University of California Video Podcasts (Video)

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]

Explore the captivating realm of brain research at UC San Diego with Frank Furnari, Ph.D., and Alexander Khalessi, M.D., M.B.A. Furnari and Khalessi delve into groundbreaking efforts to find new treatments for neurological conditions such as brain tumors, stroke, and brain injuries, bringing hope to patients and their families. Emphasizing ethics, innovation, and patient care, Furnari and Khalessi shed light on the challenges and successes in their quest to unravel the mysteries of the mind. Series: "Stem Cell Channel" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 39723]

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]

This creative program invites musicians to interact with sounds recorded from the depths of the ocean. UC San Diego music professor and Qualcomm Institute Research Artist-in-Residence Lei Liang explores his composition "Six Seasons" with Marco Fusi, a renowned string player who has performed “Six Seasons,” and Joshua Jones, a project scientist with the UC San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography lab that recorded the soundscape. Series: "Arts Channel " [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 40019]

Lucy is one of the most famous fossils of all time. The discovery of this species had a major impact on the science of human origins and evolution. Why? What was that impact? The symposium speakers—each a prominent scientist in their field—will address this question and specifically discuss the discovery’s impact through time, starting with the first few years after the discovery, the lasting impact, and the state of the art in that research area today. We're celebrating the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the fossil skeleton “Lucy” with the aim of reigniting a global interest in how we “became human” and promoting the importance of connecting our human past to the global future on the planet. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39830]

Earl Thomas was born into a musical family in rural Tennessee and grew up in a house brimming with music. His father was a bluesman and his mother was a gospel singer, so music is in his veins. He stumbled into the music industry by accident, which led to a vibrant 30-year career that is steeped in African American tradition and culture. His music is a potent mix of the traditional and contemporary gospel, expressed in an impressive music catalogue. As a singer songwriter, his music – deeply rooted in the blues and gospel – is infused with contemporary sensibilities of rock, soul, and rhythm & blues. Thomas’ latest production, after a three-year hiatus, is all vintage gospel or what the singer says is “the music I was meant to do.” His mother always said that he was a gospel singer and now he is finally performing songs that have been, for decades, the soundtrack of African American culture and history and the backbone of the blues. Series: "Arts Channel " [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 40052]