University of the Air

Groundbreaking work in UW's Stereotyping and Bias Research Lab has found new, evidence-based ways to reduce bias, create inclusion, and promote equity.

Groundbreaking work in UW's Stereotyping and Bias Research Lab has found new, evidence-based ways to reduce bias, create inclusion, and promote equity.

Groundbreaking work in UW's Stereotyping and Bias Research Lab has found new, evidence-based ways to reduce bias, create inclusion, and promote equity.

When Hamlet told a friend, “There are more things in heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy,” he made an understatement to last the ages. And the words become truer with every astronomical discovery. What are we finding out there in the seemingly limitless universe? F or starters, there are white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes. How do we find them, and how do we track their development, which can go on for billions of years? Astronomer Marina Orio will tell us about some of the latest--often puzzling--discoveries.

Teen moms, 'baby mamas,' sex workers, and crack addicts: how did they come out on the other side as doctors, lawyers, artists, counselors, and more? Activist Sagashus Levingston discusses her book Infamous Mothers: Women who've gone through the belly of hell and brought something good back .

What are the keys to well-being, and what is the difference between well-being and happiness? Richard Davidson, professor of psychology and psychiatry at UW Madison will describe the four components to well-being derived from studies of the physiological effects of each. He’ll tell us how awareness of the moment at hand, connectedness, a sense of self, and a sense of direction in life can lead to a longer, healthier, and more fulfilling life.

The music challenges, the texture is rich…so wrote a reviewer of Laura Schwendinger’s opera Artemisia, which brings to the stage the story of a remarkable 17th century painter—a woman who prevailed in a world where the odds were stacked against her. Laura Schwendinger will give us some insights into her music, which recently won her the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Letters Ives Opera award.

In this hour, we sample the rapidly changing, turbulent sixties, from JFK to LBJ, from Martin Luther King to the Black Panthers, from the Beatles to the Rolling Stones, from hippies to Reagan conservatives.

In this hour, we sample the rapidly changing, turbulent sixties, from JFK to LBJ, from Martin Luther King to the Black Panthers, from the Beatles to the Rolling Stones, from hippies to Reagan conservatives.

The idea of preserving the Yosemite Valley went back as far as the Lincoln Administration, but saving the valley meant safeguarding the area around it, which became the work of two men with very different backgrounds. When rough-hewn naturalist John Muir teamed up with the privileged publisher Robert Underwood Johnson, they championed a cause which could've ruined both of them.

Why do so many people hate grammar? Find out which grammar "rules" are prescriptive gobbledygook with the Chair of the UW English Department

Relations between Russia and Ukraine have a long and complicated history that led to a vicious conflict in 2022. What might Russia and Ukraine have done to avoid a ruinous war that's become a dangerous confrontation between Russia and the West?

Revolutionary medieval mystic Julian of Norwich penned what’s thought to be the first book in English written by a woman. She dared to suggest that God was both father and mother. Professor Sherry Reames explores the life, writings, and legacy of a courageous medieval anchoress and author.

During the first half of the 19th century, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin was a crossroads that attracted men and women of all backgrounds. Among them were five Black women who represented a variety of experiences. Although the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 outlawed slavery in the areas that would become Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio, a patchwork of laws enabled white slaveholders to retain possession of four of the five women. Historian Mary Elise Antoine will tell us about the degrees of servitude that existed in Wisconsin and the efforts that some of them took to secure their freedom.

Why have most of us never heard of Ira Aldridge (1807-1867) , America’s first internationally acclaimed African American actor? UW Theatre professor Baron Kelly links his own journey as a Black actor to that of the remarkable Ira Aldridge. NOTE--Next week Baron Kelly will return to University of the Air for a special broadcast of Richard Hellesen's play Necessary Sacrifices, i nspired by Frederick Douglass' conversations with Abraham Lincoln. The broadcast will begin slightly earlier than usual, at 4 pm sharp.