University of California Video Podcasts (Video)

The blood-brain-barrier (BBB) is a special structure in the body that helps to protect the brain from unwanted toxins and germs. Unfortunately, this barrier can also make it extremely difficult for therapeutics to reach their intended target within brain. Lawrence Livermore Lab scientists describe how combining experimental techniques with computational methods, making use of some of the fastest supercomputers in the world, can speed up the process of optimizing therapeutics to cross the BBB. Series: "Lawrence Livermore National Lab Science on Saturday" [Science] [Show ID: 34467]

Ticks are vectors for human disease, including Lyme disease. Semay Chou studies the vector–pathogen relationships at UCSF. Here she discusses strategies for blocking tick-borne diseases and what we can learn from ticks. Series: "Mini Medical School for the Public" [Show ID: 35241]

Béla Bartók's "Concerto for Orchestra" is one of that composer's most accessible and popular works. Composed at a time when Bartók was terminally ill with leukemia, the Concerto is nonetheless full of energy and humor. In Bartók's words this music is intended to be "a life-assertion," and it served as a great composer's final artistic statement. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Show ID: 35400]

This lecture by South African writer, playwright and academic Jane Taylor considers Ludwig Wittgenstein’s paper, “On Certainty” in which the philosopher engages with the taken-for-granted in everyday thought. Taylor notes, “In our contemporary context of the precarious, on one hand, and the political vehemence of conviction, on the other, it seems timely to pay attention to the faltering and tentative mode of regard and thought of one of the twentieth century’s most enigmatic thinkers.” Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Show ID: 35149]

This edition of Lost Voices from unsung entrepreneurs looks at Ng Poon Chew, an entrepreneur and social activist. Ng Poon Chew immigrated to the US in 1881 at the age of 14. He was an author, publisher and advocate for Chinese American civil rights. He published the first Chinese language daily newspaper to be printed outside of China. UC Santa Barbara theater student Martin Wong performs with the coaching of Fang He, IHC Research Fellow at UC Santa Barbara. Then, hear from today's co-sponsors: Impact, an affiliate marketer in Santa Barbara and Tapjoy, a mobile advertising platform. Series: "Innovator Stories: Creating Something from Nothing" [Show ID: 35445]

A much-abused wig, the ad-libbing of Michael Keaton, and the gender imbalance in 1980s film makeup departments arise in this conversation about Beetlejuice (1988) between award-winning makeup artist Ve Neill and Rachael Ball (Film and Media Studies, UCSB). In this video, Neill shares a series of illuminating and entertaining anecdotes from many of her iconic film projects including Mrs. Doubtfire, The Lost Boys, and the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Show ID: 35466]

Opera News has called UC San Diego Music Professor Anthony Davis A National Treasure, for his pioneering work in opera. His six operas include works centered on recent historical figures & events, including Malcolm X and Patty Hearst. Davis' latest opera The Central Park Five, an exploration of the wrongful conviction of five teenagers of color in NYC in the 1980s, premiered at Long Beach Opera in 2019 to international acclaim. In this conversation with UC San Diego Music Professor Emeritus Cecil Lytle, Davis explains the genesis of The Central Park Five, and the challenges that ensue when art collides with current events. Series: "Contemporary Composers (1900-Present)" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 35078]

Rossini's 1829 opera "William Tell" is rarely performed today, but its Overture lives on as one of the most popular works in the classical repertoire. The Overture is essentially an instrumental suite written in four parts and performed without pause. The best-known section is the last, the allegro vivace, famously used as the rousing theme music for "The Lone Ranger" radio and TV series (and notoriously so in "A Clockwork Orange). Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Show ID: 35398]

America’s pre-WWII anxieties, Depression-era economic disparity, and the potential for positive social movements arise in this conversation about Frank Capra (director) and Robert Riskin’s (screenwriter) film Meet John Doe (1941) between author Victoria Riskin (Robert Riskin and Fay Wray: A Hollywood Memoir) and film scholar Charles Wolfe. Riskin and Wolfe discuss the multiple endings shot for the film, and Riskin reads passages from her father’s England-based radio broadcasts amidst the Battle of Britain. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Show ID: 35397]

Scientific drill ships allow scientists access to some of Earth's most challenging environments, collecting data and samples of sediment, rock, fluids and living organisms from below the seafloor. Join Scripps paleontologist Dick Norris to learn about the long running international collaboration in scientific ocean drilling that has transformed human understanding of our planet. Series: "Jeffrey B. Graham Perspectives on Ocean Science Lecture Series" [Show ID: 35178]