StoryCruz: Recent Episodes
UC Santa Cruz
We tell the stories of UC Santa Cruz, from bright minds, impassioned movements, and impactful research to tales of endearing quirkiness.
Wherein we discuss a big mentoring award; the cautious optimism of a hybrid virtual and in-person Alumni Week; elephant seals' built-in GPS systems, which Gwen covets (and Dan gets a little size-ist about our beloved chubby pinnipeds); The Deeeep Read; and much more.
Communications staffers Gwen and Dan discuss recent UCSC news.
You may request a transcript by emailing gwenj@ucsc.edu.
Wherein we discuss voter suppression and lessons we can apply from the civil rights movement; research on circadian rhythms; Afrofuturism; the puzzling recent scarcity of Wheat Thins; and much more.
Communications staffers Gwen and Dan go over recent UC Santa Cruz News.
Transcript available upon request.
In which we first welcome Dan back from a health scare, then discuss an incredible story of connection and redemption, UCSC's recognition for its green efforts, a program that teaches how the Amah Mutsun tribe worked with native plants, and the effect of a rainy weekend on controlling coronavirus. Then we go on to discuss finding an ancient mammoth tusk in the most unexpected of places!?, and much more. Communications staffers Gwen and Dan go over recent UCSC news.
In which we first mention some super prestigious awards, then discuss Visualizing Abolition, a prison abolition project, which recently received a big grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Then we go on to a TED talk on body ideals, the very first arts convocation, and much more.
Communications staffers Gwen and Dan take a field trip to a local high school to talk to the students about podcasting—and have them help record this episode! We also talk about fall move-in, a new genomics center, educational equity, the first-ever Downtown Day, and much more.
Music from Artlist. Transcript available upon request.
Wherein we discuss a campus COVID hero, telling the stories of the girls of color in California's Central Valley, a peripatetic mammoth, rejuvenating the aging brain, and much more.
Communications staffers Gwen and Dan go over the latest UCSC news.
Wherein we discuss UCSC's first student to go to the Olympics; the incoming fall 2021 class; UC's vaccine policy; new leadership at the Seymour Center; pumas!!; and an epic Dickens Universe. Also, how tired we are of COVID. Staffers Gwen and Dan go over recent UCSC news.
Some music by Podington Bear.
Wherein communications staffers Gwen and Dan go over our experts' current views and guidance on COVID and the road ahead; a new discovery in mammoth DNA; changes for the campus bookstore; fall 2021 plans; a big anniversary for the African American Theater Arts Troupe; ways to get your groove on during COVID times; and more!
Music by Podington Bear and Artlist.
Wherein communications staffers Gwen and Dan go over the news about the CZU Lightning Complex Fire and its impact on campus.
Wherein we discuss the campus's ongoing work to combat COVID-19, fidget spinner research, social wearables to spark girls' interest in computing, the complete sequence of a human X chromosome, and a virtual Dickens Universe, among other things.
Communications staffers Gwen and Dan bring you the news while social distancing.
Wherein we discuss UC's new president, how to protect yourself from COVID, a new research center on supplements, a new book from Karen Tei Yamashita, first-gen student family achievement guilt, and a virtual Shakespeare summer series.
Communications staffers Gwen and Dan go over recent news from UC Santa Cruz and remember the carefree days of eating in restaurants and strolling leisurely about with wistful nostalgia.
Wherein we discuss what UCSC is doing to help combat and manage COVID-19. Communications staffers Gwen and Dan go over the recent news.
Opening music by Podington Bear.
In the inaugural Arts Division podcast, host Maureen Dixon Harrison speaks with arts students about the meaning of the rapid shift to remote learning in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wherein we continue sharing the impressive ways UC Santa Cruz is combating COVID-19. Communications staffers Gwen and Dan go over the news.
Music by Podington Bear.
Wherein we discuss campus response to coronavirus, from alumni on the front lines to pivoting 1,500 instructors to teaching online within days. Communications staffers Gwen and Dan go over the news.
Wherein we interview visiting alumna Stephanie Foo, a writer and radio producer who spent several years at This American Life, where she produced dozens of radio stories and an Emmy-winning video short. She is currently working on a book about healing from Complex PTSD.
Wherein we interview visiting alumna Stephanie Foo, a writer and radio producer who spent several years at This American Life, where she produced dozens of radio stories and an Emmy-winning video short. She is currently working on a book about healing from Complex PTSD. Music by Podington Bear.
Wherein we discuss the passing of UC Santa Cruz benefactor Jack Baskin, a better flu shot, killer asteroids, recognition for a new book on Chicanx art, a $1 million gift for Lick Observatory, and killer fishsticks. Staffers Gwen and Dan go over all the latest news from UC Santa Cruz.
Wilfrido Hernández Flores discovered social science research in the Culture and Achievement Collaborative, and it changed his life
First-gen student Reina Garay-Solis is doing undergraduate research to help identify common challenges for first-gen and underrepresented students and find effective institutional practices to address them.
Wherein we discuss coastal fog and mercury in mountain lions, pushing back against deficit thinking, the campus's new Center for the Middle East and North Africa, sea otters recolonizing San Francisco Bay, a boost for Slug Support, and sponsorship from Amazon to develop a "socialbot" that can talk with humans. Staffers Gwen Jourdonnais and Dan White break down the recent UCSC news.
Undergraduate researcher Janely Cardenas, a member of the UC Santa Cruz Culture and Achievement Collaborative, combats harmful perceptions many first-generation students experience.
Wherein we discuss UC Santa Cruz's ascension into the ranks of the AAU, Girls Who Code's College Loops program, imagining a landscape without prisons, the importance of recess, diversity in science journalism, and our powerful new supercomputer, which unfortunately does not make avocado toast.
Wherein we discuss a major gift to the Genomics Institute, an infusion of funding for basic needs programs, a new use for Viagra, the new Human Rights Lab, fighting hunger with synthetic biology, the Kresge renewal, and upcoming events! Communications staffers Gwen Jourdonnais and Dan White go over news from the past few weeks.
Wherein we discuss our epic adventure to San Francisco for a Kitchen Sisters podcasting workshop, elephant seal supermoms, young activists, rankings, the Genomic Institute's move to the Wes'side, no more plastic bags at the Bay Tree, and Colson Whitehead's reading of his latest novel. Communications staffers Gwen Jourdonnais and Dan White go over all the recent news.
Wherein we cover strawberry fields (forever? ... not sure), a pause in the apprenticeship at CASFS, counting critters at Año Nuevo, research rankings, and an alumna's documentary on Ursula K. Le Guin. Communications staffers Gwen Jourdonnais and Dan White go over some of the recent news from UC Santa Cruz.
Wherein we discuss 2019 admissions numbers, a recent honor for Professor Emerita Angela Davis, a new book on the military coup in Honduras, and artificial intelligence to help understand the secret life of animals. Communications staffers Gwen J. and Dan W. go over recent UC Santa Cruz news highlights.
Wherein communications staffers Gwen J. and Dan W. discuss whether plants can think, a new Southeast Asia research center, big cats' fear of humans, Barnaby Rudge and a tale of two riots, the passing of an arts icon, and the dangers of overdoing it on the tuna.
Wherein we discuss Cosmological Koans, the polar bears of plants, a win-win student program, UCSC's first feminist studies Ph.D.s, white dwarfs, beaked whales, and a very cool arts internship program! Communications staffers Gwen Jourdonnais and Dan White go over recent highlights in UC Santa Cruz news and our Arts Department colleague Maureen Dixon Harrison gives an update on the arts scene.
Recent highlights in UC Santa Cruz news with communications staffers Gwen Jourdonnais and Dan White, along with an arts events preview with our Arts Department colleague Maureen Dixon Harrison!
Recent highlights in UC Santa Cruz news with communications staffers Gwen Jourdonnais and Dan White.
Recent highlights in UC Santa Cruz news with communications staffers Gwen Jourdonnais and Dan White.
Diana Alvarado (Merrill ‘19, marine biology) takes drone photographs of female elephant seals at Año Nuevo Natural Reserve. She’s refining an image analysis tool that might enable scientists to easily track seals’ weight without disturbing them.
Recent highlights in UC Santa Cruz news with communications staffers Gwen Jourdonnais and Dan White.
Communications staffers Gwen Jourdonnais and Dan White go over recent highlights in UC Santa Cruz news.
J. Herman Blake, the visionary founding provost of Oakes College, returned to campus for a momentous occasion: the rededication of the Oakes Provost House in his honor. On campus, he shared recollections of Oakes College before a crowd of well-wishers, including his family and former colleagues.
Voices of alumni, students, and other planners of the Kresge Renewal, with stories about what makes Kresge College special to them and their hopes for the project and the future of the college.
The iconic college at UC Santa Cruz will undergo living space renovations and expansions and see construction of new administrative and educational facilities.
Voices of alumni, students, and other planners of the Kresge Renewal, with stories about what makes Kresge College special to them and their hopes for the project and the future of the college.
The iconic college at UC Santa Cruz will undergo living space renovations and expansions and see construction of new administrative and educational facilities.
Voices of alumni, students, and other planners of the Kresge Renewal, with stories about what makes Kresge College special to them and their hopes for the project and the future of the college.
The iconic college at UC Santa Cruz will undergo living space renovations and expansions and see construction of new administrative and educational facilities.
Voices of alumni, students, and other planners of the Kresge Renewal, with stories about what makes Kresge College special to them and their hopes for the project and the future of the college.
The iconic college at UC Santa Cruz will undergo living space renovations and expansions and see construction of new administrative and educational facilities.
UC Santa Cruz welcomed more than 9,000 residential students to the campus community during this year's move-in. Our podcast captures parents' hopes and dreams for their children, new students' excitement and anticipation, and the emotion of the moment.
Communications staffers Gwen Jourdonnais and Dan White go over recent highlights in UC Santa Cruz news.
What's new in Dickens studies? Take a journey to the 2018 Dickens Universe to find out! Communications staffers Gwen Jourdonnais, Dan White, and J.D. Hillard spent an afternoon chatting with the director of the Dickens Project, going to an afternoon tea, attending Dickensian seminars, and learning Victorian dance—all part of a weeklong annual celebration of the beloved British author Charles Dickens (1812–1870), whose writing remains remarkably relevant today.
Communications staffers Gwen Jourdonnais and Dan White take their show on the road and hit up McHenry Library to podcast from there and talk to library staff about the audio and visual resources available to faculty, staff, and students. Then they go over recent highlights in UC Santa Cruz news.
Communications staffers Gwen Jourdonnais and Dan White go over recent highlights in UC Santa Cruz news.
Communications staffers Gwen Jourdonnais and Dan White go over recent highlights in UC Santa Cruz news.
Communications staffers Gwen Jourdonnais and Dan White go over some recent highlights in UC Santa Cruz news.
Communications staff members Gwen Jourdonnais and Dan White go over some recent highlights in UC Santa Cruz news.
Alumni who gathered on campus for Alumni Weekend 2018 talk to us about how it feels to come back and what UC Santa Cruz has meant in their lives.
Communications staff members Gwen Jourdonnais and Dan White go over some recent highlights in UC Santa Cruz news, including an Alumni Weekend sneak peek.
Communications staff members Gwen Jourdonnais and JD Hillard go over some recent highlights in UC Santa Cruz news.
Communications staff members Gwen Jourdonnais and Dan White go over some recent highlights in UC Santa Cruz news.
Communications staff members Gwen Jourdonnais and Dan White go over some recent highlights in UC Santa Cruz news.
Speaking of Home, a public art installation by UC Santa Cruz alumna Nancy Ann Coyne (Kresge '93, anthropology), displays photographs of immigrants in St. Paul's skyways. The materials are transparent, so viewers using the pedestrian bridges and outside at ground level see each other through the images. Learn more: http://www.speakingofhome.org/
Communications staff members Gwen Jourdonnais and Dan White go over some recent highlights in UC Santa Cruz news.
When Rich Vicenti and Alesa Lightbourne were students at Cowell College in the 1970s, he courted, but she was not available. Then they graduated and took separate paths. They were both single nearly four decades after their last dance at UC Santa Cruz. She was in Iraq, learning firsthand about the struggles of Kurdish women when they reconnected on Facebook. Over the internet, they finally began the romance that was not possible in their youth.
In its second year as a fully student-driven event, CruzHacks 2018 provided an environment that encouraged collaboration and networking.
Communications staff members Gwen Jourdonnais and Dan White go over some of the past week's highlights in UC Santa Cruz news.
Nadim Abu-Hashmeh (Oakes '17, Earth science) spent his senior year modeling changes on the surface of Pluto—the opportunity to do original research is one reason he chose UC Santa Cruz. Now with help from a special endowment, he will present his findings to the American Geophysical Union.
A bit nervous, mostly excited, new students and their parents arrived on the UC Santa Cruz campus to move into the rooms they'll live in for their first year of university life.
Students in AP literature at the Foshay Learning Center in South LA performed scenes from "Middlemarch" as part of a partnership between UC Santa Cruz's Dickens Project and the University of Southern California's Neighborhood Academic Initiative. Some of the cast members made a special guest appearance at the Dickens Universe at UC Santa Cruz this summer.
Among the fans who celebrated the 50th anniversary of UC Santa Cruz's Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems in July were several generations of graduates of the pioneering apprenticeship program.
One pivotal moment in Professor Barry Bowman's research of the complex molecule V-ATPase came in his living room...
Professor Barry Bowman explains how he and his wife, researcher Emma Jean Bowman, chose to include UC Santa Cruz in their will.
Our podcast catches up with new grad Hector Navarro, a first-generation college student who's now off to big things. Podcast by J.D. Hillard.
Under the watchful eye of yoga and swimming instructor Julie Kimball, UC Santa Cruz students who never learned to swim are stroking and kicking their way across the OPERS pool in beginning swim class—teaching them to slow down, be persistent, and appreciate the serenity of water. Interviews by podcast intern Loukas Stelyn; editing and production by J.D. Hillard.
Our roving student podcaster captured interviews with alumni during Alumni Weekend 2017, which brought nearly 1,800 Slugs and their guests back to campus for remembering, reminiscing, learning, and good times. Interviews by Loukas Stelyn; editing by Gwen Jourdonnais and J.D. Hillard.
Our roving student podcaster captured interviews with alumni during Alumni Weekend 2017, which brought nearly 1,800 Slugs and their guests back to campus for remembering, reminiscing, learning, and good times. Interviews by Loukas Stelyn; editing by Gwen Jourdonnais and J.D. Hillard.
Michael Morgan is one of the many UC Santa Cruz alums who credit retired chemistry professor Frank Andrews with changing their lives. Now he's honoring Andrews with a chair in science education.
Crochet Coral Reef is a massive participatory art project that has expanded to include “satellite coral reef” projects worldwide. One of those satellites has been established at UC Santa Cruz, and hundreds of students and area residents have contributed to a satellite reef, which will go on display at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center starting on May 4, 2017. Narration and editing by Loukas Stelyn; interviews by Dan White; editing by Gwen Jourdonnais. Photo © the IFF
StoryCruz interviews new freshmen in fall 2016 to find out how the first few weeks of classes and life on campus have been.
An audio tribute to Founders Celebration 2016 Alumni Achievement Award winner Julie Snyder, former senior producer of This American Life and co-creator of the hit podcast Serial. Featuring famous This American Life and podcast voices including Ira Glass, Alex Blumberg, Brian Reed, Nancy Updike, Chana Joffe-Walt, and more. Produced by Stephanie Foo (Stevenson ‘08, modern literature), This American Life.
Chuck Davis, the architect who built UC Santa Cruz's acclaimed Science & Engineering Library, sits down for a conversation with his son, Hayden—a 2014 graduate—on the evolving use of the library as plans shape up for a renovation of the iconic space. (Music by Lee Rosevere)
UC Santa Cruz alumna Julie Snyder(Kresge '95, politics), former senior producer of popular radio show This American Life and co-creator of the runaway podcast hit Serial, talks about how her time at UC Santa Cruz helped inspire her career in broadcasting. Snyder is returning to UC Santa Cruz to be awarded the Alumni Achievement Award at the campus's Founders Celebration 2016. (Music by Lee Rosevere)
A micro "podcast" with alumna Julie Snyder for the Founders Celebration 2016 email invitation. UC Santa Cruz alumna Julie Snyder(Kresge '95, politics), former senior producer of popular radio show This American Life and co-creator of the runaway podcast hit Serial, talks about how her time at UC Santa Cruz helped inspire her career in broadcasting. Snyder is returning to UC Santa Cruz to be awarded the Alumni Achievement Award at the campus's Founders Celebration 2016. (Music by Lee Rosevere)
Paulo Quadri of the Environmental Studies Department and Eric Garcia of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology program talked of how they appreciated presenting at the symposium because it offered them the chance to see a diversity of work from other departments and field unexpected questions.
Maho Morimoto of the Linguistics Department and Daniel Alves of Computer Engineering speak of their research on communication.
Jason Ostrove, a linguistics student, presented his research on an indigenous language of Mexico and his work to figure out how to write the language down, since it currently has no writing system.
Dan Killam and Carolyn Branecky, both of the Earth and Planetary Science Department, discuss their research and why they were sharing it.
The founder of UC Santa Cruz's Smith Renaissance Society talks with two alumni of the group about their experiences and moving on to his next project.