With a Side of Knowledge is a podcast produced by the Office of the Provost at the University of Notre Dame. It brings listeners informal interviews with fascinating scholars and professionals from both Notre Dame and elsewhere that take place over brunch.
The eighth episode of the show’s third season, “On ‘A Dangerous Idea’ and Documentary Filmmaking,” was released Thursday, Nov. 7, and features Stephanie Welch, director of the documentary A Dangerous Idea: Eugenics, Genetics, and the American Dream. In September, she visited Notre Dame’s DeBartolo Performing Arts Center and the nearby Vickers Theatre in Three Oaks, Mich., for screenings and discussion of the film.
In addition to directing, Welch was a writer and producer on A Dangerous Idea, which exposes the false claims at the heart of biological determinism—the belief that we are not all created equal, that some groups and individuals are born inherently superior to others and therefore more deserving of fundamental rights. The film goes on to show how popular misunderstanding of both gene science and the concept of genes has been and can be manipulated to advance truly sinister motives.
Welch and host Ted Fox talked about the film, the experience of being an independent filmmaker, and the reception to A Dangerous Idea, whose accolades include winning best documentary at the Santa Fe Film Festival and best feature film at the Ogeechee International History Film Festival.
You can visit provost.nd.edu/podcast to learn more about With a Side of Knowledge, which is available through Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, and Stitcher or by searching “With a Side of Knowledge” in your favorite podcast app.
You can also listen to the episode with Welch using the player below.