UC Santa Barbara (Audio)

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" [Humanities] [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" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33753]

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" [Humanities] [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" [Humanities] [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: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [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" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33662]

Eytan Elbaz is an American entrepreneur and investor best known for co-founding Applied Semantics. In 2003, Applied Semantics was acquired by Google for $102 million in a deal that included pre-IPO Google company stock. As part of the acquisition, Elbaz served as Head of Domain Channel at Google from 2003 to 2007. Eytan is an Angel investor and founder of many Los Angeles companies, most notably Scopely, a mobile gaming startup. He is also the founder and Chairman of the Board of Render Media, a new-age digital media start up. Series: "Innovator Stories: Creating Something from Nothing" [Science] [Business] [Show ID: 33473]

With over twenty-five years of sales and operations experience within the technology sector, Lars Nilsson is a global leader in enterprise software and selling solutions. He is currently the VP of Global Inside Sales for Cloudera, the company that has revolutionized enterprise data management by offering the first unified platform for data management and analytics. He explores his professional wins and his personal losses. Series: "Innovator Stories: Creating Something from Nothing" [Business] [Show ID: 33675]

Hans Swildens is the CEO and Founder of Industry Ventures and manages the overall business. As an early pioneer of the modern secondary market for venture capital, he created new ways to get liquidity for venture capital investments prior to an IPO or M&A event. Additionally, he was early to support the development of a new class of venture capital partnerships focused on seed and early stage investing during the last decade. He directs the firm’s investment processes, operations and limited partner relationships. Series: "Innovator Stories: Creating Something from Nothing" [Business] [Show ID: 33676]

When Saturday Night Live debuted in 1975, it gave the sketch/variety show format a twist, offering high-concept comedy sketches and political satire that attracted a younger audience than its competitors on late night television. It also featured pioneering work by female comedians. Laraine Newman, a member of the show’s legendary original cast, talks about the show and the work of women comedians on television. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33758]