Article
Interview
Published April 25, 2022
The Terracene: An Interview with Salar Mameni
What does the War on Terror have to do with the Anthropocene? In this interview, Salar Mameni, Assistant Professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley, discusses their book project, "Terracene: A Crude Aesthetics."
Learn More >Matrix On Point
Recap
Published April 15, 2022
The Future of Money: Mobile Money, Social Media, and Cashless Economies
Focusing on forms of cashless payment, such as mobile money and apps, this "Matrix on Point" panel explored questions about how the social connections made through money are changing, and what the implications might be for our understanding of money, trust, and social connection. The panel featured Kevin Donovan, Lecturer in the Centre of African Studies at the University of Edinburgh; Lana Swartz, Assistant Professor of Media Studies at the University of Virginia; and Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The panel was moderated by Marion Fourcade, Professor of Sociology at UC Berkeley and Director of Social Science Matrix.
Learn More >Podcast
Interview
Published April 12, 2022
What Happened to the Week? An Interview with David Henkin
For this episode of the Matrix podcast, Julia Sizek interviewed David M. Henkin, the Margaret Byrne Professor of History, about his book, The Week: A History of the Unnatural Rhythms that Make Us Who We Are. With meticulous archival research that draws on a wide array of sources — including newspapers, restaurant menus, theater schedules, marriage records, school curricula, folklore, housekeeping guides, courtroom testimony, and diaries — Henkin reveals how our current devotion to weekly rhythms emerged in the United States during the first half of the 19th century.
Learn More >California Spotlight
Recap
Published April 12, 2022
The Social and Economic Impacts of Wildfires
Recorded on April 4, 2022, this panel focused on the contemporary social and economic impacts of wildfires in California during another record-breaking fire season. How have fires changed during the last five years, and with what impacts on the economy? How might policy-makers and economists respond to the changing fire season? The panel was co-sponsored by the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE) and presented as part of the Social Science Matrix California Spotlight series.
Learn More >Matrix On Point
Recap
Published March 16, 2022
Matrix on Point: The War in Ukraine and Its Consequences
In this Matrix on Point event, recorded on March 15, 2022, a panel of UC Berkeley scholars discussed the Ukraine-Russia War conflict and its implications. Panelists included John Connelly, the Sidney Hellman Ehrman Professor in the Department of History; Yuriy Gorodnichenko, Quantedge Presidential Professor in the Department of Economics; Gérard Roland, the E. Morris Cox Professor of Economics and Professor of Political Science; and Katerina Linos, the Irving G. and Eleanor D. Tragen Professor of Law. Daniel Sargent Associate Professor of History at UC Berkeley, moderated.
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Recap
Published March 14, 2022
Cryptography and the Future of Money
Recorded on March 2, 2022, this "Matrix on Point" panel featured presentations by Markus K. Brunnermeier, Edwards S. Sanford Professor in the Economics Department at Princeton University and Director of Princeton’s Bendheim Center for Finance; Stefan Eich, Assistant Professor of Government at Georgetown University; and Christine Parlour, the Sylvan C. Coleman Chair of Finance and Accounting at Berkeley Haas. Moderated by Barry Eichengreen, the George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee Chair and Distinguished Professor of Economics and Professor of Political Science at UC Berkeley.
Learn More >Authors Meet Critics
Recap
Published March 8, 2022
Precolonial Legacies in Postcolonial Politics
Watch the video of our “Author Meets Critics” panel focused on the book, "Precolonial Legacies in Postcolonial Politics: Representation and Redistribution in Decentralized West Africa," by Martha Wilfahrt, Assistant Professor in the UC Berkeley Department of Political Science. Recorded on March 7th, 2022, the panel included Scott Straus and Alberto Díaz-Cayeros, and was moderated by Leonardo Arriola.
Learn More >Authors Meet Critics
Recap
Published February 8, 2022
Bankers in the Ivory Tower: The Troubling Rise of Financiers in US Higher Education
Watch the video (or listen to the podcast) of our “Author Meets Critics” panel on the book, "Bankers in the Ivory Tower: The Troubling Rise of Financiers in US Higher Education," by Charlie Eaton, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Merced. Recorded on Feb. 3, 2022, the panel included Emmanuel Saez and Jonathan Glater, with Jennifer Johnson-Hanks as moderator.
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Interview
Published February 8, 2022
Innovation Matters: Competition Policy for the High-Tech Economy
In his new book, "Innovation Matters: Competition Policy for the High-Technology Economy," Richard Gilbert, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Economics at UC Berkeley, argues that regulators should be considering the effects of mergers and monopolies on innovation, rather than price. Read our Q&A with Professor Gilbert.
Learn More >Authors Meet Critics
Recap
Published February 3, 2022
The King and the People: Sovereignty and Popular Politics in Mughal Delhi
On January 26, 2022, Social Science Matrix hosted an “Authors Meet Critics” panel discussion focused on the book, "The King and the People: Sovereignty and Popular Politics in Mughal Delhi" (Oxford University Press), by Abhishek Kaicker, Associate Professor in the UC Berkeley Department of History. Professor Kaicker was joined in conversation by Professors Asad Ahmed and Aarti Sethi. The panel was moderated by Professor Pradeep Chhibber.
Learn More >Podcast
Interview
Published January 11, 2022
Science and Socialism in Cuba
In this episode of the Matrix podcast, Julia Sizek interviews Clare Ibarra, a PhD candidate in history, and Naomi Schoenfeld, a public health nurse practitioner and recent PhD from the joint UC San Francisco/UC Berkeley medical anthropology program. They discuss the history of science and medicine in Cuba and its relationship to the socialist project, as well as how Cuba has developed vaccines during the current pandemic.
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Recap
Published December 8, 2021
Author Meets Critics: “The Banks Did It: An Anatomy of the Financial Crisis”
Watch the video of our “Authors Meet Critics” discussion focused on "The Banks Did It: An Anatomy of the Financial Crisis," by Neil Fligstein, Class of 1939 Chancellor’s Professor in the UC Berkeley Department of Sociology. Professor Fligstein was joined in conversation by Adam Tooze, Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Professor of History at Columbia University and author of Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World (2018) and Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World's Economy (2021). This event was co-sponsored by the Network for a New Political Economy (N2PE).
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