Rights

CRELS

Recap

Published April 23, 2025

Consequential Sentences: Computational Analyses of California Parole Hearing Transcripts

Recorded on April 1, 2025, this video features a talk by AJ Alvero, a computational sociologist at Cornell University, presenting findings from an analysis of parole hearing transcripts in California. This talk is part of a symposium series presented by the UC Berkeley Computational Research for Equity in the Legal System Training Program (CRELS), which […]

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CRELS

Recap

Published April 23, 2025

Alex Roehrkasse: The New Contours of Mass Incarceration

Recorded on March 18, 2025, this video features a talk by Alexander F. Roehrkasse, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Criminology at Butler University. In the talk, Roehrkasse presents new evidence of declining Black–White inequality and skyrocketing educational inequality in U.S. prison admissions.

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Authors Meet Critics

Recap

Published March 12, 2025

Society Despite the State: Reimagining Geographies of Order

Recorded on February 10, 2025, this "Authors Meet Critics" panel centered on the book "Society Despite the State: Reimagining Geographies of Order," by Gerónimo Barrera de la Torre, Assistant Professor of Geography at UC Berkeley, and Anthony Ince, Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Human Geography at Cardiff University and British Academy Mid-Career Fellow. The authors were joined in conversation by Dylan John Riley and Anna Stilz, and Jake Kosek moderated.

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Podcast

Interview

Published February 26, 2025

Interview with Julia Sizek: Regulating Off-Roading in the California Desert

Julia Sizek is a writer and anthropologist who studies the California desert and rural land management more broadly. Her work focuses on the politics of land in the California desert, including: the cultural politics of conservation acquisition in the railroad checkerboard, the rhetoric of environmental impact reporting, and the legal geographies of off-highway vehicle use. […]

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California Spotlight

Recap

Published February 19, 2025

The Future of California Agriculture

As one of the nation’s agricultural powerhouses, California’s farming industry stands at a critical juncture. Climate change, labor availability and migration, and rapidly evolving technologies are reshaping the landscape of agriculture in the Golden State. This panel, recorded on January 30, 2025 and presented as part of the UC Berkeley Social Science Matrix California Spotlight series, brought together experts to analyze these changes and explore their implications for agricultural communities and rural economies.

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Global Democracy Commons

Recap

Published December 17, 2024

Making Sense of the Elections of 2024

Presented as part of the Global Democracy Commons initiative, this panel featured UC Berkeley scholars discussing the 2024 elections in different parts of the world. The panel included James Vernon, Helen Fawcett Distinguished Professor, History; Alison Post, Associate Professor, Political Science; Trevor Jackson, Assistant Professor, History; Aarti Sethi, Assistant Professor, Anthropology; and Kwanele Sosibo, Lecturer, Art History.

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Podcast

Interview

Published December 16, 2024

Gendered Violence in Insurgencies: Interview with Tara Chandra

This episode of the Matrix Podcast features an interview with Tara Chandra, a consultant and independent researcher who received a PhD in Political Science with a Designated Emphasis in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from UC Berkeley. The interview focused on Chandra's work on gendered violence in insurgencies and counterinsurgencies.

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Podcast

Interview

Published November 19, 2024

The Imperiled Place of Universities and Democracy in the USA: An Interview with Todd Wolfson

This Matrix Podcast episode features a conversation between James Vernon, Director of the Global Democracy Commons initiative, and Todd Wolfson, the new President of AAUP, about how public disinvestment from higher education and the culture wars have transformed colleges in ways that make them less democratic places — and imperil democracy across the country.

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Podcast

Interview

Published September 27, 2024

Prisoner Labor Legacies: An interview with Elizabeth Hargrett and Xander Lenc

While recent news has highlighted how prisoners have fought wildfires, prison labor is not a new phenomenon. Although incarcerated people have built highways, dams, and buildings, their contributions to American infrastructure are often made invisible. Both Elizabeth Hargrett and Xander Lenc have studied how prisoner labor has shaped America’s infrastructure with a focus on North […]

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Alumni

Interview

Published June 25, 2024

Anti-Mining Politics in Colombia: A Visual Interview with Ángela Castillo

What can the battle around a new mine in Colombia tell us about the past and future of environmentalist organizing in Latin America? Matrix Postdoc Julia Sizek interviewed Ángela Castillo, who is a recent PhD graduate from UC Berkeley’s Anthropology Department and is now Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Pitzer College.

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California Spotlight

Recap

Published April 5, 2024

Conservatorship: Inside California’s System of Coercion and Care for Mental Illness

Recorded on March 18, 2024, this California Spotlight panel focused on Alex V. Barnard’s book, "Conservatorship: Inside California’s System of Coercion and Care for Mental Illness. Professor Barnard was joined by Lauren Rettagliata, whose comments on her lived experience of the system complement Barnard's discussion of his research. The discussion was moderated by Jonathan Simon, Lance Robbins Professor of Criminal Justice Law at Berkeley Law.

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Lecture

Recap

Published March 3, 2024

Understanding Land-based Psychological Trauma in Light of Epistemic Justice

 Recorded on February 8, 2024, this video features a lecture by Dr. Garret Barnwell, South African clinical psychologist and community psychology practitioner. The talk was moderated and coordinated by Andrew Wooyoung Kim, Assistant Professor of Biological Anthropology at UC Berkeley. Listen to the talk as a podcast through the player below, or on Google […]

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