Moraine Valley Community College Library Podcast

From blockbuster starships to immersive video game worlds, popular culture does far more than entertain us. It shapes how we see ourselves, each other, and the future. In this talk, MVCC Faculty members, Carey Millsap-Spears will explore how TV, film, and gaming create powerful narratives about identity, power, technology, and fear. Drawing on her work as the author of Star Trek Discovery and the Female Gothic and contributor to Set Phasers to Teach!: Star Trek in Research and Teaching, and other works, she will show how even the “geekiest” stories reveal deep cultural anxieties and hopes.

Drawing on his research in fandom, games, and popular culture, DePaul University professor Paul Booth examines how media texts like Doctor Who invite audiences to imagine new futures, question authority, and rethink what justice looks like. Booth is Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Engagement in the College of Communication and the author or editor of more than ten books, including Adventures Across Space and Time: A Doctor Who Reader, Watching Doctor Who, and Entering the Multiverse. He is also the organizer of the annual DePaul Pop Culture Conference, where fans and scholars gather to discuss everything from time travel and Star Trek to slasher films, superheroes, and pop music.

History is riddled with tales of leaders courting authoritarianism and dictatorial desires when leading institutions, organizations, and countries. Some who enter positions of authority with the best of intentions at times fall prey to the temptation of self-gratifying motives. Is this human nature or a function of the ways in which society conceptualizes leadership? What role do associates, supporters, and constituents play? For those who have resisted the lure of self-aggrandizement, were there certain protocols and characteristics that keep them balanced, or were these individuals skilled at not being exposed? This conversation explores this failure (or fallacy) of leadership and inevitably invites far more questions than answers.

Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jerusalem, and historic Palestine continue to struggle for justice and liberation after 79 years of occupation. Join us for a talk on the goals of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which advocates for an end to Israeli complicity in Palestinian human rights violations.

We welcome Tim Noonan, director of 19th Ward Mutual Aid, which provided over 20,000 people with food during the pandemic and supports asylum seekers who need support. This talk will explore the idea of “mutual aid” and what it means. It will consider how students may get involved.

Join Moraine Valley Psychology faculty in a conversation inspired by our One Book text, Ursula K. Le Guin’s novel The Dispossessed. Using the novel’s vision of community, freedom, and obligation as a starting point, the panel will explore how people build relationships when autonomy and interdependence are both at stake.

Political Divisions in the United States are far more complex than decisions about the role of government. In this talk we’ll discuss the cultural, historical, geographic, and economic roots of political bifurcation, and how understanding this can yield more enriching political interactions. This event is a Democracy Commitment event.

Marc DiPaolo presents on his newly published book about the contributions Italians and Italian Americans have made to the genres of science fiction, fantasy, and horror.

Join Moraine Valley history and political science faculty for a lively panel conversation inspired by Ken Burns’ new PBS documentary series The American Revolution.

In this talk we’ll discuss some of the historical, economic, and political roots of the current Venezuelan conflict.

Le Guin is one of the best writers to help us imagine different futures and better worlds. This talk will explore her life and writing as well as why her work is still so relevant today.

This event will explain what led to the U.S. government shutting down on October 1, 2025. We will discuss the factors that led to the shutdown, the positions of the Democrats and Republicans on the shutdown, and the impact on government workers, services, and politics in general.

As the United States prepares to mark the 250th anniversary of the War for Independence, this panel brings together MVCC historians to explore the defining moments of the Revolution and the lasting significance of the founding struggle.

Our communities are a reflection of the time and dedication we spend making them work. Whether through employment, interactions with your neighbors, or organizing with your elected officials, you get out of your community what you put into it. Join us for an interactive discussion about what is being put into our communities by ourselves and others and what we can do to rehabilitate ourselves from poverty and overcriminalization.Our communities are a reflection of the time and dedication we spend making them work. Whether through employment, interactions with your neighbors, or organizing with your elected officials, you get out of your community what you put into it. Join us for an interactive discussion about what is being put into our communities by ourselves and others and what we can do to rehabilitate ourselves from poverty and overcriminalization.

Argonne National Laboratory is a scientific hub with initiatives ranging from cancer research to quantum chemistry to astrophysics and cosmology. Dr. Wells will talk about his experience as a postdoctoral researcher and early-career computational scientist.

Historian Jim McIntyre will explore how the North American theater of the Seven Years’ War laid the groundwork for colonial unrest and the birth of the American Revolution. McIntyre will examine the war’s political, economic, and territorial consequences that reshaped British-colonial relations.

In recent years, there have been a rapid increase in conflicts, wars and major disagreements between countries over numerous issues. Please join history professors Merri Fefles-Dunkle and Josh Fulton and political science professor Kevin Navratil as they examine the breakdown of the Post WWII international system and other factors that may have contributed to this volatile international environment.

Join us for a special lecture exploring the work and legacy of Ursula K. Le Guin, one of the most influential voices in science fiction and fantasy. Dr. Rebecca Johns-Trissler of DePaul University will examine Le Guin’s themes of anarchism, gender, and imagination in works such as our One Book Text, The Dispossessed. This lecture invites students, faculty, and the community to reflect on how Le Guin’s writing continues to shape conversations about society and storytelling.

The Framers of the Constitution intentionally designed a “Madisonian” system with separation of powers and checks and balances. This event will briefly explain why the Framers designed the system they did and then examine how well these principles are holding up in 2025.

Brian P. Swift's life was changed as a result of a tragic football accident when he was 17 years old. A C6 quadriplegic, he now lives life fully from a wheelchair as a personal development coach, speaker, best-selling author, radio personality, alumnus of Moraine Valley and graduate of DePaul University's College of Law.