Humanities (Audio)

Amar Akbar Anthony was a Bollywood blockbuster when it was released in 1977 and has become a classic of Hindi cinema and a touchstone of Indian popular culture. William Elison (Religious Studies, UCSB), Christian Lee Novetzke (International Studies, University of Washington) and Andy Rotman (Religion, Smith College) discuss their co-authored book on the film that offers a sympathetic and layered interpretation of the film’s deeper symbolism, seeing it as a lens for understanding modern India’s experience with secular democracy. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33816]

Hari Kondabolu, comedian and star of The Problem With Apu (2017), joins UCSB’s Kum-Kum Bhavnani for a conversation about the film. Kondabolu reflects on what it means to retrospectively reexamine offensive stereotypes about race, culture, and forms of work, as well as the power of humor to disarm and dismantle them. Kondabolu and Bhavnani discuss at length how, rather than creatively being intended as hurtful or offensive, stereotypes can enter the cultural lexicon as struggling/tokenized forms of representation in cultures where there is otherwise none, or as a form of insensitive marketing of foreignness in and for a dominant culture, as well as the eventual dilemmas this can cause for the creators and the legacy of their works.

Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33754]

Eighteen years ago, Israeli author Ruby Namdar arrived in New York, not knowing that he had just taken the first step of an incredible literary, cultural and personal journey. He discusses the novel The Ruined House, winner of the 2014 Sapir Prize, Israel’s most prestigious literary award, which was an artistic response to Namdar’s wonderful experience of discovering America, American Jewry, and American Jewish literature. Series: "Herman P. and Sophia Taubman Endowed Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Show ID: 33734]

UC Santa Barbara professors Eloi Grasset (Spanish and Portuguese) and Cristina Venegas (Film and Media Studies) discuss Lucrecia Martel’s adaptation of Antonio Di Benedetto’s iconic Argentine novel about the interconnected decay of the Spanish empire and one of its low-level bureaucrats who is stationed in Paraguay. Grasset and Venegas examine Martel’s approach to the interiority of Di Benedetto’s novel and her expansion of the novel’s critiques of colonialism. They also touch on the film’s innovative use of sound. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Show ID: 33755]

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" [Show ID: 33753]

What does it mean to be born in a concentration camp, arguably one of the most inhospitable places on earth? Eva Clarke was one of three “miracle babies” who saw the light of day in KZ Mauthausen in Austria. Nine days after her birth, the Second World War ended. As a newborn, Eva’s chances of survival were extremely slim; against all odds, she lived, making her and her mother Anka the only survivors of their extended family. In 1948, they emigrated from Prague to the UK and settled in Cardiff, Wales. Eva regularly addresses audiences, and her remarkable story has been featured in the British and American media. She and her mother are among the protagonists of Wendy Holden’s book Born Survivors: Three Young Mothers and their Extraordinary Story of Courage, Defiance, and Hope (Harper, 2015). Series: "Library Channel" [Show ID: 32849]

Based on a true story, I, Tonya (2017) is a darkly comedic tale of American figure skater Tonya Harding and her role in one of the most sensational scandals in sports history. Screenwriter/producer Steven Rogers discussed the film with Matt Ryan before a live audience at UCSB. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Show ID: 33751]

Improvisational comedy, women in media, and the unpredictability of cult classic status all arise in this conversation about Drop Dead Gorgeous between actress Mindy Sterling and Carsey-Wolf Director Patrice Petro. The two discuss the importance of female-led and female-targeted comedy, and the powerful sense of place that screenwriter Lona Williams brought to the behind-the-scenes world of Minnesota beauty pageants. In addition, they talk about the surprising journey the film traveled from theatrical-dud to home video classic.

Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Show ID: 33752]

Rabbi Prof. Dr. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi is an award-winning editor, author, and biblical scholar. She is the Chief Editor of The Torah: A Women’s Commentary, the winner (with Dr. Andrea Weiss) of the 2008 Jewish Book of the Year Award. Series: "Herman P. and Sophia Taubman Endowed Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Show ID: 33661]

Why are negative emotions out of control? How do we begin to tame them? UC Berkeley Professor Charis Thompson focuses on how we understand and deal with negative emotions in this turbulent moment, when new technologies (e.g. reproductive technology, digital media, robotics, AI) can contribute to the shared environment of polarization. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Show ID: 33662]