The Matrix Podcast features interviews with social scientists from across the University of California, Berkeley campus (and beyond). It also features recordings of events, including panels and lectures. The Matrix Podcast is produced by Social Science Matrix, an interdisciplinary research center at the University of California, Berkeley.
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Recorded on May 5, 2026, this video features a talk by Benjamin Recht, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at UC Berkeley, focused on his book, The Irrational Decision: How We Gave Computers the Power to Choose for Us . Professor Recht was joined in conversation by Marion Fourcade, Professor of Sociology and Director of Social Science Matrix. This event was co-sponsored by…
Recorded on April 9, 2026, this Authors Meet Critics panel features the book Incommunicable: Toward Communicative Justice in Health and Medicine , by Charles Briggs , the Alan Dundes Distinguished Professor and Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at UC Berkeley, co-director and graduate advisor of the UCB-UCSF Joint PhD Program in Medical Anthropology, and co-director of the Berkeley Center…
On April 7, 2026, Social Science Matrix hosted an Authors Meet Critics panel on the book The Insatiable Machine: How Capitalism Conquered the World , by Trevor Jackson , Associate Professor of History at UC Berkeley. Professor Jackson was joined in conversation by Chenzi Xu , Assistant Professor of Economics at UC Berkeley, and Dylan Riley , Professor of Sociology at UC Berkeley. Abhishek Kaicker,…
The global dominance of the U.S. dollar has long shaped international trade, financial markets, and geopolitical power. Amid shifting global dynamics and the rapid development of stablecoins and other digital assets, new questions are emerging around the structure and evolution of dollar hegemony. How are technological innovation and geopolitical change reshaping the international monetary system,…
Recorded on March 18, 2026, this podcast features a lecture by Julien Migozzi, an economic geographer and Assistant Professor in Development Studies at the University of Cambridge. Dr Migozzi's lecture, "Algorithms of Distinction: Class, Credit Scores, and Property in South Africa," examined how 21st-century class dynamics become connected with data-driven stratification systems, focusing on the…
Higher education is facing mounting pressures, from political intervention and financial challenges to attacks on academic freedom. These tensions are visible in the University of California system, where debates over funding, governance, labor, and public mission are increasingly shaping the future of public universities. Recorded on February 9, 2026, this panel brought together leading scholars…
Recorded on February 19, 2026, this video presents a lecture by Ula Taylor , Professor and Chair of the Department of African American Studies & African Diaspora Studies. The talk centered on Professor Taylor's current work in progress, an oral biography of Frances M. Beal. The talk was co-sponsored by the UC Berkeley Department of African American Studies and the Department of Gender and Women's…
Corruption is a persistent challenge in America, shaping institutions, influencing policy, and eroding public trust. Understanding its roots, mechanisms, and consequences is essential for assessing the health of democratic governance. On February 3, 2026, Social Science Matrix brought together leading scholars from business, political science, and law to examine the many facets of corruption in…
What are the economic consequences of starting, but not completing college? On this episode of the Matrix Podcast, Sarah Harrington, Program Manager at Social Science Matrix, spoke with Sarah Payne , a sociologist who recently published a paper in Sociology of Education that examined what happens when students begin college but fail to graduate. "Although non-completion yields higher income than…
Recorded on December 4, 2025, this video features a Social Science Matrix Distinguished Lecture, "To Know a Place," presented by journalist and author Alexis Madrigal. Madrigal has long explored how technology, culture, and environment shape our lives; from his work co-founding The COVID Tracking Project to his books Powering the Dream and The Pacific Circuit . In this talk, Madrigal turns his…
