How do we make better decisions? (revisiting)
A panel of UC Berkeley professors discuss how they view decision-making from their respective fields, and how we can use these approaches to make more informed choices.
Podcast: Berkeley Talks
Berkeley Talks is a UC Berkeley News podcast that features lectures and conversations at Berkeley. It's managed by the Office of Communications and Public Affairs. A new episode is released every other Friday. Follow Berkeley Talks.
To suggest a talk to be featured on the podcast, email Anne Brice at [email protected].
Also, check out Berkeley Voices, an award-winning Berkeley News podcast that explores the work and lives of the fascinating UC Berkeley community. And see our guide to starting your own podcast at Berkeley.
The Page Act and the making of racialized US immigration control
A panel of UC Berkeley scholars unpack how the 1875 law helped institutionalize racially targeted exclusion at the border and laid the groundwork for the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act and later U.S. immigration laws.
For Nobel laureate Randy Schekman, it began with pond scum and a toy microscope
“I just could not believe the world that was revealed,” the UC Berkeley professor said of the microorganisms he saw through the plastic lens. He went on to win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2013.
The complicated role of media in motherhood
Berkeley Professor Hannah Zeavin explores how 20th-century ideals of motherhood and new media technologies became deeply intertwined, shaping and surveilling American family life.
Top Biden official calls for unity, ‘moral courage’ in public service
“Nurture that flame and keep it lit,” says Deb Haaland, former secretary of the Interior Department who’s running for governor of New Mexico in 2026.
How Berkeley became a powerhouse for innovation and startups
A panel of prominent UC Berkeley faculty and an alum join Chancellor Rich Lyons to discuss how the campus’s startup culture has powered their work and encourages the next generation of scholars to grow their ideas.
Long considered ‘too big to fail,’ the ocean needs a new narrative
Marine ecologist Jane Lubchenco explains how the story of the ocean as endlessly bountiful and resilient has led to its degradation, and why we need to embrace a new narrative: that it's too big to ignore.
How art allows us to see everyday things anew
"Life and art are entangled," says UC Berkeley philosopher Alva Noë. "An engagement with an artwork is an engagement with oneself."
How forgiveness changes you and your brain
Psychologists explore what forgiveness is, how it works in the body and brain and the ways people can practice forgiveness that feel safe and empowering.
Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna on CRISPR and the future of gene editing
“We're in an era of programmable genome editing," says the UC Berkeley professor of chemistry and of molecular and cell biology. “It's really exciting to see all the possible applications of this."
Berkeley scholars unpack what’s at stake for U.S. democracy
In a new multimedia series by UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism — The Stakes Explained — journalism students interview experts to help make sense of the new orders, actions and policies coming out of the White House.
Economist Gabriel Zucman on the benefits of a (modest) billionaire tax
A global minimum tax of 2% on billionaires would not only generate substantial revenue for governments worldwide, he says, but would also restore a sense of fairness.
Ezra Klein on building the things we need for the future we want (revisiting)
In this episode of Berkeley Talks, which first ran in October 2023, The New York Times columnist and podcast host discusses the difficulties liberal governments encounter when working to build real things in the real world.
How the tobacco industry drove the rise of ultra-processed foods
In 1963, a U.S. tobacco company bought Hawaiian Punch. It marked the beginning of the tobacco industry's entry into the food sector and led to an explosion of hyperpalatable, chemically-engineered foods — and a dramatic rise in obesity.
Energy justice expert on his pursuit for affordable and clean energy for all
“The goal is to achieve equity in both the social and economic participation in our energy system,” says Tony Reames, who served as deputy director for energy justice at the U.S. Department of Energy during the Biden-Harris administration.
A debate on how to feed the world without ‘eating the earth’
UC Berkeley Professor Timothy Bowles and journalist Michael Grunwald discuss the impact of our current agricultural methods and debate the ways we can ramp up food production without causing more harm to the environment.