University of California Audio Podcasts (Audio)

This CARTA public symposia focuses on the long and short-term impact of humans on the planet that we inhabit, and the consequences for the future of our species. This also gives us the opportunity to celebrate the memory of the late Paul Crutzen, who coined the term “Anthropocene.” It is relevant to ask how a single species evolved the capacity to completely alter the surface of an entire planet and dominate its governing environmental and ecological processes. This symposium brings together experts regarding human impact on the planet and also address the current and future implications for our species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37875]

Speakers Leslie Aiello, Michael Purugganan and Vanessa Ezenwa discuss humanity's past, present and future of the Anthropocene. Aiello speaks on how the human capacity to change the planet is not something new, but is rooted in our deep evolutionary past. One of the hallmarks of humans is our large brain size, which began to expand about 2 million years ago. Purugganan discusses how domesticated species are an interesting group of organisms that have co-evolved with Homo sapiens, and have been important in human survival and fitness. Ezenwa explores the idea that interactions between climate change and infectious diseases can increase disease prevalence in human and animal populations, but disease, in turn, may exacerbate climate change. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37936]

UC San Diego Professor of Sociology and Co-Director of the Institute of Practical Ethics, John Evans discusses the work of Kyoto Prize laureate Bruno Latour with UC San Diego Professor Emerita of Communication and Science Studies Chandra Mukerji. Latour has revolutionized the conventional view of science by treating nature, humans, laboratory equipment, and other entities as equal actors, and describing technoscience as the hybrid network of these actors. His philosophy re-examines "modernity" based on the dualism of nature and society. He has a large influence across disciplines, with his multifaceted activities that include proposals regarding global environmental issues. Included is Latour's acceptance address delivered in Kyoto on the occasion of his being honored with the prestigious award. Series: "Kyoto Prize Symposium" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37922]

UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering computer science and engineering professor Russell Impagliazzo hosts a one-on-one conversation with 2021 Kyoto Prize laureate Andrew Chi-Chih Yao. Yao created new trends in computer science and made great contributions to cutting-edge research in various areas, especially in security, secure computing, and quantum computation through establishing innovative fundamental theories for computation and communication. His achievements are continuing to influence current real-world problems such as security, secure computing, and big data processing. Included is Yao's acceptance address delivered in Kyoto on the occasion of his being honored with the prestigious award. Series: "Kyoto Prize Symposium" [Science] [Show ID: 37924]

Speakers Mark Moffett, Charles Kennel and Martin Rees discuss humanity's past, present and future of the Anthropocene. Moffett examines the effects of the most aggressive ants on the environment, arguing that certain invasive species resemble humans in their capacity for global conquest and environmental destructiveness. Kennel speaks about the connections between past and present human exploitation of the environment, the coming crisis of the Anthropocene and what we humans can do to alleviate the crisis. Rees explores potential utopian and dystopian futures for humans on Earth. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37934]

Cancer has been around for as long as we have. And yet, the landscape of cancer today looks very different than in years past. Dr. Katherine Hyland of the University of California, San Francisco, discusses sporadic verses inherited cancers, genes that prevent and cause cancer and how cancer-causing mutations occur. Series: "Mini Medical School for the Public" [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 37843]

Cornel West, Ph.D., is a prominent and provocative intellectual. He is Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair at Union Theological Seminary and has written 20 books and edited 13. He's best known for his classics, "Race Matters and Democracy Matters," and for his memoir, "Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud." His most recent book, "Black Prophetic Fire," offers an unflinching look at nineteenth- and twentieth-century African American leaders and their visionary legacies. As part of the annual Writer's Symposium by the Sea, director of Point Loma Nazarene University's journalism program Dean Nelson has an engaging and inspiring conversation with West about his lifelong work as a theologian, civil rights activist and author. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Show ID: 37097]

Speakers V. Ramanathan, Nancy Knowlton and Jonah Western discuss humanity's past, present and future of the Anthropocene. Veerabhadran Ramanathan has had the privilege and pleasure of collaborating with Paul Crutzen for more than 40 years. Crutzen is one of the most creative, innovative and original geo-scientists of his generation. Nancy Knowlton speaks on how the ocean is enormous, indeed so large that for centuries we assumed there was nothing we could do to substantially harm it. Unfortunately, we now know that this is not true. David (Jonah) Western emphasizes how conservation is common to all societies which learned to live within ecosystem limits. If we use our unique capacity for cooperation and planning, there is hope for combating global warming and sustaining the diversity of life globally. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37935]

Brenna Henn (Stony Brook Univ) explores patterns of genetic diversity across Africa and models for modern human origins in this talk. She discusses whether genetic data is concordant with archaeological data and suggests directions for future research. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30979]

When the Second World War came to an end, Berlin, the capital of the Third Reich, lay in ruins. Few contemporaries, if any, could have anticipated that 70 years later, Berlin would boast large diaspora communities of Palestinians and Israelis who have made a home among Germans.

In “The Moral Triangle,” Sa’ed Atshan and Katharina Galor draw on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with Israelis, Palestinians and Germans in Berlin to explore the fraught relationship between the three groups in the context of official German policies, public discourse and the private sphere.

Atshan is author of “Queer Palestine: Empire of Critique.” Galor, an art historian and archaeologist, is the Hirschfeld Senior Lecturer of Judaic Studies at Brown University. Her publications include ”The Archaeology of Jerusalem: From the Origins to the Ottomans” (co-authored with Hanswulf Bloedhorn) and ”Finding Jerusalem: Archaeology Between Science and Ideology.” Series: "Library Channel" [Humanities] [Show ID: 37751]