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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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Podcast

Interview

Reconsidering the Achievement Gap: An Interview with Monica Ellwood-Lowe

For this episode of the Matrix podcast, Matrix Content Curator Julia Sizek spoke with Monica Ellwood-Lowe, a PhD Candidate in the UC Berkeley Department of Psychology, about her research on children’s cognitive performance, and how we might think about removing barriers to children’s success. 

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Article

Podcast

The Rise of Mass Incarceration: An Interview with Chris Muller and Alex Roehrkasse

On this episode of the Matrix Podcast, Julia Sizek spoke with two UC Berkeley scholars whose work focuses on explaining how mass incarceration has changed over the last 30 years. Alex Roehrkasse is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Criminology at Butler University. He studies the production of racial, class, and gender inequality in the […]

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Article

Interview

The Materiality of the Telegraph Revolution: A Visual Interview with Sophie FitzMaurice

How did the telegraph change the environment? Read our latest "visual interview" with Sophie FitzMaurice, a PhD candidate in the UC Berkeley Department of History, whose research interests include how telegraph poles were produced, and how woodpeckers responded to the concomitant disappearance of forests and the rise of telegraph lines.

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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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Podcast

Interview

Economic Benefits of Higher Education: Zach Bleemer and Maximilian Müller

Why do people choose to go to college (or not)? What impact do race-based or financial aid policies have on higher education and the broader economy? In this episode of the Matrix Podcast, Julia Sizek spoke with two UC Berkeley-trained economists whose research focuses on the economic impacts of higher education. Maximilian Müller completed his PhD […]

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Article

Interview

The Effects of Reparations: A Visual Interview with Arlen Guarin

What are the impacts of reparations on the lives of victims of violence? Read our visual interview with Arlen Guarin, a PhD Candidate in Economics at UC Berkeley, who studies the effects of policies that aim to reduce poverty and inequality, including reparations given to victims of human rights violations in Colombia.

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Podcast

Interview

A Changing Landscape for Farmers in India: An Interview with Aarti Sethi and Tanya Matthan

In this episode of the Matrix Podcast, Julia Sizek spoke with two UC Berkeley scholars – Aarti Sethi and Tanya Matthan – who study agrarian life in India, where farmers have been forced to adapt to the rise of pesticides, genetically modified seeds, and other technologies.

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Article

Interview

How Climate Change Became a Security Emergency: An Interview with Brittany Meché

How has climate change become an international security problem? In this interview, Brittany Meché, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies and Affiliated Faculty in Science and Technology Studies at Williams College, discusses her research on how expert explanations of climate migration rework the afterlives of empire in the West African Sahel.

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Podcast

Interview

Institutionalizing Child Welfare: An Interview with Matty Lichtenstein

This episode of the Matrix Podcast features an interview with Matty Lichtenstein, a recent PhD from Berkeley’s Sociology Department, who studies how state and professional organizations shape social and health inequalities in maternal and child welfare. The interview focuses on Lichtenstein's research on the transformation of American child welfare and the impact of that transformation on contemporary maternal and infant health practices.

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Article

Podcast

Race, Gender, and Political Speech: An Interview with Gabriella Licata

When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was insulted on the Capitol steps in July 2020, it was a brief media sensation. But what does being called an “effing bitch” mean for how we think about political speech? This episode of the Matrix Podcast features an interview with Gabriella Licata, a PhD candidate in Romance Languages and Literatures at UC Berkeley, focused on how the standard language ideologies of political speech come to shape perceptions of language and people in Congress.

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Article

Interview

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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