Lectures, Podcasts & More
We are pleased to share a variety of lectures, community conversations, podcasts, and more featuring Macalester faculty, staff, and alumni. Covering a wide variety of topics and interests, we hope that these recordings will help you continue your learning journey with Mac.
The History of the Painted Rock
Big Questions Series
Join us for our engaging interview series featuring Macalester Faculty and President River on world-changing issues. Topics include human rights, arts, societal change, politics, COVID, and more.
Listen to one of the many recordings here
Lifelong Learning Events
Hear updates and insights from Macalester faculty and staff. Listen to fellow alumni from a variety of notable fields and interests as they discuss their personal and professional passions.
- Mac Alumni Anti-racist Parenting Conversation hosted by the Mac Alumni Board
- MacTogether: Race and Policing with Professor Duchess Harris
- MacTogether Webinar with Professor Katrina Phillips
- MacTogether Webinar: The State of Admissions at Macalester
- MacCafe: Conversations on Peace and Conflict Transformation with Martha McManus ’70
Reunion 2020
View videos and presentations from Reunion 2020 including the Grand Celebration recognizing the 2020 Alumni Award recipients.
- Grand Celebration
- Learn to Make Cocktails with Joan Bennet ’05 & Terry Gorman
- A Decade Later Panel with the class of 2010
- Faculty Office Hours with Prof. David Lanegran (slideshow)
- Faculty Office Hours with Prof. Karl Egge (slideshow)
McCurdy Distinguished Lecture Series
Established to honor Professor Emeritus David W. McCurdy, who founded Macalester’s Anthropology Department in 1976, this annual lecture brings to campus leading scholars in all areas of anthropology.
- Breaking anthropology open: art, science and the vibrational possibilities of ethnographic un-disciplining
- Transgender Experience in the U.S.: Understanding Stigma, Stress, and Biologies of Resilience
- Why Immigration Reform Is So Difficult
- Nutrition and Health in Wild Bornean Orangutans: Insights into the evolution of obesity in humans
- Uncommoning Nature: Stories from the Anthropo-Not-Seen
- Genghis Khan, Thomas Jefferson, & God: An Anthropological Look at Religious Wars and Religious Freedom
Theodore Mitau Lecture Series
Established in 1979, the Mitau Lecture Series honors the contributions and accomplishments of G. Theodore “Ted” Mitau ’40 who helped shape the political science department and inspire a generation of Macalester students to pursue law and civic service.
- I’m Really Sorry about What Happened to You but, You’re Not One of Us, You’re a Foreigner’: A History of Afrophobia in Contemporary South Africa
- From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-first Century
- Trumpeting Racism: Race, Politics, and Economic Jeopardy for All
Macalester Podcasts
Follow and listen to these podcasts created by students, faculty, and staff across campus.
 | Big Questions Podcast
The “Big Questions” series is our attempt to try something different. These are glimpses into the minds and hearts of the people who comprise Macalester: a collection of their thoughts about the things that matter to them and, we hope, to you. You might think of these short videos as a stripped down, “acoustic” version of Macalester communications and as a way to see what truly animates the college. |
 | Macalester Scots Podcast
Hear students and alumni share their Macalester athletics experience. |
 | Groveland Podcast
The news that matters to you. A production of The Mac Weekly, the independent student newspaper of Macalester College. |
 | The Abstract Podcast
Stories of scientific research, from profuse failures to precious moments of triumph. A production of The Mac Weekly, the independent student newspaper of Macalester College. |
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The Isolation Diaries The Isolation Diaries is a new series where Mac students share and reflect on a day in their lives as they navigate the virtual college experience amidst the chaos, uncertainty, and change brought forth from the pandemic and 2020 https://themacweekly.com/category/podcasts/isolationdiaries/ |
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Macalester CRSL Podcast from Home During these shortest days and longest nights of our pandemic year, our Macalester Center for Religious and Spiritual Life embarks on a podcast adventure. Each day, we’ll hear from someone else with a short episode, sharing stories about where and how we’re making home this winter. We might interview elders, children, or roommates. We might share cozy things we’ve encountered, or children’s stories, folktales, poems or music that we love. By sharing snippets of our lives and loves, we’ll know each other a little bit, and build a sense of home right now. |
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MJO’S 5780 Elul Podcast Elul, the final month of the Jewish year, is a time for reflection, preparation, and hearing what the shofar call wakes up in us. This year more than ever, we yearn for anchors in time and in community. With this daily podcast, we mark our journey into the year of learning and towards Rosh Hashanah as a campus Jewish community with a brief daily offering from our own voices of Jewish Macalester. |