University of California Video Podcasts (Video)

In The Lion Seeker and The Mandela Plot, two powerful novels full of raw, vividly-drawn characters, Kenneth Bonert has explored the unique and fascinating story of the Jews of South Africa. In this talk he explains why he became a novelist and the inspiration that he drew from growing up in Johannesburg. He talks about the history of his family and of the Jewish community in South Africa and reflect on his literary goals such as capturing the authentic voices of his characters and examining their moral and political struggles. Series: "Herman P. and Sophia Taubman Endowed Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Show ID: 34564]

Orca, J-50, is loosing weight and researchers at UC Davis Veterinary School of Medicine and SeaDoc Society are exploring innovative ways to study what might be wrong with her. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Show ID: 34578]

Refugees and other displaced persons need a safe and secure way to store critical documents. They allow them to get work, go to school and ultimately live within a functioning society, but there hasn't always been a way to securely store and share them. UC Davis human rights professor and director, Keith David Watenpaugh, realized he and his team could fix that problem with Article 26 Backpack. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Show ID: 34582]

April Pyle, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics at UCLA, uses multi-disciplinary approaches to study human pluripotent stem cell biology and differentiation of these cells for use in regenerative medicine. She studies both basic aspects of stem cell biology as well as more translational aspects of human pluripotent stem cell differentiation towards skeletal muscle for use in therapeutic approaches for patients with muscular dystrophy.

Series: "Women in Science" [Professional Medical Education] [Show ID: 34442]

Visual storytelling and genre blending are central topics in this wide-ranging discussion between Quiet Place screenwriters Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and Pollock Theater director Matt Ryan. Beck and Woods reflect on and explain their desire to build a monster/sci-fi/horror/silent film that paid homage to classic television and cinema creators like Rod Serling, Alfred Hitchcock, and Charlie Chaplin while fashioning a new experience for contemporary viewers. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Show ID: 34569]

Sometimes the most useful tools are unexpected and this might be said of Professor Sarah Stewart’s Shock Compression laboratory, where huge cannons are fired (indoors) to study the early history of our Solar System. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Show ID: 34579]

Veterinarians at UC Davis and the Sacramento Zoo perform surgery on Coconut's eyelids to remove hair that is causing irritation Series: "UCTV Prime" [Show ID: 34581]

Noted tech venture capitalist Roger McNamee, an early mentor to Mark Zuckerberg, woke up to the serious damage Facebook and other social media outlets are doing to our society and set out to try to stop it. McNamee is in conversation with Jeff Light, publisher and editor of The San Diego Union-Tribune. Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Show ID: 34249]

After her debut record, new music trumpeter Stephanie Richards follows up with a premiere of works from her latest project. Using New York City as a backdrop, Richards selected poems from icons including Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, and Allen Ginsberg to name a few, and has crafted music for quartet that explores a spontaneous prose of grit and brilliance; the ugly beauty of the city. Presented by Fresh Sound In conjunction with Hearing the Future, the San Diego Symphony’s fourth annual January Festival, and the Festival of New Trumpet Music (FONT) West. [Show ID: 34392]

The ancient Buddhist sources have a great deal to say about what it means to be a biological man or woman, what it means to be gendered male and female, what kinds of desires and sexual practices are considered normative, and what kinds deviate. But this material is scattered throughout hundreds of different texts and is found in no single source. Drawing on decades of research into the classical Indian and Tibetan Buddhist texts - and on the extensive literature on ancient theories of "queerness" - Jose Cabezon traces the life of a man and woman from conception to death, in the process laying bare Buddhist assumptions about what it means to be normal and abnormal and why these issues were so important to ancient authors. Series: "Burke Lectureship on Religion and Society" [Show ID: 34403]