Public Affairs (Audio)

The "energy transition" is actually a shift from relying on fossil fuels (like coal, oil, and gas) to using metals to generate energy. However, extracting metals has always been a significant environmental and political issue, especially for cities. This problem has been around for centuries, even ancient Roman writers wrote about it. In this program, Helen Thompson, Professor of Political Economy...

What’s next for the battle over abortion? In this lecture, Mary Ziegler argues that undoing Roe v. Wade was never the endpoint for the antiabortion movement. Since the 1960s, the goal has been to secure recognition of fetuses and embryos as persons under the 14th Amendment, making abortion unconstitutional. The battle for personhood also aims to overhaul the regulation of in vitro fertilization an...

Historian and political commentator Heather Cox Richardson joins UC Berkeley professor of law and history Dylan Penningroth in a timely conversation about the reshaping of the United States’ two major political parties. A professor of 19th century American history at Boston College, Richardson provides an incisive perspective on current politics to the more than three million readers of her nightl...

We are at a critical moment in our society. While we advance efforts to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis, across the globe, millions are experiencing issues of energy affordability, reliability and equitable access to modern energy technologies. In this program, Tony Reames, Professor of Environmental Justice at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability, explores...

Does giving cash up front improve the health and wellbeing of people in poor communities? In this program, Edward (Ted) Miguel, professor of economics and co-director of the Center for Effective Global Action at UC Berkeley, talks about his work in Kenya on the impact of cash transfers on infant mortality, leveraging a unique large-scale census of local households’ birth histories. The findings pr...

What's behind the political and social transformation taking place in the U.S.? According to Mike Madrid, author, veteran political strategist and expert on Latino voting trends, it's digital technology and demographics. His latest book is "The Latino Century: How America’s Largest Minority Is Transforming Democracy." As part of the Helen Edison Lecture Series, Madrid covers a wide-range of topics...

The current conflict between Israel and Gaza stems from long-standing tensions but was exacerbated after a major attack by armed groups from Gaza on October 7, 2023, resulting in over 1,200 Israeli deaths and 250 hostages being taken. This prompted a large-scale military response by Israel, including airstrikes and ground operations in Gaza, which have killed over 41,000 Palestinians, with tens of...

David Hogg, co-founder of March For Our Lives and Leaders We Deserve, is a leading voice in the movement to end gun violence. After experiencing the 2018 school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Hogg emerged from tragedy to become a national figure, advocating for morally just leadership and increased voter participation. As part of the Burke Lectureship, Hogg...

As voters prepare to head to the polls on Election Day, join the Goldman School of Public Policy and Cal Performances for a critical look at the moment we’re in, the issues that have shaped and led us to this year’s tumultuous election, and the future of American democracy. UC Berkeley experts from former presidential administrations—Janet Napolitano, former Secretary of Homeland Security under th...

Fareed Zakaria, host of the renowned CNN program “Fareed Zakaria GPS,” talks about how to maintain peace in the post-Cold War era. He examines what he calls the geopolitical revolution that's taking place today and compares it with the unusual state of peace that existed from 1989 until the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 - a time without constant and sustained geopolitical rivalry and tension. He loo...

Witness the resilience of Isleton, California, as they pioneer a groundbreaking, community-based flood insurance program aimed at fostering recovery and climate resilience. This initiative, led by UC Davis researchers, could revolutionize disaster preparedness, offering fast, flexible support post-flood and investing in long-term sustainability. Series: "UC Davis News" [Public Affairs] [Science] [...

How did Ronald Reagan’s vision of the American Dream lead to Donald Trump’s success? Looking back to 1983, Diane Winston, professor of journalism and communication at the University of Southern California, discusses how evangelical religion, the news media, and social turmoil culminated in MAGA’s Second Coming. Winston shows that many journalists uncritically adopted Reagan’s religious rhetoric an...

This program discusses humanist and scholar Walter Capps’ political career and the ongoing value of public service. The panel discussion features four people who have all worked as public servants: former U.S. Senator and Nebraska Governor Bob Kerrey; Lois Capps, former Congresswoman who served as a U.S. Representative from 1998-2017 representing Santa Barbara and the Central Coast, Laura Capps, t...

In this program, Russell M. Jeung, professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University, explores COVID-19 racism against Asian Americans, which led to what he terms a period of “collective racial trauma.” Twenty-five peer-reviewed articles have since documented the deleterious impacts of direct and indirect racism on the mental health of Asian Americans. Yet Asian Americans have...

Across the United States, homelessness has been on the rise. In California, there have been over 181,000 people without a stable place to call home—about 30 percent of the nation’s homeless population. During the COVID-19 pandemic, those numbers continued to rise as earnings dropped and the housing affordability crisis worsened. What interventions have prevented people from becoming homeless? What...

This program discusses humanist and scholar Walter Capps’ teaching of ethics and civic values in the classroom and beyond. The panel consists of Katya Armistead, Assistant Vice Chancellor and Dean of Student Life at UCSB and co-directs the Civic Engagement Scholars Program, Tim Kring, a screenwriter whose work focuses on themes of interconnectivity and global consciousness, and Shawn Landres, a ci...

Alessandro Duranti, Distinguished Research Professor of Anthropology at UCLA, presents archival footage he filmed of Walter Capps' 1996 campaign for U.S. Congress to analyze how the political candidate framed his choice to run for office. Using semantic and narrative analyses, Duranti shows how Capps refined his campaign announcement to better generate voter enthusiasm and how Capps' public and pr...

As part of a special series celebrating the legacy of humanist and professor Walter H. Capps, this program examines Capps’ scholarly contributions and the study of religion today, featuring renowned scholars of religion who were Walter’s graduate students: Tomoko Masuzawa, Professor Emerita of History and Comparative Literature, University of Michigan, Julie Ingersoll, Professor of Religious Studi...

As part of a special series celebrating the legacy of humanist and professor Walter H. Capps, this program examines Capps’ scholarly contributions and the study of religion today, featuring renowned scholars of religion who were Walter’s graduate students: Edward Linenthal, Professor Emeritus of History, Indiana University Bloomington and Wendy M. Wright, Professor Emerita of Theology, Creighton U...

In this program, Robin D. G. Kelley, Distinguished Professor and Gary B. Nash Endowed Chair in U.S. History at UCLA, examines how police in the neoliberal era–in tandem with other state and corporate entities—have become engines of capital accumulation, government revenue, gentrification, the municipal bond market, the tech and private security industry—in a phrase, the profits of death. Kelley ar...

In this program, Lerone Martin, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute at Stanford University, discusses his recent book, The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover, which reveals how Hoover and his FBI teamed up with leading white evangelicals and Catholics to bring about a white Christian America by any means necessary. His resea...

The 2021-2022 term of the U.S. Supreme Court is widely considered to be the most consequential in living memory. Bruen, West Virginia v. EPA, Dobbs—the Court’s rulings in these controversial cases weakened gun restrictions, hobbled the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to fight climate change, and overturned the constitutional protection for abortion rights nearly 50 years after Roe v. Wad...

In this program, Professor Martin Hilbert, Chair of Computational Social Sciences at UC Davis, discusses AI and ethical policy-making. He looks at the tradeoffs between unimaginable wealth and existential risks, and new roles for human minds. Series: "UC Center Sacramento" [Public Affairs] [Business] [Show ID: 39708]

Prominent journalist E.J. Dionne, known for his op-eds in The Washington Post and essays in Commonweal Magazine, advocates for bridging societal divides by addressing issues like social isolation and loneliness. As part of the Burke Lectureship at UC San Diego, Dionne, a distinguished professor at Georgetown University, invites audiences to contemplate solutions transcending political boundaries....

UC San Diego is home to an array of campus gardens that promote education and the growth of sustainable food and local produce. Learn more about the green spaces where students and staff come together to cultivate community, sustainability and belonging. Videos by Michael Foster and Daniel Orren. [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 39868]