Some Catholics no doubt took offense, but no one was seriously harmed by the Pope-in-a-puffer-jacket meme. Far more sinister deepfakes are on the rise, however, with scammers now frequently using widely available technology to bilk the unwary, and political campaigns marshaling AI to sow lies about their opponents. Perhaps the greatest threat is not the deepfakes themselves but that their mere existence can cause us to question the veracity of nearly everything we see and hear online and in t...
Aug 14, 2025
1 hr 1 min
Just over a decade ago, Berkeley computer science professor Stuart Russell, recently named one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in AI, warned a lecture audience that achieving artificial general intelligence “would be the biggest event in human history . . . and perhaps the last event in human history.” Since then, the development of superintelligent AI has only accelerated—infiltrating nearly every part of society. So, what does the future hold? Stuart joins Editor-in-Chief Pat Joseph l...
Jul 10, 2025
1 hr 9 min
There’s a paradox in robotics that says: what’s easy for humans is hard for robots, and vice versa. Complex calculations, for instance, are the domain of machines. Simple motor tasks like picking up an object, on the other hand, can stump a robot. That’s where our guest comes in. Jeff Mahler has spent his career working on improving the capabilities of robotic object manipulation. After completing his postdoctoral work at UC Berkeley, Mahler went on to co-found Ambi Robotics with Stephen McKi...
May 13, 2025
40 min
Can we look into the past? Does the universe have an edge? What’s so great about a total solar eclipse? Have we been visited by aliens? Astrophysicist Alex Filippenko joins Editor-in-Chief Pat Joseph live onstage to discuss eclipse chasing, dark energy, and the abiding mysteries of the universe. Further reading: Watch the full live conversation with Alex Filippenko on YouTubeCheck out more California Live! events and recordingsThis episode was produced by Coby McDonald. ...
Mar 20, 2025
56 min
Octopuses and humans have very little in common. It’s not just a matter of their eight limbs and cool camouflage—we haven’t had a shared ancestor for more than half a billion years, before dinosaurs walked the earth. But there’s one surprising thing we do seem to share: MDMA makes us both a lot cuddlier. For neuroscientist Gül Dölen, this was a huge insight into the powerful role psychoactive drugs can play in animal social behavior. Now a pioneer in the burgeoning field of psychedelic resear...
Sep 10, 2024
42 min
Don’t let the term “climate change” mislead you. It’s true that our environment is changing in all sorts of ways as we continue to pollute and exploit and manipulate our planet. But even as we brace for more historic typhoons and biblical floods, there's an invisible and pervasive force that is wreaking havoc on us all: heat. In this episode, we speak with environmental journalist and Berkeley alumnus Jeff Goodell about his latest book, The Heat Will Kill You First, the potentially lethal eff...
Mar 5, 2024
38 min
Nearly four years have passed since COVID swept the globe, infecting millions and bringing society to a grinding halt. The ensuing months saw strict mask mandates, revolutionary vaccines, new viral strains, and—finally—a return to some sort of normal. With the end of the public health emergency and a sudden disappearance of the once-ubiquitous masks, it’s easy to feel like the pandemic is, well, over. But some would strongly disagree with that prognosis—and one group in particular: people suf...
Nov 1, 2023
33 min
Roughly every second, a star explodes. Beyond treating astronomers to a radiant light display, these dramatic supernova events contain vast amounts of information about the origin, behavior, and ultimate demise of our universe. UC Berkeley astrophysicist Sarafina El-Badry Nance, has dedicated her life to studying really big exploding stars and what they tell us about our ever-expanding universe. She joins us this episode to talk about her own path to star-gazing and the big, existential quest...
Jul 13, 2023
37 min
We’re back with something a little different this month. In the wake of this year’s historic floods, wildfires, and hurricanes, we asked ourselves: What would it look like to take a more optimistic attitude towards slowing climate change? In that spirit, we’re sharing an episode of The Science of Happiness, a podcast co-produced by UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center and PRX. The first in a miniseries the center is airing called “Climate, Hope and Science,” this episode features an inte...
May 25, 2023
26 min
For centuries, doctors have medically treated people differently according to their race because they believed that race was biological. But in recent years, medical professionals and activists have argued that this is both wrongheaded and can be dangerous to people’s health. In this episode, we talk to UC Berkeley grad Stephen Richmond, a primary care physician and assistant professor at Stanford, about the movement to abolish biological race from medicine and how race and biology do and do ...
Jan 5, 2023
31 min
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