Best Berkeley Voices Podcasts (2025)

1
130: AI helped this paralyzed woman speak again after 18 years 17:04

16d ago17:04

17:04

When Ann Johnson had a rare brainstem stroke at age 30, she lost control of all of her muscles. One minute, she was playing volleyball with her friends. The next, she couldn’t move or speak. Up until that moment, she’d been a talkative and outgoing person. She taught math and physical education, and coached volleyball and basketball at a high schoo…

1
The Edge: Stories from the margins of policy, protest and personal choices 30:00

15d ago30:00

30:00

From public funding cuts to personal turning points, our reporters look to the margins for stories shaped by policy, protest and resilience. The California State Library is one of many libraries that had their federal funding terminated. Those with reading disabilities are among the most affected. A young artist is challenging the application of eu…

1
A conversation with Cihan Tugal about the mass protests in Turkey 29:33

1M ago29:33

29:33

The detention of Ekrem İmamoğlu, Istanbul's mayor and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's most formidable rival, on March 19th sparked the largest demonstrations in Turkey in years. Last Saturday, hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets, expressing their discontent with the government and demanding the release of the city's imprisoned …

1
129: Fakes, replicas and forgeries: What counts as art? 23:42

1M ago23:42

23:42

When Winnie Wong first saw Dafen Oil Painting Village in 2006, it was nothing like she’d imagined. The Chinese village was known for mass producing copies of Western art. She’d read about it in The New York Times, which described a kind of compound where thousands of artists painted replicas of famous artworks, like da Vinci’s Mona Lisa or van Gogh…

1
128: An evolution of American friendship, from Victorian-era letters to Swiftie bracelets 14:40

3M ago14:40

14:40

Have you ever seen letters from the 1800s? Aside from the pristine penmanship and grammar, the way friends expressed their fondness for each other is remarkable. “Letters sent between friends are often full of the kinds of loving and affectionate language that today we would only associate with romantic or sexual relationships: ‘My darling,’ ‘I lov…

1
Home Is Where The Harmony Is 30:01

3M ago30:01

30:01

If you’ve left home and can’t move back – where is home? What if you can return - but your home, neighborhood, your entire city…was destroyed…then, where is home? What if your home doesn’t resemble the one your parents remember…the language most people speak and the food they eat have changed - are you still home?On this episode of North Gate Radio…

1
127: How fear is being weaponized against you (and how to respond) 22:33

4M ago22:33

22:33

Against her mom’s warnings, UC Berkeley political scientist Marika Landau-Wells watched Arachnaphobia as a kid. Ever since, she has been terrified of spiders. But over the years, she has learned to reason with her quick fear response — No, that spider is not 8 feet in diameter — and calmly trap them and put them outside. We all encounter problems l…

1
Toxic Supply Chains of War in Iraq 38:35

4M ago38:35

38:35

Toxic Supply Chains of War in Iraq by VOMENA Team at KPFABy VOMENA Team at KPFA

1
Breaking Musical Boundaries in the Bay 29:57

4M ago29:57

29:57

On this show, three reporters profile boundary breaking artists who call the Bay Area home. These artists refuse to be constricted by what’s trendy. We’ll travel from an intimate backyard concert in Oakland into the vastness of the cosmos with a stop on the way at Live Oak Park in Berkeley to listen to a bird who is also a composer. A full transcri…

1
Bay Area Beats 29:30

4M ago29:30

29:30

Meet some of the drummers, dancers, rappers and dj’s dedicated to maintaining THE BAY’s cultural heartbeat, no matter the obstacles.Reporters: Amaray Alvarez, Royvi Hernandez, Audy McAfeeA full transcript for this episode can be found at https://projects.journalism.berkeley.edu/radio/show/bay-area-beats/…

1
State of Mind 29:56

4M ago29:56

29:56

There’s been a greater focus in the United States on the importance of mental well-being. 5 reporters for North Gate Radio each tell a story looking at what’s working and what isn’t when it comes to mental health care. Reporters: NeEddra James (show host/reporter), Robert Seth Strauss, Renée Bartlett-Webber, Jasmine Ascencio, Nicole J CaruthA full …

1
Routes, Riders, and Rondo Alla Turca 29:06

4M ago29:06

29:06

Public transportation across the Bay Area is struggling with perpetually low ridership. 5 reporters for North Gate Radio each tell a story examining how different transportation agencies are trying to fix the problem.Reporters: Ellie Prickett-Morgan (host/reporter), Julia Mayer, Anna Zou, Lisa Plachy, and Nava Iman RawlsA full transcript for this e…

1
126: Think you know what dinosaurs were like? Think again. 18:09

4M ago18:09

18:09

For UC Berkeley Professor Jack Tseng, the world of paleontology never gets old. With each new discovery, paleontologists like him learn more about the animals that walked the earth millions of years ago. "If you look at books from 50 years ago, they postured dinosaurs very differently from the way we do it today," Tseng says. "This constant profusi…

1
125: As crises escalate, so does our fascination with cults 29:10

6M ago29:10

29:10

Like millions of other Americans, UC Berkeley Professor Poulomi Saha watched a lot of docuseries about cults during the COVID-19 pandemic. The more Saha watched, the more they felt a kind of change within themself. "I was absolutely enthralled," said Saha. “My reaction no longer fit that old script, the script that I had internalized. I wasn’t just…

1
124: Psychopathy goes undetected in some people. Why? 23:11

7M ago23:11

23:11

In a June 2024 study, UC Berkeley psychology professor Keanan Joyner and his colleagues found that by using a combination of methods tailored to the multidimensional nature of psychopathy, we could transform how we identify and understand this personality disorder. "I think that it goes toward having a functional and positive society," Joyner said.…

1
What Is Israel's Endgame in Lebanon? 58:03

7M ago58:03

58:03

Bassam Haddad is an associate professor in the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. He is the author of Business Networks in Syria: The Political Economy of Authoritarian Resilience (Stanford University Press, 2011) and coeditor of A Critical Political Economy of the Middle East (Stanford University Press, 2021). Haddad…

1
Yanis Varoufakis on unbridled capitalism's descent into fascism and genocide 1:02:12

8M ago1:02:12

1:02:12

Yanis Varoufakis on unbridled capitalism's descent into fascism and genocide by VOMENA Team at KPFABy VOMENA Team at KPFA

1
Journalists risking their lives to report on Gaza & companies and countries supplying oil to Israel 58:10

9M ago58:10

58:10

Journalists risking their lives to report on Gaza & companies and countries supplying oil to Israel by VOMENA Team at KPFABy VOMENA Team at KPFA

1
How Joe Biden Became a Steadfast Israel Defender 31:52

9M ago31:52

31:52

https://jacobin.com/author/branko-marceticBy VOMENA Team at KPFA

1
Artists demanding an end to Gaza genocide 39:29

9M ago39:29

39:29

Artists demanding an end to Gaza genocide by VOMENA Team at KPFABy VOMENA Team at KPFA

1
Standing in the Dust – Photography of Yalda Moaiery 24:51

10M ago24:51

24:51

Standing in the Dust – Photography of Yalda Moaiery by VOMENA Team at KPFABy VOMENA Team at KPFA

1
The Role of International Actors In The War in Sudan 57:47

10M ago57:47

57:47

The Role of International Actors In The War in Sudan by VOMENA Team at KPFABy VOMENA Team at KPFA

1
How Islamophobia Is Driving a Mental Health Crisis Among Michigan’s Muslim Youth 41:36

10M ago41:36

41:36

On this edition of Voices of the Middle East and North Africa, we speak with Dr. Eli Cahan about why Arab and Muslim Americans face significantly higher rates of mental illness.By VOMENA Team at KPFA

1
The Corporate Power Brokers Behind AIPAC’s War on the Squad 39:03

10M ago39:03

39:03

On this edition of Voices of the Middle East and North Africa, we have a conversation with Jacobin staff writer BRANKO MARCETIC about his In These Times investigation, which reveals the individuals behind AIPAC’s election war chest: nearly 60% are CEOs and other top executives at the country’s largest corporations.…

1
Refugee Labor in Turkey and Europe’s Plastic Waste 34:22

10M ago34:22

34:22

On this edition of Voices of the Middle East and North Africa, we have a conversation with independent journalist Adnan Khan about his recent article in MERIP titled "A Deadly Trade—Refugee Labor in Turkey and Europe’s Plastic Waste."He writes that China’s ban came at an ideal time for Turkey’s plastic recyclers. Less than two years before it was i…

1
Asylum seekers in Greece, remembering Palestinian revolutionary Ghassan Kanafani 58:25

10M ago58:25

58:25

The Mediterranean Sea has become a huge cemetery for many thousands of migrants and asylum seekers who have been risking their lives trying to cross it in search of a better future.This week, we speak with Athens based independent journalist Moira Lavelle about the state of refugees and asylum seekers trying to reach Greece-Later in the program, we…

1
Are Israel and Hezbollah on the brink of an all-out war? 58:03

11M ago58:03

58:03

Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah are at all-time high. Israel and Lebenese Hezbollah have been exchanging fire since October 8 the, when Israel launched its devastating war on Gaza, but the conflict between the two archenemies escalated after one of Hezbollah's most senior commanders was killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon, on June…

1
123: One brain, two languages 13:21

1y ago13:21

13:21

For the first three years of Justin Davidson's childhood in Chicago, his mom spoke only Spanish to him. Although he never spoke the language as a young child, when Davidson began to learn Spanish in middle school, it came very quickly to him, and over the years, he became bilingual. Now an associate professor in UC Berkeley's Department of Spanish …

1
122: A language divided 11:58

1y ago11:58

11:58

There are countless English varieties in the U.S. There's Boston English and California English and Texas English. There's Black English and Chicano English. There's standard academic, or white, English. They're all the same language, but linguistically, they're different. "Standard academic English is most represented by affluent white males from …

1
121: A linguist's quest to legitimize U.S. Spanish 11:24

1y ago11:24

11:24

Spanish speakers in the United States, among linguists and non-linguists, have been denigrated for the way they speak, says UC Berkeley sociolinguist Justin Davidson. It’s part of the country's long history of scrutiny of non-monolingual English speakers, he says, dating back to the early 20th century. "It’s groups in power — its discourses and col…

1
120: Medieval song holds clues to lost dialects 18:25

1y ago18:25

18:25

In his research, UC Berkeley Ph.D. candidate Saagar Asnani looks at music manuscripts from between the 12th and 14th centuries in medieval France. He says only recently have scholars begun to use a wider variety of media and artistic expressions as a way to study language. "If we unpack the genre of music, we will find a very precise record of how …

1
Hossam el-Hamalawy on Egypt’s role in Israel's war on Gaza 46:38

1y ago46:38

46:38

Hossam el-Hamalawy on Egypt’s role in Israel's war on Gaza by VOMENA Team at KPFABy VOMENA Team at KPFA

1
119: Art student's photo series explores masculine vulnerability 8:59

1y ago8:59

8:59

Brandon Sánchez Mejia stood at a giant wall in UC Berkeley’s Worth Ryder Art Gallery and couldn’t believe his eyes. In front of him were 150 black-and-white photos of men’s bodies in all sorts of poses and from all sorts of angles. It was his senior thesis project, "A Masculine Vulnerability," and it was out for the world to see. "It came from this…

1
118: Take the first Black history tour at UC Berkeley 9:56

1+ y ago9:56

9:56

The self-guided Black history tour at UC Berkeley begins at Memorial Stadium, where student Walter Gordon was a star of the football team more than 100 years ago. It then weaves through campus, making stops at 13 more locations, each highlighting an important person or landmark related to Black history. There's Ida Louise Jackson Graduate House, na…

1
117: Bonobos and chimps show 'a rich recognition' for long-lost friends and family 7:11

1+ y ago7:11

7:11

Bonobos and chimpanzees — the closest extant relatives to humans — could have the longest-lasting nonhuman memory, a study led by a UC Berkeley researcher found. Extensive social memory had previously been documented only in dolphins and up to 20 years. "What we're showing here," said Berkeley comparative psychologist Laura Simone Lewis, "is that c…

1
Afterthoughts: The true origins of American immigration policy 4:40

1+ y ago4:40

4:40

Historians have long assumed that immigration to the United States was free from regulation until the introduction of federal laws to restrict Chinese immigration in the late 19th century. But UC Berkeley history professor Hidetaka Hirota, author of Expelling the Poor, says state immigration laws in the country were created earlier than that — and …

1
116: How WWII incarceration fueled generations of Japanese American activists 27:20

1+ y ago27:20

27:20

Today, we're sharing the first episode of the new season of the Berkeley Remix, a podcast by UC Berkeley's Oral History Center. The four-episode season, called "From Generation to Generation: The Legacy of Japanese American Incarceration," centers the experiences of descendants of Japanese Americans incarcerated by the U.S. government during World …

1
Students face backlash for supporting Palestinian rights, Stage reading of Woman Life Freedom 57:58

1+ y ago57:58

57:58

Students face backlash for supporting Palestinian rights, Stage reading of Woman Life Freedom by VOMENA Team at KPFABy VOMENA Team at KPFA

1
What does it take to end the war on the Palestinians in Gaza? 58:01

1+ y ago58:01

58:01

What does it take to end the war on the Palestinians in Gaza? by VOMENA Team at KPFABy VOMENA Team at KPFA

1
115: They built the railroad. But they were left out of the American story. 15:50

1+ y ago15:50

15:50

The U.S. transcontinental railroad is considered one of the biggest accomplishments in American history. Completed in 1869, it was the first railroad to connect the East to the West. It cut months off trips across the country and opened up Western trade of goods and ideas throughout the U.S. But building the railroad was treacherous, brutal work. A…

1
"From Generation to Generation" Episode 4 - "Origami as Metaphor" 38:36

1+ y ago38:36

38:36

In season 8 of The Berkeley Remix, a podcast of the Oral History Center at UC Berkeley, we are highlighting interviews from the Japanese American Intergenerational Narratives Oral History Project. The OHC team interviewed twenty-three survivors and descendants of two World War II-era sites of incarceration: Manzanar in California and Topaz in Utah.…

1
"From Generation to Generation" Episode 3 - "Between Worlds": Japanese American Identity & Belonging 35:42

1+ y ago35:42

35:42

In season 8 of The Berkeley Remix, a podcast of the Oral History Center at UC Berkeley, we are highlighting interviews from the Japanese American Intergenerational Narratives Oral History Project. The OHC team interviewed twenty-three survivors and descendants of two World War II-era sites of incarceration: Manzanar in California and Topaz in Utah.…

1
"From Generation to Generation" Episode 2 - "A Place Like This": The Memory of Incarceration 39:45

1+ y ago39:45

39:45

In season 8 of The Berkeley Remix, a podcast of the Oral History Center at UC Berkeley, we are highlighting interviews from the Japanese American Intergenerational Narratives Oral History Project. The OHC team interviewed twenty-three survivors and descendants of two World War II-era sites of incarceration: Manzanar in California and Topaz in Utah.…

1
"From Generation to Generation" Episode 1 - "It's Happening Now": Japanese American Activism 26:35

1+ y ago26:35

26:35

In season 8 of The Berkeley Remix, a podcast of the Oral History Center at UC Berkeley, we are highlighting interviews from the Japanese American Intergenerational Narratives Oral History Project. The OHC team interviewed twenty-three survivors and descendants of two World War II-era sites of incarceration: Manzanar in California and Topaz in Utah.…

1
114: Theater as power: New professor brings Caribbean performance practice to Berkeley 22:18

1+ y ago22:18

22:18

UC Berkeley's first social justice theater professor, Timmia Hearn DeRoy, talks about how Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival practice, rooted in emancipation, drives her work today. "Trinidadian Carnival, it’s social justice theater in practice. Every moment, it’s all about emancipation, the subverting of the powerful narrative through humor, through p…

1
Gaza: Besieged since 2007, now under Israel’s “total blockade” 57:58

1+ y ago57:58

57:58

Gaza: Besieged since 2007, now under Israel’s “total blockade” by VOMENA Team at KPFABy VOMENA Team at KPFA

1
Voices for the Environment - Episode 3: Environmental Justice for All 26:48

1+ y ago26:48

26:48

Episode 3: Environmental Justice for All The podcasts for "Voices for the Environment: A Century of Bay Area Activism" are part of a Bancroft Library Gallery exhibition at UC Berkeley. This exhibit charts the twentieth-century evolution of environmentalism in the San Francisco Bay Area through the voices of activists who galvanized public opinion t…

1
Voices for the Environment - Episode 2: Tides of Conservation 29:36

1+ y ago29:36

29:36

Episode 2: Tides of Conservation The podcasts for "Voices for the Environment: A Century of Bay Area Activism" are part of a Bancroft Library Gallery exhibition at UC Berkeley. This exhibit charts the twentieth-century evolution of environmentalism in the San Francisco Bay Area through the voices of activists who galvanized public opinion to advanc…

1
Voices for the Environment - Episode 1: A Preservationist Spirit 29:52

1+ y ago29:52

29:52

Episode 1: A Preservationist SpiritThe podcasts for "Voices for the Environment: A Century of Bay Area Activism" are part of a Bancroft Library Gallery exhibition at UC Berkeley. This exhibit charts the twentieth-century evolution of environmentalism in the San Francisco Bay Area through the voices of activists who galvanized public opinion to adva…