Podcasts about Gresham College

How can the visual arts be used to promote peace? Professor Mitchell investigates how the visual arts can not only incite violence, but also bear witness, reveal dangerous memories, transform violence, contribute to healing trauma and imagine more hopeful futures. Examples are taken from both current conflicts (Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Palestine) and past wars (Paul Nash and Otto Dix in the First World War, local artists in the Iran-Iraq War and the 1984 Rwandan genocide). Professor Mitchell analyses the ambivalent role of the visual arts in building peace.This lecture was recorded by professor Jolyon Mitchell on 11th February 2026 at Bernard's Inn Hall, LondonProfessor Jolyon Mitchell is Principal of St John's College, Durham and a Professor at Durham University who specialises in Religion, Violence and Peacebuilding, with reference to the arts and media. Educated at the Universities of Cambridge, Durham and Edinburgh, Professor Mitchell worked as a Producer and Journalist with BBC World service and Radio 4 before moving to the University of Edinburgh where he served as Director of CTPI (the Centre for Theology and Public Issues at the University of Edinburgh) and Academic Director for IASH (Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities). He is a former President of TRS-UK (2012-2018 - the national association for Theology and Religious Studies in the UK). He is author or editor of over a dozen books, as well as many chapters and articles, including Promoting Peace and Inciting Violence: The Role of Religion and Media (Routledge, 2012); Martyrdom: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2012); Religion and War: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2021), Religion and Peace (Wiley Blackwell, 2022), Picturing Peace: Photography, Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding (Bloomsbury, 2025) and Media Violence and Christian Ethics (CUP, 2007). He is currently finishing a book on A Passion for Performance: The mysterious resurgence of religious drama (OUP, 2027). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), an honorary fellow at the University of Edinburgh, and a life member of Clare Hall, at the University of Cambridge. Professor Mitchell has also served on international film juries at the Cannes, Berlin and Venice film festivals. He directs several projects on Peacebuilding, including one which led to a widely used co-edited volume on Peacebuilding and the Arts (Palgrave MacMillan, 2020). He has also worked with Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious leaders, as well as Palestinian and Israeli journalists, on a peace building project in Jerusalem and beyond. A keen cricketer and former marathon runner, he has lectured all over the world. The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/peacebuilding-artsGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

This lecture was recorded by Alain Goriely on 13th February 2026 at Bernard's Inn Hall, LondonAlain Goriely is a mathematician with broad interests in mathematical methods, mechanics, sciences, and engineering. He is well known for his contributions to dynamical systems, mathematical biology, as well as fundamental and applied mechanics. He is particularly well known for the development of a mathematical theory of biological growth, culminating with his seminal monograph The Mathematics on Mechanics of Biological Growth (2017).He received his PhD from the University of Brussels in 1994 where he became a lecturer. In 1996, he joined the University of Arizona where he established a research group within the renowned Program of Applied Mathematics. In 2010, he joined the University of Oxford as the inaugural Statutory Professor of Mathematical Modelling and fellow of St. Catherine's College. He is currently the Director of the Oxford Centre for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/she-sellsGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

This lecture was recorded by Clive Stafford Smith on the 9th of February 2026 at Bernard's Inn Hall, LondonClive Stafford Smith JD OBE is a dual UK-US national, the founder and director of the Justice League a non-profit human rights training centre focused on fostering the next generation of advocates. He was the Senior Prefect at Radley College, where he studied maths and science; then a Morehead Scholar at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), where he took a degree in Politics; and a Stone Merit Scholar each of his three years at Columbia Law School, graduating in 1984. He previously founded and directed the legal action charities Louisiana Capital Assistance Center (1993 in New Orleans) and Reprieve (1999 in London). Since 1984 he has tried many capital cases, and helped to represent over 400 people facing execution in the US and elsewhere. He also brought the first challenge to Guantánamo Bay, where he has secured the release of 85 detainees, and continues to assist the remaining 30.  In all five of the cases he has helped bring to the U.S. Supreme Court the petitioner has prevailed. He has recently taken on the case of Aafia Siddiqui, the woman who has most suffered from the US rendition-to-torture program – abducted with her three children. He continues to work on capital cases in the US, including a Post-Mortem Project where he is investigating the claims of innocence of 184 people executed since 1977.Clive has published a number of books including Bad Men (2008, describing work in Guantánamo) and Injustice (2012, on the capital case of Kris Maharaj), both of which were short-listed for the Orwell Prize; and most recently The Far Side of the Moon (2023), deconstructing the parallel lives of his father and a client Larry Lonchar, both of whom were labelled Bipolar. He has many other publications, including manuals for the defence of capital cases, and law review articles about aspects of capital defence. He has worked on many films and documentaries, starting with Fourteen Days In May (1987), recently ranked as one of the top BBC documentaries of all time. While continuing his litigation practice, Clive teaches part time at Bristol Law School and Goldsmiths as well as running a summer programme for 35 students in Dorset, his home. He has received all kinds of awards in recognition of his work, including an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II for “services to humanity” in 2000. He has been a member of the Louisiana State Bar since 1984. The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/pictures-afghanistanGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukX: https://x.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/9ozYDQFkfaYWhen death occurs, the state has a duty to investigate. Every death must be registered locally with a cause of death. And now, more than any other country, all deaths are double-checked, with coroners having a significant role in over 30% of them, explaining the unexplained and reporting to prevent future deaths.This lecture explains: - Who are coroners and what they do   - When an inquest must take place   - How coroners arrive at a just conclusion and  - The benefit to the health and welfare of the nation in death investigationThis lecture was recorded by Sir Peter Thornton KC on the 5th of Feburary 2026 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.His Honour Sir Peter Thornton KC was a practising barrister in criminal and human rights law, a QC (now KC), founder member and head of Doughty Street Chambers in London, a Senior Circuit Judge at the Old Bailey (the Central Criminal Court) and judge in the High Court and Court of Appeal (Criminal Division).   Sir Peter was the first Chief Coroner of England and Wales.   He is now a Visiting Professor at King's College London (where he teaches a course, Death investigation: coroners and inquests), a member of the Independent Expert Panel of the House of Commons, and an international trainer of coroners and judges with the Civil Service College, the Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association and the Slynn Foundation.  His latest book is The Later Years: The simple guide to organising the rest of your life (Bedford Square Publishers, 2025). He also conducts workshops on Life and lifestyle in the later years.The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/death-coronersGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

Sometime in 2026, we will discover our 10000th exoplanet, a world around a distant star. This population of worlds has proved remarkably diverse, but hasn't produced any world like our own. We ask whether this is a coincidence, or whether it could be that our own world is special – and how we might investigate other worlds like our own when we do find them.This lecture was recorded by Chris Lintott on 4th February 2026 at Conway Hall, London.Professor Chris Lintott is a Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford, and a Research Fellow at New College.Having been educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge and University College London, his research now ranges from understanding how galaxies form and evolve, to using machine learning to find the most unusual things in the Universe, to predicting the properties of visiting interstellar asteroids. He was the founder of the Zooniverse citizen science platform, which provides opportunities for more than two million online volunteers to contribute to scientific research, and which was the topic of his first book, 'The Crowd and the Cosmos'. His latest book is ‘Our Accidental Universe'. Professor Lintott is best known for presenting the BBC's long-running Sky at Night program, and as an accomplished lecturer. Away from work, he cooks, suffers through being a fan of Torquay United and Somerset cricket, and spends time with a rescued lurcher, Mr Max. He can often be found at the helm of Oxford's science comedy night, ‘Huh, That's Funny'.The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/alien-earthsGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/fuk6LYeOCDQI have two pet dogs; they are happy, wagging their tails and reacting well when I come home from work. They are well fed; have good healthcare; get daily exercise; and have times of play; they do no work or chores. But their long-gone ancestors were wolves, howling at the moon, hunting, creating their packs, taking risks. In this lecture, we will consider a similar domestication of humans by AI, pondering benefits as well as being clear about the costs.This lecture was recorded by Professor Matt Jones on the 3rd Feb 2026 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Matt Jones is a computer scientist at Swansea University - and a Fellow of the British Computer Society - who works alongside colleagues from many other disciplines and directly with everyday folk across the world to explore the future of digital technologies. Over the last 30-plus years, this human-centred approach has led to novel approaches for, amongst other things,  mobile phone-based information searching and browsing, pedestrian navigation, voice assistants and deformable displays.  Much of his work has been driven by intense and sustained engagements with “low resource” communities from informal settlements in India, South Africa, and Kenya. Through their generous and gracious participation, these extra-ordinary users with the fresh and diverse perspectives have stimulated insights into the future of digital technologies for everyone, globally. In all this work, Matt works as part of a long-standing collaborative team with Jen Pearson, Simon Robinson and Thomas Reitmaier (from Swansea) and colleagues in India (including Dani Raju) and South Africa (including Minah Radebe). His work has been supported by the UK's science funders (EPSRC and UKRI). Currently, this funding includes a Fellowship to explore the future of interactive AI and leadership roles in responsible AI and inclusive digital technologies. This funding has led to a series of impactful publications, talks and influences on people, policies, and practices. Matt has collaborated with private, public and third sector organisations, including Microsoft, the NHS, Google, IIT-B, the BBC and IBM. He is a member of the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office's Research Advisory Group and Welsh Government's AI reviews.The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/ai-petGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/_HJt1zjecCoThe major environmental challenge of our time is framed in terms of what happens in our atmosphere, and specifically what are called “greenhouse gases”. But what is an atmosphere, and how does it behave? Does the atmosphere vary across the world, and what enters and leaves it normally? This lecture will explore how humanity has taken some things from the air and put other things into it, what the effects have been, and what this means for our future.This lecture was recorded by Professor Helen Czerski on the 22nd January 2026 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Dr Helen Czerski is a physicist and oceanographer with a passion for science, sport, books, creativity, hot chocolate and investigating the interesting things in life. She is an Associate Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at University College London and her research focus is the physics of breaking waves and bubbles at the ocean surface. These bubbles change underwater sound and light, help transfer gases from ocean to atmosphere (helping the ocean breathe) and also eject ocean material into the air. She has spent months working on research ships in the Antarctic, the Pacific, the North Atlantic and the Arctic, and is an experienced field scientist. Helen has been a regular science presenter on the BBC for 15 years, covering the physics of the natural world in BBC2 landmark documentaries (including ‘Orbit', ‘Operation iceberg' and ‘Supersenses'), and the physics of everyday life in a range of BBC4 documentaries (including ‘From ice to fire: The incredible science of temperature', ‘Sound waves: The symphony of physics', and ‘Colour: The spectrum of science', along  with many others). She currently co-hosts BBC Radio 4's flagship climate and environment programme Rare Earth. Helen's first book Storm in a Teacup won the Italian Asimov Prize and the Louis J. Battan Author prize from the American Meteorological Society. Blue Machine won the Wainwright Prize for Conservation Writing. She was awarded the Institute of Physics Gold Medal in 2018 for her work on physics communication, and an Honorary Fellowship of the British Science Association in 2020. She has been a Trustee of Royal Museums Greenwich since 2018, and was one of the 2020 Royal Institution Christmas Lecturers, giving her Lecture on the topic of the ocean. The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/ocean-airGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

"Fumifugium" was a treatise on air pollution written in 1661. In addition to warning about the dangers of coal smoke, John Evelyn wrote this work to improve the reputation of King Charles II. Research: Chambers, Douglas D. C. "Evelyn, John (1620–1706), diarist and writer." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. January 03, 2008. Oxford University Press. Date of access 13 Jan. 2026, https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-8996 "Evelyn, John (1620-1706)." Encyclopedia of World Biography, Gale, 1998. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A148426050/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=ab356add. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026. Borunda, Alejandra. “The EPA is changing how it considers the costs and benefits of air pollution rules.” NPR. 1/13/2026. https://www.npr.org/2026/01/13/nx-s1-5675307/epa-air-regulations-health-benefits DeWispelare, Daniel. “’Heavy Fumes of Charcoal Creep into the Brain.’” The 18th-century Common. 5/14/2018. https://www.18thcenturycommon.org/evelyn/ Hovde, Sarah. “A solution for pollution?” Folger Shakespeare Library. 4/21/2017. https://www.folger.edu/blogs/shakespeare-and-beyond/air-pollution-london-fumifugium/ London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. “Pamphlet Collection: Fumifugium, by John Evelyn.” Library, Archive & Open Research Services Blog. 7/11/2022. https://blogs.lshtm.ac.uk/library/2022/11/07/pamphlet-collection-fumifugium-by-john-evelyn/ Jenner, Mark. (1995) The politics of London air : John Evelyn's 'Fumifugium' and the Restoration. The Historical Journal. pp. 535-551. ISSN: 1469-5103. https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/1550/1/jennerm1.pdf Heidorn, K.C. “A Chronology of Important Events in the History of Air Pollution Meteorology to 1970.” Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, December 1978, Vol. 59, No. 12 (December 1978). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26219252 Foster, John Bellamy. “Introduction to John Evelyn’s ‘Fumifugium.’” Organization & Environment, June 1999, Vol. 12, No. 2 (June 1999). https://www.jstor.org/stable/26161864 Brimblecombe, Peter. “Interest in Air Pollution among Early Fellows of the Royal Society.” Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, Mar., 1978, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Mar., 1978). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/531723 Cavert, William M. “The Environmental Policy of Charles I: Coal Smoke and the English Monarchy, 1624–40.” Journal of British Studies, APRIL 2014, Vol. 53, No. 2 (APRIL 2014). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24701865 Darley, Gillian. “John Evelyn: Britain's First Environmentalist.” Gresham College. 11/12/2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOik751LhHk Surrey Heritage. “John Evelyn (1620 – 1706).” https://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/themes/people/writers/john_evelyn/ Evelyn, John. “Fumifugium.” 1661. https://archive.org/details/fumifugium00eveluoft/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The cult of Mithras was by far the most famous of the mystery religions of the Roman Empire: private societies of worshippers devoted to a particular deity. It was supposed to have come from Persia, but was actually developed by the Romans themselves and was especially popular in the northern parts of the empire, including Britain. This lecture considers its shrines, myths, membership and rituals, to see how far we can penetrate the secrecy in which it was shrouded.This lecture was recorded by Ronald Hutton on the 28th of January 2026 at Bernard's Inn Hall, LondonProfessor Hutton is Professor of History at the University of Bristol. He took degrees at Cambridge and then Oxford Universities, and was a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. He is now a Fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Historical Society, the Society of Antiquaries and the Learned Society of Wales, and has won awards for teaching and research.He has lectured all over the world, authored twenty books and ninety-six essays, appeared in or presented scores of television and radio programmes, and sits on the editorial boards of six journals concerned with the history of religion and magic.He is currently working on the third volume of his biography of Oliver Cromwell. The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/god-mithrasGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukX: https://x.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

Grieving is a uniquely human emotion – or is it? Is the apparent attachment of elephants or orcas to the bodies of dead relatives a sign of grief, or simply an instinctive behaviour without emotional implications? Why do some people seem able to handle grief so much better than others? And how close are we to finding a pharmaceutical ‘cure' for grief…and if we find it, should we use it?This lecture was recorded by Professor Robin May on the 21st of January 2026 at Barnard's Inn Hall, LondonProfessor of Infectious Disease at the University of Birmingham, and (interim) Chief Scientist at the UK Health Security Agency, Robin May was appointed Gresham Professor of Physic in May 2022. Between July 2020 and September 2025 he served as Chief Scientific Adviser at the Food Standards Agency (FSA).Professor May's early training was in Plant Sciences at the University of Oxford, followed by a PhD on mammalian cell biology at University College London and the University of Birmingham. After postdoctoral research on gene silencing at the Hubrecht Laboratory, The Netherlands, he returned to the UK in 2005 to establish a research program on human infectious diseases. He was Director of the Institute of Microbiology and Infection at the University of Birmingham from 2017-2020. Professor May continues his work on Infectious Disease at the University of Birmingham. A Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, Wolfson Royal Society Research Merit Fellow and Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, Professor May specialises in research into human infectious diseases, with a particular focus on how pathogens survive and replicate within host organisms.As the FSA's Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor May provides expert scientific advice to the UK government and plays a critical role in helping to understand how scientific developments will shape the work of the FSA, as well as the strategic implications of any possible changes.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/why-grieveGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukX: https://x.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

Constable's painting The Cornfield celebrates its bicentenary in 2026. How has it aged? This is a landscape that has acquired iconic status – a marker of national identity -- as a representation of typically English countryside. How has that Englishness been constituted in the painting? And how does The Cornfield (a view of a partly working landscape) speak to current ideas about relationships and tensions between the natural world and the human presence, especially in our age of environmental anxieties?This lecture was recorded by Malcolm Andrews on 20th January 2026 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Malcolm Andrews is Professor (Emeritus) of Victorian and Visual Studies, University of Kent. He was the Editor of The Dickensian, the journal of the Dickens Fellowship, and a past President of the Dickens Society of America.The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/constable-200Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

Watch the Q&A session here:  https://youtu.be/3B58-fA2b-4"Colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings." — KandinskyHow do we ‘see' music, or ‘hear' images? From Newton's colour scales assigning tones to the rainbow, artists and composers have long explored the deep connections between sound and vision.Kandinsky's Compositions and Improvisations; Klee's polyphonic paintings, and Scriabin's synaesthetic craft all reveal the scintillating interplay of visual and sonic art. This lecture traces their co-evolution and shared language, from spectral composers to technological translations of light into rhythm and melody, uncovering the hidden spectrum where music and colour intertwine.This lecture was recorded by Milton Mermikides on the 14th of January 2026 at LSO St Luke's, LondonMilton Mermikides is a composer, guitarist, technologist, academic and educator in a wide range of musical styles and has collaborated with artists and scientists as diverse as Evelyn Glennie, Tim Minchin, Pat Martino, Peter Zinovieff, John Williams and Brian Eno. Son of a CERN nuclear physicist, he was raised with an enthusiasm for both the arts and sciences, an eclecticism which has been maintained throughout his teaching, research and creative career. He is a graduate of the London School of Economics (BSc), Berklee College of Music (BMus) and the University of Surrey (PhD). He has lectured, exhibited and given keynote presentations at organisations like the Royal Academy of Music, TEDx, Royal Musical Association, British Library, Smithsonian Institute and The Science Museum and his work has been featured extensively in the press. His music, research and graphic art are published and featured by Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Deutsche Grammophon, Sony and more, and he has won awards, scholarships and commendations for writing, teaching, research and his charity work.      Milton is Professor of Music at the University of Surrey, Professor of Guitar at the Royal College of Music, Deputy Director of the International Guitar Research Centre, an Ableton Certified Trainer, and lives in London with his wife, the guitarist Bridget Mermikides and their daughter Chloe. He is also a Vice-Chair of Governors at Addison Primary School, a state school which foregrounds music education, offering free instrumental lessons for all on Pupil Premium. The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/music-light-colourGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukX: https://x.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollegeSupport Us: Support the show

ChatGPT, the AI chatbot developed by OpenAI, was the fastest growing app in history. But this achievement, as sudden and remarkable as it might seem, was simply the most recent chapter in a fascinating story that has been unfolding for almost seven decades. This lecture explores the full history of the relationship between AI and work, and how economists have tried to make sense of it. It's a journey that begins with a remarkable gathering of minds in a non-descript mathematics department at Dartmouth University in 1956 and ends with the technological convulsions that we see around us today.This lecture was recorded by Daniel Susskind on the 13th of January 2026 at Bernard's Inn Hall, LondonDr Daniel Susskind is a writer and economist. He explores the impact of technology, and particularly AI, on work and society. He is a Research Professor at King's College London, a Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Ethics in AI at Oxford University, a Digital Fellow at the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, and an Associate Member of the Economics Department at Oxford University.  His new book, Growth: A Reckoning (2024), was chosen by President Obama as one of his ‘Favourite Books of 2024' and was a runner-up for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year 2024. He is also the author of A World Without Work (2020), described by The New York Times as "required reading for any potential presidential candidate thinking about the economy of the future” and a runner-up for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year 2020, and co-author of the best-selling book, The Future of the Professions (2015). His TED Talk, on the future of work, has been viewed more than 1.6 million times. He is currently working on his next book, What Should Our Children Do? How to Flourish in the Age of AI.  Previously he worked in various roles in the British Government – in the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit, in the Policy Unit in 10 Downing Street, and in the Cabinet Office. He was a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard UniversityThe transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/economics-aiGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukX: https://x.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

One of the first executive orders issued by President Trump in January was EO 14164 designed to “restore the death penalty”, though actually aimed at far more (including making the prison conditions of those commuted by Biden reflect the “monstrosity” of their crimes). We will explore what this means for the 2,400 people on America's death row, at the same time as reviewing the rising levels of innocent people being executed – my own ‘Post Mortem Project' indicating that as many as 13 percent of those killed since 1976 have strong innocence cases. This lecture was recorded by Clive Stafford-Smith on the 4th of December 2025 at Bernard's Inn Hall, LondonClive Stafford Smith JD OBE is a dual UK-US national, the founder and director of  the Justice League a non-profit human rights training centre focused on fostering the next generation of advocates. He was the Senior Prefect at Radley College, where he studied maths and science; then a Morehead Scholar at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), where he took a degree in Politics; and a Stone Merit Scholar each of his three years at Columbia Law School, graduating in 1984. He previously founded and directed the legal action charities Louisiana Capital Assistance Center (1993 in New Orleans) and Reprieve (1999 in London). Since 1984 he has tried many capital cases, and helped to represent over 400 people facing execution in the US and elsewhere. He also brought the first challenge to Guantánamo Bay, where he has secured the release of 85 detainees, and continues to assist the remaining 30.  In all five of the cases he has helped bring to the U.S. Supreme Court the petitioner has prevailed. He has recently taken on the case of Aafia Siddiqui, the woman who has most suffered from the US rendition-to-torture program – abducted with her three children. He continues to work on capital cases in the US, including a Post-Mortem Project where he is investigating the claims of innocence of 184 people executed since 1977.Clive has published a number of books including Bad Men (2008, describing work in Guantánamo) and Injustice (2012, on the capital case of Kris Maharaj), both of which were short-listed for the Orwell Prize; and most recently The Far Side of the Moon (2023), deconstructing the parallel lives of his father and a client Larry Lonchar, both of whom were labelled Bipolar. He has many other publications, including manuals for the defence of capital cases, and law review articles about aspects of capital defence. He has worked on many films and documentaries, starting with Fourteen Days In May (1987), recently ranked as one of the top BBC documentaries of all time. The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/trump-deathGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukX: https://x.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

During the fifty years since the launch of the Viking spacecraft to Mars, our view of the red planet has changed from hostile desert to a world which was once covered in water, and which may just possibly sustain life. Lavishly illustrated with the latest images from the fleet of spacecraft that have explored our neighbour, this lecture considers how Mars' fate, like that of Earth, was set in the Solar System's first billion years, and the chaotic environment the process of planet formation produced.This lecture was recorded by Chris Lintott on the 3rd of December 2025 at Conway Hall, LondonProfessor Chris Lintott is a Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford, and a Research Fellow at New College.Having been educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge and University College London, his research now ranges from understanding how galaxies form and evolve, to using machine learning to find the most unusual things in the Universe, to predicting the properties of visiting interstellar asteroids. He was the founder of the Zooniverse citizen science platform, which provides opportunities for more than two million online volunteers to contribute to scientific research, and which was the topic of his first book, 'The Crowd and the Cosmos'. His latest book is ‘Our Accidental Universe'. Professor Lintott is best known for presenting the BBC's long-running Sky at Night program, and as an accomplished lecturer. Away from work, he cooks, suffers through being a fan of Torquay United and Somerset cricket, and spends time with a rescued lurcher, Mr Max. He can often be found at the helm of Oxford's science comedy night, ‘Huh, That's Funny'.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/mars-loveGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukX: https://x.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

This lecture looks at the 'surreal' art of the Early Netherlandish painter Jheronimus Bosch within its historical and cultural context. Although Bosch's terrifying visions of sin, death, and the hereafter may appear surreal today, especially his highly imaginative depictions of devils, they were tied to the religious attitudes and moralising texts of the period, such as the Ars moriendi, the Dance of Death, and Everyman. It is in this context that one should examine Bosch's Haywain Triptych, Garden of Earthly Delights, and other works.This lecture was recorded by Dr Sophie Oosterwijk FSA on the 10th of December 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Sophie is Vice President of The Church Monuments Society and was for many years editor of its journal Church Monuments. Born in Gouda (Netherlands), she is a recognised specialist in Early Netherlandish and Dutch art. After studying English at Leiden and Medieval Studies at York, she obtained two doctorates in Art History (Leicester) and English Literature (Leiden). She previously taught art history at the Universities of Leicester, Manchester and St Andrews.  Since her return to the Netherlands, Sophie has been working as a freelance researcher and guest lecturer for the University of Cambridge, The Arts Society (formerly NADFAS), and other organisations. She has published widely, especially on death, the danse macabre and commemorative art. Her latest book, a co-edited volume entitled Writing, Dancing and Performing Death across Late Medieval Europe, is due to be published by Brill in 2025. The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/hieronymusGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

Hecate started as the ruling goddess of the Asian region of Caria, and got taken over by the Greeks as the only one able to operate in every realm of the cosmos. This then gave her special responsibility for travellers, doorways and restless ghosts. That slowly darkened her image, so that she became associated with the night, the moon, and magicians. By the Roman period, she was the goddess of sorcery par excellence, invoked for all sorts of enchantments, good or bad. In the late ancient worlds this also turned her into a saviour figure, enabling humans directly to contact the divine. This lecture traces that colourful journey.This lecture was recorded by Robin May on the 26th of November 2025 at Bernard's Inn Hall, LondonProfessor Hutton is Professor of History at the University of Bristol. He took degrees at Cambridge and then Oxford Universities, and was a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. He is now a Fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Historical Society, the Society of Antiquaries and the Learned Society of Wales, and has won awards for teaching and research.He has lectured all over the world, authored twenty books and ninety-six essays, appeared in or presented scores of television and radio programmes, and sits on the editorial boards of six journals concerned with the history of religion and magic.He is currently working on the third volume of his biography of Oliver Cromwell. The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/goddess-hecateGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukX: https://x.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

In this lecture, Tsang examines the strategic goals and direction of travel China's supreme leader, Xi Jinping, has set for the country and its people. He highlights what China's new de facto state ideology Xi Jinping Thought is in order to explain systematically Xi's domestic and global ambitions. In short, what Xi seeks to do is to forge one country, one people, one ideology, one party and one leader' to make China great again or to accomplish the China Dream of national rejuvenation.This lecture was recorded by Professor Steve Tsang on the 27th of November 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Steve Tsang is Professor of China Studies and Director of the China Institute, SOAS, London. He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and an Emeritus Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford. He previously served as the Head of the School of Contemporary Chinese Studies and as Director of the China Policy Institute at the University of Nottingham.  Before that he spent 29 years at Oxford University, where he earned his D.Phil. and worked as a Professorial Fellow, Dean, and Director of the Asian Studies Centre at St Antony's College. He has a broad area of research interest and has published extensively, including five single authored and fourteen collaborative books.  His latest (with Olivia Cheung) is The Political Thought of Xi Jinping (Oxford University Press, 2024).  He is currently completing a new book, ‘China's Global Strategy under Xi Jinping', which will be published by OUP in 2026. The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/china-futureGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

How should we get organised for our later years? With just a little preparation while we are fit and healthy, we can express our wishes for more difficult times. There are simple and positive options to be followed. Not just a will and lasting power of attorney, but simple steps to being independent longer, staying at home longer and enjoying life longer. A little thought now, and hopefully with discussion with family members, will provide reassurance and peace of mind for all.This lecture was recorded by Sir Peter Thornton KC on the 17th of November 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.His Honour Sir Peter Thornton KC was a practising barrister in criminal and human rights law, a QC (now KC), founder member and head of Doughty Street Chambers in London, a Senior Circuit Judge at the Old Bailey (the Central Criminal Court) and judge in the High Court and Court of Appeal (Criminal Division).   Sir Peter was the first Chief Coroner of England and Wales.   He is now a Visiting Professor at King's College London (where he teaches a course, Death investigation: coroners and inquests), a member of the Independent Expert Panel of the House of Commons, and an international trainer of coroners and judges with the Civil Service College, the Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association and the Slynn Foundation.  His latest book is The Later Years: The simple guide to organising the rest of your life (Bedford Square Publishers, 2025). He also conducts workshops on Life and lifestyle in the later years.The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/later-yearsGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

Laughter is an incredibly powerful and yet mysterious emotion. We laugh with delight, but also surprise. We laugh at jokes, but also at embarrassment. Why? What subconscious signal is laughter intended to display? Why do we laugh when someone tickles us and what should we make of the fact that rodents do it too? And why is it that people's sense of humour differs wildly and yet some drugs can send us all into fits of the giggles, even if there is nothing to laugh at?This lecture was recorded by Robin May on the 12th of November 2025 at Bernard's Inn Hall, LondonProfessor of Infectious Disease at the University of Birmingham, and (interim) Chief Scientist at the UK Health Security Agency, Robin May was appointed Gresham Professor of Physic in May 2022. Between July 2020 and September 2025 he served as Chief Scientific Adviser at the Food Standards Agency (FSA). Professor May's early training was in Plant Sciences at the University of Oxford, followed by a PhD on mammalian cell biology at University College London and the University of Birmingham. After postdoctoral research on gene silencing at the Hubrecht Laboratory, The Netherlands, he returned to the UK in 2005 to establish a research program on human infectious diseases. He was Director of the Institute of Microbiology and Infection at the University of Birmingham from 2017-2020. Professor May continues his work on Infectious Disease at the University of Birmingham. A Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, Wolfson Royal Society Research Merit Fellow and Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, Professor May specialises in research into human infectious diseases, with a particular focus on how pathogens survive and replicate within host organisms.As the FSA's Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor May provides expert scientific advice to the UK government and plays a critical role in helping to understand how scientific developments will shape the work of the FSA, as well as the strategic implications of any possible changes.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/why-laughGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukX: https://x.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/Lv5h-Pp1r6sLooking at the plant world, one discovers beautiful and fascinating structures in the shape and arrangement of leaves, stems and roots. Some are simple and symmetric, other features are arranged in elegant Fibonacci spirals, yet others exhibit fractal-like patterns. How are these structures created with such regularity and reproducibility? Such arrangements often follow simple rules that we can fully understand mathematically.This lecture was recorded by Alain Goriely on 11th November 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Professor Alain Goriely FRS is Gresham Professor of Geometry.He is also a mathematician known for dynamical systems, mathematical biology, and mechanics. He developed the mathematical theory of biological growth and is Director of the Oxford Centre for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. His work spans plant tendrils, seashells, umbilical cords, brain modelling, and applied mathematics outreach.The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/shape-plantsGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

Wittgenstein wrote: “If a lion could talk, we would not understand it”. That is, as lions and humans are not of the same material, they could not say anything meaningful to each other. AI is not like us; the only way we can have a relationship with it is for us to become like it. We will look at how digital services are already making us machine-like; and, we explore how advanced AI-human fusions may undo our essential “humanness”.This lecture was recorded by Matt Jones on the 25rd of November 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Matt Jones is a computer scientist at Swansea University - and a Fellow of the British Computer Society - who works alongside colleagues from many other disciplines and directly with everyday folk across the world to explore the future of digital technologies. Over the last 30-plus years, this human-centred approach has led to novel approaches for, amongst other things,  mobile phone-based information searching and browsing, pedestrian navigation, voice assistants and deformable displays.  The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/ai-assimilationGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

Sarah Hart is a mathematician whose research focuses on group theory.  She is Professor Emerita at Birkbeck and Provost of Gresham College. In this podcast we explore her fascination with patterns, both in mathematical thinking and in the physical world. Sarah is well known for her ability to connect with a wide range of public audiences and she is passionate about exploring parallels between mathematics, language, art, history and music. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_B._Hart

Limitarianism holds that it is immoral to have personal wealth above a certain level. Is this idea compatible with capitalism? Defenders of capitalism have argued that it is not, whereas those who want to move beyond capitalism have urged defenders of limitarianism to clear up this issue. This lecture argues that limitarianism is compatible with some forms of capitalism, and that it would help the debate about the most desirable socio-economic system if we provide more clarity on how these concepts are used.This lecture was recorded by Professor Ingrid Robeyns on the 5th of November 2025 at Bernard's Inn Hall, LondonProfessor Ingrid Robeyns works on issues in contemporary political philosophy and applied ethics, and holds the Chair in Ethics of Institutions at the Ethics Institute of Utrecht University. She specialises in applied and "non-ideal" ethics, interdisciplinary research, and developing normative frameworks and methods. Additionally, she is affiliated as a visiting professor at the Center for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) at LSE.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/limitarianismGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukX: https://x.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

In this lecture, Mark Taubert, who chairs the national DNACPR policy for Wales, and is a palliative care clinician, reviews current practices. He will encourage you to consider your own end of life care advance care plan, and attempt to write down your prior wishes. He reviews recent concerns, scandals and media outputs and looks at current resuscitation policies, guidelines and resources. He also discusses, from a clinician's point of view, how the prospect of a natural, anticipated and accepted death in the near future can be a trigger to better advance care planning. Furthermore, he looks at online conspiracy theories, and poor Covid-19 clinical practice, and outlines resources such as the Welsh TalkCPR videos, that can help improve communication in an area rife with misconceptions and misunderstanding.This lecture was recorded by Mark Taubert on the 5th of November 2025 at Bernard's Inn Hall, LondonProfessor Mark Taubert is a UK hospital consultant and clinical director at Velindre University NHS Trust in Cardiff. He is Vice-President of the Brussels-based European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC), a non-governmental organisation dedicated to worldwide improvement in palliative care. His Cardiff University academic activities include advance care planning and new media in medical settings. He is the founder of TalkCPR.com and chairs the national Future Care Planning strategy group for NHS Wales. He has advised UK government on matters relating to palliative care, treatment escalation decisions, and the last years of life. Public engagement efforts include numerous BBC programmes and a Ted Talk on how we use and misuse language in healthcare settings. He also writes for international news outlets like the Washington Post, Newsweek, the Spectator and the Guardian. The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/dnr-formsGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukX: https://x.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

By providing an organised setting for experiment, publication, and debate, the Royal Society helped anchor the emerging scientific method and created a model that continues to influence scientific culture in Britain and ...

Pan started as a shepherds' god in a wild and backward area of Greece, but became one of the best-known in the Greek and Roman world. This was partly because the leading city of Athens imported him as a saviour, and partly because he came to represent the freedom, peace and simplicity of the countryside to urban people. He was the most earthy of Greek deities, summing up wild nature in its beauty but also its danger. He was a god of both liberation and menace, and this lecture faces up to him as both.This lecture was recorded by Professor Ronald Hutton on the 17th of September 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Professor Hutton is Professor of History at the University of Bristol. He took degrees at Cambridge and then Oxford Universities, and was a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. He is now a Fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Historical Society, the Society of Antiquaries and the Learned Society of Wales, and has won awards for teaching and research.He has lectured all over the world, authored twenty books and ninety-six essays, appeared in or presented scores of television and radio programmes, and sits on the editorial boards of six journals concerned with the history of religion and magic.He is currently working on the third volume of his biography of Oliver Cromwell. The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/god-panGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/oQeUePfTrEQThe Royal Historical Society Colin Matthew Memorial Lecture.In April 1945, British forces liberated the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and arrested its commandant, Josef Kramer. What followed was the first post-war trial for war crimes - a landmark event that captured the world's attention. Although later eclipsed by the Nuremberg Trials, the Belsen Trial marked a pivotal moment in confronting Nazi atrocities and establishing a framework for justice after the Holocaust.For Lord Daniel Finkelstein, the story of Belsen is deeply personal. Among those imprisoned and starved in the camp were his mother and grandmother - his grandmother did not survive. In this lecture, Lord Finkelstein will recount the story of the Belsen Trial, exploring how it brought the horrors of the concentration camps to light and how it continues to shape his understanding of law, justice, and moral responsibility.This lecture was recorded by Lord Daniel Finkelstein on the 4th of November 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Daniel William Finkelstein, Baron Finkelstein, OBE (born 30 August 1962) is a British journalist, author, political advisor and politician. He is a former executive editor of The Times, where he remains a weekly political columnist, and has been a regular columnist at The Jewish Chronicle since 2010. Finkelstein was formerly an advisor to Prime Minister John Major and leader of the Conservative Party William Hague. Since 2013 he has sat as a Conservative Peer of the House of Lords.The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/minor-criminalGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

China has important islands of technological excellence, even dominance, but these islands exist in a sea of macroeconomic imbalances and headwinds. Xi Jinping is adamant that by focusing on technology, and other aspects of national security, China can hold sway in the global system and determine global governance. Many western economists and even some in China are not so sure, choosing to wonder if the government has the political capacity to address deep-seated economic problems.This lecture was recorded by George Magnus on the 3rd of November 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.George Magnus is a Research  Associate at the China Centre, Oxford University, and at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, a Member of the China Foresight Forum at LSE IDEAS, and an advisory board member of the China Observatory, a non-partisan initiative at the Council on Geostrategy. The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/china-economicsGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

We often talk about living on a blue planet, but when we think we're talking about the ocean we're generally only discussing what's in it: fish, whales, pollution and ships. But that is to miss the biggest story on Earth, because it's the water itself that sets the scene for everything else. This lecture will outline how the ocean engine works – its internal anatomy, how the components move, and how this engine has directly influenced our history and culture.This lecture was recorded by Professor Helen Czerski on the 30th of October 2025 at Bernards Inn Hall, LondonDr Helen Czerski is a physicist and oceanographer with a passion for science, sport, books, creativity, hot chocolate and investigating the interesting things in life. She is an Associate Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at University College London and her research focus is the physics of breaking waves and bubbles at the ocean surface. These bubbles change underwater sound and light, help transfer gases from ocean to atmosphere (helping the ocean breathe) and also eject ocean material into the air. She has spent months working on research ships in the Antarctic, the Pacific, the North Atlantic and the Arctic, and is an experienced field scientist. Helen has been a regular science presenter on the BBC for 15 years, covering the physics of the natural world in BBC2 landmark documentaries (including ‘Orbit', ‘Operation iceberg' and ‘Supersenses'), and the physics of everyday life in a range of BBC4 documentaries (including ‘From ice to fire: The incredible science of temperature', ‘Sound waves: The symphony of physics', and ‘Colour: The spectrum of science', along  with many others). She currently co-hosts BBC Radio 4's flagship climate and environment programme Rare Earth. Helen's first book Storm in a Teacup won the Italian Asimov Prize and the Louis J. Battan Author prize from the American Meteorological Society. Blue Machine won the Wainwright Prize for Conservation Writing. She was awarded the Institute of Physics Gold Medal in 2018 for her work on physics communication, and an Honorary Fellowship of the British Science Association in 2020. She has been a Trustee of Royal Museums Greenwich since 2018, and was one of the 2020 Royal Institution Christmas Lecturers, giving her Lecture on the topic of the ocean. The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/liquid-engineGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukX: https://x.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

Do animals make music? Are the languages of whales and birds truly songs? To answer this, we must first understand what we mean by music as human animals—and how it might emerge across the animal kingdom. From Messiaen's transcriptions of bird calls to the rhythmic gaits of horses echoing in the blues, we'll hear how animal behaviours form an unwitting orchestra and explore whether music is uniquely human or a shared language with our animal cousins.This lecture was recorded by Milton Mermikides on the 29th of October 2025 at LSO St Luke's, LondonMilton Mermikides is a composer, guitarist, technologist, academic and educator in a wide range of musical styles and has collaborated with artists and scientists as diverse as Evelyn Glennie, Tim Minchin, Pat Martino, Peter Zinovieff, John Williams and Brian Eno. Son of a CERN nuclear physicist, he was raised with an enthusiasm for both the arts and sciences, an eclecticism which has been maintained throughout his teaching, research and creative career. He is a graduate of the London School of Economics (BSc), Berklee College of Music (BMus) and the University of Surrey (PhD). He has lectured, exhibited and given keynote presentations at organisations like the Royal Academy of Music, TEDx, Royal Musical Association, British Library, Smithsonian Institute and The Science Museum and his work has been featured extensively in the press. His music, research and graphic art are published and featured by Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Deutsche Grammophon, Sony and more, and he has won awards, scholarships and commendations for writing, teaching, research and his charity work.      Milton is Professor of Music at the University of Surrey, Professor of Guitar at the Royal College of Music, Deputy Director of the International Guitar Research Centre, an Ableton Certified Trainer, and lives in London with his wife, the guitarist Bridget Mermikides and their daughter Chloe. He is also a Vice-Chair of Governors at Addison Primary School, a state school which foregrounds music education, offering free instrumental lessons for all on Pupil Premium. The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/music-animalsGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukX: https://x.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/v0RoRG2YA-0Why has automation anxiety – the fear that new technologies cause mass unemployment – proven wrong over the centuries? This lecture explores how technology affects the labour market. While new technologies can substitute for workers, reducing demand for their efforts at certain activities, they can also complement them, increasing demand for them to do activities that haven't been automated. Historically, people have focused on the former, harmful force and underestimated – or ignored – the latter helpful force. Today, headlines all too often make the same mistake.This lecture was recorded by Daniel Susskind on the 10th October 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, LondonDr Daniel Susskind is a writer and economist. He explores the impact of technology, and particularly AI, on work and society. He is a Research Professor at King's College London, a Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Ethics in AI at Oxford University, a Digital Fellow at the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, and an Associate Member of the Economics Department at Oxford University. The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/economics-workGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukX: https://x.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

How might we change the way we – and all our leaders think – so that we never go to war? The war between Russia and Ukraine, as well as the conflict in Gaza, have galvanised thinking about, and action by, the bodies administering, the laws of war. National court processes - applying ‘universal jurisdiction' for example – may bring international war criminals to justice. Informal processes can provide material capable of developing national laws and of providing evidence to assist the formal courts. But do these processes do anything to protect from future wars?This lecture was recorded by Professor Geoffrey Nice on 21th October 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Sir Geoffrey Nice KC has practised as a barrister since 1971.  He worked at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia – the ICTY – between 1998 and 2006 and led the prosecution of Slobodan Milošević, former President of Serbia.Much of his work since has been connected to cases before the permanent International Criminal Court – Sudan, Kenya, Libya – or  pro bono for victims groups – Iran, Burma, North Korea – whose cases cannot get to any international court.  He works for several related NGO's and lectures and commentates in the media in various countries on international war crimes issues.  He has been a part-time judge since 1984 sitting at the Old Bailey and has sat as judge in other jurisdictions, tribunals and inquiries.  Between 2009 and 2012 he was Vice-Chair of the Bar Standards Board, the body that regulates barristers.The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/whither-warGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

When – and how – did Athenian democracy begin? There is no unambiguous answer to this question. This lecture explores one plausible origin: the popular uprising in 508 BCE overthrowing foreign invaders (who had previously expelled an Athenian-bred family of tyrants). In the aftermath of that revolution, the Athenians – led by Kleisthenes – reorganised their political system to foster new identities and interactions. As further political and social changes were made, Athenian democracy took shape in the imaginations of contemporaries and of later generations.This lecture was recorded by Professor Melissa lane on the 16th of October 2025 at Barnards Inn Hall, London.Melissa Lane is the Class of 1943 Professor of Politics, Princeton University and is also Associated Faculty in the Department of Classics and Department of Philosophy. Previously she was Senior University Lecturer at Cambridge University in the Faculty of History and Fellow of King's College, Cambridge.She studied for her first degree in Social Studies (awarded summa cum laude) at Harvard University, and then took an MPhil and PhD in Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, where she was a student at King's College, supported by appointments as a Marshall Scholar, Truman Scholar, and Mary Isabel Sibley Fellow of Phi Beta Kappa.Professor Lane is an author, lecturer and broadcaster who has received major awards including being named a Guggenheim Fellow, and the Lucy Shoe Meritt Resident in Classical Studies at the American Academy in Rome. She has published widely in journals and authored or introduced nine major books including Greek and Roman Political Ideas; Eco-Republic; and most recently, Of Rule and Office: Plato's Ideas of the Political, which was awarded the 2024 Book Prize of the Journal of the History of Philosophy.Professor Lane is the only person ever to have delivered both the Carlyle Lectures and the Isaiah Berlin Lectures at the University of Oxford.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/tyranny-democracyGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mSupport the show

This lecture is about the meaning of China and being Chinese. It examines critically how the Chinese state, under the control of the Communist Party defines them. It highlights the historical reality that the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan adopted different political systems. The Communist Party installed a powerful Leninist party-state on the Mainland. Laisses-faire British colonial rule gloomed Hong Kong people to desire democratization. Taiwan has become a vibrant democracy. This lecture address how such realities should influence how we understand China and Chineseness.This lecture was recorded by Steve Tsang on the 15th of October 2025 at Bernards Inn Hall, LondonSteve Tsang is Professor of China Studies and Director of the China Institute, SOAS, London. He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and an Emeritus Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford. He previously served as the Head of the School of Contemporary Chinese Studies and as Director of the China Policy Institute at the University of Nottingham.  Before that he spent 29 years at Oxford University, where he earned his D.Phil. and worked as a Professorial Fellow, Dean, and Director of the Asian Studies Centre at St Antony's College. He has a broad area of research interest and has published extensively, including five single authored and fourteen collaborative books.  His latest (with Olivia Cheung) is The Political Thought of Xi Jinping (Oxford University Press, 2024).  He is currently completing a new book, ‘China's Global Strategy under Xi Jinping', which will be published by OUP in 2026. The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/china-lessonsGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukX: https://x.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/3LrIEG26m78War's environmental legacies disproportionately burden the civilian populations left behind. While research focuses on combatant exposures, civilians face chronic contamination from heavy metals, chemical residues, unexploded ordnance, and asbestos, often exacerbated by disrupted infrastructure and psychological trauma. Framed through the exposome, this lecture highlights the need for greater research and policy focus on these long-term, low-level exposures and their impact on civilian health, advocating for remediation, care, and environmental justice.This lecture was recorded by Dr Ian Mudway on 14th October 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, LondonIan is Visiting Professor of Environmental Health.He is a senior lecturer in the School of Public Health at Imperial, a member of the MRC Centre for Environment and Health; MRC & Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma and the NIHR-PHE Health Protection Research Units in Environmental Exposures and Health and Chemical and Radiation Threats and Hazards.The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/toxic-warGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeThe transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

How is mathematical knowledge recorded and preserved across generations? Contrary to the idea that mathematics itself is somehow ‘permanent', in this talk we will explore heritage-making in mathematics, that is the people, institutions, and material objects that can give mathematical ideas longevity. We will explore the heritage-making found in two very different types of French nineteenth-century libraries: those of famous mathematicians and those of secondary schools. We will especially focus on how the recording – and forgetting – of mathematical ideas is influenced by their publishing, political, and intellectual contexts.This lecture was recorded by Professor Caroline Ehrhardt on 8th October 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Caroline Ehrhardt is Professor of History of Science and Deputy Director of IDHE.S at Université Paris 8 professor in history of science at the Université Paris 8 (France). Her research concerns the history of mathematics in France and Europe (1789–1914). She has published on Evariste Galois, on Galois theory and on mathematics education.Caroline is currently coordinating a collective project funded by the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche, entitled ‘Heritage and patrimonialisation of mathematics, 18th-20th centuries'. She also focuses on the practice of mathematics within French life insurance companies, on interactions between the mathematical and actuarial communities, and the production of mortality tables.The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/heritage-mathsGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

The natural world faces unprecedented threats, challenging historical perceptions of nature as inexhaustible. Photographer Tim Flach draws on his acclaimed works, including Endangered, More Than Human, and Birds, to reveal how photography transcends traditional wildlife representation. By employing critical anthropomorphism and human portraiture techniques, Flach's images foster empathy and kinship with animals. Collaborating with social scientists, he illustrates how visual storytelling evokes emotional responses and inspires conservation action, showcasing the profound intersection of art, science, and social awareness in the Anthropocene.This lecture was recorded by Tim Flach on the 2nd of October 2025 at Barnards Inn Hall, LondonRenowned photographer Tim Flach is known for his stylised animal portraits. He has dedicated his career to documenting biodiversity and conveying empathy for our planet's endangered creatures. Driven by a desire to share stories of the natural world, he collaborates with scientists to research how imagery can better lead to pro-environmental outcomes. He has seven main bodies of work which have been exhibited worldwide, including shows at the Museums of Natural History, from Paris to Beijing. He has six internationally award-winning books translated into multiple languages. His latest publication, Feline, is scheduled for release in Fall 2025. Tim holds an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the Arts London (Norwich) and is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society. He is a Senior Research Fellow (Artist in Residence) at the Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, University of Oxford, and currently serves as President of the Association of Photographers.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/animal-portraitureGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todayWebsite:  https://gresham.ac.ukX: https://x.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

Fear is one of the earliest emotions to have evolved. Most vertebrates – and possibly some invertebrates – show fear when they are threatened. At its most core, fear keeps us alive, helping us flee from predators or avoid dangerous environments. But why does this process sometimes backfire, leaving us paralysed by otherwise harmless phobias? And why do so many people deliberately seek out fearful situations, from horror movies to parachute jumps, when instinct tells us to do the opposite? Can understanding the biology of fear help us conquer it, or simply make us more vulnerable to its impact?This lecture was recorded by Robin May on the 1st of October 2025 at Bernards Inn Hall, LondonProfessor of Infectious Disease at the University of Birmingham, and (interim) Chief Scientist at the UK Health Security Agency, Robin May was appointed Gresham Professor of Physic in May 2022. Between July 2020 and September 2025 he served as Chief Scientific Adviser at the Food Standards Agency (FSA). Professor May's early training was in Plant Sciences at the University of Oxford, followed by a PhD on mammalian cell biology at University College London and the University of Birmingham. After postdoctoral research on gene silencing at the Hubrecht Laboratory, The Netherlands, he returned to the UK in 2005 to establish a research program on human infectious diseases. He was Director of the Institute of Microbiology and Infection at the University of Birmingham from 2017-2020. Professor May continues his work on Infectious Disease at the University of Birmingham. A Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, Wolfson Royal Society Research Merit Fellow and Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, Professor May specialises in research into human infectious diseases, with a particular focus on how pathogens survive and replicate within host organisms.As the FSA's Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor May provides expert scientific advice to the UK government and plays a critical role in helping to understand how scientific developments will shape the work of the FSA, as well as the strategic implications of any possible changes.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/why-fearGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukX: https://x.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

Around 6,000 years ago, the Sahara was a lush grassland. Then, as if a switch flipped, it began to dry out, becoming the desert that we know today. Tipping points are moments in Earth's history where gradual change suddenly becomes rapid and forms a new equilibrium. They're one of the most alarming threats of our planet's near future — and one of the most uncertain. When will a tipping point occur? Mathematicians are attempting to turn vague, apocalyptic visions into something that we can actually prepare for and deal with. On this week's episode, host Samir Patel speaks with contributing writer Gregory Barber about what tipping points can — and cannot — tell us about the future of our planet. This topic was covered in a recent story for Quanta Magazine. Each week on The Quanta Podcast, Quanta Magazine editor in chief Samir Patel speaks with the people behind the award-winning publication to navigate through some of the most important and mind-expanding questions in science and math. Audio coda courtesy of Gresham College.

Since 1945 Hitler and the Nazis have been the Western world's one fixed moral reference point: the way we know what evil is. But that consensus has always been more fragile than it felt, and now it is unravelling. This lecture will trace how we came to build our values around the memory of the Second World War, why that consensus isn't enough to deal with our current predicaments – and why the resolution to all this might be more hopeful than you think. This lecture was recorded by Alec Ryrie on the 30th of September 2025 at Bernard's Inn Hall, LondonAlec Ryrie was Gresham Professor of Divinity. He is also Professor of the History of Christianity at Durham University, Co-Editor of the Journal of Ecclesiastical History and President of the Church of England Record Society. From 2015-17 he was Visiting Professor in the History of Religion at Gresham College and gave two series of lectures on the history of Protestant Christianity. In 2019 he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy.He studied History as an undergraduate, at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, before completing a Master's in Reformation Studies at St. Andrews and a D.Phil. in Theology at St. Cross College, Oxford. From 1999-2006 he taught at the University of Birmingham, moving to Durham in 2007. He was Head of the Department of Theology and Religion from 2012-15 and a Leverhulme Major Research Fellow from 2015-18. He is on the editorial boards of St Andrews Studies in Reformation History (Ashgate) and the Royal Historical Society's New Historical Perspectives. Since 1997 he has been a Reader in the Church of England, and he is licenced to the parish of Shotley St. John (diocese of Newcastle).Professor Ryrie is a historian of the Reformation era and of Protestantism more widely, with a particular focus on England and Scotland in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. He is an expert on the emergence and development of Protestant and radical beliefs, identities and spiritualities, and on the history of Protestant missions and missionaries. He has written several prize-winning books and his 2017 book Protestants: The Radicals Who Made the Modern World gives an overview of the history of Protestantism from Luther to the present. Much of the book was prefigured in his lectures at Gresham College in 2015-17. His Gresham lectures from 2018-19 presented aspects of his 2019 book Unbelievers: An Emotional History of Doubt; his Gresham lectures from 2020-1 presented aspects of his 2020 book The English Reformation.His lectures on the early global spread of Protestantism form the basis of his forthcoming book The World's Reformation, due to be published in 2026. Meanwhile, in 2025 he published The Age of Hitler and How We Will Survive It, and will be speaking about its themes at Gresham in September 2025.'The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/hitler-jesusGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukX: https://x.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

How will it all end? Predicting the far future of our Universe depends on understanding its present. This lecture starts with what seems to be a paradox in modern cosmology: that we have a model that does a fantastic job of explaining what we see, but which says 95% of the Universe is in forms (dark matter and dark energy) that we don't understand. From there, we get a quick tour of the next 100 billion years – and speculate how the Universe's end may hold the secrets of its beginnings.This lecture was recorded by Chris Lintott on the 24th of September 2025 at Conway Hall, LondonProfessor Chris Lintott is a Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford, and a Research Fellow at New College.Having been educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge and University College London, his research now ranges from understanding how galaxies form and evolve, to using machine learning to find the most unusual things in the Universe, to predicting the properties of visiting interstellar asteroids. He was the founder of the Zooniverse citizen science platform, which provides opportunities for more than two million online volunteers to contribute to scientific research, and which was the topic of his first book, 'The Crowd and the Cosmos'. His latest book is ‘Our Accidental Universe'. Professor Lintott is best known for presenting the BBC's long-running Sky at Night program, and as an accomplished lecturer. Away from work, he cooks, suffers through being a fan of Torquay United and Somerset cricket, and spends time with a rescued lurcher, Mr Max. He can often be found at the helm of Oxford's science comedy night, ‘Huh, That's Funny'.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/how-it-endsGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todayWebsite:  https://gresham.ac.ukX: https://x.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

“Scary”, “Worried”, “Dangerous” were some of the most frequent words to describe AI in a recent UK Government public survey. Do you fear, as many do, that AI will lead to us becoming second-class entities? In this first lecture, we will explore this ascendency, considering how notions of intelligence, sentience, perception, consciousness and reasoning are being framed and challenged in an AI-centred world; and surface the social, economic and ethical implications of these developments.This lecture was recorded by Professor Dominic Broomfield-McHugh on 23rd September 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Matt Jones is a computer scientist at Swansea University - and a Fellow of the British Computer Society - who works alongside colleagues from many other disciplines and directly with everyday folk across the world to explore the future of digital technologies. Over the last 30-plus years, this human-centred approach has led to novel approaches for, amongst other things,  mobile phone-based information searching and browsing, pedestrian navigation, voice assistants and deformable displays.  The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/ai-betterGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

Written in the era of the founding of Gresham College, Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream portrays the hypnotic dreaminess of a fairy world in which the real and the fantastic are blurred. This lecture explores how the innate musicality of Shakespeare's original has provoked adaptations across the centuries, including Ashton and Balanchine's ballets based on Mendelssohn's incidental music for the play, Britten's opera, Purcell's masque The Fairy Queen, Henze's Eighth Symphony and Elvis Costello's Il Sogno. What is it about Shakespeare's fairies that have inspired such diverse musical responses?This lecture was recorded by Professor Dominic Broomfield-McHugh on 22nd September  2025 at Conway Hall, London.Dominic Broomfield-McHugh is Gresham Visiting Professor of Film and Theatre Music. He is also Professor of Music at the University of Sheffield and is a graduate of King's College London. His scholarship focuses on the American musical on stage and screen, and he has published eight books including Loverly: The Life and Times of 'My Fair Lady' (OUP, 2012), The Letters of Cole Porter (Yale, 2019) and The Oxford Handbook of the Hollywood Musical (2022). He is Associate Producer of the PBS documentary Meredith Willson: America's Music Man and has appeared on all the main BBC television and radio stations as well as NPR in America. He has given talks and lectures at the Sydney Opera House, New York City Center, the Library of Congress, New York Public Library, Sadler's Wells, and Lincoln Center, among many others.The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/musical-fairiesGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

This lecture looks at the evolution of Guantánamo Bay, first as a focal point of Haitian immigration in 1991 (Gitmo 1.0), to the more famous detention of terror suspects in 2002 (Gitmo 2.0), and back to immigration in 2025. We will explore how Gitmo 3.0 is probably already over, and how we were able to head it off so quickly through legal challenges. However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the U.S. is “actively searching” for countries to accept migrants deported from the U.S., with both El Salvador and Rwanda under consideration. We will discuss how lessons from legal action around Guantánamo Bay might translate to other settings.This lecture was recorded by Clive Stafford Smith on 18th September 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Clive is the Gresham Professor of LawHe is the founder and director of  the Justice League a non-profit human rights training centre focused on fostering the next generation of advocates.  He also teaches part time at Bristol Law School and Goldsmiths as well as running a summer programme for 35 students in Dorset, his home. He has received all kinds of awards in recognition of his work, including an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II for “services to humanity” in 2000. He has been a member of the Louisiana State Bar since 1984.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/guantanamoGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todayWebsite:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

The reflection of my right hand in a mirror is a left hand that looks similar yet is very different from the right. Many natural structures such as proteins, climbing vines, and seashells exhibit the same property known as chirality. Some of these objects are clearly left-handed, some are right-handed, some are both. The ultimate origin of chirality is one of Nature's great mysteries. In this talk, I will discuss the general problem of determining the chirality of an object and how it impacts all branches of science.This lecture was recorded by Alain Goriely on 16th September  2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Professor Alain Goriely FRS is Gresham Professor of Geometry.He is also a mathematician known for dynamical systems, mathematical biology, and mechanics. He developed the mathematical theory of biological growth and is Director of the Oxford Centre for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. His work spans plant tendrils, seashells, umbilical cords, brain modelling, and applied mathematics outreach.The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/shape-handsGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

Who really built the global economy? Traditional history books tell a story dominated by men—inventors, industrialists, and financiers. But what if this narrative is missing half the picture?In this eye-opening episode, host Nick is joined by Dr. Victoria Bateman of Gresham College to discuss her hugely ambitious new book, Economica: A Global History of Women, Wealth and Power. Dr. Bateman challenges the very foundations of economic history, arguing that our understanding of wealth creation is fundamentally flawed because it has systematically ignored the contributions of women.This conversation travels from the Stone Age to the present day, shattering one of history's biggest myths: that women were simply housewives until the 20th century.In this episode, you will discover:The Unseen Engine: How unpaid care work, performed overwhelmingly by women, underpins the entire global economy—equivalent in value to the US, Chinese, and EU economies combined.Beyond the Stereotypes: The surprising history of women in traditionally "masculine" jobs, from brewers in medieval London to pyramid builders in ancient Egypt.Boom and Bust: How labour shortages, such as those following the Black Death, created economic opportunities for women, while periods of high population often saw them pushed out of the workforce.Revolutionary Women: The forgotten female activists who were at the forefront of major historical events, including the 1917 Russian Revolution.The Power of Choice: Why a flourishing economy depends not just on women working, but on their freedom to choose their work and keep the rewards.At a time of renewed debate about gender, work, and equality, this episode provides a crucial historical perspective, revealing that the story of the economy is a story that cannot be told without understanding the central role of women.Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Planet Earth is an intricate and interconnected system, with some fundamental rules that we usually ignore. But we are part of our planet, not separate to it or just perched on top of it. This lecture will consider the two primary rules of Earth: that energy continually flows through the system (in from the Sun and then out again to space) and that matter/atoms must be continually recycled and use these to build up an outsider's view of our planet.This lecture was recorded by Helen Czerski on the 11th of September 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, LondonDr Helen Czerski is a physicist and oceanographer with a passion for science, sport, books, creativity, hot chocolate and investigating the interesting things in life. She is an Associate Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at University College London and her research focus is the physics of breaking waves and bubbles at the ocean surface. These bubbles change underwater sound and light, help transfer gases from ocean to atmosphere (helping the ocean breathe) and also eject ocean material into the air. She has spent months working on research ships in the Antarctic, the Pacific, the North Atlantic and the Arctic, and is an experienced field scientist. The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/life-supportGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukX: https://x.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

Ever since modern economic growth began three centuries ago, people have suffered from periodic bursts of anxiety about the technologies of the time taking on the work that they do. This opening lecture explores the history of ‘automation anxiety' – from the Luddites who smashed framing machines at the start of the Industrial Revolution in Britain to the protestors who set driverless cars on fire on the streets of San Francisco today. Time and again, their main worry – that there would not be enough work for people to do – turned out to be wrong. But they did have legitimate grievances as well.This lecture was recorded by Daniel Susskind on the 9th of September 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, LondonDr Daniel Susskind is a writer and economist. He explores the impact of technology, and particularly AI, on work and society. He is a Research Professor at King's College London, a Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Ethics in AI at Oxford University, a Digital Fellow at the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, and an Associate Member of the Economics Department at Oxford University. The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/automation-anxietyGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukX: https://x.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

Coincidences may seem like random occurrences to many of us – but not to a mathematician. Sarah Hart is professor of geometry at Gresham College and professor emerita of mathematics at Birkbeck, University of London. She joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why we so often look for coincidences in our lives — and why that's a mathematically futile endeavor — why the blind luck behind lottery wins might not be so blind after all, and why revealing this magic with numbers makes the phenomenon all the more interesting. Her article, “The surprising maths that explains why coincidences are so common,” was published in New Scientist.This episode originally aired January 15th, 2025. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices