Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released on July 29, 2025, showed 7.44 million jobs open in the United States at the end of June, a decrease from May’s number of 7.71 million, the highest number of job openings since November 2024.

The lingering effects of the 11 interest rate hikes in 2022 and 2023 to combat inflation are one factor creating momentum changes in the U.S. job market. Another is the uncertainty resulting from the trade wars brought on after the 2025 change in presidential administration.

Some of the many diverse elements affecting the American labor market include automation, artificial intelligence, energy transition and, more recently, the deportation of laborers in various fields. Other important talking points around employment include the future of wages, benefits, workers’ rights and unions. Virginia Parks, UC Irvine professor of urban planning and public policy, will address each of these topics in this episode of The UC Irvine Podcast. She’ll also give advice to young people making the daunting decision about what they should do for a living – and share how the UC Irvine Labor Center can help.

“Confliction & Catharsis,” the music for this episode, was provided by Asher Fulero, via the audio library in YouTube Studio.

In his 1988 semiautobiographical novel "The Beautiful Room Is Empty," author Edmund White relates his experiences on the night of June 28, 1969, as he and others passed by the Stonewall Inn, a New York City gay bar: “I suppose the police expected us to run away into the night, as we’d always done before, but we stood across the street on the sidewalk of the small triangular park. … Everyone booed the cops, just as though they were committing a shameful act. We kept exchanging peripheral glances, excited and afraid.”

The uprising that White witnessed is described by the Library of Congress as a “tipping point” for the gay liberation movement in the United States. One year later, the first Pride marches were held in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago – the beginning of an annual June tradition of events commemorating Stonewall and the continuation of prior decades of activism and demonstrations for equal rights for LGBTQ+ people.

White, the author of over 30 books of fiction and nonfiction and hundreds of essays and articles, died on June 3, 2025. He’s called a “towering figure in American literature” who is “most justly known as one of the singular lights of gay letters” by Jonathan Alexander, UC Irvine Chancellor’s Professor of English and informatics who’s been named the next chair of the campus’s nationally ranked Department of English.

In this wide-ranging episode of The UC Irvine Podcast, Alexander reflects on both White and Pride. He also describes how he thinks about fear in the face of uncertainty, his vision for the future of the UC Irvine English department, and what he’s learning through his current research on how the craft of writing affects University of California graduates.

“Shadowing,” the music for this episode, was provided by Corbyn Kites, via the audio library in YouTube Studio.

“Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth.” That’s a memorable line from the 2013 tune “Happy,” by Pharrell Williams – a song that reached No. 1 in the charts in over 20 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada and was the most played song of the 2010s.

One truth about happiness: It’s among the many positive emotions that people can use to counter stress, which affects thoughts, feelings, behaviors and physical health. Unchecked stress can lead to myriad health problems like hypertension, heart disease, stroke, obesity and diabetes.

Sarah Pressman, UC Irvine professor of psychological science, has made examining the health benefits of positive emotions her life’s work. In this episode of The UC Irvine Podcast, Pressman explains how researchers analyze the protective properties of positivity, relates their findings and suggests simple steps people can take to improve their own happiness.

“High Life,” the music for this episode, was provided by The Mini Vandals, featuring Mamadou Koita and Lasso, via the audio library in YouTube Studio.

Social movements – and the protests they give rise to – have happened on American soil since before the country’s establishment as an independent nation. On Dec. 16, 1773, American colonists demonstrated their dissatisfaction with British tax policies by dressing in disguise and dumping 342 chests – around 92,000 pounds – of valuable tea into Boston Harbor. Originally known as “the Destruction of the Tea,” the event was later nicknamed “the Boston Tea Party.”

In this century, we’ve seen part of that moniker repurposed by the tea party movement, a group interested in lower taxes and decreased government spending who staged protests in over 750 U.S. cities on April 15, 2009 – Tax Day.

Social injustices, environmental issues and political concerns are just a few of myriad reasons people have organized protests over the course of history. David S. Meyer, UC Irvine professor of sociology, political science, and urban planning and public policy, is one of the nation’s top scholars on social movements. In this episode of The UC Irvine Podcast, Meyer leans on years of study to put today’s realities into historical perspective, analyze the current state of polarization and share what he’s learned about how action can spark change.

“Downpour,” the music for this episode, was provided by Patiño via the audio library in YouTube Studio.

In 1987, Congress passed Public Law 100-9, designating March as “Women’s History Month,” intended to honor “women of every race, class, and ethnic background” who have made “historical contributions to the growth and strength of the Nation in countless recorded and unrecorded ways.”

One academic discipline where the contributions of women have been overlooked and undervalued is science. Cailin O’Connor, UC Irvine Chancellor’s Professor of logic and philosophy of science, has spent significant time studying scientific communities and how they learn about the world together – and how cultures evolve unfair rules around characterizations like race and gender. Because O’Connor is a female working in science herself, she has paid special attention to the unique histories, challenges and successes of women who have chosen career paths in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

In this episode of The UCI Podcast, O’Connor addresses why women have been historically underrepresented in science and the barriers that still exist, how the accessibility of science careers for women has changed, and what can be done to increase female representation.

“Divine Life Society,” the music for this episode, was provided by Jesse Gallagher via the audio library in YouTube Studio.

With a focus on early childhood education, Andres Bustamante and his team at the STEM Learning Lab are busy developing interactive learning spaces to enhance science, technology, engineering and math education in places where families gather – parks, playgrounds, grocery stores, even bus stops. Through collaborative partnerships with schools and community organizations – and by integrating the thoughtful input of local families in their design process – members of Bustamante’s group are creating opportunities for young children to learn in ways that are powerful and effective because they are also engaging, joyful and fun.

In this episode of The UCI Podcast, the associate professor of education and faculty director of UC Irvine’s Orange County Educational Advancement Network guides us on a tour of the playful learning landscapes he has helped install in schools and community locations throughout the city of Santa Ana and explains how and why they’re already making a difference.

“Skedaddle Back,” the music for this episode, was provided by Nathan Moore via the audio library in YouTube Studio.

According to poll results from the American Psychological Association last November, 89 percent of adults in the United States were overwhelmed as the holidays approached by concerns such as not having enough money, missing loved ones and anticipating family conflict.

The goal of this episode of The UCI Podcast is to help you develop some strategies to manage the added stressors of this time of year – particularly when it comes to having challenging conversations with loved ones. Our guest today is Naomi Tabak, a licensed and board-certified clinical psychologist and director of UC Irvine’s Psychological Services Center. She’ll share tips to help listeners mitigate holiday stress and prioritize their well-being at a time of year when self-care is crucial.

Community members over 18 who are interested in learning more about the UC Irvine’s Psychological Services Center can check out its webpage at https://sites.uci.edu/psychologyclinic.

The center is NOT affiliated with UCI Health or the UCI Counseling Center. If you’re currently enrolled as a student at UC Irvine and are seeking campus counseling and clinical services, please visit the Counseling Center website at https://counseling.uci.edu.

“Soft Feeling,” the music for this episode, was provided by Cheel via the audio library in YouTube Studio.

The much-loved and eclectic campus radio station KUCI, 88.9 FM, turns 55 this year, and it has been quite a ride. What started as an underground station was among the first to embrace the internet. With an audience that now spans the globe, KUCI continues to air a diverse schedule of music and voices.

Chang Liu, UC Irvine professor of biomedical engineering, is a leader in the field of directed evolution, an effort to train genes to evolve in a laboratory in order to perform desired functions. Through this method of gene engineering, researchers hope to create new biological substances for use in pharmaceuticals and as cheaper and more environmentally responsible industrial catalysts. The work is also helping the scientific community build genetic knowledge for the benefit of bioengineering.

Liu's research group has a new paper out in the journal Science in which they discuss improvements to their OrthoRep gene evolution platform. The system allows mutations to happen a million times faster than natural evolutionary time frames. In this episode of the UCI Podcast, speaks with UC Irvine communicator Brian Bell about the findings detailed in the paper.

Musical accompaniment to this podcast episode is Bach’s E Major Fugue from the Well-Tempered Clavier Book 2, played by Professor Liu.

Research released in June by the Berkeley Institute for Young Americans revealed that younger voters had a broad, decisive impact on the 2020 presidential election and on congressional elections in 2018 and 2022 – with the same being expected this year.

In the latest episode of The UCI Podcast, we’ll speak with Kylie Jones, Khushi Patel and Evelyn Rodriguez – three UC Irvine undergraduates who are passionate about participating in the political process. They’ll tell us why voting is important to them, offer their thoughts on voter turnout and share key issues that younger voters are focusing on in this election cycle.

“Believe (Instrumental),” the music for this episode, was provided by NEFFEX via the audio library in YouTube Studio.