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Latest episodes from What Makes us Human?

ZIP Codes Matter

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2019 5:01


Mildred Warner, professor of city and regional planning, shows how inequality can be tracked across America simply by looking at ZIP codes.

Segregated Education

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 11, 2019 4:48


Noliwe Rooks, professor of Africana studies and director of American studies in the College of Arts & Sciences, explains the history of educational inequities in the U.S.

Climate of Fear

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 4, 2019 4:20


Anna Haskins, assistant professor of sociology in Cornell's College of Arts & Sciences, explores the impact of incarcerated parents on their children’s education.

fear arts climate sciences cornell's college
Lived Experience

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 17, 2019 5:36


Carole Boyce Davies, professor of Africana studies and English in the College of Arts & Sciences, explores global racial hierarchies and their remedies.

Workplace Rankings

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 12, 2019 5:14


Jamie Lyn Perry, assistant professor of management and organization in the SC Johnson College of Business, explores power and status in the workplace.

Closing Achievement Gaps

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 5, 2019 4:50


Peter Lepage, Goldwin Smith Professor of Physics in the College of Arts and Sciences and director of Cornell’s Active Learning Initiative, examines how active learning helps students succeed.

Unequal Parenting

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2019 4:15


Kelly Musick, director of the Cornell Population Center and professor and chair of policy analysis and management in the College of Human Ecology, examines persistent inequalities in parenting and the earnings penalties that go along with them.

Health Inequities

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 23, 2019 4:49


Jeff Niederdeppe, associate professor of communication in the College of Agriculture and Life Science, explores how “sociological” storytelling can change health outcomes.

Climate Refugees

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 16, 2019 4:29


Historian Maria Cristina Garcia examines how climate change causes economic and political upheaval.

Unequal Representation

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 9, 2019 5:00


Kiowa filmmaker Jeffrey Palmer, assistant professor of performing and media arts at Cornell University, examines how Indigenous stories are misrepresented by the media.

Unequal Happiness

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 2, 2019 4:31


Thomas Gilovich, Cornell University's Irene Blecker Rosenfeld Chair of Psychology, examines the impact of inequality on psychological well-being.

Climate Change Inequality

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 25, 2019 4:45


Linda Shi, assistant professor of city and regional planning, discusses how efforts to adapt to climate change can also worsen inequality.

Egypt's Nile

Play Episode Listen Later May 13, 2019 4:08


Ziad Fahmy, associate professor and chair of Near Eastern studies at Cornell University, looks at what the Nile River means to Egypt.

Clean Water

Play Episode Listen Later May 6, 2019 5:58


Prabhu Pingali, director, Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition, and professor of applied economics and policy and nutritional science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, explains the impact of clean, piped-in water on women and girls in India.

Interstellar Water

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 29, 2019 4:30


Jonathan Lunine, astronomy professor and director, Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science at Cornell University, examines the origin of our planet’s water.

A Water-Filled Journey

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 22, 2019 4:31


Athena Kirk, assistant professor of classics in the College of Arts & Sciences, examines Odysseus’ complex relationship with water.

Water Rights

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 15, 2019 5:13


Charles Geisler, professor of development sociology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, explores the critical question of who owns our planet’s water.

Water Connections

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 8, 2019 3:53


Eric Tagliacozzo, professor of history in the College of Arts and Sciences, explores the critical role the oceans have played in Southeast Asia.

The Need for Trees

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 1, 2019 5:03


Taryn Bauerle, associate professor in the School of Integrative and Plant Science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, explores the critical role trees play in the earth’s water cycle.

Waterways of Venice

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 26, 2019 4:27


William Kennedy, Avalon Foundation Professor Emeritus in the Humanities, explains the influence of water on European Renaissance culture.

The Cost of Water

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 18, 2019 4:31


Catherine Kling, Tisch University Professor of Environmental, Energy and Resource Economics, examines the social costs of water pollution, and how we should make choices about costly water treatment.

Love Bonds

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 10, 2018 3:58


Kevin Kniffin,professor in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management within the SC Johnson College of Business, explores what influences whom we find attractive.

Science of Love

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 3, 2018 4:09


Andy Bass, professor of neurobiology and behavior, explores the biological basis of attraction.

Love and the Goddess

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 26, 2018 4:26


Lucinda Ramberg, associate professor of anthropology and feminist, gender and sexuality studies, explores marriage between girls and a goddess in South India.

Courtly Love

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 19, 2018 3:55


Masha Raskolnikov, Cornell associate professor of English, explains how the invention of courtly love helped prevent warfare in medieval Europe.

Love Science

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 11, 2018 5:06


Vivian Zayas, associate professor of psychology at Cornell University, explores the behavioral, psychological, and neural components of love -- and its loss.

Topophilia

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 5, 2018 4:43


Marianne Krasny, professor in Cornell's Department of Natural Resources and Director of the Civic Ecology Lab in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, examines what motivates people to care for Earth’s creatures and its places.

Product Love

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 29, 2018 4:41


Cornell Professor Kathryn LaTour explores why consumers feel love for certain products or brands. LaTour is the Banfi Vintners Professor of Wine Education and Management in the School of Hotel Administration, SC Johnson College of Business.

Colonial Love

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 22, 2018 4:21


Durba Ghosh, professor of history and director of Cornell's Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, examines what love meant for colonial India’s mixed-race families.

Love Transformed

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 15, 2018 4:28


Kim Haines-Eitzen, H. Stanley Krusen Professor of World Religions and director of the Religious Studies Program, explores the complex relationship between love, early Christianity, and contemporary wedding practice.

A Triangular Theory

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 8, 2018 5:35


Robert Sternberg, professor of human development, describes his triangular theory of love.

Building Resilience

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 4, 2018 5:04


Neema Kudva, associate professor of city and regional planning, examines how to build resilient communities in the face of environmental and economic upheaval.

Cities Matter

Play Episode Listen Later May 28, 2018 4:46


Stephan Schmidt, associate professor of city and regional planning, asks whether cities can have a positive impact on climate change.

Future Fashion

Play Episode Listen Later May 21, 2018 4:04


Tasha Lewis, assistant professor in the Department of Fiber Science & Apparel Design, considers what happens to used clothing and asks whether we can add value to what we usually treat as waste.

Unintended Consequences

Play Episode Listen Later May 14, 2018 4:16


Natalie Mahowald, professor of atmospheric sciences, looks at the unintended consequences of human actions on our environment.

Cultivating Environments

Play Episode Listen Later May 7, 2018 2:53


Cliff Kraft, professor of natural resources, looks at the human actions behind the changes in our environment.

Imagining the Future

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 30, 2018 5:16


Anindita Banerjee, Associate professor of comparative literature, explores how science fiction can help make sense of climate change.

Planetary Health

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 21, 2018 4:43


Steve Osofsky, Professor of Wildlife Health & Health Policy, explores the complex relationships between health and human interaction with the environment.

Human Ecosystem Engineers

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 16, 2018 5:07


David Lodge, director of Cornell’s Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, examines how human population growth and consumption has changed our environment.

The Human Animal

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 4, 2017 4:09


Literary theorist and interdisciplinary scholar Laurent Dubreuil examines the borders between human and animal.

Human Dignity and the Incarcerated

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 27, 2017 5:15


Political scientist Mary Katzenstein reflects on what the inhumanities of prison teach us about being human.

The Human, Today

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 20, 2017 4:15


Sociologist Trevor Pinch looks at the entanglement of human and non-human today.

A New-Old Look at Mental Distress

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 13, 2017 3:31


Classicist Michael Fontaine takes a new look at mental distress, from an ancient point of view.

The Human Intellect

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 6, 2017 2:54


Psychologist David Pizarro reflects on what makes us wise.

An iodabenzene story

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2017 7:29


Nobel Laureate and the Frank H. T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters, Emeritus, explains what chemistry teaches us about being human.

The Law and the Human

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 23, 2017 5:00


Laura Spitz, Vice Provost for International Affairs and a Senior Lecturer and Associate Dean at Cornell Law School examines what role the law plays in the social construction of what it means to be human.

How We Love

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 16, 2017 3:37


English professor Laura Brown explores whether the nature of love is different when it is towards animals instead of humans.

Disability and the Human Experience

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 10, 2017 4:00


Professor of Disability Studies Susanne Bruyere spotlights the value of our many diverse ways of being human. Susanne Bruyere is the Director of the K. Lisa Yang and Hock E. Tan Institute on Employment and Disability and a Professor of Disability Studies

My Atlantis Complex

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 2, 2017 3:30


Amid the rising waters of climate change, historian Aaron Sachs finds sense in the theatre of the absurd. Aaron Sachs, Professor of History

The Future of Human-Robot Interaction

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2017 3:51


Roboticist Guy Hoffman describes a future with robots based on relationship, not conflict.

A view from the Science of Non-Humans

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 26, 2017 3:10


Studies of animal behavior move psychologist Elizabeth Adkins-Regan to ask whether there is even such a thing as “human.”

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