University of California Audio Podcasts (Audio)

Director Lynn Hershman Leeson joins moderator Letícia Cobra Lima (History of Art & Architecture, UCSB and curator of A Box of One’s Own) for a discussion of her film !Women Art Revolution. They discuss her history as an artist, and the difficult process of piecing together a narrative from hundreds of hours of footage, interviews, and extensive archival research. They also examine the institutional issues faced by women in the art world and make connections between past and present artists. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 39975]

How secure are computers and how does artificial intelligence impact security? In this program, Christopher Kruegel, professor of computer science at UC Santa Barbara, explores two key questions related to security and artificial intelligence. First, how AI can help to improve security. For decades, security solutions have leveraged traditional machine learning models. Not surprisingly, recent advances in AI have opened up exciting new opportunities. Second, the security of AI systems themselves. Like any other software application, they can be exploited. Given their often-critical role, it is imperative to secure AI against attacks such as training data poisoning and adversarial inputs. Series: "GRIT Talks" [Science] [Show ID: 40086]

UCSF neurosurgeon Ethan Winkler, MD, PhD, summarizes the surgical treatment options for patients with arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) and describes the decision-making process for choosing the best treatment for each individual. Series: "UC San Francisco News" [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 40237]

Writer/director Sam Kadi and actors William Atherton and Rizwan Manji join moderator Juan Campo (Religious Studies, UCSB) for a discussion of their film The Citizen. They share their experiences making the film and drawing inspiration from real Arab-American stories. They also discuss the continued relevance of the film’s themes, including issues of citizenship, the immigrant experience, racial prejudice, and the right to protest, as well as the representation of Arab-Americans on-screen. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 39978]

Human "place-making" began over a million years ago when early humans made the hearth the center of social life. By 450,000 years ago, they were using caves in southwest Asia and sometimes buried their dead beneath the floor, linking memory-making with place-making. Hunter-gatherers started settling seasonally around 24,000 years ago, with permanent stone settlements by 13,000 BCE. Large, co-resident communities became common in the Holocene. The Neolithic (9600-6000 BCE) saw major social, economic, and cultural innovations, including architecture, monuments, and symbolic systems. Neolithic societies, with their complex economic relations, proto-urban patterns, and ritualistic architecture, were the first "imagined communities," deeply tied to memory and social symbolism. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 40163]

An electrifying harmonizer, Lisa Sanders’ heartfelt songs are genuine with deep meaning and conviction. Her music conveys a style that can only be described as soulful country blues, integrating influences of folk-pop, gospel, rock, and jazz. Writing, singing, and producing from her heart in nearly every genre for over three decades, Sanders continues to make an impact in the musical world. Joining her from the Los Angeles band, Water Tower, will be Kenny Feinstein, on guitars, mandolin, bass, and violin and Tommy Drinkard on bass, percussion, guitars, and banjo. Series: "Arts Channel " [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 40051]

Dr. Sian Proctor, astronaut, geoscientist, pilot and poet, flew on the first all-private mission to Earth orbit, on SpaceX Dragon. While in orbit, she found time to observe our beautiful planet, and wrote “Earth Light,” a poem about her mesmerizing experience. The poem captures the emotional impact of orbiting Earth - of being “bathed in Earth light.” Series: "Arts Channel " [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 40254]

Proteins are large biomolecules that play critical roles in a host of cellular processes, from cell signaling to regulating the immune system. However, these life-giving proteins can form toxic aggregate species that have been linked to several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinson’s Disease. In this program, UC Santa Barbara professor Joan-Emma Shea discusses the tau protein as a model system to study neurodegeneration. Shea says this protein plays a functional role in stabilizing microtubules in brain cells, but it can also self-assemble to form amyloid fibrils (large “clumps” of Tau proteins). There are several neurodegenerative diseases linked to tau assembly, including Alzheimer’s Disease, Pick’s Disease, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and they are collectively known as tauopathies. Shea discusses new insights into tauopathies and targets for therapeutics. Series: "GRIT Talks" [Science] [Show ID: 40083]

Researchers in the lab of Edward Chang, MD, at UCSF recorded activity from hundreds of individual neurons across all layers of the cortex while participants listened to spoken sentences. In a study published in Nature on December 13, 2023, the researchers showed that neurons responded to different speech sounds like parts of consonants and vowels, or the pitch of the voice. This work provides the most detailed picture yet of how the human brain processes speech. Series: "UC San Francisco News" [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 40240]

He is often referred to as the "God of Manga" and the "Father of Anime", Osamu Tezuka was a pioneering Japanese manga artist, animator, and film producer. His work laid the foundation for modern manga and anime, influencing countless creators and shaping the industry as it is known today. Tezuka founded Mushi Production, one of the first anime studios in Japan, where he produced the first Japanese TV anime series, Astro Boy in 1963. This show was a significant milestone in anime history, both for its success and for establishing the practice of limited animation, which became a standard in the industry. A lifelong anime aficionado, Rachel Costello, from UC San Diego’s Innovating for National Security Academic Program, gives a retrospective on the life and work for Tezuka. Her passion led her to spearhead the U.S. Navy’s “Sea Strike 2041” comic project as executive producer. Series: "Arts Channel " [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 40089]