University of California Audio Podcasts (Audio)

This functional, polished, granite drinking fountain is an exact replica in granite of commercial metal fountains typically found in schools, business offices and government buildings. Instead of its usual context as interior office furniture, the fountain is placed monument-like on a grass island in the center of UC San Diego's Town Square. The siting of his work is fundamental to its meaning; it is counter posed with a tall American flag and a granite marker commemorating Camp Matthews, a World War II training center and artillery and rifle range which occupied the land on which UCSD now stands. Asher's work projects several cultural references into one modest object, and it is a play on sculpture's historic role as representation. Series: "Stuart Collection at UC San Diego" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 37814]

With relentless focus on scalability and innovation, how does society navigate the environmental impact of our global computing needs? George Porter, PhD, shares a path forward with an emphasis on how we teach students about computer science and how we design and build networked systems. Series: "Exploring Ethics" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37317]

John Baldessari decided first to transform the main doors of UCSD’s iconic Geisel Library and then to incorporate the entire lobby space, choosing students as his subject.

The existing clear glass of the doors was replaced with glass in primary colors, perhaps suggesting primary sources of information. As the doors open and close, the colored panes cross over each other, visually mixing into new colors. Above the doors the words READ, WRITE, THINK and DREAM echo the exhortation Baldessari gave his students to remember that beyond the day-to-day grind comes the chance to contemplate the unexpected and envision new worlds.

Baldessari, once again, has absorbed the culture around him, using the latest techniques to create a collage juxtaposing photographs, words, and colors, which all loop back on each other to spark new associations and thoughts. Series: "Stuart Collection at UC San Diego" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 37820]

The ocean is enormous, indeed so large that for centuries we assumed that there was nothing we could do to substantially harm it. Unfortunately, we now know that this is not true. We are having success on some fronts, such as saving species from extinction, protecting ocean waters, fishing more sustainably, and restoring damaged ecosystems by replanting critical species and reducing pollution. Even actions on land, such as removing dams from rivers and rats from islands, can make an important difference to marine life. Of course, we still need to do much more, and do it faster. In the future, we can turn to new tools drawn from the natural and social sciences. Big data and genetic interventions have a role to play, as do ocean-based renewable energy sources and new financing schemes. Perhaps most important is the growing recognition that success depends on empowering local communities in efforts to create a healthier ocean. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37775]

The last decade has seen a dramatic capture of digital material for machine learning production. This data is the basis for sense-making in AI, not as classical representations of the world with individual meaning, but as mass collections: ground truth for machine abstractions and operations. What happens when data is seen as an aggregate, stripped of context, meaning, and specificity? In what ways does training data limit what and how machine learning systems interpret the world? And most importantly, what forms of power do these approaches enhance and enable? Professor Kate Crawford is a leading international scholar of the social and political implications of artificial intelligence. In this lecture, Crawford shares new work that reflects on what’s at stake in the architecture and contents of training sets, and how they are increasingly part of our urban, legal, logistical, and commercial infrastructures. Series: "Tanner Lectures on Human Values" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37729]

David Brooks is an op-ed columnist for the New York Times. He is a commentator on The PBS Newshour, NPR's All Things Considered, and NBC's Meet the Press. His books include "Bobos in Paradise," "The Social Animal," and "The Road to Character." His latest book is "The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life," a New York Times No. 1 bestseller. As part of the annual Writer's Symposium by the Sea, director of Point Loma Nazarene University's journalism program Dean Nelson has a candid, humorous and inspiring conversation with Brooks about his lifelong work as a journalist and writer, how events in his life shaped who he is today and his spiritual journey. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 37096]

Cancer is a group of over 200 diseases. Shagun Arora, MD and Sam Brondfield, MD, MAEd, explain the various types, their origins, and common methods of treatment. Hear how cancer is detected, diagnosed, staged and how patients are supported after treatment. Series: "Mini Medical School for the Public" [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 37842]

In 1992, for the Stuart Collection, Jenny Holzer created "Green Table," a large granite picnic or refectory table and benches inscribed with texts. Holzer's table and benches monumentalize an ordinary and functional set of objects. Like all tables, Holzer's work serves as an informal gathering place for students and faculty to eat, study, or play. But the various attitudes Holzer adopts in her writings – from humorous commentary to politically charged criticism – also create a site for questioning and debate. Series: "Stuart Collection at UC San Diego" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 37816]

"Red Shoe" has brought to life a formerly forgotten corner of campus. It is an alluring place for children to climb, its smooth exterior giving way to a roughly hull-like interior, hinting at the enclosure of a nest or fort. Narratives come to mind as fantasy evokes the resonance of childhood rhymes and tales. In the words of Robert Storr, Dean of the Yale University School of Art, "Reason presides over universities; it remains for artists to give substance to those areas of consciousness that reason has not and perhaps cannot articulate." Series: "Stuart Collection at UC San Diego" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 37818]

The female figure atop "Standing" calls forth thoughts of human strength and frailty, and both the power and the limits of medicine. Serene and ageless, she stands in a Madonna-like pose that is both vulnerable and generous. Ribbons of water - the source of life - flow from her hands into the rock-lined pond below, with a soothing sound.

The skin surface of the body itself is violated to reveal the musculature and tendons of arms and calves, reflecting Kiki Smith's interest in such anatomical illustrations and models. A "necklace" of starfish-headed pins, placed in the shape of the constellation Virgo, pierces the flesh, calling up a profusion of associations, from acupuncture to dissection to martyrdom. With these tiny starfish like a veil of Virgo gems, the delicate pins call up at once the oceanic and the celestial, in an image that speaks of mind and body, of flesh and healing. Series: "Stuart Collection at UC San Diego" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 37819]