Humanities (Video)

The challenges of the past year have shaped the way we think about and watch television. Moderated by Patrice Petro, this conversation explores how television continues to mediate urgent debates over questions of community, racial justice, and protest. In addition, panelists consider how the pressures of the current moment—viral pandemic, social unrest, and political upheaval—are reshaping our understanding of news, sports, and celebrity culture. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 36828]

With Amazon's Alexa spying on her owners, a massive data breach masterminded by Cambridge Analytica, and evidence of election interference promulgated by Facebook, tech policy has never had more significant implications for our society and democracy. Roger McNamee—noted tech venture capitalist, early mentor to Mark Zuckerberg, and Facebook investor—talks with Henry Brady, Dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley, about how he came to realize the serious damage that Facebook and other social media giants are doing and how he has committed to try to stop them. Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 36880]

Trent Atkinson and Brandon Stansell discuss their new film Three Chords and a Lie, which explores the experiences of LGBTQ+ people in country music. In a conversation with Tyler Morgenstern, Stansell and Atkinson discuss the process of making the documentary and the challenges it presented, as well as larger issues of representation and diversity in the country music industry. Three Chords and a Lie follows Stansell as he returns to his hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee, ten years after coming out as gay to his family. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 36815]

A Normal Girl director Aubree Bernier-Clarke, activist/producer Pidgeon Pagonis, and Ponyboi director River Gallo discuss their experiences creating these innovative portraits of contemporary intersex life. In conversation with moderator Xiuhe Zhang, Bernier-Clarke, Pagonis, and Gallo address the challenges that intersex media makers, performers, and writers face in telling their stories, but also highlight how documentary and fiction filmmaking can help to shift popular (mis)conceptions about intersex people and their communities. Ponyboi tells the story of a young intersex sex worker struggling to navigate the terrain's of intimacy and identity, while A Normal Girl focuses on the work of activist Pidgeon Pagonis, who advocates for intersex peoples’ rights to medical non-conformity and bodily self-determination. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 36821]

In this roundtable discussion, professors Stephen Groening, Maggie Hennefeld, Brian Jacobson, and Jocelyn Szcepaniak-Gillece reflect on how pandemics past shed new light on how the current COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping the world of cinema. Moderated by Patrice Petro, this conversation addresses questions of risk and exposure in the media industries, the movie theater’s role as public space, and how pandemic-induced streaming changes our understanding of cinema. Participants also explore how fears of viral infection reshape the literal and figurative “atmosphere” of moviegoing. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 36820]

Screenwriter and actress Guinevere Turner discusses her experience working on the groundbreaking 1994 film, Go Fish. In a conversation with Assatu Wisseh, Turner recounts how she and director Rose Troche developed their unique story of romance and friendship in a lesbian community in Chicago. A low-budget, independent romantic comedy, Go Fish tells a girl-meets-girl love story that subverts the conventions of the Hollywood romance and the male-centric narratives of New Queer Cinema alike. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 36816]

Gabriel Meléndez discusses Herbert J. Biberman’s 1954 film Salt of the Earth, a classic of Chicanx and feminist cinemas. With Stephen Borunda, Meléndez discusses the film’s historical context and the political controversies surrounding its production and release. Salt of the Earth offers a neorealist retelling of a fifteen-month-long strike against the Empire Zinc mining company, initiated in 1951 by Mexican-American miners and their families in Grant County, New Mexico. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 36792]

Actress and filmmaker Marielle Heller discusses adapting Phoebe Gloeckner’s graphic novel, The Diary of a Teenage Girl: An Account in Words and Pictures, into a screenplay. With UCSB Pollock Theater Director Matt Ryan, Heller addresses the challenges of constructing a realistic and honest coming-of-age narrative, told from the perspective of a teenage girl in 1970s San Francisco. The Diary of a Teenage Girl follows Minnie Goetz as she grapples with questions of sexuality, identity, and power in a moment of social and cultural upheaval. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 36783]

Children's museums can be a challenging environment for parents who feel the urge to explain the science behind all the novel activities that dazzle youngsters. New research suggests that timing is key to supporting children's learning in these environments. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Humanities] [Education] [Show ID: 36765]

Charles Randolph discusses adapting the complex story of The Big Short into an Academy Award-winning screenplay. In conversation with UCSB Pollock Theater Director Matt Ryan, Randolph recounts how he went about constructing a narrative is highly experimental but nonetheless cohesive and compelling. Recounting the events that precipitated the 2008 financial crisis, The Big Short conveys the complexities of modern finance through a wide range of innovative and humorous storytelling techniques. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 36775]