Writers (Video)

Christopher Bollas, psychoanalyst and writer, asserts that mental life is innately hazardous. The steps we take through childhood are marked by mentally painful episodes that constitute ordinary breakdowns in the self. Adolescence stands as the most painful such period, during which some of the major disturbances of self arise, including anorexia, schizophrenia, bipolarity, and sociopathy. Rather...

Author Zohreh Ghahremani talks with Babak Rahimi, associate professor of Communication, Culture and Religion at UC San Diego about the novel, "Sky of Red Poppies," the 2012 selection for One Book, One San Diego. Series: "Writers" [Humanities] [Show ID: 31539]

In his book, Spitting in the Soup: Inside the Dirty Game of Doping in Sports, UC San Diego alumnus and sports journalist Mark Johnson traces the doping culture in professional sports, from the early days when pills meant progress, to the current day, when athletes are vilified for the use of performance-enhancing drugs. In his book, Johnson, who has covered cycling as a writer and photographer sin...

Journalist Ari Shapiro shares how his passion for literature has inspired him to find and report great stories in Washington, Europe and elsewhere around the world in his remarkable rise from radio intern to co-host of NPR’s flagship news program, All Things Considered. Shapiro is the featured speaker at the 2016 Dinner in the Library event at the Geisel Library at UC San Diego. Series: "Writers"...

In his book, Anatomy of Malice: The Enigma of the Nazi War Criminals, author Joel Dimsdale draws on decades of experience as a psychiatrist and the dramatic advances within psychiatry, psychology and neuroscience since the Nuremberg Trials to take a fresh look at four Nazi war criminals: Robert Ley, Hermann Goring, Julius Streicher and Rudolf Hess. Dimsdale, an emeritus professor of psychiatry at...

David Gerrold, influential contemporary sci-fi writer and creator of genre-defining works such as the enduringly popular Star Trek episode, The Trouble With Tribbles, discusses his career across many media platforms to provide unique and valuable insights into the evolution and changing nature of the genre. Gerrold is interviewed by Word Farm Director Joe Palladino. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [H...

Mary Karr, one of the most celebrated memoirists, poets and essayists of her generation, talks about her craft and what it takes to write a memoir. Her most recent publication, The Art of Memoir, features excerpts from her favorite memoirs and anecdotes from fellow writers' experiences. She is the recipient of prizes from PEN and Best American Poetry, and she has won Pushcart Prizes both for poetr...

Poet Nikki Giovanni reads a selection of her poems as part of the 2016 Writer’s Symposium by the Sea at Point Loma Nazarene University. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Show ID: 30819]

Power, money, gold and wine in the making of California. All that, and what it’s like to write best-selling books and operate Berkleyside, the respected local online news site. Award-winning author and journalist Frances Dinkelspiel is in conversation with Deirdre English of Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 30...

Writer and artist Charlotte Salomon, the daughter of a highly cultivated Jewish family in Berlin, was deported to Auschwitz and murdered at the age of 26. In her final work “Life? or Theatre?” Salomon envisioned the circumstances surrounding the eight suicides in her family, all but one of them women. Darcy C. Buerkle, an Associate Professor of History at Smith College, explores Salomon’s tragic l...

Author, spoken word artist, poet, essayist, professor, Nikki Giovanni has been electrifying audiences for more than 40 years, earning her one of Oprah Winfrey’s Living Legends distinctions. She delivers here as well, with a passionate and engaging performance and interview with host Dean Nelson of Point Loma Nazarene University. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Arts and Music]...

Robin Jones Gunn has a gift for writing about relationships that reflect depth, values, and eternal love that appeal to everyone. Her books (including the Christy Miller series, Sierra Jensen series, Katie Weldon series, Sisterchicks series, Glenbrooke series, fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books) have sold 5 million copies. She shares her lessons learned on her path to success with host Dean...

If you have listened to sports on the radio or watched it on television anywhere in the world, you have heard Dick Enberg exclaim “Oh My!” His essays on sports are as legendary as his voice. In addition to his autobiography, “Oh My!”, he wrote a play about basketball coach Al McGuire that still travels around the country. Enberg, now with the San Diego Padres, was inducted into the Baseball Hall o...

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Berkeley’s 2016 HarvEst Distinguished Women Lecturer, Frances Dinkelspiel, for a discussion of her work as an author and journalist. Dinkelspiel reflects on the skills and temperament required in journalism and highlights the particular challenges posed by online journalism. She describes the history of Berkeleyside, the online news site she founded to co...

National Book Award-Winning author and environmentalist Barry Lopez joins UC San Diego’s Steve Schick, a world-renowned percussionist, to explore the intersection of music, words and the natural world. Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 30337]

Robin Wright, who has reported from 140 countries, shares her insights as a journalist and policy analyst covering wars, revolutions and uprisings with what the Overseas Press Club has called “exceptional courage and initiative.” She outlines here what she believes it takes to get to the truth and understand the complexities of any conflict. Wright has been recognized for “distinguished reporting...

Investigative journalist Bob Woodward and former White House aide Alex Butterfield join Michael Bernstein for a conversation about Butterfield’s decision to reveal the existence of tape recordings that eventually led to Richard Nixon’s resignation from the presidency. Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 30187]

UCSB Script to Screen hosts director Jay Roach (Austin Powers trilogy) and screenwriter John McNamara for a conversations about Trumbo, a historical piece about a blacklisted screen writer and the screen writing process. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 30277]

Oscar-winning screenwriter Alan Ball, veteran writer/producer, whose credits include Six Feet Under and True Blood, joins host Matt Ryan to discuss the production and legacy of “American Beauty.” Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 30159]

Writer-director Scott Frank, talks to UCSB students about getting the crime drama "A Walk Among the Tombstones" made. Frank’s other screenplays include Little Man Tate, Dead Again, Malice, Heaven’s Prisoners, Get Shorty, Out of Sight, Minority Report, The Interpreter and Marley & Me. Frank graduated from UCSB in 1982 with a BA in Film Studies. Since then he has written movies for filmmakers such a...

Joshua Weiner is the author of three books of poetry, most recently, The Figure of a Man Being Swallowed by a Fish (2013). Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Show ID: 29937]

Jane Hirshfield, a frequent presenter at universities and literary festivals both in the US and abroad, reads “My Proteins” from her book of poetry. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Show ID: 29934]

Jane Hirshfield reads from her book of poetry at UC Berkeley. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Show ID: 29935]

Joshua Weiner is the author of three books of poetry, most recently, The Figure of a Man Being Swallowed by a Fish (2013). Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Show ID: 29936]

One of the year’s most lively events, the student reading includes winners of the following prizes: Academy of American Poets, Cook, Rosenberg, and Yang, as well as students nominated by Berkeley’s creative writing faculty, Lunch Poems volunteers, and representatives from student publications. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 29740]