OMNIA Podcast
OMNIA | Penn Arts & Sciences
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OMNIA is a podcast dedicated to all things Penn Arts & Sciences. Listen to insights and perspectives from the home of the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences at The University of Pennsylvania.
Available episodes
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Sep 8, 2023
We Haven't Passed the Climate Tipping Point...Yet
This July, global temperatures soared to the warmest ever recorded. Ocean surface temperatures hit record highs. Extreme weather-related events are becoming ever more common, seen this spring and summer with the wildfires in Canada and Hawaii, flooding in Vermont, and a tropical storm in Los Angeles dumping almost three inches of rain in one day.
Renowned climate scientist Michael Mann, Presidential Distinguished Professor of Earth and Environmental Science and the Director of Penn’s Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media, has been following the changing climate for decades, starting with his doctoral work, which focused largely on natural climate variability. In the ’90s, he and colleagues published the now iconic hockey-stick curve, an estimate of how temperatures varied in the past using natural sources like tree rings, corals, and ice cores. His new book, Our Fragile Moment: How Lessons from Earth’s Past Can Help Us Survive the Climate Crisis, publishes at the end of September.
OMNIA spoke with him about this summer’s weather events, how we can move forward in this climate reality, and why he still believes there’s still time for action.
***
Produced, Narrated, and Edited by Alex Schein
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
Podcast Logo by Hemani Kapoor
Visit our editorial magazine, Omnia, for more content from Penn Arts & Sciences faculty, students, and alumni: omnia.sas.upenn.edu
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Nov 17, 2022
2022 Midterm Elections: What Happened?
The 2022 midterm elections took place on Tuesday, November 8th in the United States, and are still being decided in many parts of the country. Historically, the president’s party loses in the midterms. And yet this year, Democrats – the party of President Joe Biden – maintained their control of the Senate and may only lose their majority in the House of Representatives by a slim margin. So what happened? In this episode, we speak with political science professor, Daniel Hopkins, about why this year’s midterms were so different than the historical trend and what the next two years might look like in American political life.
Guest:
Daniel Hopkins, Professor of Political Science
***
Produced, Narrated, and Edited by Alex Schein
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
Illustration by Nick Matej
Podcast Logo by Hemani Kapoor
Visit our editorial magazine, Omnia, for more content from Penn Arts & Sciences faculty, students, and alumni: omnia.sas.upenn.edu
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Aug 25, 2022
In These Times, Season 4 | The Restorative Power of Art (Ep. 7)
The pandemic has had a pronounced impact on mental health. Participating in activities that benefit well-being is crucial, but Katherine Cotter and James Pawelski, experts in the field of positive psychology, say being conscious of these benefits, and optimizing participation, is the end goal.
In this final episode of the season, we speak with both researchers from the Positive Psychology Center about how art museum visitation and museum program participation impact flourishing-related outcomes.
Guests:
James O. Pawelski, Professor of Practice and Director of Education, Positive Psychology Center and Director of the Humanities and Human Flourishing Project
Katherine Cotter, Postdoctoral Fellow, Positive Psychology Center
***
Produced by Blake Cole
Narrated by Alex Schein
Edited by Alex Schein and Brooke Sietinsons
Interview by Blake Cole
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
Illustration and logo by Marina Muun
In These Times is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences. Visit our series website to learn more and listen to the first three seasons of In These Times: web.sas.upenn.edu/in-these-times
Visit our editorial magazine, Omnia, for more content from Penn Arts & Sciences faculty, students, and alumni: omnia.sas.upenn.edu
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Jun 2, 2022
In These Times, Season 4 | Music and Meaning (Ep. 6)
Music is undeniably one of oldest and most essential art forms. The power of song and dance has been the pulse of social movements throughout the world and a source of collective and individual healing during difficult times for millennia. In this episode we speak with ethnomusicologist Carol Muller about the power of song and dance during the apartheid era in South Africa, and Nicholas Escobar, C'18, about his process composing music for the screen, and our very own OMNIA podcast.
***
Produced, Edited, and Narrated by Alex Schein
Interviews by Alex Schein
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Additional music by Nicholas Escobar; Randy Newman, "You've Got a Friend in Me" (from Toy Story 4); Thomas Newman, "May" (from The Shawshank Redemption); Dollar Brand aka Abdullah Ibrahim, "Whoza Mtwana" and "Mannenberg Revisited"; Miriam Makeba, "Soweto Blues"; Duke Ellington, "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)"; Sathima Bea Benjamin, "Lush Life" and "Solitude"; The O'Jays, "I Love Music" (Mike Maurro Mix).
Illustration and logo by Marina Muun
In These Times is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences. Visit our series website to learn more and listen to the first three seasons of In These Times: web.sas.upenn.edu/in-these-times
Visit our editorial magazine, Omnia, for more content from Penn Arts & Sciences faculty, students, and alumni: omnia.sas.upenn.edu
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May 19, 2022
In These Times, Season 4 | Finding a Way With Words (Ep. 5)
For as long as humans have had voices, trauma has been told and processed through stories, poetry, and music. In this episode, we speak with author Lorene Cary, Senior Lecturer in English, and poet Fatemeh Shams, Assistant Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, on the ability of words to move people, create a community, and help us to heal.
Guests:
Lorene Cary, Senior Lecturer, Department of English
Fatemeh Shams, Assistant Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
***
Produced by Susan Ahlborn
Narrated by Alex Schein
Edited by Alex Schein and Brooke Sietinsons
Interviews by Jane Carol and Alex Schein
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions and MG & Ma’tthue Raheem for “Vote that Jawn” rap
Illustration and logo by Marina Muun
In These Times is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences. Visit our series website to learn more and listen to the first three seasons of In These Times: web.sas.upenn.edu/in-these-times
Visit our editorial magazine, Omnia, for more content from Penn Arts & Sciences faculty, students, and alumni: omnia.sas.upenn.edu
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May 4, 2022
In These Times, Season 4 | The Many Mediums for Confronting Trauma (Ep. 4)
The legacy of trauma resulting from more than 200 years of slavery in North America, and colonialism abroad, has yet to be fully comprehended. In this episode, Breanna Moore discusses her engagement with fellow student collaborators to recreate the history of Penn’s connections to slavery, which began with a memory book and a journey through her own family’s history. And Deborah Thomas explains how the many mediums of art, including film, dance, and photography, have helped her promote healing within communities marked by trauma in Jamaica and beyond.
This episode includes excerpts from Four Days in May: Kingston 2010 featuring Jacqueline Gordon, Shawn Bowen, and Aaliyah Levy. The documentary film was directed and produced by Deanne M. Bell, Junior “Gabu” Wedderburn, and Deborah A. Thomas.
Guests:
Breanna Moore, C’15 and Ph.D. candidate, Department of History
Deborah Thomas, R. Jean Brownlee Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Center for Experimental Ethnography
***
Produced by Blake Cole
Narrated by Alex Schein
Edited by Alex Schein, Loraine Terrell, and Brooke Sietinsons
Interviews by Blake Cole and Loraine Terrell
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
Illustration and logo by Marina Muun
In These Times is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences. Visit our series website to learn more and listen to the first three seasons of In These Times: web.sas.upenn.edu/in-these-times
Visit our editorial magazine, Omnia, for more content from Penn Arts & Sciences faculty, students, and alumni: omnia.sas.upenn.edu
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Apr 20, 2022
In These Times, Season 4 | Tangled up in Nature (Ep. 3)
In coping with the stresses of recent times, many people are finding respite in connecting with nature. Writers extolling the virtues of wellness travel, ecotherapy, and going for a long walk are just one spin on a long tradition of reflections on how to find health, happiness, and wisdom through nature in any of its manifestations, from herbs and flowers, to animals and crystals.
In this episode, Rebecca Bushnell, a noted Shakespeare expert and scholar of early modern literature, discusses nature writing from the past, along with thoughts on why we garden and what we talk about when we talk about nature.
Guest:
Rebecca Bushnell, School of Arts and Sciences Board of Advisors Emerita Professor of English
***
Produced by Loraine Terrell
Narrated by Alex Schein
Edited by Alex Schein and Loraine Terrell
Interview by Loraine Terrell
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
Illustration and logo by Marina Muun
In These Times is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences. Visit our series website to learn more and listen to the first three seasons of In These Times: web.sas.upenn.edu/in-these-times
Visit our editorial magazine, Omnia, for more content from Penn Arts & Sciences faculty, students, and alumni: omnia.sas.upenn.edu
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Apr 6, 2022
In These Times, Season 4 | The Art of Healing (Ep. 1)
In Mary Shelley’s novel, _The Last Man_, the protagonist—one of the few survivors of a plague—searches for meaning in a world of loss, concluding that, “there is but one solution to the intricate riddle of life; to improve ourselves, and contribute to the happiness of others.”
In 2022, as COVID-19 lingers on, the climate threat looms larger, and war returns to Europe, there seems to be no answer to when this era, defined by loss, will end. And many of us are finding that making sense of “the intricate riddle of life,” and extracting meaning out of adversity, is one of the things that art does best.
In this season of _In These Times_, we talk to scholars, musicians and poets, and other members of creative communities, to explore the link between making art and making meaning, and how creativity shines a light on the way out of adversity, past and present.
In this episode, Aaron Levy, a lecturer in English and Art History, talks about how the arts and humanities can serve as tools for life. Then, Dr. Levy is joined by Dr. Lindsay Hoy, a physician at the Perelman School of Medicine, to discuss a project that uses art to bring healing to the medical community.
Guests:
Aaron Levy, Senior Lecturer, English and History of Art
Director of the Penn Medicine Listening Lab, Co-Director of Rx/Museum, Inaugural Director of the Health Ecologies Lab and the Social Justice and Arts Integration Initiative in the School of Social Policy & Practice
Lyndsay Hoy, Assistant Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Perelman School of Medicine and Co-Director of Rx/Museum
***
Produced by Loraine Terrell
Narrated by Alex Schein
Edited by Alex Schein
Interviews by Loraine Terrell
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
Illustration and logo by Marina Muun
In These Times is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences. Visit our series website to learn more and listen to the first three seasons of In These Times: web.sas.upenn.edu/in-these-times
Visit our editorial magazine, Omnia, for more content from Penn Arts & Sciences faculty, students, and alumni: omnia.sas.upenn.edu
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Apr 6, 2022
In These Times, Season 4 | Joy and Plague (Ep. 2)
In 1346, bubonic plague began to spread through northern Africa and Eurasia. In seven years, it had become the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, killing between 75 and 200 million people. In this episode, we hear from a specialist in medieval literature about the bubonic plague and how artists like Boccaccio and Chaucer documented the horror of the Black Death but also the joy found in art and creation.
Guest:
David Wallace, Judith Rodin Professor of English
***
Produced by Susan Ahlborn
Narrated by Alex Schein
Edited by Alex Schein and Brooke Sietinsons
Interview by Susan Ahlborn
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions and Francesco Landino's "Ecco la primavera" performed by Hortus Musicus
Illustration and logo by Marina Muun
In These Times is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences. Visit our series website to learn more and listen to the first three seasons of In These Times: web.sas.upenn.edu/in-these-times
Visit our editorial magazine, Omnia, for more content from Penn Arts & Sciences faculty, students, and alumni: omnia.sas.upenn.edu
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Dec 15, 2021
In These Times, Season 3 | Climate Change and the Problem with Time (Ep. 7)
This is an episode about big things. Big like the ocean, which, thanks to its size, absorbs about 30% of all CO2 emissions. Big like the scale of our Earth’s 4.6 billion history, and big like our responsibility to future generations. Can an understanding of and appreciation for the size of our world and the scope of its history, from the beginning of time to dinosaurs to humans, help us take action against climate change and engage in acts of care for the future of our planet and its inhabitants? An oceanographer, a geophysicist, and a historian weigh in.
Guests:
Irina Marinov, Associate Professor of Earth and Environmental Science
Jane E. Dmochowski, Senior Lecturer, Earth and Environmental Science
Jared Famer, Walter H. Annenberg Professor of History
***
Produced by Lauren Rebecca Thacker
Narrated by Alex Schein
Edited by Alex Schein, Brooke Sietisons, Evan Smith
Interviews by Lauren Rebecca Thacker
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
Illustration and logo by Dan Lee
In These Times is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences. Visit our series website to learn more and listen to the first two seasons of In These Times.
Visit our editorial magazine, Omnia, for more content from Penn Arts & Sciences faculty, students, and alumni.
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Dec 1, 2021
In These Times, Season 3 | The Large Hadron Collider and the End of the World (Ep. 6) (Ep. 4)
This episode addresses early concerns in the public sphere, the media, and even the scientific community, surrounding high-energy particle collision experiments at particle accelerators like the Large Hadron Collider. These concerns culminated in lawsuits accusing researchers of conducting experiments that could cause the creation of mini black holes or even spell the end of the world. We speak with a physicist who works on such projects about the realities of safety.
Guest:
Evelyn Thomson, Professor of Physics and Astronomy
***
Produced by Blake Cole
Narrated by Alex Schein
Edited by Alex Schein and Brooke Sietisons
Interview by Blake Cole
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
Illustration and logo by Dan Lee
In These Times is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences. Visit our series website to learn more and listen to the first two seasons of In These Times.
Visit our editorial magazine, Omnia, for more content from Penn Arts & Sciences…
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Nov 17, 2021
In These Times, Season 3 | Better Living...Through Chemistry? (Ep. 5)
The phrase “better things for better living through chemistry” began life in 1935 as a DuPont advertising slogan–an enthusiastic expression of optimism about science, and its potential to solve virtually any human problem. It’s clear that without chemistry, the world would be a very different place. So why, out of all the sciences, is chemistry so little understood, and so often held in low regard by the public?
In this episode, a chemist explains chemistry's public relations problem, and why we need to put our faith in chemistry now, maybe more than ever.
Guests:
Eric J. Schelter, Professor of Chemistry
Madeleine M. Joullié, Professor of Chemistry (Emeritus)
Daniel J. Mindiola, Brush Family Professor of Chemistry and Graduate Chair
***
Produced by Loraine Terrell
Narrated by Alex Schein
Edited by Alex Schein and Loraine Terrell
Interviews by Loraine Terrell
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
Illustration and logo by Dan Le…
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Nov 3, 2021
In These Times, Season 3 | Your Brain on Drugs (Ep. 4)
New medications, treatments, and implants that affect our brains have helped thousands overcome ADD, ended seizures, and even show promise for restoring memory lost to brain trauma. But these enhancements have implications for individuals and society. How far can we go? Who gets the enhancements? In this episode, we'll hear from a psychology professor about what’s being done and what we can learn from science fiction.
Guest:
Martha J. Farah, Walter H. Annenberg Professor in the Natural Sciences in the Department of Psychology and Director of the Center for Neuroscience and Society
***
Produced by Susan Ahlborn
Narrated by Alex Schein
Edited by Alex Schein and Brooke Sietinsons
Interviews by Susan Ahlborn
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
Illustration and logo by Dan Lee
In These Times is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences. Visit our series website to learn more and listen to the first two seasons of In These Times.
Visit our edi…
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Oct 20, 2021
In These Times, Season 3 | There's Something About Darwin (Ep. 3)
If you were writing a book about the history of science denial, the chapter on Darwin would have to be one of the longest. But why? You can argue that we see evolution all the time – it is, after all, why we’re worrying today about the emergence of new variants of COVID-19. Does it boil down to a divide between religion and science that just can’t be bridged? And what’s at risk when what science tells us about evolution is rejected?
In this episode, we'll hear from a philosopher of science and an evolutionary biologist on what it is about Darwinian evolution that has made it a poster child for science denial, and why it’s important to understand the facts.
Guests:
Paul Sniegowski, Stephen A. Levin Family Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Biology
Michael Weisberg, Bess W. Heyman President's Distinguished Professor and Chair of Philosophy
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Produced by Loraine Terrell
Narrated by Alex Schein
Edited by Alex Schein and Loraine Terrell
Interviews…
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Oct 6, 2021
In These Times, Season 3 | Talking the Talk (Ep. 2)
This episode is about the science of how people talk. We'll get into some of the nitty gritty science, like prosody and intonational variation, but we're really interested in why people resist changes to language. Why did France try to ban "le weekend," and why do some people, like, get so, like, upset when people use the word "like"? An expert in sociolinguistics talks about what our speech says about who we are, and why resistance to change has nothing to do with being right or wrong.
Guest:
Nicole Holliday, Assistant Professor of Linguistics
***
Produced by Lauren Rebecca Thacker
Narrated by Alex Schein
Edited by Alex Schein and Brooke Sietinsons
Interview by Lauren Rebecca Thacker
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
Illustration and logo by Dan Lee
In These Times is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences. Visit our series website to learn more and listen to the first two seasons of In These Times.
Visit our editorial magazine, Omnia…
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Oct 6, 2021
In These Times, Season 3 | 20 Years of Discovery in Cosmology (Bonus Segment)
In Episode 1: Facts vs. Feelings, Mark Trodden commented that most of what we would call modern cosmology is a very recent vintage, including many discoveries from just the past few decades.
In this bonus segment, Professor Trodden discusses what this recent research has to say about the Big Bang, gravitational waves, and the expanding universe.
Mark Trodden is the Fay R. and Eugene L. Langberg Professor of Physics, Co-Director of the Center for Particle Cosmology, and Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pennsylvania.
***
Produced by Loraine Terrell
Narrated by Alex Schein
Edited by Alex Schein
Interview Loraine Terrell
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
Illustration and logo by Dan Lee
In These Times is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences. Visit our series website to learn more and listen to the first two seasons of In These Times.
Visit our editorial magazine, Omnia, for more content from Penn Art…
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Oct 6, 2021
In These Times, Season 3 | Facts vs. Feelings (Ep. 1)
On this season of the Omnia podcast, we talk to scientists and other scholars about scientific ideas that cause big reactions. We’ll look at stories of science getting knocked around, and standing back up again, in a world full of polarization, politics, misrepresentation, and simple misunderstanding. Welcome to In These Times: Fear and Loathing and Science.
One of the more unexpected side effects of COVID-19 has been the rise of a new strain of resistance to scientific information. But science denial didn’t start with COVID-19. Rejection of scientific evidence is part of the history of science itself. How did the search for understanding and truth find itself in the cross-hairs of U.S. politics?
Guests:
Mark Trodden, Fay R. and Eugene L. Langberg Professor of Physics, Co-Director of the Center for Particle Cosmology, and Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy
Donovan Schaefer, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies
***
Produced by Loraine Terrell
Narrated by Ale…
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Jun 2, 2021
In These Times, Season 2 | Repair, Part 2 (Ep. 7)
In our final episode, we're continuing the conversation about how institutions can perpetuate racial inequalities and the work that remains. We talk to a graduate student whose family has been touched by Penn and slavery across generations, a philosopher who weighs the past and future when it comes to the case for reparations, and a political scientist whose focus on community and repair is not new, but particularly urgent.
Guests:
Breanna Moore, C'15 and doctoral student in history
Daniel Wodak, Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Tulia Falleti, Class of 1965 Endowed Term Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies
***
Produced by Lauren Rebecca Thacker
Narrated by Alex Schein
Edited by Alex Schein and Brooke Sietinsons
Interviews by Lauren Rebecca Thacker, Susan Ahlborn, and Loraine Terrell
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
Illustration by Adriana Bellet
Logo by Drew Nealis
In Th…
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May 19, 2021
In These Times, Season 2 | Repair, Part 1 (Ep. 6)
This season, we’ve spoken to experts about how institutions have perpetuated racial hierarchies. Higher education is no exception. In our final two episodes, we’re talking to students and faculty about the work that comes next. This episode features an undergraduate student whose research with the Penn and Slavery Project reveals truths about the relationship between higher education and the perpetuation of scientific racism and a graduate student whose work on bioethics and philosophy of race can offer insights on health disparities and how we might address them.
Guests:
Carson Eckhard, C'21
Ian Peebles, Ph.D. candidate in philosophy
***
Produced by Lauren Rebecca Thacker
Narrated by Alex Schein
Edited by Alex Schein
Interviews by Lauren Rebecca Thacker and Jane Carroll
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
Illustration by Adriana Bellet
Logo by Drew Nealis
In These Times is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences. Visit our series w…
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May 7, 2021
In These Times, Season 2 | Environmental Justice and Race (Ep. 5)
When Covid-19 delivered a disproportionate blow to communities of color, environmental hazards like air pollution, that are all too frequently present in these communities, was one of the contributing factors cited by experts. The idea that race is a factor in determining who has access to resources that allow a community to thrive is not so much news as it is a part of the American story. Today, there is a wider recognition that environmental racism is one of many forms of systemic racism, and that environmental justice and climate change are interconnected problems.
Guests:
Herman Beavers, Julie Beren Platt and Marc E. Platt President's Distinguished Professor of English and Africana Studies
Daniel Aldana Cohen, Assistant Professor of Sociology
Tsemone Ogbemi, C'21, Penn Program in Environmental Humanities Public Research Intern
***
Produced by Loraine Terrell
Narrated by Alex Schein
Edited by Alex Schein and Loraine Terrell
Interviews by Susan Ahlborn, Blake Cole, Lauren Re…
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Apr 23, 2021
In These Times, Season 2 | National Myths and Monuments (Ep. 4)
During the worldwide protests that followed the death of George Floyd, demonstrators mobilized to challenge the representations of history presented by some of the monuments and memorials that occupy our public squares. In this episode we hear from an anthropologist, a sociologist, and an art historian, who reflect on why there has been such a focus on these symbols in this moment, how they shape our historical narrative and myths, and how we should move forward.
Guests:
Margaret Bruchac, _Associate Professor of Anthropology and Coordinator of Native American and Indigenous Studies_
Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, _Class of 1940 Bicentennial Term Associate Professor of History of Art_
Tukufu Zuberi, _Lasry Professor of Race Relations in the Departments of Sociology and Africana Studies_
***
Produced by Susan Ahlborn
Narrated by Alex Schein
Edited by Alex Schein, Brooke Sietinson, and Loraine Terrell
Interviews by Susan Ahlborn, Loraine Terrell, and Alex Schein
Theme music by Nicholas…
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Apr 7, 2021
In These Times, Season 2 | Institutionalizing Racism (Ep. 3)
Racism and discrimination are more than individual problems—they are part of institutions that have far-reaching impact. In this episode we hear from a professor of sociology, education, and Africana Studies who delves into discusses discrimination in higher education and explores how modern racial attitudes shape and are shaped by the places in which people live. We also drop in on a conversation between two criminologists who discuss policing procedures like stop and frisk and examine disparities in the criminal justice system.
Guests:
Camille Zubrinsky Charles, Walter H. and Leonore C. Annenberg Professor in the Social Sciences, Professor of Sociology, Africana Studies & Education
John MacDonald, Professor of Criminology and Sociology
Charles Loeffler, Associate Professor of Criminology
***
Produced by Blake Cole
Narrated by Alex Schein
Edited by Alex Schein, Brooke Sietinson, and Loraine Terrell
Interviews by Blake Cole and Loraine Terrell
Theme music by Nicholas Escoba…
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Apr 2, 2021
In These Times, Season 2 | Atlanta and the History of Anti-Asian Violence (Special Episode)
As we worked on our third episode, the news broke about the shooting in Atlanta that left eight people dead, including six women of Asian descent. This tragic event comes after more than a year of rising violence against members of Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander communities. In this special episode, we talk to Josephine Park, Professor and Undergraduate Chair of English and Director of the Asian American Studies Program, about the shooting, the history of anti-Asian racism in U.S. politics and culture, and the formation of the Asian American identity as an explicitly political act.
***
Produced by Lauren Rebecca Thacker
Narrated by Alex Schein
Edited by Alex Schein
Interview by Lauren Rebecca Thacker
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
Illustration by Adriana Bellet
Logo by Drew Nealis
In These Times is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences. Visit our series website to learn more and listen to the first season of In These Ti…
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Mar 24, 2021
In These Times, Season 2 | Embedded in History (Ep. 2)
The enslavement of Black people was supported by a legal system that including everything from laws preventing legal marriage to those restricting movement and access to education. When slavery was abolished, this system did not go away. Instead, it evolved to include Jim Crow laws and 20th centuries policies including redlining and urban renewal. In this episode, we speak to two historians and an anthropologist about the violence embedded in our shared history and legacies that persist.
Featuring:
Heather Williams, Geraldine R. Segal Professor in American Social Thought and Professor of Africana Studies
Brent Cebul, Assistant Professor of History
Deborah Thomas, R. Jean Brownlee Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Center for Experimental Ethnography
***
Produced by Lauren Rebecca Thacker
Narrated by Alex Schein
Edited by Alex Schein and Brooke Sietinsons
Interviews by Lauren Rebecca Thacker, Jane Carroll, and Blake Cole
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Additi…
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Mar 10, 2021
In These Times, Season 2 | The Largest Movement in History (Ep. 1)
Last fall we launched our podcast, “In These Times” with an examination of COVID-19 and its far-reaching impacts. We spoke with students and faculty who shared their personal experiences with the epidemic, along with perspectives drawn from history, science, politics and beyond.
A recurring theme of our first season was the crisis within the COVID crisis: how racial inequality was playing out in the context of the pandemic, revealing itself in unequal health outcomes and boiling over with the death of George Floyd.
This season, we wanted to dive more deeply into this theme, to focus on Black Lives and the Call for Justice. We’ll explore the nation’s complex history with race and consider some challenging questions: Who controls the narrative about the U.S.? How far have we moved beyond our history of enslavement and Jim Crow? Are we at a moment of reckoning?
We wanted to begin season 2 of In These Times with a focus on that explosive moment of last summer, when millions of A…
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Jan 12, 2021
In These Times | Attack on the Capitol
On Wednesday, January 6, 2021, as legislators counted and confirmed the votes in the Electoral College, rioters breached the Capitol building, forcing an evacuation of the House floor, including Vice President Pence. The events unfolded amidst President Trump having urged his supporters to fight against the ceremonial counting of the votes. The rioters, who could be heard calling police officers "traitors," eventually forced their way into the Senate chambers. The standoff resulted in five deaths.
In this bonus episode we talk to a constitutional scholar and a professor of sociology and Africana Studies about the events and what comes next.
Featuring:
Rogers Smith, Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science
Tukufu Zuberi, Lasry Family Professor of Race Relations, Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies
***
Produced by Blake Cole, Alex Schein, and Loraine Terrell
Narrated by Alex Schein
Edited by Alex Schein and Loraine Terrell
Interviews by Blake Co…
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Dec 9, 2020
In These Times | Beyond the Covid-19 Crisis (Ep.6)
The worldwide scale and scope of discontinuity, loss, and uncertainty has made the year of the pandemic like no other in recent memory. How are we processing this moment, and how do we move forward? In this episode, we talk to three students, who share how the COVID crisis has reshaped their undergraduate experience at Penn and their visions for the future. We also hear from a professor of English on the parallels between the traumas of the early 20th century and our current challenges, and an expert in the science of resilience offers her thoughts on coping with crisis.
FEATURING:
Omar Husni, C'22
Samira Mehta, C'21
James Nycz, C'21
Karen Reivich, _Director of Resilience and Positive Psychology Training Programs, Penn Positive Psychology Center_
Paul Saint-Amour, _Walter and Leonore C. Annenberg Professor in the Humanities and Chair, Department of English_
***
Produced by Loraine Terrell
Narrated by Alex Schein
Edited by Alex Schein and Loraine Terrell
Interviews by Loraine…
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Dec 2, 2020
In These Times | Racial Justice and Repair (Ep. 5)
COVID-19 wasn’t the only health crisis of 2020. In June, the American Medical Association and the American Public Health Association declared that police violence, particularly against Black and brown communities, is a public health crisis that demands attention and action. Widespread protests drew attention this summer, but where do we go from there? In this episode, a lawyer and doctoral candidate in philosophy talks about placing the idea of repair at the center of conversations about justice, and Penn’s Chaplain and Vice President for Social Equity and Community tells us about his experiences as a Penn student and what he thinks about the future.
FEATURING:
Daniel Fryer, _Doctoral Candidate in Philosophy and former Assistant District Attorney in Philadelphia_
Charles L. "Chaz" Howard, C'00, _University Chaplain, and Vice President for Social Equity and Community_
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Produced by Lauren Rebecca Thacker
Narrated by Alex Schein
Edited by Alex Schein and Brooke Sietinsons
I…
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Nov 18, 2020
In These Times | Exacerbating the Health Care Divide (Ep. 4)
With rates of diagnoses and death disproportionately affecting racial minorities and low-income workers, experts in this episode address how COVID-19 has further exposed already dire health outcome inequalities.
We begin with a political scientist discussing how governmental policy drives health inequality, especially during times of crisis. Then, a Ph.D. student in history and sociology of science talks about how infectious microbes like the coronavirus can affect communities of people with genetic vulnerabilities. And finally, a professor of sociology, Africana studies, and law, discusses how the biological concept of race was invented as a way to justify racism and influence outcomes.
FEATURING:
Julia Lynch, Professor of Political Science and Co-Director of the Joseph H. Lauder Institute of Management and International Studies
Rebecca Mueller, doctoral candidate in the Department of History and Sociology of Science
Dorothy Roberts, George A. Weiss University Professor of Law an…
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Nov 11, 2020
In These Times | Crisis Upon Crisis (Ep. 3)
The coronavirus pandemic does not exist in a vacuum. We look at other urgent issues of our time, and examine how they affect and are affected by COVID-19.
We start this episode—as most things seem to now—with the partisan polarization in the U.S., asking a political science professor if people really are seeing everything in red or blue. Then a historian and legal scholar tells how we got to this state of racial injustice, decades after the Civil Rights movement. Finally, the German professor leading Penn’s environmental humanities program describes life in the climate crisis and the vision she gets from her students of going beyond a "new normal."
Guests:
Matthew Levendusky, Professor of Political Science and Penny and Robert A. Fox Director of the Fels Institute of Government
Mary Frances Berry, Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and Professor of History and Africana Studies
Bethany Wiggin, Associate Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures and…
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Oct 28, 2020
In These Times | Dimensions of the Covid-19 Crisis (Ep. 1)
“In these times” has been a handy turn of phrase in 2020, with varying adjectives used to modify it. Challenging. Unique. Strange. What started as a useful shorthand for the COVID-19 pandemic and the surreal nature of stay-at-home orders became used describe world-wide protests and calls for racial justice. This fall, the OMNIA podcast goes beyond the shorthand, using COVID-19 as a platform for a six-episode series that explores the science, social science, and history that has shaped events in 2020.
To kick things off, we talk to a biologist about contagion. We’ll get insight on mutations, tracking COVID-19’s spread, and protection from antibodies and vaccines. But COVID-19 is more than the disease itself, so we drop in on a conversation between sociologists about health inequality. They’re not surprised that Black, brown, and low-income communities are being affected by COVID-19 at higher rates, but they are concerned about the still-unknown long-term effects on physical a…
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Oct 28, 2020
In These Times | In Other Times (Ep. 2)
Details from the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 or the quarantines during the bubonic plague sound familiar today. In our second episode, we talk to historians about how past societies dealt with disease, and what happened when a new understanding of germs revolutionized our approach but led us to overlook the larger picture of health. A legal historian explains why the U.S. pandemic repose was state-centered. And an English professor looks at the AIDS epidemic, and reflects on the human right to mourn.
Guests:
David Barnes, Associate Professor of History and Sociology of Science
Sarah Barringer Gordon, Arlin M. Adams Professor of Constitutional Law and Professor of History
Alexander Chase-Levenson, Assistant Professor of History
Dagmawi Woubshet, Ahuja Family Presidential Associate Professor of English
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Produced by Susan Ahlborn
Narrated and edited by Alex Schein
Interviews by Susan Ahlborn and Jane Carroll
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Additional music by Blue Do…
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Jun 5, 2019
60-Second Lectures | Spring 2019
In this episode of the OMNIA Podcast, we recap the 60-Second lectures from the spring of 2019 and highlight two favorites from our archive. You’ll learn about race in the USA from a philosophical perspective, the psychology of why we quit, why truth matters to democracy, and new pedagogies for teaching in the age of climate change.
Our dip into the archives features the 2016 60-Second SLAM winning talk, "The Other Opioid Crisis: How We Learned to Ignore Untreated Pain in Poor Countries," by then History and Sociology of Science Ph.D. candidate Luke Messac, and a 2006 talk, "Beyond the Founding Fathers," by Kathy Peiss, Roy F. and Jeannette P. Nichols Professor of American History.
Many thanks to our spring 2019 lecturers: Quayshawn Spencer, Robert S. Blank Presidential Associate Professor of Philosophy; Joseph Kable, Baird Term Professor of Psychology and Associate Director of MindCORE; Sophia Rosenfeld, Walter H. Annenberg Professor of History; and Bethany Wiggin, Associate Profes…
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May 22, 2019
You Can’t Hurt a Poem, and Other Lessons from Charles Bernstein
In this episode, we talk to Charles Bernstein, inventive poet, writer of libretti, translator, archivist, and, since 2003, a member of Penn's faculty. Bernstein is the Donald T. Regan Professor of English and Comparative Literature and co-director of PennSound. He retired from the Department of English at the end of the spring 2019 semester.
In 2019, Bernstein was awarded the Bollingen Prize for American Poetry awarded by Yale University. The Bollingen Prize is awarded biennially by the Yale University Library to an American poet for the best book published during the previous two years or for lifetime achievement in poetry.
Produced by Penn Arts & Sciences
• Narrated by Lauren Thacker
• Edited by Alex Schein
• Music by Blue Dot Sessions
• Allen Ginsberg "Howl" (Big Table Chicago Reading, 1959) and Robert Frost "Dust of Snow" (Readings at Columbia University, May 5, 1933) courtesy of PennSound: http://bit.ly/2VtVElp
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Mar 27, 2019
Philosophy of Race
Quayshawn Spencer asks a simple question about race with a not-so-simple answer: what kind of thing is it? Spencer, the Robert S. Blank Presidential Associate Professor of Philosophy at Penn, poses the question to undergraduates in his Philosophy of Race course. As a specialist in the philosophies of science, biology, and race, his course examines the very nature and reality of race, beginning with early theories put out by European thinkers including Francois Bernier and Immanuel Kant. Kant’s 18th century essay, “Of the Different Human Races,” provided a scientific definition of race that would influence a long tradition of scholars using science to reinforce negative racial stereotypes—a tradition that Spencer’s course investigates alongside more contemporary philosophical, social, and political questions about race and racism.
Produced by Penn Arts and Sciences
• Narrated by Alex Schein
• Recorded and edited by Alex Schein
• Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Subscribe…
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Feb 25, 2019
OMNIA 101: Dark Matter and Dark Energy
In our new series, OMNIA 101, we talk to faculty members about integral aspects of their research, shedding light on their biggest challenges and their strategies for conquering them.
Mark Trodden, Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Fay R. and Eugene L. Langberg Professor of Physics, and Masao Sako, Associate Professor and Undergraduate Department Chair, have different approaches to exploring two of the greatest mysteries in their field: dark matter and dark energy.
Trodden, a theoretical physicist, devises mathematical models in an effort to explain the cosmic data that observational astronomers like Sako obtain using telescopes and other tools. In this episode of the OMNIA podcast, we asked both of them to help us understand dark matter and dark energy.
Produced by Penn Arts and Sciences
• Narrated by Karen Brooks
• Recorded and edited by Alex Schein
• Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Subscribe to the OMNIA Podcast by Penn Arts & Sciences on iTunes (apple…
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Oct 24, 2018
60-Second Lectures | Fall 2018
Since 2003, the 60-Second Lecture Series has challenged Arts and Sciences faculty to distill a wealth of knowledge into a one-minute talk.
Every Wednesday in September and April sees Penn Arts and Sciences faculty members standing at a podium on College Green and lecturing on topics ranging from human history, to fractions, to fly fishing—all in under a minute.
The latest OMNIA podcast recaps the fall 2018 lectures and highlights two old favorites. In this episode, you’ll learn about greening vacant lots and what that means for crime rates, little-known medieval words that accurately describe the 2018 midterm elections, interpreting the Constitution, the very nature of time, and the evolving cultural and political questions raised ever-improving technologies of speech recognition and information retrieval.
Our dip into the archives features a 2009 talk titled “Why Achievement Isn’t Normal,” given by Angela Duckworth, Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Psychol…
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Aug 27, 2018
The Rise of Women in Politics in 2018
In this episode, we explore a potential watershed moment in American politics: the unprecedented number of women running for office in 2018. Dawn Teele, Janice and Julian Bers Assistant Professor of Political Science, researches women and politics, voting rights reform, and candidate recruitment. Right now, she’s studying Emerge, the largest Democratic campaign training program in the United States. The program recruits, trains, and connects Democratic women who want to run for office.
We speak with Teele about the historical underrepresentation of women in politics and discuss some of the cultural narratives and structural factors—from fundraising trends to division of household labor—that potentially impact the success of female candidates in U.S. elections.
Produced by Penn Arts & Sciences
• Narrated, recorded, and edited by Anne Hoffman
• Music: "Wanderers" by Dana Boule and "Roundpine" by Blue Dot Sessions
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May 3, 2018
UFOs and the Creation of Knowledge
In December 2017, The New York Times revealed the existence of a Pentagon program investigating unidentified flying objects. For many people, the continued existence of such a program on UFOs came as a surprise, though the military has historically been known to conduct such studies. Most notably, the Air Force’s Project Blue Book investigated more than 12,000 claimed UFO sightings between 1952 and 1969.
Kate Dorsch, a doctoral candidate in the department of History and Sociology of Science, has been researching UFO encounters reported in Project Blue Book. Her dissertation covers the first “flying saucer” report in 1947 through the release of Steven Spielberg’s film Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and investigates the creation of scientific knowledge and how this knowledge is communicated to the public.
Produced by Penn Arts and Sciences
•Recorded and Edited by Alex Schein
•Music by Blue Dot Sessions and Yes
Subscribe to the OMNIA Podcast on iTunes: apple.co…
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Dec 13, 2017
Taije Silverman | Best American Poetry 2017
Taije Silverman is an award-winning poet and faculty member in the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of English where she teaches classes on poetry, creative nonfiction, and translation. Before coming to Penn, she taught at the University of Bologna in Italy, where she was a Fulbright Scholar, and at Emory University, where she was the Creative Writing Fellow. She’s also received the Pushcart Prize and is on the editorial board of Alice James Books.
Her poem “Where to Put It” was included in The Best American Poetry 2017, the second year in a row she had a poem in the collection. In this OMNIA podcast, she reads “Where to Put It" and another poem, "Tiresisas Too," and shares their backstories.
Visit OMNIA for an extended Q&A with Taije Silverman:
http://omnia.sas.upenn.edu/story/omnia-podcast-poetry-and-pulse-life-audio
Produced by Penn Arts and Sciences
• Recorded, edited, and narrated by Alex Schein
• Music by Blue Dot Sessions
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Aug 24, 2017
Reducing Lead Exposure
Concerns over lead poisoning were heightened in the U.S. after the contamination of a city water supply in Flint, Michigan. In Philadelphia and southeastern Pennsylvania, rates of lead exposure in children are high—especially in low-income communities.
Thanks to a Making a Difference in Diverse Communities grant from Penn Arts and Sciences, a team of researchers and students led by Reto Gieré and Richard Pepino of Earth and Environmental Science is educating local communities about the dangers of lead poisoning, collecting important data necessary to inform remediation efforts, and working with the city and other partners to reduce lead exposure and address environmental justice issues. They discuss the project and offer their insights on the risks of lead exposure in Philadelphia and possible remediation efforts to reduce these risks. We also speak with Tabeen Hosain, C'17, a philosophy, politics and economics major, who is leading a team of students collecting data on lead levels…
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May 22, 2017
Constitutional Crisis?
On May 9th, 2017, President Trump fired then-FBI director James Comey. This decision has intensified the debate of whether the U.S. is in a “constitutional crisis” given the numerous controversies swirling around the Trump administration.
Rogers Smith, the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science and a presidential historian and constitutional scholar, offers his take on why the firing of James Comey, as well as Trump's use of executive action and social media, is challenging the balance of power in Washington.
Produced by Penn Arts and Sciences
• Recorded and edited by Alex Schein
• Interview by Blake Cole
• Narrated by Jane Carroll
• Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Subscribe to the OMNIA Podcast on iTunes: apple.co/29rg0EZ
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Mar 23, 2017
The Politics of Climate Change
The politics of climate change and the politics of social inequality, such as the right to affordable housing, are usually examined as two separate issues. For Daniel Aldana Cohen, assistant professor of sociology, these two movements intersect when examining efforts to reduce carbon emissions in urban areas. Cohen has conducted research in cities such as São Paulo and New York and argues that to be effective, climate policy needs to be equitable.
Besides his work as an academic, Cohen is also the co-host of a podcast on the politics of climate change called “Hot and Bothered.” The show has featured prominent climate scientists, journalists, and activists such as Michael Mann, Naomi Klein, and Ken Henshaw.
"Hot and Bothered" podcast: https://www.dissentmagazine.org/tag/hot-bothered
Produced by Penn Arts and Sciences
Recorded, edited, and narrated by Alex Schein
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Subscribe to the OMNIA Podcast on iTunes: apple.co/29rg0EZ
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Jan 3, 2017
Penn Honors Diversity Symposium
This fall, the University of Pennsylvania hosted its very first Penn Honors Diversity(PHD)Symposium. Eight of the university's schools, including Penn Arts and Sciences, invited early and mid-stage undergraduates, particularly those from underrepresented groups, to learn about the value of a Ph.D.-level education. In this episode, we speak to some of the visiting students about their experience, along with faculty organizers who collaborated to create this unique event, which took place from September 29 - October 1, 2016.
Featuring:
Eve Trout-Powell
Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, Penn Arts and Sciences
Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of History and Africana Studies
Michael Nusbaum
Associate Dean for Graduate Education, Perelman School of Medicine
Director, Biomedical Graduate Studies Program, Perelman School of Medicine
Professor of Neuroscience
Arnaldo J. Diaz Vazquez
Assistant Dean for Research Training Programs
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Pharmacol…
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Nov 4, 2016
Should We Fear the Robot Army? | Artificial Intelligence in the Military
In this episode, we explore the fact, fiction, and future of artificial intelligence in the military. Depictions of so-called killer robots in films such as "The Terminator" continue to be a part of serious discussions about autonomous weapons. Should we fear the development of weapons that can make decisions? Or are these fears based more on science fiction than fact?
We speak with Michael Horowitz, associate professor of political science and the associate director of Penn’s Perry World House. Horowitz first became interested in next-generation defense tools during a fellowship year at the Pentagon and has written and spoken extensively on military applications of AI. In 2015 he addressed a United Nations assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, dedicated to emerging issues related to autonomous weapons technologies.
Produced by Penn Arts & Sciences
Recorded and Edited by Alex Schein
Interviews by Alex Schein and Susan Alhborn
Music "Concentration" by Satori
Illustration by Dušan Ko…
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Jul 7, 2016
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 30 Years Later (1986-2016)
The bill proposing Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was first introduced in the U.S. Congress four days after King’s assassination in 1968. It wasn't voted on until 1979, however, when it fell five votes short of the number needed for passage. After a grassroots campaign led to the largest petition to Congress in U.S. history, and icons like Stevie Wonder raised awareness in popular culture, the bill finally passed and was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1983. The holiday was first observed in 1986, though it would be the year 2000 before it was celebrated in all states.
We spoke with Camille Zubrinsky Charles, Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor in the Social Sciences, professor of sociology, Africana Studies and education, and Director of the Center for Africana Studies, about the historical significance of the holiday and the progression of social movements like Black Lives Matter.
Produced by the The University of Pennsylvania School of Arts & Sciences
• Rec…
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Jul 7, 2016
Dorothy Cheney & Robert Seyfarth | Field Notes
It was in 1992 when Dorothy Cheney, professor of biology, and Robert Seyfarth, professor of psychology, began their long-term study of free-ranging baboons in the Okavango Delta of Botswana. The wife-and-husband team spent the next decade and a half documenting the behavior, communication, and social cognition of these group-living primates. This work culminated in their highly influential 2007 book "Baboon Metaphysics". We spoke with the professors about their perspective on life-long work in the field.
Click link below for full article in OMNIA, Penn Arts & Sciences' online magazine: bit.ly/1S4lJxT
Produced by the The University of Pennsylvania School of Arts & Sciences
• Recorded and edited by Alex Schein • Interviews and script by Blake Cole • Narration by Kristy Gingras
Music: "Denzel Sprak" by Blue Dot Sessions
Visit OMNIA online at: http://omnia.sas.upenn.edu
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Jul 7, 2016
Tribute to Hilary Putnam, C'48, HON'85
Hilary Putnam (1926-2016)is considered to be one of the most influential minds of the 20th Century – making significant contributions to the fields of philosophy, mathematics, and computer science, among others. Putnam received his undergraduate degree from Penn in 1948 and received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University in 1985.
Putnam was the Cogan University Professor Emeritus at Harvard University. He served as faculty in the Department of Philosophy starting in 1965. In this special OMNIA podcast, we speak with professors Gary Hatfield, Scott Weinstein, and Daniel Singer of Philosophy about Putnam’s legacy in their field and his unique connection with Penn as scholar and alumnus.
Produced by the School of Arts & Sciences, University of Pennsylvania Recorded, edited, and narrated by Alex Schein
Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Visit OMNIA online at: http://omnia.sas.upenn.edu
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Jul 7, 2016
Intelligent Design in the Classroom: Kitzmiller v. Dover, 10 Years Later
On Dec. 20, 2005, Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District—the trial that set the stage for a national debate on the constitutionality of teaching intelligent design (ID) as an alternative to evolution—was decided. In the lead-up to the trial, Michael Weisberg, professor of philosophy and chair of the philosophy department, and Paul Sniegowski, professor of biology, co-authored a letter on behalf of their departments in support of the teachers who argued against the inclusion of ID in the curriculum.
We spoke with professors Michael Weisberg and Paul Sniegowski about their experience with the case—and whether public attitudes on evolution have changed—as well as lead counsel and Penn Law graduate Eric Rothschild and presiding judge John E. Jones III.
Produced by the School of Arts & Sciences, The University of Pennsylvania
• Interviews and narration by Blake Cole
• Recorded and edited by Alex Schein
Visit OMNIA online at: http://omnia.sas.upenn.edu
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