Communication and Media Studies (Audio)

This Q&A features Dave Stewart, Executive Producer for the North American League of Legends LCS, moderated by Alexander Champlin (Film & Media Studies, UCSB). Their conversation covers the growth of the esports industry and the work of producing videogame competitions. Stewart discusses the growing esports scene in Los Angeles, the global scale of these competitions, and draws comparisons between traditional sports and gaming competitions. Stewart began his career as a writer for cable sports broadcasts before joining Riot Games to direct the NALCS, and brings insights about the way esports and traditional sports programing intersect. He discusses his work on one of the largest and most successful esports franchises, the growing appeal of esports, the fans who consume this media, and the places where this industry is gaining the most traction.

Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33759]

Bambi Haggins (Film and Media Studies, UC Irvine) joins Patrice Petro (Director of the Carsey-Wolf Center) for a conversation about the 2013 documentary "Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley." Haggins, who served as a historical consultant to the film, reflects on the five-decade career of Moms Mabley, the raucous, pioneering African-American vaudeville performer and comedian. Haggins discusses the timelessness of Mabley’s material, her popularity and ability to command an audience, and her influence on contemporary comedy, as well as the broader significance of race, gender, sexuality, and cultural respectability in the reception of comedians and their work during different historical moments.

Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33753]

When Saturday Night Live debuted in 1975, it gave the sketch/variety show format a twist, offering high-concept comedy sketches and political satire that attracted a younger audience than its competitors on late night television. It also featured pioneering work by female comedians. Laraine Newman, a member of the show’s legendary original cast, talks about the show and the work of women comedians on television. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33758]

Learn how two breakthrough and culturally relevant campaigns—Fresh Empire and San Diego Unified’s “IMIN” after-school program—engage difficult to reach youth in community and school settings. Hear cutting edge research on how adverse childhood experiences impact youth audiences differently. Explore how to use data to create interventions that reach even the most disconnected youth audiences. Series: "Career Channel" [Humanities] [Business] [Education] [Show ID: 33609]

Orson Welles direction and his performance as Shakespeare’s legendary Falstaff are at the center of this conversation about Chimes at Midnight, Welles’ 1965 film masterpiece that was unavailable to the public for decades. Professors Jim Kearney (UC Santa Barbara) and Joseph McBride (San Francisco State University) discuss Welles’ lifelong admiration of the Bard and the film’s complicated production and distribution history. The two professors also explore Welles’ ambitious adaptation of story material from five different Shakespeare plays into this single film.

Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33498]

Karen McCullah and Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith are one of the most prolific and successful female writing teams in Hollywood. Among their many credits is She’s the Man (2006) that resets William Shakespeare’s cross-dressing comedy Twelfth Night in a contemporary boarding school. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33504]

Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy-nominated composer, Robert Kraft, talks with David Novak (Music, UCSB) about the power and influence of film scores and the unique challenges with the process. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33501]

Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet (1948) was adapted and directed by its star. Mark Rose (English, UCSB) and Jim Kearney (English, UCSB) discuss this cinematic treatment of Hamlet and examples of Shakespeare on film. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33503]

Populist rhetoric, the influence of religion in politics, and the role of the media in elections all arise in this conversation about Gregory La Cava’s 1933 film Gabriel Over the White House. Carsey-Wolf Center director Patrice Petro and renowned journalist Jeff Greenfield explore the influence of financier William Randolph Hearst on the film’s ideology, and the circuitous legacy of this once-popular, then largely-forgotten story of a driven politician who attempts to strong-arm his way through domestic and foreign entanglements.

Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33502]

Revenge, justice, and betrayal in Shakespeare’s play and in the history of the politically-disputed Kashmir region arise as core topics in this discussion about the Hindi film Haider between Priya Jaikumar (USC) and Bhaskar Sarkar (UC-Santa Barbara.) The two professors interrogate and celebrate the film and play’s ability to combine local cultural specificity and popular accessibility. Arguing Haider offers new understandings of the character of Hamlet, the pair also question the concepts of “the original” and “the derivative.”

Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33500]