UC Santa Barbara (Audio)

The HBO one-hour drama series "Westworld" is a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin. Set at the intersection of the near future and the reimagined past, it explores a world in which every human appetite, no matter how noble or depraved, can be indulged. UCSB Script to Screen welcomed UCSB Department of Film & Media Studies Alumnus Fred Toye, director of two pivotal episodes: Season 1, Episode 6 "The Adversary" and Season 1, Episode 7 "Trompe L'Oeil." Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 32214]

The political atmosphere of the Middle East may change with the new administration. David Makovsky Ziegler, Distinguished Fellow and Director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and Ghaith Al-Omari, Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, discuss how the new administration's policies may impact the Israeli and Palestinian people and region. Series: "Herman P. and Sophia Taubman Endowed Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 32098]

2016 was a good and bad year for efforts to tackle climate change. The good news is that 120 parties have ratified the Paris Convention; the bad news is the emergence of post-truth politics and the associated denial of the evidence that climate change is a threat to our future. Leading environmentalist and Member of UK House of Lords John Krebs discusses the trends and their implications for global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Series: "Bren School of Environmental Science & Management" [Public Affairs] [Science] [Show ID: 31961]

Author and anti-racist activist Tim Wise speaks about the importance of being a white ally to communities of color, and how we can all work together to create a healthier community on campuses and in the world beyond. Wise spoke as part of UCSB’s Resilient Love in a Time of Hate series. Series: "Voices" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 31995]

UCSB Script to Screen was invited to the 2017 Writers Guild Awards and 2017 WGA Beyond Words. The interviews include many Oscar nominees. The "Script to Screen" series is hosted by Matt Ryan. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 32215]

Rebecca was Alfred Hitchcock’s first American film. It has long been considered to be the director’s most “feminine” project, given its subject matter and appeal to female audiences. Tania Modleski, author of the groundbreaking book The Women Who Knew Too Much: Hitchcock and Feminist Film Theory discusses both the history and continuing legacy of Rebecca, now regarded as a film that not only explores women’s fears but also women’s desire for other women. The discussion was moderated by Professor Patrice Petro, director of the Carsey-Wolf Center. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 32132]

Bernard-Henri Levy visited the UCSB campus to discuss his new book The Genius of Judaism. In this provocative book he demonstrates that anti-Semitism, constitutes the greatest danger to Jews and non-Jews alike, and to liberal democracies. And, at the same time he offers a challenging argument that the nature or essence of Judaism is located in Talmud and its interpreters, not as an on-going discourse about norms of behavior and structures of belief, but of critical engagement, on-going inquiry, of intellectual, philosophical, and moral challenges, in which Judaism and Jewish identity is to be realized in an obligation to the other, to the dispossessed, to the marginalized. Series: "Herman P. and Sophia Taubman Endowed Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [Show ID: 31923]

Film preservationist James Katz and Tom Pollock, former Executive Vice President of MCA and Chairman of Universal Pictures, discuss the restoration of "Vertigo" with Charles Wolfe, UCSB Professor of Film & Media Studies. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 32131]

The Last Aristocrats is a film based on a short story by Kenneth Pai, UCSB Professor Emeritus. It follows four young Chinese women from elite Shanghai families who become stranded in the US when the communists take over Shanghai in 1948. Professor Pai, is joined by Professor Michael Berry of UCLA's Contemporary Chinese Cultural Studies. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 31925]

Writer/producer/director Theodore Melfi, actor Kevin Costner and president of Fox 2000 Pictures, Elizabeth Gabler discuss the Oscar-nominated film based on the true story about three brilliant African-American women working on John Glenn's launch into orbit at NASA. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 31924]