Humanities (Audio)

Biological anthropologist Katerina Semendeferi describes how the human brain's extraordinary powers of social cognition may predispose only humans to conditions like autism and how she aids the search for the neurophysiology underlying these conditions. Series: "Women in Science" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 34330]

Twentieth-Century African American Freedom Struggles transformed both US and World History. These seminal liberation struggles include the important yet relatively unknown series of early twentieth-century southern African American streetcar boycotts as well as the iconic Civil Rights-Black Power Insurgency (1935-75). First, Waldo Martin examines why and how these foundational freedom struggles proved essential to the making of the modern African American Freedom Movement. Second, he examines the centrality of the modern African American Freedom Movement to both the creation of the modern United States and the development of the modern world. Waldo Martin is the Alexander F. & May T. Morrison Professor of American History & Citizenship at the University of California, Berkeley. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 35148]

Primo Levi was deeply interested in the fascinating mystery of the origin of life. Starting from Primo Levi’s writings, Scripps Research Institute's Luca Legnani discusses some answers that modern chemists are giving to the questions raised by Levi. Series: "STEAM: Adding Arts to STEM Education" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 35082]

This lecture by South African writer, playwright and academic Jane Taylor considers Ludwig Wittgenstein’s paper, “On Certainty” in which the philosopher engages with the taken-for-granted in everyday thought. Taylor notes, “In our contemporary context of the precarious, on one hand, and the political vehemence of conviction, on the other, it seems timely to pay attention to the faltering and tentative mode of regard and thought of one of the twentieth century’s most enigmatic thinkers.” Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Humanities] [Show ID: 35149]

This edition of Lost Voices from unsung entrepreneurs looks at Ng Poon Chew, an entrepreneur and social activist. Ng Poon Chew immigrated to the US in 1881 at the age of 14. He was an author, publisher and advocate for Chinese American civil rights. He published the first Chinese language daily newspaper to be printed outside of China. UC Santa Barbara theater student Martin Wong performs with the coaching of Fang He, IHC Research Fellow at UC Santa Barbara. Then, hear from today's co-sponsors: Impact, an affiliate marketer in Santa Barbara and Tapjoy, a mobile advertising platform. Series: "Innovator Stories: Creating Something from Nothing" [Humanities] [Business] [Show ID: 35445]

A much-abused wig, the ad-libbing of Michael Keaton, and the gender imbalance in 1980s film makeup departments arise in this conversation about Beetlejuice (1988) between award-winning makeup artist Ve Neill and Rachael Ball (Film and Media Studies, UCSB). In this video, Neill shares a series of illuminating and entertaining anecdotes from many of her iconic film projects including Mrs. Doubtfire, The Lost Boys, and the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 35466]

Opera News has called UC San Diego Music Professor Anthony Davis A National Treasure, for his pioneering work in opera. His six operas include works centered on recent historical figures & events, including Malcolm X and Patty Hearst. Davis' latest opera The Central Park Five, an exploration of the wrongful conviction of five teenagers of color in NYC in the 1980s, premiered at Long Beach Opera in 2019 to international acclaim. In this conversation with UC San Diego Music Professor Emeritus Cecil Lytle, Davis explains the genesis of The Central Park Five, and the challenges that ensue when art collides with current events. Series: "Contemporary Composers (1900-Present)" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 35078]

America’s pre-WWII anxieties, Depression-era economic disparity, and the potential for positive social movements arise in this conversation about Frank Capra (director) and Robert Riskin’s (screenwriter) film Meet John Doe (1941) between author Victoria Riskin (Robert Riskin and Fay Wray: A Hollywood Memoir) and film scholar Charles Wolfe. Riskin and Wolfe discuss the multiple endings shot for the film, and Riskin reads passages from her father’s England-based radio broadcasts amidst the Battle of Britain. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 35397]

E-cigarettes have become popular and widely used so fast that the safety testing on them is practically non-existent. While researchers rush to define the toxicities and potential health effects of e-cigarettes, should we be advising everyone against these nicotine delivery devices? Or should we try to be positive and hopeful, in case e-cigarettes have fewer adverse health effects relative to conventional tobacco cigarettes, and thus advise current smokers to switch to e-cigs as a harm reduction strategy? Beyond that, what are the risks of the different e-cig flavors and types of devices? Is vaping caffeine and THC more or less dangerous than vaping nicotine? What are the specific dangers of e-cig use for children, teenagers and young adults? Laura E. Crotty Alexander, MD examines the evolution of e-cigarettes and and shares a physician's view. Series: "Exploring Ethics" [Health and Medicine] [Humanities] [Show ID: 34999]

UCLA history professor Brenda Stevenson studies slavery and the Antebellum South, some of our country’s most painful moments and eras. Because there is not much in the way of documentary evidence of the lives of women of color, enslaved women and women from the South, Stevenson must work as an investigator to discover their inner lives and experiences. This is often done through stories told through the age, some of which she shares in this UCLA Faculty Lecture. Series: "UCLA Faculty Research Lectures" [Humanities] [Show ID: 35126]