Library Channel (Audio)

Philosophy scholar Monte Johnson explains how the early Greek concept of freedom -- a state opposite of slavery – evolved into notions of self-sufficiency, liberality, and independence in speech and action. Though the most influential philosophers of that time, Plato and Aristotle, were dubious of democracy, a government centered on the principle of freedom, they contrasted with other lesser-known...

What is the best way to help the poor? Giving money to charities and non-governmental organizations that then determine how the money should be allocated? Or giving cash directly to those who need it most and letting them decide how to spend it? Economist Paul Niehaus offers evidence that suggests direct cash transfers are more effective in reducing poverty, and describes GiveDirectly, a program h...

Anthropologist Nancy Postero describes the political rise of indigenous peoples in Latin America, as they called for more recognition from the state and more inclusive forms of citizenship. Where that was impossible, they sought international attention by demanding human rights, especially human rights to culture. Postero explores what kinds of freedom these two frameworks of rights offer and how...

UC San Diego astrophysicist Brian Keating presents cosmological observations that have revealed a mysterious universe, pointing to the startling possibility that our cosmos might be just the most insignificant speck of what is now called “the Multiverse.” New telescopes such as the BICEP based in Antarctica hint at an infinite universe with the possibility of unimaginable fecundity, yet devoid of...

Eminent California historian Kevin Starr traces the emergence of San Diego’s role in the distinctly Southern California aesthetic of “Mediterranean-ism,” as seen in the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park. Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 28611]

Award-winning historian Wendy Lower discusses the lives and experience of German women in the Nazi killing fields. Her study chillingly debunks the age-old myth of the German woman as mother and breeder, removed from the big world of politics and war. The women Lower labels “furies” humiliated their victims, plundered their goods, and often killed them, and like many of their male counterparts, th...

This extended version of “Sharing Julia Child’s Appetite for Life” featuring biographer Noel Riley Fitch at the 2014 UC San Diego Dinner in the Library includes remarks from UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla, University Librarian Brian E.C. Schottlaender and Dorothy D. Gregor, the 2014 Geisel Citation Recipient for Library Philanthropy. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 28726]

Internationally recognized biographer Noel Riley Fitch offers some food for thought in “Sharing Julia Child’s Appetite for Life,” the title of her keynote address to the annual Dinner at the Library at UC San Diego. Fitch gives a revealing look into how Child’s passion for French cuisine made her a culinary icon to generations of Americans. Fitch is the only biographer exclusively authorized by Ju...

A love of learning and teaching about pirates inspired UC San Diego’s Mark Hanna to tap the world-renowned Hill Collection of Pacific Voyages, housed in Special Collections & Archives at the UC San Diego Library, to bring history to life in his mobile classroom. Hanna’s students discover the authentic Golden Age of Piracy by reading the Hill Collection log books and other original documents, touri...

The Holocaust claimed anywhere between 500,000 and 1.5 million Romani lives, a tragedy the Romani people and Sinti refer to as the Porrajmos, or “the Devouring.” Notwithstanding the scope of the catastrophe, the Romani genocide was often ignored or minimized until Ian Hancock and others exposed this misfortune. A Romani-born British citizen, activist, and scholar, Hancock has done more than anyone...

The UC San Diego Library announces the purchase of the Farmworker Movement Documentation Project, an online archive containing thousands of documents related to the history of the United Farm Workers’ union and related events. A short video on the historic March to Sacramento in 1966 is shown followed by a discussion with two participants in the march: Roberto Bustos and LeRoy Chatfield, key advis...

The UC San Diego Library Channel presents a talk by William Lanouette, author of “Genius in the Shadows: A Biography of Leo Szilard.” Lanouette explains how Szilard’s fear of German dominance of nuclear research in the 1930’s inspired the Manhattan Project, which led to the creation of the atomic bomb used by the United States in World War II. Szilard could see its potential for mass destruction i...

UC San Diego sociologist Amy Binder explains two prevalent conservative styles that she and her co-author Kate Wood found on today’s college campuses. At “Western Public,” students often engaged in a provocative style, looking to poke fun and enrage liberals, whereas at “Eastern Elite,” conservative students embraced a more civil style, leading to friendlier interactions with other students who di...

Anne Willan, the founder of La Varenne Cooking School, and co-author Amy Friedman share stories, pictures and secret ingredients to a life well-lived as they discuss Willan's autobiography, “One Souffle at a Time: A Memoir of Food and France.” This event is sponsored by the UC San Diego Library. Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 25903]

Kevin Kinsella of Avalon Ventures, Jim Blair of Domain Associates, Tom Wollaeger of Sanderling Ventures, and Ivor Royston of Forward Ventures discuss the origins of the San Diego biotech community in a panel convened by the UC San Diego Library. Series: "Library Channel" [Business] [Show ID: 25900]

The San Diego Technology Archive (SDTA)documents the history, formation, and evolution of the companies that formed the San Diego region’s high-tech cluster, beginning in 1965. The SDTA captures the vision, strategic thinking, and recollections of key technology and business founders, entrepreneurs, academics, venture capitalists, early employees, and service providers, many of whom figured promin...

Renowned author and Middlebury College Professor Jay Parini charms his dinner audience with selections from his “Promised Land: Thirteen Books That Changed America.” From “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin” and “Walden,” through “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” to “How to Win Friends and Influence People” and “The Feminine Mystique,” Parini offers a compelling narrative on the evolution of American cultur...

Seth Lerer discusses his moving memoir, “Prospero’s Son: Life, Books, Love and Theater,” a record of the tempestuous relationship between Lerer and his father which is later echoed in Lerer’s relationship with his own son. The narrative is framed by elements of literature and performance, with particular reference to Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” and its evocation of father as magician. Series: "UCT...

Forty years ago, Dr. Joel Dimsdale started researching concentration camp survivors. Little did he know where his journey of discovery would lead him. After a visit from a Nuremberg executioner, he switched from studying victims to perpetrators. His latest research is based on an analysis of Rorschach inkblot tests administered at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial. Using extensive archival data, Dims...

Authors and UC San Diego political scientists Steve Erie and Vlad Kogan present a compelling narrative on how San Diego leaders have consistently mismanaged city finances since the 1978 passage of Prop 13. They continue with a bleak assessment on whether the city will ever be able to provide sufficient, equitable services throughout its economically diverse neighborhoods. Series: "Library Channel"...

UCSD political scientist Steve Erie shatters the movie myth about how the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California supposedly stole water rights from the Owens Valley to irrigate Los Angeles and instead holds up the MWD as a model for responsible water management and environmental sustainability. Series: "Library Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 12063]

Historian Richard Minear talks about his new book, Dr. Seuss Goes To War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel at a reception for Friends of the UCSD Libraries. Series: "Library Channel" [Show ID: 4727]