Episode Five: The Closeness of Boxing

Is boxing just about violence and aggression? Could fighting possibly be a way for us to get closer to each other? Stanford literary scholars join forces with an East Palo Alto community gym to learn more about the push and pull of closeness and intimacy in our human experience.

Our theme music is "Look Up Often" by Inquisitor.

After you listen, see the rest of the story in the accompanying video of our time "In the Field" meeting the community of the East Palo Alto Boxing Club.

Video credit: Mark Hanlon for The Human Angle

Special thanks for this episode go to the East Palo Alto Boxing Club. Go to their website to get involved or just to learn more about this community program.

Click to learn more about the scholars leading the project, Friederike Knüpling and Vincent Barletta.

Below is an audiovisual portrait of the East Palo Alto Boxing Club. This video is not a production of The Human Angle. It is edited and directed by Tom Winterbottom with photos by Laura Méndez Barletta.

Episode Four: Beasts to Besties: Our Relationship to Animals

From "furry creatures in drag" to wild animal activism, two Stanford historians talk about the evolution and social implications of human-animal relationships.

Find out more about Mackenzie Cooley here and Andrew Robichaud here. 

Read an article about Mackenzie's work and her "Beasts & Books" exhibit here.

Find out about Andrew's "Animal City" digital humanities project at Stanford's Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis here.

The unspeakably adorable image of Quincy the unicorn is courtesy of our consulting producer, Corrie Goldman.

Our theme music is "Look Up Often" by Inquisitor.

Episode Three: Food, From Farm to Fork

Eating is one of the most basic parts of our lives, but is it really so ordinary? Two Stanford scholars talk about the fascinating cultural processes tied up in our food, from the ground to our bellies.

Find out more about Jennifer here and Adrienne here. Adrienne's piece for the Wall Street Journal is here.

The music is "Look Up Often" by Inquisitor.

Episode Two: How Does Pop Culture Make Us Who We Are?

From novels, comics and latino rock to Batman with a luchador mask, literary scholars Ramon Saldivar and Frederick Aldama discuss how popular culture helps form our complex identities. Plus, a trip to a comic book store! 

Here's the accompanying video of our trip to Mission: Comics and Art with guest correspondent Vanessa Chang and Latino Comics Expo founder Ricardo Padilla:

Editor's note: In the credits of the video and podcast we thank Mission: Art and Comics. The correct name is Mission: Comics and Art. 

Episode One: What Is Beautiful About Sports?

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck and Stanford literary scholar Hans Ulrich (Sepp) Gumbrecht join us to talk about the beauty in sports and why they can turn us into fanatics.

Find Sepp's book here and check out Andrew Luck on the field here.