The UC Irvine Podcast

When Disneyland opened to the public in 1955, visionary engineers and designers transformed technologies of the postwar assembly line into extraordinary entertainment experiences. In his new book, "Disneyland and the Rise of Automation: How Technology Created the Happiest Place on Earth," Roland Betancourt examines how the Magic Kingdom introduced the world to the large-scale realities of industri...

In 1949, Mental Health America established that each May would be recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month. The theme for 2026 is “More Good Days, Together,” and it encourages everyone to think about what a “good day” looks like – for both ourselves and our communities. Here to share insight on that is Susan Charles, UC Irvine professor of psychology and nursing, who examines emotional processe...

When the first Earth Day was recognized, on April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans – at the time, 10 percent of the total U.S. population – demonstrated in gatherings around the country to protest industrial developments that had led to serious human health impacts. And so began the modern environmental movement. The theme for Earth Day 2026 is “Our Power, Our Planet” – chosen to emphasize that ever...

The American Public Health Association was formed in 1872, when scientific advances were starting to reveal the causes of contagious diseases. For over 150 years, the APHA has championed “optimal, equitable health and well-being for all,” and in 1995, President Bill Clinton signed an executive order declaring that the first full week of April each year would be National Public Health Week – a cele...

For over two decades, Charis Kubrin, UC Irvine professor of criminology, law and society, has examined how the presence of immigrants in communities affects public safety. Her findings continually challenge a myth that has persisted throughout history: that immigrants bring crime to their new countries. In November 2025, Kubrin learned that she’s one of two researchers who’ll receive the Stockholm...

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than any other one thing,” said Abraham Lincoln in a letter to Isham Reavis dated Nov. 5, 1855. Health and well-being hold high importance for many people, and the approach of the holiday season and the following new year often leaves them wondering about what changes, or resolutions, they might want to implement to improv...

The University of California defines a first-generation college student as “a student where neither parent nor guardian have earned a four-year college degree.” At UC Irvine, Institutional Research, Assessment, and Planning updated its student head count data on Oct. 24 to include fall of 2025, and according to the enrollment dashboard, 11,104 out of 30,260 (36.7 percent) undergraduates have first...

Paul Robertson, associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Irvine, is co-author of a new paper in The Astronomical Journal on an exoplanet that is tantalizingly close to Earth. The proximity of this exoplanet helps astronomers glean more details about it. They want to know how it compares in size to Earth, if it has an atmosphere, and if it is in the habitable zo...

Internationally recognized neuroscientist Aileen Anderson – a professor of physical medicine & rehabilitation, anatomy & neurobiology and neurosurgery, and the former director of the Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center – started her tenure as UC Irvine’s vice chancellor for research on July 1. She had no opportunity to ease into her new, important role. In her first month at the helm, the f...

On April 3, 2025, Julie Washington was appointed interim dean of the School of Education at the University of California, Irvine. No stranger to leadership roles, the professor of education was already associate dean for faculty development and diversity at the school, where she’s been a member of the faculty since 2021. Before that, Washington served as professor and chair of the Department of Co...

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released on July 29, 2025, showed 7.44 million jobs open in the United States at the end of June, a decrease from May’s number of 7.71 million, the highest number of job openings since November 2024. The lingering effects of the 11 interest rate hikes in 2022 and 2023 to combat inflation are one factor creating momentum changes in the U.S. job market. Anoth...

In his 1988 semiautobiographical novel "The Beautiful Room Is Empty," author Edmund White relates his experiences on the night of June 28, 1969, as he and others passed by the Stonewall Inn, a New York City gay bar: “I suppose the police expected us to run away into the night, as we’d always done before, but we stood across the street on the sidewalk of the small triangular park. … Everyone booed...

“Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth.” That’s a memorable line from the 2013 tune “Happy,” by Pharrell Williams – a song that reached No. 1 in the charts in over 20 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada and was the most played song of the 2010s. One truth about happiness: It’s among the many positive emotions that people can use to counter stress, whi...

Social movements – and the protests they give rise to – have happened on American soil since before the country’s establishment as an independent nation. On Dec. 16, 1773, American colonists demonstrated their dissatisfaction with British tax policies by dressing in disguise and dumping 342 chests – around 92,000 pounds – of valuable tea into Boston Harbor. Originally known as “the Destruction of...

In 1987, Congress passed Public Law 100-9, designating March as “Women’s History Month,” intended to honor “women of every race, class, and ethnic background” who have made “historical contributions to the growth and strength of the Nation in countless recorded and unrecorded ways.” One academic discipline where the contributions of women have been overlooked and undervalued is science. Cailin O’C...

With a focus on early childhood education, Andres Bustamante and his team at the STEM Learning Lab are busy developing interactive learning spaces to enhance science, technology, engineering and math education in places where families gather – parks, playgrounds, grocery stores, even bus stops. Through collaborative partnerships with schools and community organizations – and by integrating the tho...

According to poll results from the American Psychological Association last November, 89 percent of adults in the United States were overwhelmed as the holidays approached by concerns such as not having enough money, missing loved ones and anticipating family conflict. The goal of this episode of The UCI Podcast is to help you develop some strategies to manage the added stressors of this time of ye...

The much-loved and eclectic campus radio station KUCI, 88.9 FM, turns 55 this year, and it has been quite a ride. What started as an underground station was among the first to embrace the internet. With an audience that now spans the globe, KUCI continues to air a diverse schedule of music and voices.

Chang Liu, UC Irvine professor of biomedical engineering, is a leader in the field of directed evolution, an effort to train genes to evolve in a laboratory in order to perform desired functions. Through this method of gene engineering, researchers hope to create new biological substances for use in pharmaceuticals and as cheaper and more environmentally responsible industrial catalysts. The work...

Research released in June by the Berkeley Institute for Young Americans revealed that younger voters had a broad, decisive impact on the 2020 presidential election and on congressional elections in 2018 and 2022 – with the same being expected this year. In the latest episode of The UCI Podcast, we’ll speak with Kylie Jones, Khushi Patel and Evelyn Rodriguez – three UC Irvine undergraduates who are...

On the UCI Podcast, the law professor shares how the Korematsu Center and his students can make a difference

National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated in the U.S. from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 each year. The theme for 2024 is “Pioneers of Change: Shaping the Future Together.” Belinda Campos relishes that idea. Between her work as chair of UC Irvine’s Department of Chicano/Latino Studies and a faculty member with the Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community in the School of Medicine, Campos t...

Mark Deppe goes on The UCI Podcast to talk about the program he built and his new team of superstar gamers.

According to a 2023 analysis by the Pew Research Center, new school years across the United States begin from as early as late July until after Labor Day. Regardless of when families prepare for the academic year, the process often looks the same: purchasing needed supplies, finishing a summer reading list, adjusting sleep schedules and adapting to a new routine. The phrase “back to school” can ca...

On Thursday, June 27, in Atlanta, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump faced off in the first debate of the 2024 presidential election. The event marked the first debate in U.S. history between a sitting and former president and was the first time the presumptive nominees for their respective parties had been on a debate stage since 2020. Held months earlier than the usual traditi...