Berkeley Voices
Episodes
36: For disability advocate, helping students navigate campus is personal
18 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
When Derek Coates was 10, he found out he had a degenerative eye disease and was going to gradually lose his eyesight. Over the next 30 years, his vis...
35: Peregrine falcons, zipping through campus at top speeds, are here to stay
10 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The peregrine falcons that first made a home on UC Berkeley's Campanile last year get a lot of attention every spring when their babies hatch. But it'...
34: A biology prof on growing up gay in rural Minnesota
03 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Noah Whiteman, an associate professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley, has always known how to survive. He moved to Sax-Zim, a...
33: How a tender message helped win the fight for same-sex marriage
25 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
When Thalia Zepatos joined the Freedom to Marry campaign in 2010, she had a big job ahead of her: she had to craft a totally new message about same-se...
32: Billy Curtis, an S.F. Pride grand marshal, on building inclusivity
14 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Billy Curtis, the director of the Gender Equity Resource Center at UC Berkeley, has spent the past two decades working to build a more inclusive campu...
31: With music as his guide, Haas graduating senior envisions a better Nigeria
10 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Inside of Joshua Ahazie’s mind live hundreds of songs. Since he was a kid, he would hear a melody and then he would hear all the parts — the vocal...
30: On Worthy Wage Day, early childhood educators fight for support
01 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
When Marcy Whitebook worked as a childcare teacher in the 1970s, she made less than $2 an hour. She was amazed at how little she made for the hard and...
29: From pollution cleanup to building houses, what can't mushrooms do?
29 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
There are more than 5 million species of fungi, and each one likes a particular food. Some like sawdust. Others like plastic. Some can even digest hea...
28: Creating the world you want, by seeing a world that's possible
12 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
When Derrika Hunt was in third grade, she didn't stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. She remembers telling her mom, "This doesn't feel right to me. Wh...
27: For Ula Taylor, it's all about harnessing the leader within
28 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
"People know about Rosa Parks. People know about Martin Luther King Jr. And they know that it's the Montgomery bus boycott that ignited a certain kind...
26: Staff director sees great strength in diversity
21 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Like a lot of leaders, Sidalia Reel started young. In fifth grade, she ran her household, making sure her four younger siblings didn't get into too mu...
25: For comics fan staffer, Black Panther was 'life changing'
14 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
As a kid, Alfred Day would spend hours holed up indoors reading comics. He loved Batman and Superman, but the character who really spoke to him — wh...
24: For Ph.D. student Kenly Brown, collecting data is about people
12 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
As an undergraduate in Colorado, Kenly Brown was one of only a few African Americans on her campus. She felt isolated in the classroom, often expected...
23: For alumni leader, giving hope is her life's mission
05 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Before Clothilde Hewlett became the executive director of the Cal Alumni Association in 2016, she had lived many other lives. She spent years of her c...
22: Here’s what an earthquake sounds like
12 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Underground at UC Berkeley, seismic sensors capture the deep rumbles from Bay Area earthquakes. Here's what a 4.4-magnitude earthquake that shook the ...
21: Quit your giggling: the straight dope on cannabis
08 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Most of us know by now that recreational cannabis became legal in California on Jan. 1. But there's still a lot we don't know about the plant, despite...
20: For aspiring triple major, piano is a way of life
09 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Christopher Richardson, a sophomore and aspiring triple major at UC Berkeley, has been competing in classical piano since he was 9 years old. Since th...
19: Growing up without free speech is like 'prison for your mind'
21 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Parham Pourdavood, an incoming computer science student at UC Berkeley, grew up in Iran. He says that he, like most people, didn't challenge authoriti...
18: Student musicians on learning from the best
18 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
"I was amazed at how he walked on, and he just got the attention of everyone right there,” says Kyle Ko, a fourth-year music major. “You could see...
17: How generosity in disaster flows in both directions
27 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
When Hurricane Harvey struck the Texas coast in late August, Americans had a choice: they could share their resources or look the other way. Although ...
16: Students & alumni reflect on free speech, Ben Shapiro
15 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro spoke on UC Berkeley's campus in September 2017. Berkeley News spoke to students and alumni as they waited in lin...
15: Roaya and Nissma on their surprise connection
28 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
When Roaya and Nissma met as freshman at UC Berkeley last year, they were amazed at how much they had in common. They were both Canadian and Moroccan,...
14: Students discuss social impact of Hamilton (with a cappella performance)
21 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Incoming students discuss how the hit musical Hamilton has changed Broadway and inspired students to learn more about the nation's history, as student...
12: One young Republican's pursuit of the 'Freedom to Marry'
23 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Tyler Deaton's story is one of 23 interviews conducted by Bancroft Library’s Oral History Center at UC Berkeley that explore the national campaign t...
11: For Sayah Bogor, an arduous road from refugee to health researcher
08 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sayah Bogor, a UC Berkeley graduate student in public health, will make the short walk across the stage to receive her master’s degree. For Bogor, a...
10: ‘Brooms up!’ Oski, meet Harry Potter
07 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Cal Quidditch got its start on Berkeley's campus about eight years ago. For two consecutive years, the team has played in a national competition. "It ...
09: From a border wall to a cultural bridge
05 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico not as a barrier, but as a piece of architecture that brings people together. That’s what UC Berke...
08: The carefully crafted sound of Zellerbach Hall
22 Dec 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The acoustics that make the sound of Zellerbach Hall didn’t just happen. The sound has been created with an acoustic system of some 40 micropho...
07: How Moscow’s Tsar Bell found its voice — at Berkeley
21 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
We’re at UC Berkeley’s Campanile courtyard listening to sounds of an ancient bell that have never been heard before. It’s the 20-foot-tall,...
06: Is CDC’s alcohol warning paternalistic? Why some women think so
18 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
The CDC released a report recommending that women of childbearing age who aren’t taking birth control should abstain from drinking alcohol. Berkeley...
05: Like GPS, but for your sex drive
11 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
These days so many of our devices are smart. Our phones are smart. Our cars are smart. Our TVs are smart. And now, even vibrators can be smart. It’s...
04: Berkeley Law professor Melissa Murray on the darker side of marriage
10 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Marriage — modernly — is seen as sort of unalloyed good, says law professor Melissa Murray. “Everyone would like to get married, or most people ...
03: The ‘Big Idea’ that’s leading the push to make UC carbon-neutral
02 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In 2004, Scott Zimmermann had a big idea. He had just quit the oil and gas industry — he’d been working in it for eight years, trying to reduce th...
02: On Berkeley time? He keeps Campanile's clocks ticking
28 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The Campanile clock tower is the campus’s North Star. At 100 years old and 307 feet tall, it’s a landmark everyone knows and trusts. But what happ...
01: Trudy's bloom raises a stink
27 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
We’re at the UC Botanical Garden in Berkeley. A long line curves through the gardens, and a small group huddles in a steamy greenhouse, all here to ...