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.
Learn More >Health
Published April 13, 2020
Hand-washing in the Time of COVID-19
In the era of COVID-19, the public health directive to "wash your hands" is a challenge for people with limited access to clean water, writes UC Berkeley researcher Isha Ray.
Learn More >Cities
Article
Published April 8, 2020
Gangs, Labor Mobility, and Development
A Q&A with Carlos Schmidt-Padilla, PhD Candidate in the UC Berkeley Department of Political Science, on his research showing the staggering economic toll of living within gang-controlled territory.
Learn More >Podcast
Interview
Published March 30, 2020
Matrix Podcast: Interview with Desiree Fields
In this episode, Michael Watts talks with Desiree Fields, Assistant Professor of Geography and Global Metropolitan Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Fields' research explores the financial technologies, market devices, and historical and geographic contingencies that make it possible to treat housing as a financial asset, and how this process is contested at the urban scale.
Learn More >COVID-19
Article and News
Published March 27, 2020
COVID-19: UC Berkeley Social Sciences Portal
A portal for insights about the COVID-19 pandemic from the UC Berkeley social science community
Learn More >Workshop/Symposium
Recap
Published March 21, 2020
2020 Advanced Workshop in Climate Change Economics
On January 31 to February 1, Social Science Matrix hosted the Advanced Workshop in Climate Change Economics, which brought together leading scholars from universities around the world to apply the tools of micro- and macroeconomics to understand and tackle the challenge of climate change.
Learn More >Matrix Lecture
Recap
Published March 20, 2020
Alexandra Gillies, “Crude Intentions”
Recorded on March 4, 2020, this video features a lecture by Alexandra Gillies, an expert on oil-sector corruption and author of the book "Crude Intentions: How Oil Sector Corruption Contaminates the World."
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