UVA Speaks UVA Lifetime Learning

On this UVA Speaks podcast, Leora Friedberg, Associate Professor in the Department of Economics and the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, shares with us the history of Social Security and concerns for the solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund. Friedberg explains that the U.S. government has known about the future shortfalls for decades and describes proposed reforms. Her research details inequalities inherent in the system that could inform policy revisions.

Transcripts of the audio broadcast can be found here.

Leora Friedberg, Associate Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Economics in the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy in the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Her research interests include public and labor economics and domestic policy. Friedberg is the Co-Director of the Retirement Research Institute and a Faculty Affiliate at the Virginia Center for Tax Law.

On this UVA Speaks podcast, Shawn Pelletier, MD, Professor and Chief of the Division of Transplant Surgery at the University of Virginia Health System, shares with us. He explains the different aspects of organ donation from living donors who donate their kidneys or part of their liver and those who arrange to donate their organs after death. Dr. Pelletier shares medical advances that have enabled surgeons and transplant teams to provide life-saving care to more patients. The need for transplanted organs outpaces the available supply. In 2023, there were 46,000 transplants performed; however, over 103,000 patients are currently on the transplant waiting list.

Transcripts of the audio broadcast can be found here.

Shawn Pelletier, MD, is a Professor, Chief of the Division of Transplant Surgery, Director of the Transplant Service Line, and Surgical Director of the Liver Transplant Program at UVA Health Systems. He has been on the faculty at UVA for 12 years, is a leader in several professional organizations, and has contributed to more than 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals.

On this UVA Speaks podcast, Bonnie Hagerman, Associate Professor in Women, Gender, & Sexuality and Director of Undergraduate Programs at the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia, describes the history of participation of American women in the Olympics and sports. She discusses athletes like Margaret Abbott, the first American woman to win an Olympic medal, and Althea Gibson, who broke the color barrier in women’s tennis and golf. Hagerman also highlights the importance of athletes like Venus Williams, who advocated for pay equity for women in her sport, and gymnast Simone Biles, whose withdrawal from the 2020 Olympics led her to become a mental health advocate.

Transcripts of the audio broadcast can be found here.

Bonnie Hagerman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Women, Gender, & Sexuality and Director of Undergraduate Programs at the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia. Her research focuses on women, gender, sport, and 20th Century American social history. She is the author of the book “Skimpy Coverage: Sports Illustrated and the Shaping of the Female Athlete.” This Spring, Professor Hagerman is teaching a course entitled “Gender & the Olympic Games.”

On this UVA Speaks podcast, Denise Walsh, Associate Professor of Politics and Women, Gender, & Sexuality in the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia, describes identity politics. She discusses the tendency of people to organize in collective solidarity and their actions to change social values or public policies, like in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. Institutions can, Walsh says, produce and deliberately craft identities to ensure that one group has more opportunities and power than others. She explains that as long as discrimination exists based on characteristics shared by a group of people, there will be identity politics.

Transcripts of the audio broadcast can be found here.

Denise Walsh is an Associate Professor of Politics and Women, Gender, & Sexuality at the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Virginia. Her research investigates how democracies can be made more inclusive and just.
Walsh's current book project, Culture and Women's Rights Don't Clash, focuses on the so-called "burka ban" in France, the legalization of polygyny in South Africa, and the marrying out rule for Indigenous women in Canada.

On this UVA Speaks podcast, Meghan Mattos, Assistant Professor of Nursing in the School of Nursing at the University of Virginia, discusses age-related sleep changes and the consequences for the health and safety of older adults. Mattos shares her research investigating the connection between poor sleep, cognitive decline, and the potential of digital interventions and behavioral changes to improve cognition and memory.

Transcripts of the audio broadcast can be found here.

Meghan Mattos is an Assistant Professor of Nursing in the School of Nursing at the University of Virginia. Her research focuses on preventing and treating cognitive impairment in older adults, particularly those living in rural areas with limited access to care. Mattos practiced clinically in acute and critical care settings before pursuing her Ph.D., where she developed her research interests in gerontology, cognitive health, and health equity. Her continued commitment to providing care to underserved and aging communities drives her research, clinical, and teaching interests.

On this UVA Speaks podcast, Jess Reia, Assistant Professor of Data Science at the School of Data Science at the University of Virginia, discusses smart cities and how technology and data are used both domestically and internationally to make more effective and data-driven decisions. The smart city agenda can lead to more efficient, accessible, and green cities. Reia also explains that we need to consider privacy, data protection, and safety when deciding what technologies to adopt.

Transcripts of the audio broadcast can be found here.

Jess Reia is an Assistant Professor of Data Science interested in the untold stories in our datasets and how to include communities rarely heard in data policy decision-making processes meaningfully. They work primarily on topics of data justice, urban governance, and technology policy transnationally. For the past decade, their research and advocacy agenda has focused on fostering dialogues between academia, government, and civil society in three countries: Brazil, Canada, and the United States.