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Four Free Speech Movement veterans, along with the author of two books on the FSM, reflect on the movement’s history and legacy on KQED radio’s “Forum.” Separately, the San Francisco Chronicle discusses “FSM! The Play” and the “seismic shift in American culture” that the FSM sparked.
Audio archive
Berkeley’s ‘Rosetta Stone’ for fire science imperiled by Sierra blaze
September 19, 2014: Blodgett Research Forest, a key UC Berkeley research station, is under threat from the King Fire in El Dorado County. The 4,270-acre forest, located 56 miles east of Sacramento, is a critical site for a wide variety of research projects, including wildfire-management techniques. Nobody is watching developments with more interest than Berkeley’s forest experts.
From the foot of the Campanile, a chorus of black pride
September 18, 2014: Wednesday’s midday carillon concert began with the first-ever performance from the Campanile of the song known as the “black national anthem.” At the foot of the tower, D. Mark Wilson directed an ad hoc campus chorus in its rendition of “Life Ev’ry Voice and Sing.”
For laser inventor Charles Townes, a festive 99th
July 29, 2014: More than 500 people plus the Straw Hat Band showed up on a sunny afternoon, July 28, to wish Nobelist Charles Townes a happy birthday. Young and old gathered round Townes, the inventor of the laser, as he chatted and ate birthday cake, accepting best wishes from friends, colleagues and admirers.
Coming together to preserve Native American languages
June 10, 2014: Professional linguists and California Native Americans joined forces at UC Berkeley June 6 for Breath of Life, a conference on keeping tribal languages alive. The California Report highlights the goals of the meeting, which grows each year.
San Francisco restaurant wages: a labor expert’s take
May 21, 2014: San Francisco has the highest minimum wage in the country and requires employers to support the cost of worker’s health benefits. How have these policies worked out? UC Berkeley labor-policy expert Ken Jacobs discusses the city’s living-wage experiment on KALW radio.
Commencement throng celebrates with Class of 2014
May 19, 2014: More than 21,000 crowded the stands of California Memorial Stadium for Saturday’s campuswide commencement. Highlights included a keynote address by U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi and a rousing rap on the senior experience by student Kaila Love. (See additional commencement features here.)
What lies behind the ‘ADHD explosion’?
May 1, 2014: More than 10 percent of school-aged children in the U.S. — 6.4 million kids — have been medically diagnosed with ADHD. What are the roots of this phenomenon? Stephen Hinshaw, professor of psychology, and Richard Scheffler, professor of health economics and public policy, talk about their new book, The ADHD Explosion on KQED radio’s “Forum with Michael Krasny.”
ROHO features music-history interviews with Brubeck, McCracklin and more
April 3, 2014: The Bancroft Library’s Regional Oral History Office kicks off a month of music oral history with interview excerpts with Dave Brubeck, Jimmy McCracklin, John Adams, David Harrington of Kronos Quartet and others, on ROHOucb SoundCloud.
Geoff Nunberg’s Word of the Year: ‘selfie’
December 20, 2013: “Over recent years, the people at Oxford Dictionaries have chosen … ‘locavore,’ hypermiling,’ ‘refudiate’ and ‘unfriend,'” as the Word of the Year. “So I wasn’t surprised” when they announced their choice for 2013 — “selfie”— “which beat out ‘twerk’ and ‘binge-watch.” Linguist and I School adjunct prof Geoff Nunberg, on NPR’s “Fresh Air,” dissects a word that’s gone viral.
Fundraiser’s in awe of the gift of song
November 26, 2013: Jesse Antin, development director at the campus’s Greater Good Science Center, founded Clerestory, a semi-professional male vocal ensemble based in the Bay Area. Its accomplished musicians present a Christmas program in Berkeley on Sunday, Dec. 1.
What goes on behind the (restaurant) kitchen door?
September 4, 2013: In her new book, Behind the Kitchen Door, Saru Jayaraman explores the lives of U.S. restaurant workers and what takes place behind the scenes when we dine out. Jayaraman, who heads Berkeley’s Food Labor Research Center, discusses her new book on KQED radio’s “Forum” show.
50 years later: Memories of the March on Washington
August 23, 2013: John Ohala worked his way through college as a photographer, and when he graduated, he picked up his camera and headed to the historic 1963 March on Washington for civil rights. Fifty years later, Ohala is an emeritus professor of linguistics and UC Berkeley, and he sat down with the NewsCenter to talk about his photos from that day, which appear in a slideshow and also are on display at the Berkeley Public Library.
Remembering Richmond’s WWII preschool centers
August 15, 2013: Two decades before Head Start, World War II produced the first U.S. government-run educational program for young children, in the East Bay city of Richmond. Sam Redman of the Bancroft Library’s Regional Oral History Office shares insights and audio clips from ROHO’s research on these early child-development centers, on KALW radio.
Using citizen videos, Rashomon Project seeks to protect activists
July 23, 2013: As citizen-generated media grows increasingly integrated into protest coverage, software developed by UC Berkeley researchers could help protect activists against unjust persecution. Professor Ken Goldberg speaks with New Hampshire Public Radio about the Data and Democracy Initiative’s Rashomon Project, which he leads.
Dirks takes to the air on KQED’s ‘Forum’
July 15, 2013: In an interview aired live on Monday — and archived on the KQED-FM website — Nicholas Dirks talks with host Michael Krasny about his new role as Berkeley’s chancellor, including his vision for higher education and how the campus will meet its ongoing financial challenges.
Insights on BART strike and state of organized labor
July 3, 2013: As the BART workers’ strike continues, Harley Shaiken, a UC Berkeley labor specialist and director of the Center on Latin American Studies, joins a discussion of the action, and trends in organized labor, on KQED radio’s “Forum with Michael Krasny.”
Nunberg: Calling it ‘metadata’ doesn’t make surveillance less intrusive
July 1, 2013: “When it comes to privacy, ‘meta-‘ doesn’t matter. It’s just data all the way down.” Geoffrey Nunberg, linguistics researcher and faculty member at Berkeley’s School of Information, discusses NSA surveillance of Americans’ phone records and Internet activity on NPR’s “Fresh Air with Terry Gross.”
With climate change, stronger wildfires for California?
June 11, 2013: After two years of sparse rains, California fire officials say the 2013 wildfire season has started a month early and that the fires so far have been stronger than usual. Max Moritz and Bill Stewart, Cooperative Extension specialists with the College of Natural Resources, discuss the future of California wildfires in light of climate change, on KQED radio’s “Forum” program.
Iraq vet ’13, tells of life after war
April 11, 2013: 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.
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.
