JOTU

Conversations

Journey of the Universe: Conversations

This twenty-part educational series integrates the perspectives of the sciences and the humanities into a retelling of our 13.7 billion year story. In this ten-hour series of one-on-one interviews, scientists, historians, and environmentalists explore the unfolding story of the universe and Earth and the role of the human in responding to our present challenges.

Episode 1

Beginning of the Universe

How did our universe emerge? Did it expand? And where did stars and galaxies come from? What is “cold dark matter” and “dark energy”?

Episode 2

Galaxies Forming

How did galaxies form? What are the shapes of these galaxies? How did the Milky Way emerge?

Episode 3

The Emanating Brilliance of Stars

What are stars? How are they birthed? How do they die? And what is a supernova explosion? How does this explosion give rise to the elements that form life itself?

Episode 4

Birth of the Solar System

How did our solar system come about? How did the Moon originate? What is the creative role of plate tectonics? How does geology impact Earth’s biology?

Episode 5

Life's Emergence

How did the first cells emerge? What characterizes them? How do we explain the patterning found in DNA and in multicellular organisms?

Episode 6

Learning, Living, and Dying

How did the brain evolve over time from single cell organisms to vertebrates? What is consciousness and responsiveness? How can we compare the adaptive brains of humans, chimpanzees, and our many evolutionary ancestors?

Episode 7

The Passion of Animals

Discover the compelling story of Earth’s fossil record. What were the ecosystems of dinosaurs? How did humans co-evolve with other species? What are mass extinctions?

Episode 8

The Origin of the Human

John and Melissa explore the history of early humans in relation to kinship with land and animals. Contemporary Indigenous lifeways are also highlighted, especially the sustaining power of rituals that locate humans within the rhythms of Earth’s transformative systems.

Episode 9

Becoming a Planetary Presence

Cynthia describes the “big history” beyond simply human history that includes cosmic, Earth, and human evolution. She highlights eight key threshold moments of evolutionary change from universe emergence and solar systems to life forms, including humans.

Episode 10

Conversation Series Transition

Mary Evelyn introduces a collection of creative thinkers who are drawing upon the story of the universe to re-envision and create mutually enhancing human-Earth relations.

Episode 11

Breakthrough Communities

Carl tells how the universe story expanded his own understanding of social and environmental justice. With a focus on urban areas, he explains how sustainable community development can be enhanced within an inclusive universe story.

Episode 12

Eco Cities

Richard emphasizes the importance of organic and whole-city perspectives for creating liveable cities. He highlights the imaginative ways in which cities are being rethought and rebuilt around the planet for a flourishing future.

Episode 13

Ecological Economics

Dick surveys the history of economics and the mistaken assumptions of current ecological principles and practices, such as unrestrained growth. In place of our ecologically destructive practices, he endorses an ecological economics that emphasizes care, co-evoluion, and protection of the environment.

Episode 14

Permaculture

Penny leads viewers through the history and significance of permaculture. She discusses permaculture as an agricultural practice that increases biodiversity and helps us to understand our place in the story of the universe.

Episode 15

Indigenous Ways of Knowing

David and Nancy invite us to understand Navajo ways of knowing. They describe a worldview that is place-based, emphasizes kinship and connection, and intimately orients the human within an interrelated and unified cosmos.

Episode 16

Sustainable Energy

Paula Gonzalez narrates the efforts of Catholic sisters to harness solar power and other natural systems as a means of protecting the Earth community and participating in the story of the universe.

Episode 17

Healing and Revisioning

Belvie describes how teaching the story of the universe has empowered African American youth to contextualize slavery, envision healing and reconciliation, and imagine a better future through a broader sense of self and place.

Episode 18

Arts and Justice

Marya Grathwohl and Drew Dellinger explore poetry and activism, along with the study of ecology and ritual as shared visions of creative transformation that are inspired by the journey of the universe.

Episode 19

Myths, Metaphors, and Identities

Nancy and Sachiko highlight the role of myth, metaphor, and art in broadening and deepening our understanding of human identity within a cosmological context.

Episode 20

Teaching Journey of the Universe

Tom and Bindu describe how learning the universe story has allowed high school and college students to experience an expanded sense of self and to transform despair into a sense of hope and empowerment.