Category: Podcast

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“Going Up Alleys” Podcast Episode 4 – High-Performance Computing (Part 1) [A Metapodcast]

On this episode of “Going Up Alleys,” Professor Thom Dunning speaks about the frontier of high-performance computing. This begins a multi-part series on interdisciplinary research – solving difficult problems by bringing together traditionally compartmentalized institutions, such as computing and humanities.

This is also a meta-podcast! To make it, I dusted off some audio I once recorded for the “Mustang Physics Podcast,” but which never saw the light of day. Then I wrapped it up in slightly-less-dusty audio I once recorded to introduce it (which also never saw the light of day). Then I introduce the introduction. Very meta.

Professor Thom Dunning is the Distinguished Chair for Research Excellence in Chemistry and a professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne. Most importantly, he is the director of the Institute for Advanced Computing Applications and Technologies (IACAT) and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The SMU Chemistry Department hosted Prof. Dunning for a seminar on October 19, 2011. They graciously invited students, researchers, and faculty from all science departments at SMU to participate in the seminar. Prof. Dunning spoke about many topics, including the state of high-performance computing (HPC), the technology behind recent advances and that needed for future advances, and the diverse scientific topics that demand more and more from HPC.

This podcast begins a series on interdisciplinary themes. In this episode, we explore the state of HPC and the technological advances. In the next episode, we’ll explore the scientific problems that demand advances in HPC, and the challenges to the future of HPC. In the third episode in the series, we’ll hear a seminar by Prof. Robert Markley (UIUC) on his use of computing to explore maps of the Great Lakes.

Show Notes

  • 0:00: Opening Theme and Title
  • 0:45: Introduction (to the introduction)
  • 2:18: Introduction (to Thom Dunning’s talk)
  • 7:45: Prof. Kraka’s Introduction of Thom Dunning (bio, etc.)
  • 12:30: Prof. Dunning’s Seminar (Part 1)
  • 36:05: Closing Remarks
  • 37:33: Closing Theme and Credits
  • Music for the podcast is licensed under Creative Commons and is by the artist, Nicoco. The song used in the podcast is “Occipital,” from the album “Classicoco,” and is available from Jamendo.
  • This podcast was produced at Hampton House. Linux and Ubuntu were used in the making of this podcast, as was a Macbook, a set of BLUE Microphones, Audacity, and an reasonably insignificantly small amount of “too much free time.”
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“Going Up Alleys” Podcast Episode 3 – Diary of a Discovery

On this episode, I present an audio diary of the events leading up to the public presentation at CERN of the discovery of a new subatomic particle consistent with the Higgs particle. The “Going Up Alleys” podcast is an ongoing conversation about curious avenues of investigation. The world is a strange and complicated place. In this irregular podcast, we’ll see how different people strive to make sense of it through creative and critical thinking. Except in this one, because I talk a lot.

On July 4, 2012, the ATLAS and CMS Experiments announced the discovery of a new subatomic particle consistent with the long-predicted Higgs particle. I was able to be present in the CERN main amphitheater for the seminars, and in this episode I convey the story leading up to the announcement (and the announcement itself) using an audio diary. Please enjoy some of the sounds of the hours before the announcement, and of the announcement itself.

There are no words to describe what it was like to not only know many of the people involved in this discovery, but to be present in the room when it happened. I would like to especially thank Aidan Randle-Conde and his mother, Carla Staton, for organizing the late night trip into CERN to secure a place in line . . . and for generally being awesome (and certainly excellent company during the long wait to get into the auditorium).

Show Notes

  • CERN Press Release on the discovery.
  • Music for the podcast is licensed under Creative Commons and is by the artist, Nicoco. The song used in the podcast is “Occipital,” from the album “Classicoco,” and is available from Jamendo.
  • This podcast was produced at the Tibbetts Estate in St. Genis, France. Many thanks to Lord Tibbetts for his hospitality and reasonable chore list. Linux and Ubuntu were used in the making of this podcast, as was Audacity, an iPad, the AudioMemos app, and an unreasonably small amount of “too much free time.”
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“Going Up Alleys” Podcast Episode 2 – Composer Decomposer

Kate Sekula

Kate Sekula and Steve Sekula discuss the secret language of music; just what happened at that conference in Fort Worth; exciting a revolution in teaching music theory; the Forer Effect, Barnum Statements, and Juh-Muh-Puh names; and astronomy (er . . . astrology) at the Awesomeville Public Library.

The “Going Up Alleys” podcast is an ongoing conversation about curious avenuues of investigation. The world is a strange and complicated place. In this irregular podcast, we’ll see how different people strive to make sense of it through creative and critical thinking.

Show Notes

  • Host: Kate Sekula is a graduate student in the University of Connecticut Music Department, working toward her Ph.D. in Music.
  • Host: Steve Sekula is an assistant professor of physics at Southern Methodist University.
  • Buy music from the composers discussed in this podcast: Michael Tippett’s “The Vision of St. Augustine” and “A Child of Our Time“;
  • Michael Klein, Professor of Music at Temple University
  • David Easley’s abstract about chord repetition in punk rock (presented at the Texas Society for Music Theory 34th annual meeting)
  • The podcast theme music is entitled “Occipital,” from the album “Classicoco” by the artist Nicoco. The album is available from Jamendo and is freely downloadable under a Creative Commons “share and share-alike” license.
  • This podcast was produced at Hampton House. Linux, Ubuntu, Audacity, a Shure SM-58 microphone,  and a little bit of “too much free time” were used in the making of this podcast.