Omnia Podcast

The phrase “better things for better living through chemistry” began life in 1935 as a DuPont advertising slogan–an enthusiastic expression of optimism about science, and its potential to solve virtually any human problem. It’s clear that without chemistry, the world would be a very different place. So why, out of all the sciences, is chemistry so little understood, and so often held in low regard by the public?In this episode, a chemist explains chemistry's public relations problem, and why we need to put our faith in chemistry now, maybe more than ever.Guests:Eric J. Schelter, Professor of ChemistryMadeleine M. Joullié, Professor of Chemistry (Emeritus)Daniel J. Mindiola, Brush Family Professor of Chemistry and Graduate Chair***Produced by Loraine TerrellNarrated by Alex ScheinEdited by Alex Schein and Loraine TerrellInterviews by Loraine TerrellTheme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18Additional music by Blue Dot SessionsIllustration and logo by Dan Lee In These Times is a production of Penn Arts & Science

New medications, treatments, and implants that affect our brains have helped thousands overcome ADD, ended seizures, and even show promise for restoring memory lost to brain trauma. But these enhancements have implications for individuals and society. How far can we go? Who gets the enhancements? In this episode, we'll hear from a psychology professor about what’s being done and what we can learn from science fiction.Guest:Martha J. Farah, Walter H. Annenberg Professor in the Natural Sciences in the Department of Psychology and Director of the Center for Neuroscience and Society***Produced by Susan AhlbornNarrated by Alex ScheinEdited by Alex Schein and Brooke SietinsonsInterviews by Susan AhlbornTheme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18Additional music by Blue Dot SessionsIllustration and logo by Dan Lee In These Times is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences. Visit our series website to learn more and listen to the first two seasons of In These Times. Visit our editorial magazine, Omnia, for more content fro

If you were writing a book about the history of science denial, the chapter on Darwin would have to be one of the longest. But why? You can argue that we see evolution all the time – it is, after all, why we’re worrying today about the emergence of new variants of COVID-19. Does it boil down to a divide between religion and science that just can’t be bridged? And what’s at risk when what science tells us about evolution is rejected?In this episode, we'll hear from a philosopher of science and an evolutionary biologist on what it is about Darwinian evolution that has made it a poster child for science denial, and why it’s important to understand the facts.Guests:Paul Sniegowski, Stephen A. Levin Family Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of BiologyMichael Weisberg, Bess W. Heyman President's Distinguished Professor and Chair of Philosophy***Produced by Loraine TerrellNarrated by Alex ScheinEdited by Alex Schein and Loraine TerrellInterviews by Loraine TerrellTheme music by Nicholas Escobar,

This episode is about the science of how people talk. We'll get into some of the nitty gritty science, like prosody and intonational variation, but we're really interested in why people resist changes to language. Why did France try to ban "le weekend," and why do some people, like, get so, like, upset when people use the word "like"? An expert in sociolinguistics talks about what our speech says about who we are, and why resistance to change has nothing to do with being right or wrong.Guest:Nicole Holliday, Assistant Professor of Linguistics***Produced by Lauren Rebecca ThackerNarrated by Alex ScheinEdited by Alex Schein and Brooke SietinsonsInterview by Lauren Rebecca Thacker Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions Illustration and logo by Dan Lee In These Times is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences. Visit our series website to learn more and listen to the first season of In These Times. Visit our editorial magazine, Omnia, for more content from Penn Arts & Scien

On this season of the Omnia podcast, we talk to scientists and other scholars about scientific ideas that cause big reactions. We’ll look at stories of science getting knocked around, and standing back up again, in a world full of polarization, politics, misrepresentation, and simple misunderstanding. Welcome to In These Times: Fear and Loathing and Science.  One of the more unexpected side effects of COVID-19 has been the rise of a new strain of resistance to scientific information. But science denial didn’t start with COVID-19.  Rejection of scientific evidence is part of the history of science itself. How did the search for understanding and truth find itself in the cross-hairs of U.S. politics?Guests:Mark Trodden, Fay R. and Eugene L. Langberg Professor of Physics, Co-Director of the Center for Particle Cosmology, and Chair of the Department of Physics and AstronomyDonovan Schaefer, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies***Produced by Loraine TerrellNarrated by Alex ScheinEdited by Alex Schein and Lorai

In Episode 1: Facts vs. Feelings, Mark Trodden commented that most of what we would call modern cosmology is a very recent vintage, including many discoveries from just the past few decades.In this bonus segment, Professor Trodden discusses what this recent research has to say about the Big Bang, gravitational waves, and the expanding universe.Mark Trodden is the  Fay R. and Eugene L. Langberg Professor of Physics, Co-Director of the Center for Particle Cosmology, and Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pennsylvania. ***Produced by Loraine TerrellNarrated by Alex ScheinEdited by Alex Schein Interview Loraine TerrellTheme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions Illustration and logo by Dan LeeIn These Times is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences. Visit our series website to learn more and listen to the first season of In These Times. Visit our editorial magazine, Omnia, for more content from Penn Arts & Sciences faculty, students, and alum

In our final episode, we're continuing the conversation about how institutions can perpetuate racial inequalities and the work that remains. We talk to a graduate student whose family has been touched by Penn and slavery across generations, a philosopher who weighs the past and future when it comes to the case for reparations, and a political scientist whose focus on community and repair is not new, but particularly urgent.Guests:Breanna Moore, C'15 and doctoral student in historyDaniel Wodak, Assistant Professor of PhilosophyTulia Falleti, Class of 1965 Endowed Term Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies***Produced by Lauren Rebecca ThackerNarrated by Alex ScheinEdited by Alex Schein and Brooke SietinsonsInterviews by Lauren Rebecca Thacker, Susan Ahlborn, and Loraine TerrellTheme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions Illustration by Adriana BelletLogo by Drew NealisIn These Times is a production of Penn Arts & Scienc

This season, we’ve spoken to experts about how institutions have perpetuated racial hierarchies. Higher education is no exception. In our final two episodes, we’re talking to students and faculty about the work that comes next. This episode features an undergraduate student whose research with the Penn and Slavery Project reveals truths about the relationship between higher education and the perpetuation of scientific racism and a graduate student whose work on bioethics and philosophy of race can offer insights on health disparities and how we might address them.Guests:Carson Eckhard, C'21Ian Peebles, Ph.D. candidate in philosophy***Produced by Lauren Rebecca ThackerNarrated by Alex ScheinEdited by Alex Schein Interviews by Lauren Rebecca Thacker and Jane Carroll Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions Illustration by Adriana BelletLogo by Drew NealisIn These Times is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences. Visit our series website to learn more and listen to the first se

When Covid-19 delivered a disproportionate blow to communities of color, environmental hazards like air pollution, that are all too frequently present in these communities, was one of the contributing factors cited by experts. The idea that race is a factor in determining who has access to resources that allow a community to thrive is not so much news as it is a part of the American story. Today, there is a wider recognition that environmental racism is one of many forms of systemic racism, and that environmental justice and climate change are interconnected problems.Guests:Herman Beavers, Julie Beren Platt and Marc E. Platt President's Distinguished Professor of English and Africana StudiesDaniel Aldana Cohen, Assistant Professor of SociologyTsemone Ogbemi, C'21, Penn Program in Environmental Humanities Public Research Intern***Produced by Loraine TerrellNarrated by Alex ScheinEdited by Alex Schein and Loraine Terrell Interviews by Susan Ahlborn, Blake Cole, Lauren Rebecca ThackerTheme music by Nicholas Esco

During the worldwide protests that followed the death of George Floyd, demonstrators mobilized to challenge the representations of history presented by some of the monuments and memorials that occupy our public squares. In this episode we hear from an anthropologist, a sociologist, and an art historian, who reflect on why there has been such a focus on these symbols in this moment, how they shape our historical narrative and myths, and how we should move forward.Guests:Margaret Bruchac, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Coordinator of Native American and Indigenous StudiesGwendolyn DuBois Shaw, Class of 1940 Bicentennial Term Associate Professor of History of ArtTukufu Zuberi, Lasry Professor of Race Relations in the Departments of Sociology and Africana Studies***Produced by Susan AhlbornNarrated by Alex ScheinEdited by Alex Schein, Brooke Sietinson, and Loraine Terrell Interviews by Susan Ahlborn, Loraine Terrell, and Alex ScheinTheme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18Additional music by Blue Dot Session

Racism and discrimination are more than individual problems—they are part of institutions that have far-reaching impact. In this episode we hear from a professor of sociology, education, and Africana Studies who delves into discusses discrimination in higher education and explores how modern racial attitudes shape and are shaped by the places in which people live. We also drop in on a conversation between two criminologists who discuss policing procedures like stop and frisk and examine disparities in the criminal justice system.Guests:Camille Zubrinsky Charles, Walter H. and Leonore C. Annenberg Professor in the Social Sciences, Professor of Sociology, Africana Studies & EducationJohn MacDonald, Professor of Criminology and SociologyCharles Loeffler, Associate Professor of Criminology***Produced by Blake ColeNarrated by Alex ScheinEdited by Alex Schein, Brooke Sietinson, and Loraine Terrell Interviews by Blake Cole and Loraine TerrellTheme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18Additional music by Blue Dot Sessi

As we worked on our third episode, the news broke about the shooting in Atlanta that left eight people dead, including six women of Asian descent. This tragic event comes after more than a year of rising violence against members of Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander communities. In this special episode, we talk to Josephine Park, Professor and Undergraduate Chair of English and Director of the Asian American Studies Program, about the shooting, the history of anti-Asian racism in U.S. politics and culture, and the formation of the Asian American identity as an explicitly political act.***Produced by Lauren Rebecca ThackerNarrated by Alex ScheinEdited by Alex Schein Interview by Lauren Rebecca ThackerTheme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions Illustration by Adriana BelletLogo by Drew NealisIn These Times is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences. Visit our series website to learn more and listen to the first season of In These Times. Visit our editorial magazine, Omn

The enslavement of Black people was supported by a legal system that including everything from laws preventing legal marriage to those restricting movement and access to education. When slavery was abolished, this system did not go away. Instead, it evolved to include Jim Crow laws and 20th centuries policies including redlining and urban renewal. In this episode, we speak to two historians and an anthropologist about the violence embedded in our shared history and legacies that persist.Featuring:Heather Williams, Geraldine R. Segal Professor in American Social Thought and Professor of Africana StudiesBrent Cebul, Assistant Professor of HistoryDeborah Thomas, R. Jean Brownlee Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Center for Experimental Ethnography***Produced by Lauren Rebecca ThackerNarrated by Alex ScheinEdited by Alex Schein and Brooke Sietinsons Interviews by Lauren Rebecca Thacker, Jane Carroll, and Blake ColeTheme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions and  Lobo Loc

Last fall we launched our podcast, “In These Times” with an examination of COVID-19 and its far-reaching impacts. We spoke with students and faculty who shared their personal experiences with the epidemic, along with perspectives drawn from history, science, politics and beyond. A recurring theme of our first season was the crisis within the COVID crisis: how racial inequality was playing out in the context of the pandemic, revealing itself in unequal health outcomes and boiling over with the death of George Floyd. This season, we wanted to dive more deeply into this theme, to focus on Black Lives and the Call for Justice. We’ll explore the nation’s complex history with race and consider some challenging questions: Who controls the narrative about the U.S.? How far have we moved beyond our history of enslavement and Jim Crow? Are we at a moment of reckoning? We wanted to begin season 2 of In These Times with a focus on that explosive moment of last summer, when millions of Americans of all races and ethniciti

On Wednesday, January 6, 2021, as legislators counted and confirmed the votes in the Electoral College, rioters breached the Capitol building, forcing an evacuation of the House floor, including Vice President Pence. The events unfolded amidst President Trump having urged his supporters to fight against the ceremonial counting of the votes. The rioters, who could be heard calling police officers "traitors," eventually forced their way into the Senate chambers. The standoff resulted in five deaths.In this bonus episode we talk to a constitutional scholar and a professor of sociology and Africana Studies about the events and what comes next.Featuring:Rogers Smith, Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political ScienceTukufu Zuberi, Lasry Family Professor of Race Relations, Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies***Produced by Blake Cole, Alex Schein, and Loraine TerrellNarrated by Alex ScheinEdited by Alex Schein and Loraine TerrellInterviews by Blake Cole, Alex Schein, and Loraine TerrellTheme

The worldwide scale and scope of discontinuity, loss, and uncertainty has made the year of the pandemic like no other in recent memory. How are we processing this moment, and how do we move forward? In this episode, we talk to three students, who share how the COVID crisis has reshaped their undergraduate experience at Penn and their visions for the future. We also hear from a professor of English on the parallels between the traumas of the early 20th century and our current challenges, and an expert in the science of resilience offers her thoughts on coping with crisis.FEATURING:Omar Husni, C'22Samira Mehta, C'21James Nycz, C'21Karen Reivich, Director of Resilience and Positive Psychology Training Programs, Penn Positive Psychology CenterPaul Saint-Amour, Walter and Leonore C. Annenberg Professor in the Humanities and Chair, Department of English***Produced by Loraine TerrellNarrated by Alex ScheinEdited by Alex Schein and Loraine TerrellInterviews by Loraine Terrell, Susan Ahlborn, Alex ScheinTheme music by

COVID-19 wasn’t the only health crisis of 2020. In June, the American Medical Association and the American Public Health Association declared that police violence, particularly against Black and brown communities, is a public health crisis that demands attention and action. Widespread protests drew attention this summer, but where do we go from there? In this episode, a lawyer and doctoral candidate in philosophy talks about placing the idea of repair at the center of conversations about justice, and Penn’s Chaplain and Vice President for Social Equity and Community tells us about his experiences as a Penn student and what he thinks about the future.FEATURING:Daniel Fryer, Doctoral Candidate in Philosophy and former Assistant District Attorney in PhiladelphiaCharles L. "Chaz" Howard, C'00, University Chaplain, and Vice President for Social Equity and Community***Produced by Lauren Rebecca ThackerNarrated by Alex ScheinEdited by Alex Schein and Brooke SietinsonsInterviews by Lauren Rebecca ThackerTheme music b

With rates of diagnoses and death disproportionately affecting racial minorities and low-income workers, experts in this episode address how COVID-19 has further exposed already dire health outcome inequalities.We begin with a political scientist discussing how governmental policy drives health inequality, especially during times of crisis. Then, a Ph.D. student in history and sociology of science talks about how infectious microbes like the coronavirus can affect communities of people with genetic vulnerabilities. And finally, a professor of sociology, Africana studies, and law, discusses how the biological concept of race was invented as a way to justify racism and influence outcomes.FEATURING:Julia Lynch, Professor of Political Science and Co-Director of the Joseph H. Lauder Institute of Management and International StudiesRebecca Mueller, doctoral candidate in the Department of History and Sociology of ScienceDorothy Roberts, George A. Weiss University Professor of Law and Sociology, Raymond Pace and Sadi

The coronavirus pandemic does not exist in a vacuum. We look at other urgent issues of our time, and examine how they affect and are affected by COVID-19.We start this episode—as most things seem to now—with the partisan polarization in the U.S., asking a political science professor if people really are seeing everything in red or blue. Then a historian and legal scholar tells how we got to this state of racial injustice, decades after the Civil Rights movement. Finally, the German professor leading Penn’s environmental humanities program describes life in the climate crisis and the vision she gets from her students of going beyond a "new normal."Guests:Matthew Levendusky, Professor of Political Science and Penny and Robert A. Fox Director of the Fels Institute of GovernmentMary Frances Berry, Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and Professor of History and Africana StudiesBethany Wiggin, Associate Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures and Founding Director, Penn Program in Envir

Details from the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 or the quarantines during the bubonic plague sound familiar today. In our second episode, we talk to historians about how past societies dealt with disease, and what happened when a new understanding of germs revolutionized our approach but led us to overlook the larger picture of health. A legal historian explains why the U.S. pandemic repose was state-centered. And an English professor looks at the AIDS epidemic, and reflects on the human right to mourn.Guests:David Barnes, Associate Professor of History and Sociology of ScienceSarah Barringer Gordon, Arlin M. Adams Professor of Constitutional Law and Professor of HistoryAlexander Chase-Levenson, Assistant Professor of HistoryDagmawi Woubshet, Ahuja Family Presidential Associate Professor of English***Produced by Susan AhlbornNarrated and edited by Alex ScheinInterviews by Susan Ahlborn and Jane CarrollTheme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18Additional music by Blue Dot SessionsIllustration by Nick MatejLogo by Dr