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Authors Meet Critics

Recap

Dylan Riley, “Microverses: Observations from a Shattered Present”

Watch the video (or listen to the podcast version) of our Authors Meet Critics panel on "Microverses: Observations from a Shattered Present," a book by Dylan Riley, Professor of Sociology at UC Berkeley. Professor Riley was joined by Professors Colleen Lye and and Donna Jones from the UC Berkeley Department of English.

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Authors Meet Critics

Recap

Authors Meet Critics: How the Clinic Made Gender

Watch a video (or listen to a podcast) of our recent “Authors Meet Critics” panel on "How the Clinic Made Gender: The Medical History of a Transformative Idea," by Sandra Eder, Associate Professor of History at UC Berkeley. Eder was joined in conversation by Laura Nelson, Danya Lagos, and Catherine Ceniza Choy.

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Matrix On Point

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Matrix on Point: The Court and the People

On October 20, Social Science Matrix hosted a "Matrix on Point" panel featuring UC Berkeley experts discussing what the conservative turn in the Supreme Court means for the relationship between the Court and the people. Panelists included Erwin Chemerinsky, Thomas Biolsi, and Khiara M. Bridges, with Ronit Stahl, moderating.

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Authors Meet Critics

Recap

Voices in the Code: A Story About People, Their Values, and the Algorithm They Made

 Recorded on October 10, 2022, this “Authors Meet Critics” panel focused on the book Voices in the Code: A Story About People, Their Values, and the Algorithm They Made, by David Robinson, a visiting scholar at Social Science Matrix and a member of the faculty at Apple University. Robinson was joined in conversation by […]

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Authors Meet Critics

Recap

Keeping It Unreal: Black Queer Fantasy and Superhero Comics

Recorded on October 14, 2022, this Authors Meet Critics panel focused on the book "Keeping It Unreal: Black Queer Fantasy and Superhero Comics," by Darieck Scott, Professor of African American Studies at UC Berkeley. Scott was joined in conversation by Ula Taylor and Scott Bukatman, with Greg Niemeyer moderating.

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Authors Meet Critics

Recap

Work Pray Code: When Work Becomes Religion in Silicon Valley

Recorded on September 30, 2022, this Matrix “Author Meets Critics” panel focused on the book "Work Pray Code: When Work Becomes Religion in Silicon Valley," by Carolyn Chen, Associate Professor in the UC Berkeley Department of Ethnic Studies. Professor Chen was joined in conversation by Arlie Hochschild, Professor Emerita in the UC Berkeley Department of Sociology, and Morgan Ames, Assistant Professor of Practice in the UC Berkeley School of Information and Associate Director of Research for the Center for Science, Technology, Medicine and Society. The conversation was moderated by Marion Fourcade, Professor of Sociology at UC Berkeley and Director of Social Science Matrix. The event was co-sponsored by the Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion and the Berkeley Culture Center.

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Matrix On Point

Recap

Humanitarian Technologies

Recorded on September 26, 2022, this "Matrix on Point" panel featured a group of scholars — including Daragh Murrah, Fleur Johns, and Wendy H. Wong — examining how technology raises new questions about the efficacy of humanitarian interventions, the human rights of recipients, and the broader power relations between donors and recipients. Moderated by Berkeley Law's Laurel E. Fletcher.

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Authors Meet Critics

Recap

The Government of Emergency: Vital Systems, Expertise, and the Politics of Security

Watch the video (or listen to the recording) of our recent "Authors Meet Critics" panel discussion on the book "The Government of Emergency: Vital Systems, Expertise, and the Politics of Security," by Stephen Collier and Andrew Lakoff, which explores the evolution of how experts and officials prepare for catastrophic risks. The authors were joined in conversation by Cathryn Carson and Michael Watts, with Aihwa Ong moderating.

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Book Talk

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Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the Twentieth Century

Recorded on Sept. 1, 2022, this video features a panel focused on Professor J. Bradford DeLong's book, "Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the Twentieth Century." Response by Robert Brenner, Professor Emeritus and Director of the Center for Social Theory and Comparative History at UCLA. Moderated by Steven Vogel, Co-Director of the Network for a New Political Economy (N2PE).

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Panel

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Floods and Equity: A Panel Discussion

Floods are the most destructive natural hazard, both at the national and international scale, and they disproportionately affect people of color and the poor. In this presentation, recorded on May 12, 2022, panelists Danielle Zoe Rivera and Jessica Ludy drew upon their research to discuss pathways to improving on the current situation.

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Matrix On Point

Recap

One Million COVID Deaths

Recorded on May 10, 2022, this panel examined the physical, material and psychological toll of the past two years of rampant disease, on-and-off social distancing, and shifting economic ground. The panelists discussed the unequal distribution of the pandemic’s burden across the population and the long-term scarring that may ensue, and contemplated the (possibly more uplifting) lessons to be drawn for the future.

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Affiliated Centers

Recap

The Bitter End: The 2020 Presidential Campaign and The Challenge to American Democracy

Recorded on April 29, 2022, this talk features John Sides, William R. Kenan, Jr. Chair and Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University. His book, The Bitter End: The 2020 Presidential Campaign and the Challenge to American Democracy, is forthcoming this fall. He is an author of Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and The Battle for the Meaning of America, The Gamble: Choice and Chance in the 2012 Election, and Campaigns and Election: Rules, Reality, Strategy, Choice.

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