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PODCAST

Gresham College Lectures

Gresham College

Gresham College has been providing free public lectures since 1597, making us London"s oldest higher education institution. This podcast offers our recorded lectures that are free to access from the Gresham College website, or our YouTube channel.

education

All Episodes

46:42

The Ancient History of Computers and Code - Victoria...

Gresham College Lectures ·

2024/11/22

What links an ancient shipwreck to the textile mills of Northern England? Both contained forerunners of the computing we use today. Computer language and software also have a long history, featuring military research and the repurposing of early programs widely used in manufacturing. This lecture will delve far back into the archives of processing, prediction, difference, and analytical engines, to discover who really made them work.This lecture was recorded by Victoria Baines on 24th Septemb...

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49:42

The Convoluted Brain: Wrinkles and Folds - Alain Goriely

Gresham College Lectures ·

2024/11/19

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/_Q_30OIPzXwThe human brain has a very distinct and complex appearance with valleys and ridges folding over themselves. The same convolutions are found in large mammals, but not in smaller ones. This observation suggests that size and geometry play a role. Yet, these beautiful shapes have defied a complete description or understanding. This lecture will address questions stemming from this picture: How do these shapes emerge? How are they a...

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51:55

The Health Gap: Achieving Social Justice in Public...

Gresham College Lectures ·

2024/11/15

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/leCxdECjyDMReducing health inequalities is a matter of social justice. Strategies must address the social gradient in health, and efforts should extend beyond healthcare to address the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age. This lecture argues economic circumstances, while important, are not the sole drivers of health inequalities, and closing the health gap will take evidence-based action across the whole of soci...

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50:41

Why Writing Women Back into History Matters - Janina...

Gresham College Lectures ·

2024/11/12

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/IJT3B9WZntcRediscovering remarkable historical figures such as the Birka Warrior Woman, Hildegard of Bingen, and King Jadwiga offers a fresh perspective to understand an era often dismissed as 'nasty, brutish, and short'. Rather than being exceptions, this lecture will reveal the considerable influence and power held by medieval women and shed light on the gradual erosion of female agency over subsequent centuries. Through their rediscovery, it...

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46:40

The Origins of Modern Paganism - Ronald Hutton

Gresham College Lectures ·

2024/11/08

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/sYqJomnunFgThe deeper exploration of Paganism begins with its roots in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, and the question of how ancient paganism was regarded then. It considers the mainstream views of that paganism in that period, which veered between regarding it as a religion of ignorance, tyranny and bloodshed, and one of great artistic and literary achievements that prepared the way for Christianity. It goes on to show how new ideas about ...

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138:19

Does the UK have a Water Crisis? - Carolyn Roberts

Gresham College Lectures ·

2024/11/05

The management of water supplies, flooding and water pollution in the UK is currently the subject of great controversy, and public interest has never been higher. Following a short introduction by Professor Carolyn Roberts, this focused day will include three debates in which experts will discuss contrasting views on the nature of a specific problem, and how it might be solved. Audience involvement will be encouraged through questions. The First Panel Discussion will explore water supply in t...

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46:34

Is Trump the same Nixon in 1968? - Luke A. Nichter

Gresham College Lectures ·

2024/11/04

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/D3Lz-M1P9VkThe 1968 Presidential Election remains the most divisive in modern U.S. history, with Democrat Hubert Humphrey, Republican Richard Nixon, and independent George Wallace at the forefront, and outgoing President Lyndon Johnson working behind the scenes. This lecture explores the striking parallels between 1968 and the 2024 Election, drawing on previously unexplored archives and numerous interviews. It challenges conventional views, rev...

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46:48

What is a Puzzle Canon? The Divine Trickery of J.S....

Gresham College Lectures ·

2024/11/03

Behind the sublime precision and expressive power of Bach’s music lies a mischievous spirit. From puzzle canons (where the performer must solve a riddle to reach the score), melodies that run upside-down and backwards against themselves, hidden symbols, endless loops, to the embedding of numbers and names into the music, this lecture explores Bach’s ingenious trickery. Unravelling this thread, enhances an appreciation – and sense of humanity and playfulness – to his transcendent music.This le...

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54:32

Why Does Britain Have a Housing Crisis? - Martin...

Gresham College Lectures ·

2024/10/30

This lecture was recorded by Martin Daunton on 22nd October 2024 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Martin is Visiting Professor of Economic History.Martin was also Master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, between 2004 and 2014, and he is Emeritus Professor of Economic History at the University of Cambridge.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website:Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. Ther...

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52:27

The Sondheim Showstopper: ‘Send in the Clowns -...

Gresham College Lectures ·

2024/10/25

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/gtCsGQ14nU0This lecture examines ‘Send in the Clowns’, probably the most commercially successful song written by the revered Stephen Sondheim. Yet it confounds the expectations of a showstopper by being written for an actress of limited singing ability, the late Glynis Johns. This lecture reflects on how it works in the context the musical A Little Night Music and explores how it came to be covered by major singers including Frank Sinatra, Judy...

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43:38

How do we secure Europe? - Catherine Ashton

Gresham College Lectures ·

2024/10/22

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/YltPv0VUFgQWith the ongoing war in Ukraine, long-term planning for security in Europe is essential. What will be the role of NATO, EU enlargement, and the support of the UK to ensure a Europe of peace and prosperity? Against the backdrop of Russian aggression, potential changes in US policy and rising populism, what elements will constitute a new European security architecture?This lecture was recorded by Baroness Catherine Ashton&n...

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51:11

Is the Public Lecture Dead? - Martin Elliott

Gresham College Lectures ·

2024/10/22

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/wiAFxEnq8t4Gresham College has been delivering public lectures since 1597 through times of great social, political and technological change. Its commitment to deliver lectures for free to the general public has led to intermittent financial challenges to its generous sponsors. The arrival of the internet, mobile devices and social media have offered both opportunity and further challenge.In an era supposedly characterised by shorter atten...

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41:21

Do Microbes have Immune Systems? - Robin May

Gresham College Lectures ·

2024/10/11

Watch the Q&A session here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDRNuI4VwmkWe often think of immunity as being a human, or at least mammalian, phenomenon. But in fact almost all living organisms have some form of immune system. In this lecture we’ll lift the lid on the astonishingly diverse immune mechanisms used by bacteria, amoebae, nematodes and many other microbial forms of life in their constant battle against viruses and each other.This lecture was recorded by Robin May on 2nd October 2...

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51:58

How to raise the Net Zero conversation - Myles Allen

Gresham College Lectures ·

2024/10/08

Watch the Q&A session here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKaTcobzidkIn a year of elections, climate change is emerging as a divisive political issue, and in many countries for the first time. This may be partly a consequence of past efforts to keep it apolitical through over-reliance on stealth policies and technocratic institutions. This lecture will discuss the need political debate about climate and the calls for an emphasis on “third way” climate solutions, designed to appeal to th...

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44:49

Were Laws created by Greek Legends? - Melissa Lane

Gresham College Lectures ·

2024/10/04

While Lycurgus of Sparta and Solon of Athens are now the best-known lawgivers of Greek antiquity, there were many others, from king Minos in Crete to Zaleucus and Charondas in southern Italy. This lecture explores the specific roles attributed to Greek lawgivers in fact and legend, revealing how and why they captured later political imaginations – with mention of how some even set laws to music.This lecture was recorded by Melissa Lane on 26th September 2024 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Meli...

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36:31

Human Rights Law: Bringing Power to the Powerless -...

Gresham College Lectures ·

2024/10/01

This first lecture looks at the power that is given to advocates in a country that has a constitutional structure like the US. I have brought The American Constitution powers an American lawyer in ways unavailable to the British. I will illustrate this difference from my own experience of bringing 88 cases against the President of the US. I have thus far lost just one.This lecture was recorded by Clive Stafford Smith on 19th September 2024 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Clive is the Gres...

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45:27

What is Modern Paganism? - Ronald Hutton

Gresham College Lectures ·

2024/09/23

What is modern Paganism, and how does it relate to witchcraft, Druidry and other phenomena? This lecture is designed to answer that question, and in doing so to provide an overview of the different traditions that make up Paganism today. It will show what they have in common, and what makes each one unique. It will suggest the ways in which Paganism differs from other religious traditions and what it has especially to offer the modern world. It will also address the question of its relationsh...

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55:07

Does having a big brain make your smarter? - Alain...

Gresham College Lectures ·

2024/09/20

Watch the Q&A session here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFCDvsq6N5gFor centuries scientists have tried to identify what is special about the human brain. How do we approach this problem from a mathematical standpoint? The first hypothesis is that bigger is better, in some sense. In this introductory lecture, scaling laws and simple ideas from statistics will be used to study this problem, both in humans and animals, as well as uncover some basic principles that govern brain size ...

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44:15

A Mirror in the Sky - Chris Lintott

Gresham College Lectures ·

2024/09/17

The first lecture in the series considers the most famous telescope of all, the Hubble space telescope. A project more than forty years in the making, Hubble overcame an initial disaster with a misshapen mirror to drive a revolution in every part of astronomy, providing iconic views of everything from a comet crashing into Jupiter to a surprisingly vibrant, distant Universe. This lecture focuses in particular on what Hubble has revealed about the life - and death - of stars.This lecture was r...

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35:29

The Stories We Make Up & The Stories That Make Us -...

Gresham College Lectures ·

2024/09/06

Many decades ago, as a young graduate from drama school, I was presented with a stark choice – either to shape my story myself, through writing, or to feel aggrieved at the detrimental narratives circulating about people like me in Britain at that time. I chose the latter, and in this talk I will talk about how story-making is a conscious act of speaking ourselves into being - drawing on literature, theatre and the visual arts.This lecture was recorded by Bernardine Evaristo on 25th June 2024 at

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