and not on a small screen in your hand — is so important.This March 30 talk was part of UC Berkeley's Arts + Design Thursdays, a lecture series on time-based media art that features leading media artists, curators and thinkers. The series was made possible with support from the Kramlich Art Foundation, run by Berkeley alumna Pamela Kramlich.Listen to the episode and read a transcript on Berkeley News. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

California state legislators share their visions of California and the policies needed to achieve that future. The panel discussion, sponsored by UC Berkeley's Institute for the Study of Societal Issues, includes senators Anna Caballero and Nancy Skinner and assemblymembers David Chiu and James Ramos.Listen to the episode and read a transcript on Berkeley News. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode of Berkeley Talks, Berkeley Law professor Franklin Zimring, author of the 2017 book When Police Kill, discusses why police kill far more citizens in the United States than in other developed countries."About 1,000 times a year in the United States, civilians are shot and killed by local police, and the authorities say that such killings were either necessary or at least justified," began Zimring. "... That's three killings a day, every day. And that's too many violent deaths in a country which already suffers from an excess of violent death."Zimring's March 29 lecture, "Police Killings: An American Tragedy," was part of the 2021 Martin Meyerson Berkeley Faculty Research Lecture series.Listen to the episode and read a transcript on Berkeley News. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.