OMNIA Podcast

What role does higher education play in a democracy? In the second episode of a special edition of the Ampersand Podcast, Dean Mark Trodden and historian Sophia Rosenfeld discuss the importance the humanities play in preserving culture, how the history of choice can help students think critically about the hidden assumptions that shape their worlds, and how democracies work best when they operate on shared commonalities that define perceptions of truth, law, and solidarity.

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Produced and edited by Alex Schein 
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Illustration and logo Andrew Nealis 

The Arts & Sciences Annual Fund is the most fundamental way to support the School of Arts & Sciences at Penn. Donations mean immediate, unrestricted dollars for the School to use on its top priorities, including the path-breaking faculty and research featured in this podcast. Show your support today: www.sas.upenn.edu/annual-fund

Join us for the launch of a special edition of the Ampersand podcast, featuring Mark Trodden, Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences and Thomas S. Gates, Jr. Professor of Physics & Astronomy in conversation with select faculty members across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.

In this conversation, Trodden speaks with Peter Struck, Stephen A. Levin Family Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Vartan Gregorian Professor of the Humanities, about the Roman roots of the liberal arts, how AI is changing the college experience, and charting curriculum for the 21st century.

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Produced and edited by Alex Schein 
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Illustration and logo Andrew Nealis 

The Arts & Sciences Annual Fund is the most fundamental way to support the School of Arts & Sciences at Penn. Donations mean immediate, unrestricted dollars for the School to use on its top priorities, including the path-breaking faculty and research featured in this podcast. Show your support today: www.sas.upenn.edu/annual-fund

Our new podcast series, Ampersand, features faculty from different disciplines discussing a topic they have in common. In our first episode, Sophia Rosenfeld, Walter H. Annenberg Professor of History, and Sudeep Bhatia, Associate Professor of Psychology, explore the ramifications of choice in everyday life and society as a whole.

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Produced and edited by Alex Schein 
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Illustration and logo Andrew Nealis 

The Arts & Sciences Annual Fund is the most fundamental way to support the School of Arts & Sciences at Penn. Donations mean immediate, unrestricted dollars for the School to use on its top priorities, including the path-breaking faculty and research featured in this podcast. Show your support today: www.sas.upenn.edu/annual-fund

Our final episode of this Omnia podcast season offers a conversation between Stephanie Perry, Executive Director of the Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies, and Rogers M. Smith, Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Political Science. They discuss the implications of Trump’s second term as president, as well as what the future of democracy may look like in the United States and so much more.

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Produced by Alex Schein and Michele Berger 
Hosted by Stephanie Perry 
Edited by Alex Schein 
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Illustration and logo by Nick Matej

Democracy and Decision 2024 is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences in collaboration with the Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies (PORES). Visit our website to listen to every episode of the Omnia Podcast: https://omnia.sas.upenn.edu/podcast

The Arts & Sciences Annual Fund is the most fundamental way to support the School of Arts & Sciences at Penn. Donations mean immediate, unrestricted dollars for the School to use on its top priorities, including the path-breaking faculty and research featured in this podcast. Show your support today: www.sas.upenn.edu/annual-fund

The results of last week’s presidential election are in and Donald Trump will have a second term after earning 312 Electoral College votes and some 75 million votes overall. Republicans also re-gained a majority in the Senate and are poised to maintain control of the House of Representatives. In the fifth episode of Democracy and Decision 2024, the Omnia podcast that has been dissecting the state of U.S. democracy in the context of the election, PORES Executive Director Stephanie Perry spoke with John Lapinski, Robert A. Fox Leadership Professor of Political Science, PORES Director, and Director of Elections at NBC News. They offered some post-election analysis.

The pair talked about seeing Trump’s advantage early on at the NBC News Decision Desk. “What we started to see at a granular level was that Harris was under-performing in key places,” Lapinski says. They also discussed how the polls measured up to election night results, exit polling results—which showed the economy as the most important factor for many voters—and how polling can continue to improve in future election cycles.

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Produced by Alex Schein and Michele Berger 
Hosted by Stephanie Perry 
Edited by Alex Schein 
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Illustration and logo by Nick Matej

Democracy and Decision 2024 is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences in collaboration with the Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies (PORES). Visit our website to listen to every episode of the Omnia Podcast: https://omnia.sas.upenn.edu/podcast

The Arts & Sciences Annual Fund is the most fundamental way to support the School of Arts & Sciences at Penn. Donations mean immediate, unrestricted dollars for the School to use on its top priorities, including the path-breaking faculty and research featured in this podcast. Show your support today: www.sas.upenn.edu/annual-fund

In this season of Democracy and Decision 2024, we take a close look at the state of U.S. democracy in the context of the 2024 election. 

The fourth episode, “The Gears of Democracy,” features Marc Meredith, Professor of Political Science, in conversation with podcast host Stephanie Perry, Executive Director of the Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies (PORES) and the Fox Leadership Program. Both Meredith and Perry are members of the NBC News Decision Desk Team.

The pair talked before Election Day, though the episode focuses on what will happen today at the polls. Plus they discuss why voting laws are so complicated, what has changed since the last election, voter turnout, mail-in ballots, poll workers, and why some races take longer to call than others. 

Check back after the election for our fifth episode, in which Perry speaks with John Lapinski, Robert A. Fox Leadership Professor of Political Science, PORES Director, and Director of the Elections Unit at NBC News.

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Produced by Alex Schein and Michele Berger 
Hosted by Stephanie Perry 
Edited by Alex Schein 
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Illustration and logo by Nick Matej

Democracy and Decision 2024 is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences in collaboration with the Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies (PORES). Visit our website to listen to every episode of the Omnia Podcast: https://omnia.sas.upenn.edu/podcast

The Arts & Sciences Annual Fund is the most fundamental way to support the School of Arts & Sciences at Penn. Donations mean immediate, unrestricted dollars for the School to use on its top priorities, including the path-breaking faculty and research featured in this podcast. Show your support today: www.sas.upenn.edu/annual-fund

In this season of Democracy and Decision 2024, we take a close look at the state of U.S. democracy in the context of the 2024 election. 

The third episode, “The Fight for Democracy,” features Matthew Levendusky, Professor of Political Science and Stephen and Mary Baran Chair in the Institutions of Democracy at the Annenberg Public Policy Center, in conversation with podcast host Stephanie Perry, Executive Director of the Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies (PORES) and the Fox Leadership Program, who is also a member of the NBC News Decision Desk Team.

The pair spoke about the myths and realities of political polarization, what got Levendusky interested in this field, what has changed over time with people who consider themselves “moderates” and “independents,” whether this election will end up being an “election of vibes,” and so much more.

Next week—on Election Day—we’ll release our fourth episode, “The Gears of Democracy,” featuring Professor of Political Science Marc Meredith. And check back after the election for our fifth episode, where Perry speaks with John Lapinski, Robert A. Fox Leadership Professor of Political Science, PORES Director, and Director of the Elections Unit at NBC News.

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Produced by Alex Schein and Michele Berger 
Hosted by Stephanie Perry 
Edited by Alex Schein 
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Illustration and logo by Nick Matej

Democracy and Decision 2024 is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences in collaboration with the Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies (PORES). Visit our website to listen to every episode of the Omnia Podcast: https://omnia.sas.upenn.edu/podcast

The Arts & Sciences Annual Fund is the most fundamental way to support the School of Arts & Sciences at Penn. Donations mean immediate, unrestricted dollars for the School to use on its top priorities, including the path-breaking faculty and research featured in this podcast. Show your support today: www.sas.upenn.edu/annual-fund

In this season of Democracy and Decision 2024, we take a close look at the state of U.S. democracy in the context of the 2024 election.

The second episode, “The Voice of Democracy,” features Diana Mutz, Samuel A. Stouffer Professor of Political Science and Communication, in conversation with podcast host Stephanie Perry, Executive Director of the Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies (PORES) and the Fox Leadership Program, who is also a member of the NBC News Decision Desk Team.

They spoke about a range of media-related topics, like the institution’s influence on how the public understands government and politics, how people interact with others who don’t share their political viewpoint, media consumption, and more.

Check out a new episode of Democracy and Decision 2024 from the Omnia Podcast every two weeks starting on October 1, 2024. We'll explore topics like the myths and realities of political polarization, how media is shaping our understanding of the issues and candidates, and how state voting laws have changed. And we’ll even give you some post-election analysis.  

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Produced by Alex Schein and Loraine Terrell 
Hosted by Stephanie Perry 
Edited by Alex Schein 
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Illustration and logo by Nick Matej

Democracy and Decision 2024 is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences in collaboration with the Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies (PORES). Visit our website to listen to every episode of the Omnia Podcast: https://omnia.sas.upenn.edu/podcast

The Arts & Sciences Annual Fund is the most fundamental way to support the School of Arts & Sciences at Penn. Donations mean immediate, unrestricted dollars for the School to use on its top priorities, including the path-breaking faculty and research featured in this podcast. Show your support today: www.sas.upenn.edu/annual-fund

Our new season of Omnia, Democracy and Decision 2024, examines the state of U.S. democracy in the context of the upcoming presidential election. 

The first episode, “Truth and Democracy,“ features Sophia Rosenfeld, Walter H. Annenberg Professor of History, in conversation with podcast host Stephanie Perry, Executive Director of the Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies (PORES) and the Fox Leadership Program, who is also a member of the NBC News Decision Desk Team. 

They discuss some of the big questions at the heart of American democracy, like whether common sense has changed in the context of politics, how a healthy democracy works, who decides what’s true in democracy, and much more.

Check out a new episode of Democracy and Decision 2024 from the Omnia Podcast every two weeks starting on October 1, 2024. We'll explore topics like the myths and realities of political polarization, how media is shaping our understanding of the issues and candidates, and how state voting laws have changed. And we’ll even give you some post-election analysis.  

***
Produced by Alex Schein and Loraine Terrell 
Hosted by Stephanie Perry 
Edited by Alex Schein 
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Illustration and logo by Nick Matej

Democracy and Decision 2024 is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences in collaboration with the Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies (PORES). Visit our website to listen to every episode of the Omnia Podcast: https://omnia.sas.upenn.edu/podcast

The Arts & Sciences Annual Fund is the most fundamental way to support the School of Arts & Sciences at Penn. Donations mean immediate, unrestricted dollars for the School to use on its top priorities, including the path-breaking faculty and research featured in this podcast. Show your support today: www.sas.upenn.edu/annual-fund

Many people know Philadelphia for the Declaration of Independence, Rocky, and cheesesteaks. Philly’s deep musical history is less familiar, but its influence continues to inspire audiences and artists across the globe. 

For Carol Muller’s graduate-level ethnomusicology field methods class, students focused on documenting the city’s Black music history, interviewing figures ranging from Grammy-award winning hip-hop producer Jahlil Beats to Mark Christman and Anthony Tidd of the Ars Nova Worskhop to radio icon Dyana Williams. The class also produced a podcast based on the book There’s that Beat Guide to The Philly Sound by Dave Moore. Each student created an episode based on a chapter of the book, including music samples to make the material more accessible to all audiences. 

The class was part of the Paideia program at Penn, which is focused on educating the whole student. Paideia funded some of the guests, and other research interviews were supported by a Klein Family Social Justice Grant. 

Muller, a professor of music, has been teaching the field methods class since 2001. Supported by the Penn Global program, she recently has spent time in Australia working with aboriginal leaders— an experience that she says has helped her re-think the focus of her field methods class. The course now centers around deep listening and working to understand the relationships between humans, non-human animals, and the environment. “To fully grasp human sound production, we need to expand how we see, hear, and know the world,” she wrote in the course description. 

Hear from Muller and graduate students Kwame Ocran and Yuri Seung about the experience, and listen to some of the material they created, in this episode of the Omnia podcast.

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Produced, Narrated, and Edited by Alex Schein

Podcast Logo by Hemani Kapoor

Music excerpts by the O’Jays, Teddy Pendergrass, Meek Mill (Pr.  Jahlil Beats), Chris Brown and Tyra (Pr. Jahlil Beats), Big Pun (Pr. Minnesota), Bobby Byrd, Jay-Z (Pr. Just Blaze), Marian Anderson, James Mtume, Rasheed Ali Quintet, Mahal Richard Abrams, Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom, Soul Brothers Six, and Barbara Mason.

Additional Music by Blue Dot Sessions 

Visit our editorial magazine, Omnia, for more content from Penn Arts & Sciences faculty, students, and alumni: omnia.sas.upenn.edu