Critical Currents - The Podcast
Demokratie lebt von offenem Dialog, von vielfältigen Perspektiven und dem Mut, Brücken über politische Gräben hinweg zu bauen. Gerade in einer Zeit, in der soziale, politische und kulturelle Spannungen unsere Gesellschaft zu spalten drohen, stellen sich zentrale Fragen: Wie schaffen wir trotz aller Unterschiede eine gemeinsame Grundlage für Austausch und Zusammenhalt? Wie gelingt es uns, einander wirklich zuzuhören – und dabei unsere Solidarität füreinander zu stärken?
Critical Currents geht genau diesen Fragen nach. Der Podcast beleuchtet Diskurse, soziale Bewegungen und kulturelle Transformationen, die das demokratische Leben und kollektive Handeln unserer Gegenwart prägen. In Zeiten der Ungewissheit bietet dieser Podcast Raum für reflektierte Gespräche und fördert ein tieferes Verständnis der Kräfte, die uns verbinden – und voneinander trennen.
Season One: Bridging the Gap
Die erste Staffel Bridging the Gap widmet sich Momenten der Zerrissenheit und geteilter Erfahrungen, mit dem Ziel durch offene Gespräche mit bedeutenden Akteur:innen wie Lynne Thompson, Rosecrans Baldwin und Lois Rosson kritische Auseinandersetzungen mit den drängenden Themen unserer Zeit zu fördern.
Moderiert wird der Podcast von einer dynamischen Gruppe junger Stimmen in Los Angeles: Dani Taylor – Studentin der Englischen Literatur und Geschichte an der UCLA; Stella Horns, studiert Politikwissenschafts- und Narrative-Studies an der USC; und Ziyan Xie, Student an der UCLA im Feld der Kognitionswissenschaften, Europäischen Sprachen und Transkulturellen Studien. Gemeinsam bringen sie unterschiedliche Perspektiven und akademische Hintergründe in die Gespräche ein und machen Critical Currents zu einem vielschichtigen Diskursraum.
Abonniere Critical Currents – und werde Teil des Gesprächs!
Episoden:
Lynne Thompson Wants You to Be a “Poetry Citizen”
In this episode of Critical Currents, podcast hosts Stella Horns and Dani Taylor speak with the fourth Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, Lynne Thompson. She is bridging the gap by using poetry to close political and experiential divides between people. During the interview, Thompson reflects on the many forces that have shaped her poetic voice–from life transitions, to her culture and heritage, to the broader poetry community. With her candid discussion of the challenges that come with being a poet and navigating a public platform during times of political turmoil, Thompson offers a refreshingly honest and deeply aesthetic interview that echoes the spirit of her poetry.
Rosecrans Baldwin says LA isn't going to prom with you unless you ask it
In this spring episode of Critical Currents, best-selling author and journalist Rosecrans Baldwin joins hosts Dani Taylor and Ziyan Xie for a wide-ranging conversation. Baldwin bridges gaps by recording and retelling stories that bind people within an intersubjective urban horizon. Since moving to Los Angeles, he has become entangled with its contradictions, its mythologies, and its shifting textures. Drawing from his own obsessions and recurring motifs—the city as narrative, as psyche, and as a “city-state,” in his words—Baldwin reflects on the heart of his creative practice: articulating the voices and everyday truths of others.
Meet the podcast hosts
Dani Taylor is an honors student at the University of California, Los Angeles pursuing dual degrees in English and History. She is passionate about public service and engaging with her community. As a Resident Assistant and a Lead Program Supervisor at the UCLA Black Bruin Resource Center, Dani develops programs that are intended to help foster student success. She is also an Staff Member for the UCLA Daily Bruin, where she writes opinion columns about political and social issues impacting students and the broader Los Angeles community.
Stella Horns is pursuing a double major in Political Science and Narrative Studies at USC and will be graduating Summer 2025. They are particularly interested in the intersection of those two fields: how stories shape our political reality and sense of self, and how political actors can use storytelling to get what they want. Their work has received the Mohamed el Beih Paper Prize and has been published by Outstanding Academic Papers by Students, Scribe, and the USC Global Policy Institute.
Ziyan Xie is pursuing dual degrees in Cognitive Science and German Studies at UCLA. He has a deep fascination with language, learning, judgment, and human connection. As a research fellow at the UCLA Connection Lab, he is developing software that reimagines interpersonal relationships on the Internet through poetry. In Spring 2025, he will be teaching an undergraduate seminar at UCLA aimed at fostering transcultural discussions on our sociotechnical history and reality through digital gaming.
Critical Currents is a podcast production by Wende Museum, Thomas Mann House & dublab.
