Sharing Air

In this week's podcast Andy Vosko and Lori Anne Ferrell talk to Kenneth Wolf, John Sutton Minor Professor of History and Classics at Pomona College, about translating human experience along with words; the startling way the cultures of the past can seem utterly strange and completely familiar to us; and how people once found – […]

In this episode, we discuss the atmosphere in Southern California as mass vaccinations begin, the surprising way in which music is being used to help heal from Covid-19, and the requirements for a person to be considered an “expert breather” despite social stigma. Our guest is Anne Harley, Associate Professor of Music at Scripps College […]

As we reflect on the celebrations of early February, our conversation takes us to a pandemic-inspired version of Groundhog Day, containing elements of The Tell-Tale Heart, time loops, and the kitchen sink. To discuss the challenges and triumphs of ‘working from home,’ we are joined by Dr. Gloria Gonzalez, a positive organizational psychologist and expert […]

Kicking off our second season, Sharing Air dives right into The Pandemic Experience through our favorite respiratory art—poetry. Taking stock of where we are one year later, we discuss how the experience of this past year has both changed us and re-enforced our ways of coping in the face of the unknown, and sometimes, in […]

If we have learned anything over the course of this podcast so far, it is that the concept of a disruptive ‘new normal’ is anything but new and certainly not normal. Instead, we trade in this idea for an exploration of allostasis: a process of how we internally adapt to new, long-term, external pressures. This week, our guest Heather Campbell, Professor in the Department of Politics and Government, helps frame our conversation around the push-pull forces determining policy in the US. We also discuss COVID-19 as a stress test for our short-term planning, de-centralized services, and environmental (in-)justice. As the pandemic defines more clearly the pressures to which we have no choice but to adapt, we find ourselves compelled to look inward, imagining a more equitable future.

Whether we look squarely into the future with the optimism of science, or we fix our gaze on the past to find wisdom in human experience, uncertain times inspire us to create, creating elegant and memorable theories, essays, and poems. This week, we cast our eyes backward to Early Modern Europe (1500-1750) in order to (re)connect the history of science and philosophy,  the mind-body divide, and the mystery of the soul to our current realities of living (and not living) through the COVID-19 pandemic. Our guest, CGU’s Provost and Professor Patricia Easton, helps us link the teachings of Rene Descartes to the works of another, equally famous seventeenth century weaver of words and ideas, John Donne—and, in so doing, allows us to connect their remarkably similar outlooks to those of another transformative, transdisciplinary, and creative era: the present day.

As we navigate through the gray spaces of COVID, science, and human experience, we envision a path to landing on our feet in hopes of returning to (a new) normal. Our guest this week, Professor of Psychology Jason Siegel, reminds us that this experience is anything but uniform. Sharing from his scholarship and expertise, he reminds us to acknowledge, support, and destigmatize the mental health struggles of our friends, our loved ones, and ourselves. During this time of instability and isolation, our social connections remain the fabric carrying us through the chaos to help us land with finesse.

This week our conversation examines entrustability in different healthcare landscapes: a gentle poem about emergency rooms from our most recent Tufts poetry winner; a cavalier op-ed on medical education by a concerned writer; and a humbling scope of practice from two healthcare provider-educators responding to the challenges posed by COVID-19. We are joined by CGU School of Educational Studies PhD student and faculty member at Loma Linda University Abdullah Alismail and pulmonologist and Associate Professor of Medicine Laren Tan.

This episode is a closer look at translation in poetry and literature, in biomedical science, and in the midst of COVID, social distancing, and curated media. While political leaders and influencers translate scientific findings into policies during Holy Week and Passover, we dissect the act of translation in ancient and modern contexts with the help of CGU Professor of Religion Tammi Schneider to better understand the power of language to describe the limits of human aspiration, and to explore what it means to celebrate life in sickness and in health.

Who or what is ‘right’ in all the noise around coronavirus?  How are we integrating…or how are we acquiescing to, the information around us? Is there an order in the chaos? What will our world look like next? What do the arts and humanities offer the health sciences in this time of great change, and vice-versa?