UC Santa Cruz (Audio)

Considered the godfather of A.I. music, UC Santa Cruz professor and composer David Cope, who died in May, 2025, developed the computer program EMI, or Experiments in Musical Intelligence, in the 1980s. It was one of the earliest computer algorithms used to generate classical music. This documentary film by UC Santa Cruz's Bob Giges looks at the impact of Cope's genius on the world of music. Series: "Arts Channel " [Science] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 40968]

UC Santa Cruz has renamed the Research Center for the Americas in honor of social justice icon Dolores Huerta, whose legacy has influenced the center’s work and values. Huerta co-founded the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez in 1962, and has spent more than 60 years leading community organizing and lobbying efforts to address issues like labor rights, gender discrimination, voter registration, education reform, LGBTQ rights, and economic inequality on behalf of farm workers, immigrants, women, youth, and others in California and the United States. Series: "UC Santa Cruz News" [Humanities] [Show ID: 39253]

In 2002, a UC Santa Cruz college with the theme of social justice and community opened with distinguished professors, politically engaged students, and a number for a name: College Ten. That changed for good, and for better, in 2023 when College Ten was named for John R. Lewis, the late American civil rights leader and politician who stood up to Jim Crow–era segregation in the 1960s. He was one of the key organizers of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The son of Alabama sharecroppers, Lewis went on to become a longstanding congressman. He was elected in 1986 to the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Georgia’s fifth congressional district. He held his post until his death in 2020. The naming endowment will allow the college to advance its mission of justice and social equity with a number of potential projects including the Good Trouble Academy, social justice internships and support, and expansion of programs geared toward the graduates of historically black colleges. Series: "UC Santa Cruz News" [Humanities] [Education] [Show ID: 39283]

The Visualizing Abolition Initiative seeks to change the narrative linking prisons to justice, contributing instead to the unfolding collective story and alternative imagining underway to create a future free of prisons. The initiative is a collaborative effort with artists, scholars, poets, lawyers and activists, and through public exhibitions and educational genres. Series: "UC Santa Cruz News" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 39242]

UC Santa Cruz scientists, along with a consortium of researchers, have released a draft of the first human pangenome—a new, usable reference for genomics that combines the genetic material of 47 individuals from different ancestral backgrounds to allow for a deeper, more accurate understanding of worldwide genomic diversity. Series: "UC Santa Cruz News" [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 39252]

UC Santa Cruz developed a computational tool known as UShER that enables real-time SARS-CoV-2 tracking and helps researchers identify new lineages of the virus. The easy-to-use tool and online server creates an evolutionary tree that helps scientists understand genomic mutations by creating new branches, showing the relationships between virus samples and the order in which mutations happened along various lineages as the virus evolves. Series: "UC Santa Cruz News" [Public Affairs] [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 39241]

When it comes to moving into a career you love, cultivating relationships is critical. In today’s world of work, it’s easier than ever to make new professional connections with a simple click of a button. Hear from experts as they share why the word “networking” makes most people cringe and how to move beyond your fears, discover what the hidden job market is and how to tap into it, effectively plan and prepare for informational interviews, and much more. Series: "Career Channel" [Business] [Show ID: 38424]

In this episode, Michael Chemers, Chair of the Department of Performance, Play & Design, and Theater Arts professor at UC Santa Cruz, discusses his wide ranging plans for the newly formed Department of Performance, Play and Design and how it is incorporating DEI issues and concerns. Series: "The Art of Change" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 38223]

Rick Prelinger, Professor of Film and Digital Media at UC Santa Cruz, is a world-renowned archivist, writer, filmmaker, and founder of the Pray-linger Archives and the Pray-linger Library in San Francisco. He’s also been a pioneer in making archives accessible to the public. In this episode, Prelinger talks about his work and how it has been influenced by diversity, equity, and inclusion issues. Series: "The Art of Change" [Humanities] [Show ID: 38123]

UC Santa Cruz drama lecturer Don Williams talks about how he founded, in 1991, UCSC's African American Theater Arts Troupe, or "AATAT" as it’s often called. The theater group has had a profound and lasting effect on countless numbers of African American students throughout the years. His students have a deep appreciation and love for his willingness to address head on not only what it means to be Black on the UCSC campus, but also the importance of exposing African American students, and all students, to the Black experience through plays written by Black playwrights. Series: "The Art of Change" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 38077]

Professor Sharon Daniel talks about a remarkable undergraduate class called Making an Exoneree that she currently teaches with Georgetown University. This unusual class consists of a group of highly motivated undergraduate students who reinvestigate likely wrongful conviction cases, produce short documentaries that suggest innocence, and create social media campaigns calling for exonerations. Series: "The Art of Change" [Humanities] [Show ID: 38078]

This episode features Isabel Dees, who was the associate vice chancellor for the Equity and Equal Protection Office at UC Santa Cruz. She recently was hired to serve as deputy Title IX director at UC Office of the President. Originally from the Los Angeles area, Dees has lived and worked in Santa Cruz since 1998. She is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and the first in her family to attend university. She completed her B.A. in Politics at UC Santa Cruz and then received her law degree from Monterey College of Law. She is an educational rights advocate with over 10 years’ experience working on compliance in higher education. Series: "The Art of Change" [Humanities] [Show ID: 37985]

In this inaugural episode of The Art of Change, filmmaker, film scholar and Dean of Arts at UC Santa Cruz, Celine Parreñas Shimizu, talks about her personal history as well as her vision for the Arts Division at UCSC. She is well known for her work on race, sexuality and representations, and is the first Asian American female arts dean in the UC system. The daughter of political refugees from the Philippines who immigrated to the U.S. when she was a teenager, Dean Celine (as she likes to be called) earned her B.A. from UC Berkeley, her MFA from UCLA, and her Ph.D. from Stanford University. Series: "The Art of Change" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 37990]

UC Santa Cruz Professor of Music, Director of Jazz Studies, and Director of the Digital Arts and New Media program Karlton Hester talks about being appointed as UCSC’s first Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Arts. Professor Hester began his career as a composer and recording artist in Los Angeles where he worked as a studio musician and music educator, performing both flute and saxophone. He received his Ph.D. in composition from the City University of New York Graduate Center. Series: "The Art of Change" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 37989]

One of UC Santa Cruz's most popular live events had to go virtual this year due to COVID-19 restrictions, but the student performers were up to the challenge. Watch how they took a fully staged production of The Elixir of Love and made it their own, individually performing remotely, complete with costumes and sets, and turning the entire performance into one superb filmed opera. Enjoy! Series: "UCTV Prime" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 37468]

You've got 31 days to build a robot that can navigate the field, get to the other side, turn around, locate its opponent and shoot Ping-Pong balls. Easy right? Welcome to UC Santa Cruz's Mechatronic's class. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Science] [Show ID: 37472]

Take a virtual lab tour and learn more about the significance of the UC Santa Cruz Molecular Diagnostic Lab (MDL) to our community and how testing works at UC Santa Cruz. The MDL has been open since May 2020, working to increase area SARS-CoV-2 testing capacity in order to contribute to a pandemic exit strategy. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 37471]

Students at the UC Santa Cruz Human Rights Investigations Lab collaborated with UC Berkeley’s Human Rights Center on open-source research focused on the ongoing human rights crisis in Chile, where massive anti-government demonstrations throughout the past year have been met with sometimes brutal government crackdowns. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 37470]

UC Santa Cruz researchers have shown that pumas will go to great lengths to avoid humans, and it’s taking a toll on them. They’re concerned about the long-term impacts on the ecosystem. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Agriculture] [Show ID: 37469]

A computational approach inspired by the growth patterns of a slime mold has enabled a team of astronomers and computer scientists at UC Santa Cruz to trace the filaments of the cosmic web that connects galaxies throughout the universe. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Science] [Show ID: 36784]

An international team including researchers at the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute has completed the most comprehensive study of whole cancer genomes to date, significantly improving our fundamental understanding of cancer and suggesting new directions for its diagnosis and treatment. The Pan-Cancer Project has revealed causes of previously unexplained cancers, pin-pointed cancer-causing events, and identified mechanisms of cancer development. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 36764]

Children's museums can be a challenging environment for parents who feel the urge to explain the science behind all the novel activities that dazzle youngsters. New research suggests that timing is key to supporting children's learning in these environments. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Humanities] [Education] [Show ID: 36765]

UC Santa Cruz researchers are making robots socially assistive and helping people with accessibility needs. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Science] [Show ID: 36763]

Recharge Net Metering (ReNeM) is a novel incentive program that encourages individual efforts to use excess surface water to improve groundwater supply and quality. ReNeM engages agencies, researchers, and regional stakeholders in collaboration towards common sustainability goals. A ReNeMe pilot program was launched in the Pajaro Valley, Central Coastal California. This short video describes the ReNeM program, how it is run, and the benefits it may provide. Series: "Sustainable California" [Science] [Show ID: 36130]

Young people from Watsonville are learning the basics of broadcasting and publishing their own podcasts thanks to a unique partnership between UC Santa Cruz's Research Center for the Americas, KZSC, and Digital NEST. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 35255]

Transformative field experiences at our 600-acre Fort Ord Natural Reserve are inspiring a new generation of natural scientists. The incredible outdoor classroom offers opportunities for students, scientists, and the community to learn about rare maritime chaparral habitats, threatened endemic species, land management, and conservation biology like never before. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Science] [Agriculture] [Show ID: 35253]

The 400-acre UC Santa Cruz Campus Natural Reserve offers students the opportunity to walk outside their classrooms and study nature in nature. Better known as the “outdoor classroom and living laboratory,” the reserve focuses on engaging students in direct observation and study of the natural world while bridging concepts learned in the indoor classroom with unique hands-on field experiences. These transformative experiences function as a springboard into field work internships supporting various research projects in ecology, restoration, land management and conservation, forestry, and environmental science. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Science] [Agriculture] [Show ID: 35252]

The UC Santa Cruz Natural Reserve System supports long-term research and teaching on protected lands on more than 10,000 acres of natural lands at five natural reserves: Año Nuevo, Campus, Fort Ord, Landels-Hill Big Creek, and Younger Lagoon. Together, they function as living laboratories and formative outdoor classrooms for faculty, graduates, and undergraduates. Research at these reserves range from studying migratory patterns of marine animals, to understanding population dynamics of endangered species, to examining how invasive species and fire affect ecosystems. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Science] [Agriculture] [Show ID: 35256]

Younger Lagoon Reserve is one of the few relatively undisturbed wetlands remaining along the California Central Coast. Located on the UC Santa Cruz Coastal Science Campus, the natural reserve’s 25-acre lagoon and 47-acre "terrace lands" protect eight unique habitats, including freshwater marsh, saltwater marsh, riparian willow, coastal strand (back dune), coastal scrub, coastal grassland, seasonal freshwater wetlands, and the brackish lagoon. These protected habitats provide unparalleled opportunities for students to learn about the environment, implement field projects, obtain hands-on experience, and become actively involved in research and stewardship projects. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Science] [Agriculture] [Show ID: 35250]

Researcher Stephen McCabe is at the forefront of efforts to save Dudleya, a charismatic and rare plant from the hands of poachers—and possible extinction. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Agriculture] [Show ID: 35254]

The authors of a provocative new paper maintain that many of the behaviors common to autism—including low eye contact, repetitive movements, and the verbatim repetition of words and phrases—are misinterpreted as a lack of interest in social engagement. On the contrary, they say, many people with autism express a deep longing for social connection. Series: "Autism Awareness Programs" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 35251]

Darrell Brown, Senior Vice President, US Bank, argues that in order to teach managers to be successful and prosperous where others fail, one must engage an entrepreneurial mindset in a world that embraces the status quo. Series: "Creativity and Innovation" [Humanities] [Business] [Show ID: 21578]

Creativity under constraint, sound judgment in uncertain environments, rigorous thinking amid complex ideas -- these are the skills taught by the arts. Dan Roam contends that these skills are needed more than ever in business and politics. Dan is the founder and president of Digital Roam Inc., a management-consulting firm that uses visual thinking to solve complex problems. Roam received two degrees at the University of California, Santa Cruz: fine art and biology. This combination of art and science kicked off Dan’s cross-disciplinary approach to problem solving. Series: "Creativity and Innovation" [Arts and Music] [Education] [Show ID: 21575]

Sheldon Epps covers his experiences working in theaters all over the country, including his time and experiences as Artistic Director at his current theater home base, Pasadena Playhouse. Additionally, he talks about the experiences that brought him to work in the theater, working on Broadway and London's West End, and how his theater experiences gave him the opportunity to work in television. Series: "Creativity and Innovation" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 21577]

Product designer Scott Summit explores the changing tools used by designers, and how this impacts the resulting products, thought process and market. Summit holds 20 patents and numerous international design award. Series: "Creativity and Innovation" [Humanities] [Show ID: 21579]

UC Santa Cruz biomolecular engineer Ed Green presents evidence that humans and Neandertals interbred thousands of years ago, as Guy Lasnier reports in the Winter 2011 edition of “State of Minds.” [Science] [Show ID: 21177]

UCTV presents the work of UC Santa Cruz graduates Arthur Saenz and David Zlutnick, co-producers of a riveting documentary on the struggles migrant laborers have faced since arriving in New Orleans to help the city rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. Series: "UC Alumni Showcase" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 17862]

Innovative educator and social justice advocate Joseph Berney explores his path to stop education from trying to get people to fit into society, and start to get people to change it. [Humanities] [Education] [Show ID: 14888]

Poet, editor, and scholar Juliana Spahr discusses her writing and research. Series: "The Center for Cultural Studies at UC Santa Cruz presents" [Humanities] [Show ID: 15001]

G. William Domhoff, research professor of psychology and sociology at UC Santa Cruz, is a leading expert on dreams. Fascinated by dreams for nearly 50 years, Domhoff highlights his work with DreamBank, a search engine and database of 16,000 dreams. [Humanities] [Show ID: 14871]

Drugs to improve soldiers’ abilities? To confuse enemies? Devices controlled by or controlling people’s minds? Will neuroscience provide the weapons of the future? Jonathan Moreno, nationally distinguished bioethicist, discusses the connections between national security and brain research and argues that there is a need to contemplate the ethical, political and social implications of these advances. [Public Affairs] [Science] [Show ID: 13673]

Jonathan Moreno, nationally distinguished bioethicist, presents an overview of the ethical issues raised by state sponsored human medical experimentation. [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 13672]

Professor James Young, Commissioner of Germany’s National Memorial to Europe’s Murdered Jews, and juror for the WTC Site Memorial Competition, discusses the history of memorial projects. [Humanities] [Show ID: 14091]

UC Santa Cruz professor Angela Davis explores the range of social problems associated with incarceration and the generalized criminalization of those communities that are most affected by poverty and racial discrimination. She urges her audience to think seriously about the future possibility of a world without prisons and to help forge a 21st century abolitionist movement. Series: "The Center for Cultural Studies at UC Santa Cruz presents" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 13826]

A distinguished panel of scholar-activists gather to reflect on Bettina Aptheker’s memoir - Intimate Politics: How I Grew Up Red, Fought for Free Speech, and Became a Feminist Rebel - the historical movement she recounts and the broader political issues raises by this intimate history of left activism. Panelists include Johnetta Cole, Angela Davis, Ericka Huggins and Blanche Wiesen Cook. Series: "The Center for Cultural Studies at UC Santa Cruz presents" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 13166]

As a Superior Court Judge in the Southern California city of Compton, Kelvin D. Filer sees more than his share of cases involving murder, drugs, and gang violence. As a product of the same neighborhood, Filer is a powerful role model who has devoted himself to "reaching out and helping others as I've been helped." He addresses an audience at his alma mater, UC Santa Cruz, on today’s youth. [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 12595]

David Tal of Tel Aviv University and UC Santa Cruz history professor David Kenez discuss the origins of the relationship between the US and Israel. [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 13023]

Both Dickens’s Fagin and Shakespeare’s Shylock are portrayed as the stereotype grotesque and villainous Jew. Join Michael Shapiro from the University of Illinois to explore what these characters and their creators have in common. [Humanities] [Show ID: 12411]

Part antiphonal rant, part rhythmic whisper, Nathaniel Mackey reads from his new book of poetry and talks about his writing to an audience at UC Santa Cruz where he is a professor of literature. Mackey recently received the 2006 National Book Award for poetry. [Humanities] [Show ID: 12221]

Janet Yellen, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco dicusses the notion that Federal Reserve policy making has been affected by globalization as part of the Santa Cruz Center for International Economics (SCCIE) at the University of California, Santa Cruz. [Business] [Show ID: 12071]

Dana Priest returns to UC Santa Cruz to receive the first annual Social Sciences Division "Distinguished Social Sciences Alumni Award" and deliver a lecture on the secret CIA-run prisons for terror suspects she exposed as the national security correspondent for the Washington Post. [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 11488]

This program evaluates the roles and themes of both government-inspired and populist antisemitism. Featuring Peter Kenez, Professor of History at UC Santa Cruz, and historian and Holocaust scholar Yehuda Bauer, Professor of Holocaust Studies at the Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. This program is presented as part of the Santa Cruz Jewish Studies Lectures. [Humanities] [Show ID: 9422]

Victor Davis Hanson, Professor of Classics at California State University at Fresno, leads a discussion on the nature of war throughout civilization and how it might enlighten us about the contemporary troubles in the Middle East. Presented as part of UC Santa Cruz's Jewish Studies Lectures. [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 8856]

In 1985 a group of eminent scientists came to UC Santa Cruz to discuss a vision that would become the Human Genome Project. Now, many of the same scientists have gathered again to celebrate the realization of their vision. Listen in to the panelists to hear more about what went in to decoding the human genome and what scientists hope it is going to tell us. [Show ID: 6546]

In 1985 a group of eminent scientists came to UC Santa Cruz to discuss a vision that would become the Human Genome Project. Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, shares the latest information on this project as well as his thoughts about the positive and negative ways in which this new technology might be used. [Show ID: 6545]

A heart-warming look at a Jewish elder's talent for keeping both her rebellious spirit and her joie de vivre intact. [Humanities] [Show ID: 5847]