University of California Audio Podcasts (Audio)

Today we take up the question of racial classification and the 2020 census with professor Michael Omi. Professor Omi is Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies, Asians American and Asian Diaspora Studies at UC Berkeley. He is the author, along with Howard Winant, of the ground breaking work Racial Formations in the United States, now in its third edition. At Berkeley, Professor Omi serves as the Associate Director of the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society, and is an affiliated faculty member of Sociology and Gender & Women’s Studies. In today’s talk, Professor Omi uses racial formations theory to discuss his research into the United States census and its evolving system of classifying and categorizing race. Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36278]

The principle question for this presentation is what is “race” and how does it shape our politics? We begin with an introduction looking at the ongoing western wildfires, its differential impact upon white versus communities of color and the prison workers who get paid pennies a day to fight wildfires in California. From there we turn to a consideration of race and racism as defined by sociologists Michael Omi and Howard Winant. Together, they define race as “a concept which signifies and symbolizes social conflicts and interests by referring to different types of human bodies.” Using this definition, we consider a range of examples of how racial categories and racial formations are “created, inhabited, transformed and destroyed.” We begin with the 1790 Naturalization act which reserved the rights of citizenship to “free white persons.” Then move on to consider how racial categories have both fixed our identities and shifted our history from Columbus to the 2020 Census.

Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36277]

Ashley Gearhardt describes significant differences between natural food and the modern food environment and how the human brain could be affected. Gearhardt developed the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) to operationalize addictive-like eating behaviors, which has recently been linked with more frequent binge eating episodes in clinical populations, increased prevalence of obesity and patterns of neural activation implicated in other addictive behaviors. Series: "UCSF Consortium for Obesity Assessment, Study and Treatment" [Health and Medicine] [Education] [Show ID: 36381]

“We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.” As look at the history of American democracy, we begin with the nation’s founding contradiction: the dispossession of Natives, the enslavement of Africans and the exclusion of women in a new nation dedicated to the radical concept of universal human equality. Through a reading of the founding documents of the United States, ranging from the Declaration of Independence to the speeches of Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass and Barack Obama, we consider how race, colonialism and slavery shaped the nation's founding, and how this legacy, this “original sin” of the American founding, continues to shape and distort our democracy. Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 36276]

Heather Hochrein is founder and CEO of EVmatch, a nationwide network for sharing and renting private EV charging stations. The goal is to increase the adoption of electric vehicles, thereby decreasing carbon emissions from the transportation sector. She is well versed in clean technology and previously spent five years in leadership roles at Rising Sun Energy Center. She holds a BS from UC Berkeley and a master's in Energy and Climate from UC Santa Barbara. Series: "Innovator Stories: Creating Something from Nothing" [Public Affairs] [Business] [Show ID: 36308]

You've read the news, seen the statistics and heard the commentary. Now hear about COVID-19 firsthand from the physicians caring for the most severe cases and leading the regional efforts to eradicate the novel coronavirus in San Diego and beyond. Top-ranked faculty from the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine discuss their experiences. Series: "UC San Diego Health Talks" [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 36303]

This conversation with leading scholars and bestselling authors Robin DiAngelo ("White Fragility") and Ibram X. Kendi ("How to Be An Anti-Racist") is facilitated by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Wesley Lowery. Together they address the question: How do we talk about race in a way that unites and strengthens us as a community? [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36150]

Aimee Allison is founder and president of She the People, a national network elevating the voice and power of women of color. She brings together voters, organizers, and elected leaders in a movement grounded in values of love, justice, belonging, and democracy. In 2018, Ms. Allison was one of the primary architects of the "year of women of color in politics." She is building a political home for a million women of color, nationally and in battleground states.

In April 2019, she convened the first presidential forum for women of color, reaching a quarter of the American population. A democratic innovator and visionary, Ms. Allison leads national efforts to build inclusive, multiracial coalitions led by women of color. She leverages media, research and analysis to increase voter engagement and advocate for racial, economic and gender justice. Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36275]

The promise of science is great, but the application of new technologies often raises profound ethical questions. Answering those questions depends on both critical philosophical inquiry and good data. Unfortunately, the reliability of the science is in question. Theoretical and empirical investigations have caused many to believe that science now faces a reproducibility crisis: Much that is published by one team of scientists cannot be reproduced by another. Research ethicist Mike Kalichman, addresses the magnitude of this crisis, factors contributing to research findings that are not reproducible, and identifying strategies that will promote the rigor and reproducibility of science. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Humanities] [Science] [Education] [Show ID: 35795]

Director Darya Zhuk discusses making Crystal Swan, which is a vitriolic comedy set in Belarus circa 1996. The film follows a young female DJ who befriends a rural family in a scheme to obtain her U.S. visa so she can move to Chicago and pursue her house-music career. In her debut tragic comedy, director Darya Zhuk reveals a multilayered vision of time and place and paints a bright, kitschy, vibrant backdrop of familial dynamics and cultural traditions. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 36302]