In December 1984, a handful of University of California, Berkeley students walked off campus and sat down in front of the entrance to UC's administrative offices. Outraged by the violence of the South African government during the country's fight to end racial segregation, the students demanded that UC pull out billions of dollars in investments in…

When UC Merced opened its doors in 2005, it was the first research university of the 21st century. It's now fast becoming the unsung face of innovation in tech, bringing new and dynamic startups and incubators to the Central Valley. In this episode, we visit an engineering lab on the Central Valley campus that's applying student ingenuity to design…

Listen to The Guardian's film critic and author David Thomson describe why he loves His Girl Friday. The 1940 film, starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell, is now regarded as one of Hollywood's most beloved screwball comedies. But at the time of production, it was considered run-of-the-mill. As Thomson explains, this was the case for many movies …

In 1929, a young physicist named Ernest Lawrence was leafing through physics periodicals at UC Berkeley when a drawing stopped him in his tracks. It was a diagram of a common particle accelerator, whose design inspired a feat of engineering that would change the course of the 20th century. In this episode, we'll learn about the creation of Lawrence…

After the repeal of Prohibition, the wine industry was in tatters. California wines were selling, but they were bad. Really bad. In fact, about twenty percent of the wines made in 1933 had spoilage. In this episode, we'll learn how a team of tenacious scientists at the Department of Viticulture at the University Farm (later UC Davis), put Californi…

In this episode, we talk to one of the founding doctors of Ward 86, the first dedicated HIV/AIDS clinic in the nation. UC San Francisco oncologist Paul Volberding describes how he and his colleagues pioneered a new model of care that not only changed the course of the AIDS epidemic, but still serves as an example of the management of other chronic …

In this episode of One Bold Idea, we learn about the unexpected role the University of California played in saving a treasure trove of American film. Hear from venerated film critic, David Thomson of The Guardian, and Jan-Christopher Horak, Director of the UCLA Film and Television Archive.Credits:Narrator: Shuka KalantariReporter: Coby McDonaldMixe…