From the mind the brought us Get Out, is the new film scaring audiences across the states. In Jordan Peele’s latest film, Us, doppelgängers menace a family trying to enjoy their summer vacation. But … as in Get Out, everything isn’t quite that simple. Warning: Spoilers!
What mirror is Peele holding up for us now?
The world lost one of the greats on Monday, January 22nd. Ursula K. Le Guin passed away at the age of 88 and left a hole in many hearts around the world.
“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.” We use this short, short story as a jumping off point to discuss our mutual love of Ursula K. Le Guin, science fiction/fantasy, and how reading shaped our lives.
To listen to the Bedrosian Book Club discussion of the “Ursuala K. Le Guin and the walk away from Omelas” episode click the arrow in the player on this post. Or you can download it and subscribe through ApplePodcasts, Soundcloud, Google Play, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting app!
In Coriolanus, Shakespeare brings us to a Rome in a time of transitional government, leadership, citizenship. Great warrior Coriolanus returns from battle and is asked to run for office, his pride and disregard for the plebeians leads to ruin.
Can Shakespeare still teach us about leadership?
Host Jeffery A. Jenkins (@jaj7d) is joined by guests Carla Della Gatta (@CarlaDellaGatta ), Lisa Schweitzer (@drschweitzer), and Donnajean Ward (@DonnajeanWard).
To listen to the Bedrosian Book Club discussion of Coriolanus click the arrow in the player on this post. Or you can download it and subscribe through ApplePodcasts, Soundcloud, Google Play, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting app!
What becomes of a refugee when they’re no longer a refugee? We spend so much time talking about migration caps and vetting that we seem to ignore all the Americans living amongst us, trying to acclimate to their new country after the harrowing journey from their former homeland. Would it surprise you to learn that they start their new life in substantial debt? Or that they don’t have many of the basic items they need to live, let alone feel like a human being? Wouldn’t you like to know how you can help?
In this episode, Miry Whitehill tells us the inspirational story of how she started helping these former refugee families—and how she created an easy way for you to help them too. She created MirysList.org.
To listen to this episode of Our American Discourse, click the arrow in the player here. Or download it and subscribe through ApplePodcasts, Soundcloud, or Google Play, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting app – click the links or search “usc bedrosian.”
You may think politics isn’t for you. It’s for the elites. It’s for the rich and powerful. It isn’t for people who look like you or talk like you or live like you. Well, that may be the world we’ve constructed, but it’s not inevitable. You deserve better.
Still not convinced? Good! This episode is for you! Learn how you can become a part of the solution.
In this episode, inspirational speaker and social work professor Melissa Bird knocks down the misconceptions that marginalize us and replaces them with the attitude we need to take on the injustices in our nation today.
To listen to this episode of Our American Discourse, click the arrow in the Soundcloud player here. Or you can download it and subscribe through ApplePodcasts, Soundcloud, or Google Play.
Building trust is paramount for genuine community engagement
As I mentioned in our first community engagement post, Arnstein’s article on citizen participation (1969) shows us that there are wrong and illegitimate ways to do community or stakeholder engagement. In my research and my classes at Price, I’ve found that the first step to a legitimate process seems to be a legitimate desire by the engager to listen to the stakeholders and take their input into account when making decisions.
by Patricia Quintero Estades Last summer we launched the LA Civics Initiative – a collaboration with City Impact Lab meant to start a conversation about civic participation in Los Angeles. Through collaborative projects and workshops, we sought to figure out how the city’s residents can become more civically-minded as well as civically-active. Living in a representative…
Americans are fed up. The government is not living up to their expectations. Trust is deteriorating every year.
Donald Trump rode this wave of dissatisfaction all the way to the Oval Office. But does he really understand why citizens are dissatisfied? Do citizens themselves understand why the government appears to be failing them?
In this episode, we question these perceptions—and the solutions they imply—with Gregg Van Ryzin, Professor and Interim Dean of the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University-Newark.
Theatre can bolster the status quo. It can foment revolution. It can make us question our identities and the identities of those around us. It makes us yearn and strive. It gives us closure, it leaves us wanting more. Theatre is a weapon. It holds up a mirror. It is politics. Theatre dissolves the distance between people. Theatre exposes humanity and inhumanity. Theatre connects us.
The Policy at the Playhouse podcast features conversations about how art, theater in particular, is an integral part of our civic lives, allowing us to question and inform our conceptions of citizenship and community.
Listen to individual episodes on the player here, the Policy at the Playhouse page, or subscribe at iTunes, Soundcloud, or Google Play.
PhD candidate Anthony Orlando discusses the “Ethics of Democracy” in the latest episode of Our American Discourse.
Democracy is a dialogue. It requires our leaders to ask, to listen, and to react. Good governance thus hinges on conversation and consent—and whether we like it or not, conflict. Planners and policymakers have to balance competing needs, never more so than in today’s polarized environment. How do they do the right thing? Does such a thing even exist? Citizenship demands that we engage with these uncomfortable questions, especially in this troubled era.
Listen to this episode of Our American Discourse by clicking on the orange play arrow on this post, or subscribe at iTunes, Soundcloud, Google Play, or anywhere you listen to podcasts.