Subscribe
Dave Smith deployed to Iraq twice during his time in the Marine Corps. Now he’s a Berkeley senior, about to earn his bachelor’s degree in political science. What he saw and did in Iraq hasn’t made for an easy ride. Smith talks intimately about student life after war, in an interview on KALW radio.
Audio archive
Biblical scholar on his latest translation, Ancient Israel
April 8, 2013: Biblical scholar Robert Alter considers himself a “literary archaeologist.” He discusses his latest Hebrew Bible translation, an award-winning work on the ancient Biblical books Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings, on KQED radio’s “Forum with Michael Krasny.”
Bears’ winning formula? Aim high, don’t forget to dance
April 2, 2013: Head coach Lindsay Gottlieb, 35, has just led the women’s basketball team to the NCAA Final Four. In a Q&A, she talks about personal influences, her approach to mentoring student-athletes and connecting with fans, and what makes Cal’s diverse team click.
Looking for a preschool? What’s right for your child?
February 28, 2013: It’s the time of year when many parents of young children are looking at preschools. In a podcast from the Greater Good Science Center, Berkeley sociologist Christine Carter and R.N. Rona Renner discuss preschool philosophies, research insights on academic vs. play-based programs, and how to choose what’s right for your child.
Newts, up close and (very) personal
February 11, 2013: For a front-row view of a biological spectacle, newt love, there’s no better spectator stand than the banks of the UC Botanical Garden’s Japanese Pool, and no better time than now. Docents are on hand at specified times to explain the life-cycle and mating rituals of these lively and fascinating amphibians.
I School prof Geoff Nunberg’s word of the year for 2012: big data
January 4, 2013: Berkeley linguist Geoffrey Nunberg picks “big data” as the word of the year for National Public Radio’s Fresh Air show, and explains why people should pay attention to it. With audio.
To Berkeley civil-rights scholar, race is uppercase concern
December 11, 2012: Civil-rights scholar john powell rethinks notions of race for the 21st century in a recently published essay collection, Racing to Justice. In a Q&A with the NewsCenter, powell discusses the book and his ambitious vision for the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society, which he heads at Berkeley.
Is China’s economy at a turning point?
October 10, 2012: Chinese workers are protesting and demanding better working conditions and compensation. Are they pushing back in ways that could fundamentally change their situation? What implications will the slowing Chinese economy have for its people and the global economy? Katie Quan, associate chair of the Labor Center at UC Berkeley, shares insights on KALW radio’s “Your Call.”
A violin gifted by Nazi propagandist keeps its secrets
September 24, 2012: In February, 1943, Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels ceremoniously gifted an 18th-century violin to a young Japanese musician. The origins of the instrument remain a mystery. Violin maker Carla Shapreau, an adjunct faculty at Berkeley Law, writes on Nazi plunder of fine art in a feature article in The New York Times arts section.
Journalism profs discuss a top GOP donor under scrutiny
August 28, 2012: Investigative reporters Lowell Bergman and Matt Isaacs were interviewed recently concerning Sheldon Adelson— a leading donor to a super PAC supporting Mitt Romney — and the federal investigation of his business for alleged bribery of Chinese officials. The School of Journalism faculty members appeared on Michael Krasny’s KQED Radio show, “Forum.”
Campus still a great place for birds despite century of changes
July 23, 2012: The bird population on the Berkeley campus has remained surprisingly diverse over the past 100 years, showing that it’s possible to create a green wildlife haven within a dense urban area, researchers say.
Gov’t affairs staffer, Southern expat Esther Gulli on ‘summer’ in Berkeley
June 22, 2012: In a perspective for KQED Radio, the Government and Community Relations Office deputy director pines for hot summer days, lightning bugs and other seasonal Southern charms.
Sociologist, in latest book, questions ‘intimate outsourcing’
May 24, 2012: In a new book titled The Outsourced Self: Intimate Life in Market Times, sociologist Arlie Hochschild, professor emeritus, explores how even the most intuitive human acts have increasingly become work for hire — offered by eldercare specialists to “name-ologists,” potty trainers, even “wantologists who help us figure out what we want.”
From J-School’s basement, curious earfuls of iTunes adventures in science
April 30, 2012: Journalism chops, media savvy, nerdiness and (especially) curiosity add up to the “Field Trip Podcast,” a radio program created by a trio of J-School grads, and returning soon to a computer or smartphone near you.
Charter Day 1962: JFK on Soviet-American cooperation, space science, state support for higher education
March 23, 2012: Fifty years ago, President Kennedy addressed an audience of 88,000 at Memorial Stadium, offering hope for peace and praising the people of California for supporting the state’s colleges and universities.
I School dean talks tech innovation on Canadian radio
February 3, 2012: AnnaLee Saxenian, dean of the School of Information and author of The New Argonauts: Regional Advantage in a Global Economy, talks about what happened in Silicon Valley to make it the world’s tech innovation center, and how the future of growth and innovation will depend on the new Argonauts — experts who move information fluidly between creative hubs all over the world.
Scientists decode brain waves to eavesdrop on what we hear
January 31, 2012: Stroke victims or paralyzed people unable to speak may someday be able to communicate via synthesizers that decode their internal speech and play it back. That hope comes from research by UC Berkeley neuroscientists Brian Pasley and Robert Knight, who have successfully decoded brain waves to predict what a person heard.
California native-plant classic gets a 21st-century makeover
January 30, 2012: For California botany, The Jepson Manual is the authoritative reference book. Now the super-sized tome has been revised to incorporate a wealth of new knowledge about the state’s huge diversity of native plants. Scholars and staff at the Jepson Herbarium oversaw its 2nd edition, published by UC Press.
Botanical art as ‘capturing a plant’s soul’
January 6, 2012: A camera can record a plant, but a botanical artist captures its soul, says botanical illustrator Catherine Watters in an audio interview with Paul Licht, director of the UC Botanical Garden. Works by Watters and other artists, along with classes and programs, will be featured at the Garden’s third-annual Plants Illustrated exhibition, Jan. 14 to Feb. 3.
Can ‘carbon ranching’ offset emissions in California?
December 12, 2011: Could cultivating dense fields of weeds help mitigate climate change by soaking up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere? Berkeley scientists Dennis Baldocchi and Whendee Silver are exploring that possibility in California’s agricultural heartland, the San Joaquin Valley. National Public Radio reports.
I School prof’s word of the year for NPR: occupy
December 8, 2011: Berkeley linguist Geoffrey Nunberg picks “occupy” as the word of the year for National Public Radio’s Fresh Air show with Terry Gross, because it “has actually shaped the perception of important events.”
Record massive black holes discovered lurking in monster galaxies
December 5, 2011: UC Berkeley astronomer Chung-Pei Ma, graduate student Nicholas McConnell and colleagues have discovered the largest black holes to date ‑- two monsters with masses equivalent to 10 billion suns that are threatening to consume anything, even light, within a region five times the size of our solar system.
PBS Newshour reports on black hole discovery today at 3 & 6 p.m.
KALW features I School prof’s teaching with Wikipedia
December 2, 2011: When he discovered a hole in Wikipedia’s coverage of cyber law, I School faculty member Brian Carver encouraged his students to step up to the task as volunteer Wikieditors. A J School reporter features Carver in her “Crosscurrents” radio segment on universities’ engagement with the online encyclopedia.
Chancellor: ‘I sincerely apologize’
November 22, 2011: En route to Thanksgiving back East with his family, Chancellor Robert Birgeneau recorded an audio message to the UC Berkeley community apologizing for the events of Nov. 9, and taking full responsibility.
ROHO staffer on Richmond’s remarkable boxcar village
October 31, 2011: One of the migrations detailed in the Bancroft Library’s “California Crossings” exhibit is that of Pueblo Indians who, upon arriving in the Bay Area, were housed in a Richmond “boxcar village.” Bancroft staffer Sam Redman talks about the village in a KALW radio interview, which also includes clips of ROHO interviews with Native Americans who lived in the village.
‘Kids First’ author David Kirp’s ideas on a new national agenda for youth
October 27, 2011: The Goldman School of Public Policy’s David Kirp outlines his ideas for reforming American education and putting “Kids First.”
Cal alum and playwright Wajahat Ali looks back on 9/11, Islamophobia
September 9, 2011: Playwright, essayist and attorney Wajahat Ali, a 2002 Berkeley English graduate, recently helped write a report on Islamophobia in the U.S. Ali talks with KQED Radio about the report and his play “The Domestic Crusaders” — about a Muslim family’s post-9/11 experience — which will be performed in New York City this weekend.
To catch a speeding bullet
August 1, 2011: East Palo Alto’s soaring homicide rate in the 1990s prompted EECS alumnus Robert Showen, an acoustics specialist in neighboring Menlo Park, to develop technology that could locate gunfire and tell police where it’s coming from.
Digital divide or digital bridge?
April 19, 2011: In an I-School event, four prominent thinkers debate the potential for electronic technologies to contribute to the socioeconomic development of the world’s impoverished communities.
Watching history unfold: Student POVs on the ‘Arab Spring’
April 14, 2011: Popular protests aimed at toppling rulers and promoting democracy have swept across North Africa and the Middle East since December 2010. What do UC Berkeley students make of the events of the so-called “Arab Spring”? Twelve of them share their views.
