The Backdrop Podcast

The Backdrop podcast is a monthly interview program featuring conversations with UC Davis scholars and researchers working in the social sciences, humanities, arts and culture. Hosted by public radio veteran Soterios Johnson, the conversations feature new work and expertise on a trending topic in the news.

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Episode 4

Lizbeth De La Cruz on “Humanizing Deportation”

In a typical year, hundreds of thousands of people are deported from the U.S. for entering or staying in the country illegally. A digital storytelling project at UC Davis, called “Humanizing Deportation,” aims to document their stories.

On this month’s episode, Ph.D. candidate Lizbeth De La Cruz, discusses the project’s goals, how it got started and her experience working as a member of one of the research teams collecting and preserving these stories.

More from The Humanizing Deportation Project
Project website
Humanizing Deportation documentary

Episode 3

Magdalena Wojcieszak on New Studies Finding Exposure to Media Does Not Increase Political Polarization

Conventional wisdom has held that as people are exposed to more partisan news, they become more polarized. But a new study finds that’s not so. On this month’s episode of The Backdrop, Magdalena Wojcieszak discusses a couple of new studies she has co-authored that found no correlation between media exposure and political polarization.

Wojcieszak, a Professor of Communication at UC Davis, studies how the changing media environment creates both opportunities and challenges for informed publics, tolerant citizenry, and responsive governance.

Episode 2

Eric Rauchway on Contentious Presidential Transitions

The transition of power from one U.S. president to the next typically goes off without a hitch. But the transition between President Donald Trump and President-Elect Joe Biden has been anything but typical. On this episode of The Backdrop, UC Davis Distinguished Professor of History Eric Rauchway discusses this tumultuous transfer of power and lessons we can learn from another contentious transition, from Herbert Hoover to Franklin Roosevelt.

Episode 1

Kathryn Olmsted on Conspiracy Theories

Conspiracy theories have circulated in the U.S. for centuries, but recently they have seeped into the mainstream consciousness like never before. On the first episode of The Backdrop, UC Davis historian Kathryn Olmsted discusses her work studying the history and impact of conspiracy theories on American society and politics. She also offers advice on how people can avoid falling prey to them.

More from Kathryn Olmsted
What Birthed Modern Conservatism?