Matrix On Point
Recap
Published April 10, 2025
Mainstreaming Psychedelics
Psychedelics are steadily moving from the fringes of counterculture to the heart of mainstream society, driven by a growing body of research and shifting public perception. As psychedelics shed their stigma, they are catalyzing a broader conversation about mental health, spirituality, and the boundaries of human consciousness. Recorded on March 6, 2025, this panel featured Diana Negrin, David Presti, Charles Hirschkind, and Graham Pechenik, with Poulomi Saha moderating.
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Interview
Published June 17, 2022
How CRISPR Became Routine
Read a Matrix visual interview with Santiago Molina, a Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern University, who researches how CRISPR, the genetic engineering technology, has become an everyday part of scientific practice.
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Iris Hui Memorial
Published May 26, 2022
Iris Hui Memorial Graduate Student Scholarship Winners
Two UC Berkeley social science graduate students have been selected as the inaugural recipients of the Iris Hui Memorial Graduate Student Scholarship. Joseph Greenbaum, a PhD student in the Department of Political Science; and Gisselle Perez-Leon, a PhD candidate in the Department of History, will each receive a stipend to support their research for the 2022-2023 academic year.
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Recap
Published May 24, 2022
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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Recap
Published May 18, 2022
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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Recap
Published May 9, 2022
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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Recap
Published May 9, 2022
Organize! Power and Collective Action
What can we learn from historical and contemporary cases about building organizations that engage, mobilize, and manage to wield influence on the political process? What kinds of infrastructural choices best support engagement and success in the long run? Recorded on May 5, 2022, this panel explored the varied and changing terrain of collective action to reflect on the nature, promises, and pitfalls of associational power in the 21st century.
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