Podcast appearances and mentions of lisa schweitzer

Dear Spinning Circle,Today. On Wool n' Spinning Radio. Rebecca and I were so pleased to be able to record this episode with Lisa Schweitzer, a pillar and leader in our community. For those who haven't met Lisa yet, she is a weaver, handspinner, knitter and maker, long-time member of the Wool n' Spinning community and lives in a remote area of Iowa, USA. Lisa is an eloquant speaker and I hope you enjoy our conversation about making in remote locations. Both Rebecca and Lisa live in remote areas, without many urban amenities, guilds and makers within their immediate neighbourhoods.We started our conversation today with sharing what we are working on and then moved into a discussion about making in isolation. Lisa touches on why she makes and continues to share her makes. Because we recognize that many in our community make in many different types of isolation - whether physical, due to disability, remote locations, and many more factors, we wanted to discuss what this means when much of our interactions occur online versus in real life. Does this affect our making and how so?If you have questions about what we discussed in today's episode, please post them in the community, either as part of the Slack channel (available through Patreon) or on the Ravelry group, Wool n' Spinning.Patreon Post hereOf course, we would love to welcome you to our community. Membership in the community provides you access to an amazing archive of teaching vlogs & posts that will help you on your handspinning journey. I am also here as a resource to help you! The Join button is on the landing page on Patreon for those wishing to learn more.If you are enjoying the audio podcast, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a rating or review to help other handspinners find it. Thank you so much!Until next time, Happy Spinning!Rachel & Rebecca

Ostensibly, House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, is about a young man who finds a manuscript in a dead man's apartment. This experimental novel, released in 2000, takes a cinematic approach to the novel – creating a novel experience in time and space. The dead man, Zampano, was an elderly blind man writing an academic critique of The Navidson Record; a documentary about a family moving into a home in Virginia, which happens to be bigger on the inside. At the center of Danielewski's work is the question, “What is real?” How do humans interact with the space they inhabit? How do they interact with the stories around them? Featuring: Zenya Prowell, Stacy Patterson, Lisa Schweitzer, and Jen Bravo

A "canceled" influencer. A lonely man looking for attention. White men adrift in hoards, no memory of the violence or good they've done. Enter The Atmosphere, a new retreat where men can detox from social media and learn to become human again. A cult. This first novel from Alex McElroy is a doozy; capturing the manic craziness of the last decade, the sprint for the next cool thing, the quick turn from darling to pariah, the frenetic way we flit from one catastrophe to another.   Join us as host Aubrey Hicks is joined by Caroline Bhalla, Lisa Schweitzer, and Donnajean Ward to argue over McElroy's The Atmospherians.

Twilight of Democracy is a memoir. It is also a condemnation of the many intellectuals and opportunists who have not only given up on democracy, but given up on truth. Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize winning author, recalls the last 20 years in Poland, Hungary, the United Kingdom, and briefly, the United States. What drew many of people she thought of as friends, staunch anti-Communist conservatives, toward authoritarianism? This is the story of elites who think they're entitled, who crave power enough to wield conspiracism like a cudgel against the very institutions they once protected. Host Aubrey Hicks is joined by Jen Bravo, Richard Green, Olivia Olson, and Lisa Schweitzer on this episode of the Bookclub.    

What does it mean to belong? What does it mean to be an individual, to have an identity? How does one become normal? Who gets to decide what is normal? In One of Us, Alice Domurat Dreger uses stories of conjoined twins to help readers through questions of identity, othering, and belonging. Aubrey Hicks is joined by Christine Beckman, Liz Falletta, and Lisa Schweitzer. We're reading Caste by Isabel Wilkerson and Twilight of Democracy by Anne Applebaum for March. Check out the whole list, click here.

Our host, Dr. Lisa Schweitzer, chose Sofía Segovia's The Murmur of Bees (translated by Simon Bruni) in August of 2019. It seemed like it would be a good sprawling family saga to read the next summer. Come June 2020, the choice would be prescient. The novel is, indeed, a sprawling family saga ... one set in the midst of the Mexican Revolution and the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. It is the story of a family and their land as the world changes around them. It is a story of grief, of love, of family. Host Dr. Schweitzer is joined by Caroline Bhalla, Olivia Olson, and Donnajean Ward. This podcast has spoilers. For links and more, check out the showpage.

An 18 year old Mohammad Darwish cries out, "We want freedom!" A revolution begins in the city of Rastan, Syria. April 1st, 2011. For many years, journalist Rania Abouzeid spends time near or inside Syria to interview the Syrian people through the many years of internal (with added external) conflict in the country. No Turning Back is the story of the civil war in Syria told through the eyes of the Syrians Abouzeid interviews, an accounting of their lives from 2011-2016. Listen as host Lisa Schweitzer is joined by Ehsan Zaffar, David Sloane, and Aubrey Hicks discuss this vital reporting.

We spent #EarthDay2020 talking about environmental justice. We spoke about an intriguing new book by UCDavis  Prof. Julie Sze. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, we are seeing the results of persistent injustices, as the virus affecting marginalized communities harder, with more dire consequences. What must we learn from environmental justice struggles in order to form a more perfect union? Listen as host Lisa Schweitzer is joined by Jovanna Rosen, Madi Swayne, Jaime Lopez, and Olivia Olson to discuss Environmental Justice in a Moment of Danger by Julie Sze.

Can a groundswell of feminist activism threaten an authoritarian patriarchal regime? Author, Leta Hong Fincher looks at this question through the study of women in China. In Betraying Big Brother, Fincher examines the current feminist movement in China. Following the "feminist five," the reader is exposed to the history of the changing roles of women in the country, as well as the current activist movement fueled first through connections built online through the movement to the streets of cities in China. Our discussion covers the book, thoughts on racism during the COVID-19 pandemic (at the beginning stages here in the U.S.) as well as the role of government in women's lives. Host Lisa Schweitzer is joined by Olivia Olson, David Sloane, and Aubrey Hicks for this episode! For more information, check out the showpage.

Does your favorite conspiracy come with evidence and theory of governance, or is it just a meme? Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, authors of A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy argue that the new conspiracism, while having the feel of classic conspiracy theories, have none of the search for meaning. The authors articulate the rise of this new kind of conspiracy thinking and the ramifications for democratic institutions and our collective understanding of the world. Host Lisa Schweitzer is joined by Olivia Olson, Jeff Jenkins, and Aubrey Hicks to discuss this new book about the current political moment. Follow us on Twitter: @drschweitzer @AubreyHi @jaj7d @BedrosianCenter Read along with us! Next month we’re reading Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China by Leta Hong Fincher. Join the conversation about each episode on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Or email us at bedrosian.bookclub@usc.edu. Check out the showpage for links to some of the things we talk about.

For today's episode, we're thinking about the many books we've discussed over the years. After 70+ book discussions, we thought it was about time we did a look back at our favorite discussions, the surprises, the let downs, and what we hope for the future.   @drschweitzer, @AubreyHi, @BedrosianCenter Read along with us! Next month we're reading The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls by Mona Eltahaay. Join the conversation about each episode on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Or email us at bedrosian.bookclub@usc.edu.

Host Lisa Schweitzer is joined by Aubrey L. Hicks, Susan Lindau, and Joan Miller to discuss Victor LaValle's The Devil in Silver. Pepper is a big man. He's accused of a crime that he doesn't see himself in. He's dropped suddenly, into a budget-strapped mental institution in Queens, New York called New Hyde. He's not mentally ill, but that doesn't seem to matter - the police don't want to work unpaid overtime to process him and the hospital machine doesn't want to refuse. 72 hours turns into a month and then more. In the darkness of his room, he's visited by a terrifying creature with the body of an old man and the head of a bison who nearly kills him before being hustled away by the hospital staff. It isn't a delusion. The other patients confirm that a hungry devil roams the hallways when the sun goes down. Pepper makes friends with three other inmates and plans to fight back: Dorry, an elderly schizophrenic who's been on the ward for decades; Coffee (Kofi), an African immigrant with severe OCD; and Loochie, a bipolar teenage girl. What's real? Who is the very real monster and how do we fight it? How do we treat people unwanted by mainstream society? How do we know if we are experiencing reality? Read along with us! Next month we're reading The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls by Mona Eltahaay. Join the conversation about each episode on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Or email us at bedrosian.bookclub@usc.edu.

What is a summer book club without a good detective novel? Our conversation today dives into Robert Galbraith's third installment of the Cormoran Strike novels, Career of Evil. Today's host is convinced that Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling) might have the best descriptions of the complexity of London since Dickens! Host Richard Green is joined by Lisa Schweitzer and Aubrey Hicks. Join the conversation about each episode on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Or email us at bedrosian.bookclub@usc.edu.

Can the way a person plays golf really explain their whole personality? Famed golf writer Rick Reilly aims to make the case in Commander in Cheat. Detailing with excruciating detail and humor the myriad of ways President Trump cheats in the golf world. Does Reilly make the case for using golf as a metaphor for President Trump's governance? Listen as we hash that out. Host Lisa Schweitzer is joined by Anthony W. Orlando, David Sloane, and Richard Green. Join the conversation about each episode on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Or email us at bedrosian.bookclub@usc.edu.

In today's episode, we discuss Nnedi Okorafor's Afrofuturist novel Who Fears Death. A young woman, named Onyesonwu meaning Who Fears Death learns she is a child of rape, deals with being an outcast, and after a trauma finds out she has special powers. She learns she is at the center of a prophecy that could change the world.  We discuss some themes of the book: gender, friendship, love, hatred, violence, nature, the desert, cities, and life during and after genocide.  Joining host Aubrey Hicks for this discussion are Marisa Turesky and David Sloane.  Join the conversation about each episode on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Or email us at bedrosian.bookclub@usc.edu. 

State of Resistance: What California's Dizzying Descent and Remarkable Resurgence Mean for America's Future by Manuel Pastor Another bonus episode! Host Lisa discusses Professor Manuel Pastor's latest book, State of Resistance. The book looks at the last several decades of economic, social, and environmental transformations in California. Pastor then looks to the future to ask what these transformations can predict for the larger United States.  Warnings: spoilers  Read along with us! Let us know what you think of the book & our podcasts on Facebook or Twitter. Our April read: White Fragility: Why It's So hard for White People To Talk About Racism by Robin Diangelo

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon This month, host Lisa is joined by David Sloane, Denise McIver, and Aubrey Hicks to discuss An Unkindness of Ghosts, the science fiction novel about a young neuroatypical woman on a generation ship in search of the "promised land" looking for evidence her mother had discovered something important about the ship and its journey. We talk about slave allegories, generation ships, spatial hierarchies, gender, autism ... so much to talk about with this debut novel from Solomon. Warnings: spoilers & triggers, and we apologize for any misgendering speakers may have done on this podcast. Other things we're reading: Lisa: Mueller, She Wrote, State of Resistance by Manuel Pastor Denise: Quicksand and Passing, by Nella Larsen Aubrey: The Savage Shore, by David Hewson Read along with us! Let us know what you think of the book & our podcasts on Facebook or Twitter. Our April read: White Fragility: Why It's So hard for White People To Talk About Racism by Robin Diangelo Bonus episode: an interview with Professor Manuel Pastor on his book State of Resistance: What California's Dizzying Descent and Remarkable Resurgence Means for America's Future, coming soon.

Body Horror: Capitalism, Fear, Misogyny, Jokes by Anne Elizabeth Moore This month, Lisa is joined by Marisa Turesky, Chris Redfearn, and Aubrey Hicks to discuss Body Horror, a book of essays on the interaction between the abnormal, frail, resilient, squishy bodies of women and the world, from journalist Anne Elizabeth Moore. Warnings: spoilers, cursing, & triggers. Read along with us! Let us know what you think of the book & our podcasts on Facebook or Twitter. Our March read: An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon   Email: bedrosian.center@usc.edu Twitter: @BedrosianCenter, @drschweitzer, @AubreyHi

by Sophocles, Paul Woodruff (Translator) This month, Lisa is joined by Carla Della Gatta and Richard Green to discuss the timeless play by Sophocles: Antigone.  The play has clear connections to political struggles we face thousands of years later. The struggle between law and norm, the struggle to define what the state can control, and more. Listen as our three scholars discuss the necessity of reading Antigone today.   Read along for next month: Body Horror: Capitalism, Fear, Misogyny, Jokes by Elizabeth Anne Moore.   For links and more, check out the showpage.

Using the case of Thames Town, an English-like village in Shanghai, The Real Fake looks at Chinese ideas of spacial construction and what authenticity means in (re)making spaces. In today's episode, host Lisa Schweitzer talks with the author of the new book The Real Fake: Authenticity and the Production of Space, Maria Francesca Piazzoni. Read along with us! Let us know what you think of the book & our podcasts on Facebook or Twitter. Lisa on Twitter: @drschweitzer For more on the Bookclub, check out the showpage.

One of the larger problems for government, is that taking risks is difficult. Risks are expensive, and can lead to a host of problems when those risks don't give desired results.  Here's where social innovation is taking a chance. In the UK you have pay for results programs, called pay for success here in the states. How do these programs work? Who takes on the economic risk? How do we measure success? Can pay for success and social impact bonds help solve some of the wicked problems? Host Lisa Schweitzer talks with two of the co-authors of the new book Payment by Results and Social Impact Bonds, Gary Painter and Christopher Fox.  Read along with us - next month, Antigone! Let us know what you think of the book & our podcasts on Facebook or Twitter. Lisa on Twitter: @drschweitzer Gary on Twitter: @GaryDeanPainter  Christopher (Policy Evaluation& Research Unit) : @MMUPolicyEval

This month, Lisa, Richard, and Aubrey discuss the new book of sonnets from Terrance Hayes, American Sonnets for my Past and Future Assassin. Hayes' sonnets are "acrid with tear gas, and they unravel with desire." For the poetry doubters everywhere. Read along for next month : Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward  You can email us at bedrosian.center@usc.edu. Follow us on Twitter. Please like the Bedrosian Bookclub on Facebook. Check out the showpage for what we're reading and more. This podcast was produced by Aubrey Hicks and Jonathan Schwartz. Sound production by the Brothers Hedden.

Powwow Highway is the story of Philbert and Buddy who journey from Montana to Santa Fe to bail Buddy's sister Bonny out of jail. For many indigenous peoples in the Americas, life can be grim. Much has been taken from them. In Powwow Highway, we begin with a view of the failed American Dram with the Northern Cheyenne tribe of Lame Deer, Montana. Buddy Redbow is a Vietnam veteran and activist looking to subvert a land-grab. His acquaintance and possible friend, Philbert Bono seems simple minded but might just be a spiritual guide to the rageful Buddy. When Bonny is framed and incarcerated in Santa Fe, the two men take Philbert's beat up '64 Buick, his 'war pony,' on a road trip via a Powwow gathering in South Dakota, Buddy's life may just be transformed. If you haven't seen the movie, be ware, this podcast has spoilers. Host Jonathan Schwartz is joined by Chris Finley, Aubrey Hicks, and Lisa Schweitzer.   @BedrosianCenter, @AubreyHi, @drschweitzer, @NDNCinema , @USCPrice , @jonHLYP This podcast is part of a series on Indigenous films in partnership with the Red Nation Celebration Institute, and the Red Nation Film Festival. It is brought to you by Price Video Services and USC Bedrosian Center, and continues ongoing efforts to bring policy and its impact into the public discourse.  Sound supervision by the Brothers Hedden. https://bedrosian.usc.edu/ppr/powwow-highway

Using contemporary examples, Kate Manne's Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny, explores the definitions of misogyny and its contrast with sexism. The book is a philosophical examination of misogyny as the policing of the patriarchal state, serving to punish women who might step out of the assigned giver role. An important read, it is also not a book for the faint of heart, as David Sloane says this is a dispirited look into the state of misogyny in the US (and the author's native Australia). Host Lisa Schweitzer, joined by Jennifer Bravo (MPP '06), Stacy Patterson (EML '12), and David Sloane to delve into conversation about the book and how we all play a part in the continuity of the patriarchy. How men and women, all of us, contribute to the policing of women in the form of misogyny. Read along with us! Let us know what you think of the book & our podcasts on Facebook or Twitter. Lisa on Twitter: @drschweitzer Jennifer on Twitter @vitagraphia  Stacy on Twitter @stacypatt614 David on Twitter  @dcsloane53

This week on the podcast it's our 200th episode!!!! We have a bit of a dance party in the intro before getting to the good stuff. We read in full "Urbanism as a Way of Life" by Louis Wirth from the Journal of Sociology in 1938.  The piece is introduced by Dr. Lisa Schweitzer, a professor at USC Sol Price School of Public Policy who believes this piece and others sometimes get overshadowed by Jane Jacobs. So let us change that shall we? I really hope you enjoy this episode.  If you do please send us an email at theoverheadwire@gmail.com   Copyright © 1938 The University of Chicago. This podcast is published by arrangement with the University of Chicago Press, and was produced in the year 2018 by The Overhead Wire.

In 2017 two lectures presented in the London Review of Books’ Winter Lecture series were published together in Mary Beard’s Women & Power. The first lecture put into context the idea and resonance of women’s public voice, with the second lecture focusing on power. Host Lisa Schweitzer, joined by Aubrey L. Hicks and Pamela Clouser McCann discuss these two lectures, their experiences as women in the academy, as well as the state of women in institutions of power today.

Eva Dolan's This Is How It Ends is a thriller set in an anti-gentrification activist community in the middle of a rapidly gentrifying London. Dolan tackles the huge issue of gentrification through the story of two women engaged in the anti-gentrification movement. How do we define ourselves in places? How do we protect the self in social media, public, activist movements?  In today’s episode, we marvel at Dolan's ability to mirror the gentrification fight with the relationship between young activist Ella and the older mentor Molly. We think about mentoring, gentrification, family, policing, and so many other themes as we discuss this tight thriller which is also social commentary.  Lisa Schweitzer (@drschweitzer), Brettany Shannon (@brettanyshannon), and David Sloane (@dcsloane53) join Aubrey Hicks (@AubreyHi) for this episode. For links and more, check out the showpage.

Anyone who reads or watches the news might feel like we are in a news assault. The news happens so fast, technology helps us disseminate and consume with speed, and media outlets are in a relatively new competition: a competition for relevancy. As “papers of record” are being attacked as “fake,” the question of how to communicate with fairness about important issues has never been more relevant. John McPhee has had a long, storied career in writing for magazines “of record” using in-depth long-form journalism. Draft No. 4 is McPhee’s 32nd book of nonfiction. It is a series of essays on his writing process. In today’s episode, we use McPhee’s thoughts on structure and nonfiction to discuss some of the difficulties of communicating policy and research in today’s frenetic climate of news and propaganda and anti-elitism.  Policy communication should be nuanced and deep, how can we do this in an age of immediate consumption and tribalism?

Professor Lisa Schweitzer opens this season of LA#Herself and explains how flourishing is "the heart of what urban planning has to be about," and how she works to make good neighborhoods, "physical shape aside, that give spaces for people to develop and grow such that flourishing spreads." Listen to how Lisa's belief in flourishing has shaped her researcher's and teacher's agenda, how that's tracked with her dedication to the topic of justice, be it about cities, gender, or ethnicity, and what she thinks we can all do to help.

In Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann brings readers back to Osage County Oklahoma in the 1920s. After discovering oil, members of the Osage U.S. state/federal governments, the money was often held in guardianship for tribe members. Soon, the Osage were found murdered, or killed under mysterious circumstances. What followed is a tale of greed and corruption at multiple levels. Who were the heroes of this story? How did Hoover use these murders to create a narrative to bolster the FBI, during a period in which the nation was wary of a Federal institutions? Which institutions prevailed, which failed? Did Grann tell the story of the Osage well? Host Jeffery Jenkins (@jaj7d) is joined by guests Richard Green (@keynesianr), Lisa Schweitzer (@drschweitzer), and David Treuer (@DavidTreuer). @BedrosianCenter To listen to the Bedrosian Book Club discussion of the "Killers of the Flower Moon" 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! For links and more, check out the showpage: https://bedrosian.usc.edu/bookclub/killers-of-the-flower-moon/

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. Omelas is the city of happiness, what does it mean to travel to the city of happiness? Why doesn't everyone live there? Why would you walk away? What is the social contract? What will we do with no more words from the great Le Guin? Featuring: Aubrey Hicks (@AubreyHi), Lisa Schweitzer (@drschweitzer), and David Sloane (@dcsloane53) @BedrosianCenter 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!   Links & further immersion: Shirley Jackson, "The Lottery" "The Influence Of Ursula K. Le Guin," Petra Mayer for NPR Cities in Flight, James Blish "The fantasy and science fiction community pays tribute to Ursula K. Le Guin," Andrew Liptack for The Verge The Work of Le Guin "Behind the Lens: The Town That Had No Library," David Kidd in Governing "R.I.P. Ursula K. Le Guin, Author of One of the Greatest Novels About Freedom Ever Written: How libertarians learned to stop worrying and love The Dispossessed," Victoria Varga for Reason "The Category-Defying Genius of Ursula K. Le Guin," John Wray in The New York Times "Ten Things I Learned from Ursula K. Le Guin," Karen Jay Fowler in The Paris Review    Next Month …   We'll discuss David Grann's Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI. Grann, documents the story of the Osage being forced to relocate to a region which later was discovered to be rich in oil. Learn how the U.S. and local governmental agencies and individuals took advantage by manipulating the "laws," creating polices, and murder to control both the Osage and the wealth created by the oil discovery. We learn about the local investigation and how the newly formed FBI took over the investigation.   Read along with us! Let us know what you think of the book & our podcasts on Facebook or Twitter. This podcast was produced by Aubrey Hicks and Jonathan Schwartz, recorded and mixed by The Brothers Hedden, Ryan and Corey Hedden.

In Coriolanus, Shakespeare brings us to a Rome in a time of transitional government, leadership, citizenship. Patrician Menenius tries to calm a mutiny among the Roman plebeians over the way they feel they have been treated by the nobles. His friend, the great war hero, Caius Martius Coriolanus agrees to run for counsel. However, Coriolanus treats the plebeians with contempt, giving tribunes Sicinius and Brutus the ability to destroy Coriolanus' governing hopes, to destroy his reputation in Rome. Join us for a conversation on leadership, citizenship, military prowess, and running for elected office. 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). @BedrosianCenter 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! For links and more, check out the showpage: https://bedrosian.usc.edu/bookclub/coriolanus/

Bernstein and Woodward published All the President's Men a mere three months before Nixon's resignation. We're revisiting (or visiting for the first time) this classic work of political journalism in the wake of the many callbacks since the 2016 Presidential election. Are dirty tricks just part of politics? What role does the press play? Are there parallels to the Trump administration? Featuring host Jeffery Jenkins (@jaj7d ‏), and guests Aubrey Hicks (@AubreyHi), Lisa Schweitzer (@drschweitzer), and Donnajean Ward (@DonnajeanWard). @BedrosianCenter For more info: https://bedrosian.usc.edu/bookclub/all-the-president’s-men

The Fact of a Body by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich is a true crime memoir. After encountering the child murderer Ricky Langley, Alexandria's desire to work as a lawyer to fight against the death penalty is up-ended. She spends several years investigating Ricky's story as a way to confront the story of her own child abuse. This is a deeply moving book, and a relatively easy read given the morose topic - a testament to the author's skill. Our conversation ranges from the effects of trauma on individuals and communities to the genre itself. If you haven't read it yet, beware that we assume you've read it, spoiler alert! Featuring Jeffery A. Jenkins (@jaj7d ‏), Lisa Schweitzer (@drschweitzer), Brettany K. Shannon (@brettanyshannon), and Deborah Winters Follow us on Twitter! @BedrosianCenter Special thanks to Flatiron Books for sending us review copies! To listen to the Bedrosian Book Club discussion of The Fact of a Body click the arrow in the player on this post. Or you can download it and subscribe through ApplePodcasts, Soundcloud, or Google Play https://bedrosian.usc.edu/bookclub/the-fact-of-a-body

Looking at academia as microcosm of society at large, we find many Americans can get something from this conversation on the difference between love of wisdom and the need to know (control). What might happen if we gave ourselves time (and permission) to understand and learn, rather than, or in addition to, acquire more and more skills? Is slowness the nature of wisdom?   Inspired by the article, “In Praise of Slowness,” in Los Angeles Review of Books, we discuss two books on the idea of slowness in scholarship : The Slow Professor by Maggie Berg and Barbara K. Seeber and Slow Philosophy by Michelle Boulous Walker.   For links and further reading: bedrosian.usc.edu/bookclub/slow-philosophy

This week we’re back with part 2 of our discussion with Dr. Lisa Schweitzer of USC’s Price School of Public Policy.  We talk about the idea of jobs housing balance, her blog post on the Smartest Boy Urbanist, her favorite planning books and mentors, and we get a preview of her upcoming book on firearms and cities. 

The narrator of Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist may be unreliable as he tells his American experience before and after 9/11 with an unknown American dinner guest, but we wonder if he is any more unreliable than the voice inside all of us. We discuss the East/West conflict, the relationship between fundamentalism and nostalgia, the narrator's reluctance and fundamentalism, the narrator's love of America and Erica, as well as puzzle over the ending as we delve into this deep and short novel. Featuring Caroline Bhalla, Raphael Bostic, Aubrey Hicks, and Lisa Schweitzer

This week we're joined by Dr. Lisa Schweitzer of USC's Sol Price School of Public Policy. For this first episode of two with Dr. Schweitzer we chat about how her students respond to urban planning classes, the recent dustup between bike advocates during a city council election in Los Angeles, and autonomous vehicles and land policy.

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. In this episode, we find sagacity and even humor in the hard work of ethical governing with Lisa Schweitzer. Prof. Schweitzer is an associate professor of urban planning in the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. She teaches classes in city life and structure, justice in public policy, and public transit. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. She blogs regularly, provocatively, and wittily at http://www.lisaschweitzer.com.

American Gods is the story of America as a quilted patchwork of immigrant cultures with a diverse and every-growing number of beliefs. The story begins with Shadow, released from jail several days early because his wife is killed in a car accident. He encounters the mysterious Mr. Wednesday almost immediately upon release – once, twice, and again and is offered a job. He discovers that Mr. Wednesday is Odin, the Lord of Asgard, symbol of the forgotten gods living throughout America. With jobs ranging from prostitute to taxi driver, these "old" gods make do while they hope that Americans will remember, and honor them. Their holy places are the roadside attractions so dismissed by modern Americans. Their hope to be remembered is apparently in conflict with a new set of gods; Media, Town, Credit Cards, and others whose temples are our shopping malls. Shadow has a series of adventures, some in real life, some in dreams, as he journeys from someone not quite alive to the key individual in the upcoming battle for supremacy between the old and new gods. The novel is a fascinating exploration of the meaning of ethnicity, modernism, memory, and community in which we are reminded of the many ethnicities that make up America, but also their amalgamation into a secular American society with few gods. As multiple characters remind us, America is a hard place to be a god. This is a quintessential American novel from a quintessential British storyteller – it’s a sprawling road trip into the vast highways and byways of the American landscape, it’s a horror novel, a mystery, a romance, a western, a fantasy, and ultimately a look into the heart of America. Featuring Caroline Bhalla, Raphael Bostic, Lisa Schweitzer, and David Sloane

This November, among the many referenda that Californians will vote on, Angelenos get to vote yes or no on whether to grant a permanent, 1/2-cent sales tax to support transit and transportation projects throughout southern California. Debate about Measure M has become pretty hot. The Mayor of Beverly Hills has called Measure M the “Forever Tax.” But previously passed Prop A and C are permanent, and those found support among LA County voters. Measure M pushes the sales taxes in LA County upwards of 10 percent, and in a region with high housing and cost of living, and relatively low wage growth, that increase is sure to be felt. Nonetheless, the measure boasts some impressive endorsements, from the LA Times and myriad urban advocacy organizations like the LA Bike Coalition. How should you vote? Join us for our panel discussion of the Measure’s pros and cons moderated by Dr. Lisa Schweitzer, Associate Professor in the USC Price School. With us will be Laura Nelson of the LA Times, Stephanie Wiggins, Deputy Chief Executive Office of LA Metro, and Damien Goodman, Executive Director of Crenshaw Subway Coalition and Lead Organizer of No on Measure M, Dr. Jeffrey Sellers, Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at USC, and Dr. Mark Phillips, Assistant Professor of economics and tax policy at USC.

This month's book is both poetry and criticism, Citizen: An American Lyric. Rankine's piece is a revolution. A political, a poetic, complex revolution in 169 pages. We look at it through an unusual lens - what should we take away from works of art as we think about governance in America? Featuring Raphael Bostic, Aubrey Hicks, Lisa Schweitzer, David Sloane, and Donnajean Ward. Sponsored by the USC Bedrosian Center http://bedrosian.usc.edu/  Recorded at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy http://priceschool.usc.edu 

Richard II, the first of four Shakespeare plays known as the "Henriad," is the tale of strife between Richard II, the rightful but terrible king, and his cousin Henry Bolingbroke. Followed by Henry IV Part 1, Henry IV Part 2, and Henry V, Shakespeare explores the question of political legitimacy and accountability. We meet Richard soon after he has commissioned the assassination of one of his uncles, a rash decision which brings him into conflict with his cousin Henry. Richard banishes Henry. But Richard's seizure of Henry's land and wealth after the death of Henry's father, brings Henry back to England to restore his rightful estate. Henry rallies nobles and common folk alike, forcing Richard to abdicate the throne. What is the great tragedy in The Tragedy of Richard II? What makes a good leader - a king, a president? Can Shakespeare inform political discussions today? Featuring Raphael Bostic, Carla Della Gatta, Lisa Schweitzer, and Donnajean Ward For links to some of the things we talk about on today's podcast, check out the showpage at: https://bedrosian.usc.edu/podcast/richard-ii/ Sponsored by the USC Bedrosian Center http://bedrosian.usc.edu/  Recorded at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy http://priceschool.usc.edu 

Part of the METRANS Transportation Research Seminar Series. METRANS' mission is to solve transportation problems of large metropolitan regions through interdisciplinary research, education and outreach. Lisa Schweitzer is Associate Professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. She specializes in urban studies, and, in particular, analyses of social justice, environment and transport. Her work has appeared in multiple popular and scholarly outlets, and her research = has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Health. She maintains a blog about sustainable urbanism at www.lisaschweitzer.com. Abstract: How media portray public transit services can affect the way voters and stakeholders think about future transit investments. An examination of social media content, specifically Twitter feeds, about public transit finds that they reflect more negative sentiments about public transit than do the comments about most other public services, and include more negative material about transit patrons. However, transit agencies may be able to influence the tone of those comments through the way they engage with social media. Transit agencies that respond directly to questions, concerns, and comments of other social media users, as opposed to merely “blasting” announcements, have more positive statements about all aspects of services, independent of actual service quality. The interaction does not have to be customer oriented. Agencies using Twitter to chat with users about their experiences or new service also have statistically significantly more positive sentiments expressed about them on social media.