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The clash between David Wolfson KC's “thin” interpretation of legal principle and Attorney General Richard Hermer's “thick” is explained through the experienced legal eyes of Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC on this episode of Double Jeopardy. They dig into the political implications of these contrasting views, the role of parliamentary sovereignty, how the UK navigates its obligations under international law, including the Chagos Island dispute and the role of the International Criminal Court, whether the Tories will commit to repeal of the Human Rights Act and leaving the ECHR and ask whether the role and function of the rule of law can ever be approached in a non-partisan way. Shadow Attorney General David Wolfson KC also joins Double Jeopardy to tackle one of the most pressing questions in UK politics and law today: what does the rule of law really mean - and who gets to define it? Covering the constitutional crisis created by Brexit/Covid, the right of Parliament to legislate in defiance of international law, the domestic law tensions generated by the expansive approach to human rights law of the European Court of Human Rights and the influence of current political events including the migration debate on attitudes to the rule of law, this episode offers rare, insider insight into the legal and philosophical tensions at the heart of the British system. If you're looking for thoughtful legal system insights, a deeper understanding of UK politics, or an unflinching look at UK law and legal battles in Britain, this episode delivers it all. Law, politics, and justice - expertly unpacked on Double Jeopardy. ----- Covering the critical intersections of law and politics in the UK with expert commentary on high-profile legal cases, political controversies, prisons and sentencing, human rights law, current political events and the shifting landscape of justice and democracy. With in-depth discussions and influential guests, Double Jeopardy is the podcast that uncovers the forces shaping Britain's legal and political future. What happens when law and politics collide? How do politics shape the law - and when does the law push back? What happens when judicial independence is tested, human rights come under attack, or freedom of expression is challenged? And who really holds power in Britain's legal and political system? Get answers to questions like these weekly on Wednesdays at 6am GMT. Double Jeopardy is presented by Ken Macdonald KC, former Director of Public Prosecutions, and Tim Owen KC, as they break down the legal and political issues in Britain. From high-profile legal cases to the evolving state of British democracy, Double Jeopardy offers expert legal commentary on the most pressing topics in UK law, politics, and human rights. Ken Macdonald KC served as Director of Public Prosecutions from 2003-2008, shaping modern prosecutorial policy and advocating for the rule of law. He is a former Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, a crossbench member of the House of Lords, and a leading writer, commentator and broadcaster on politics and the rule of law. Tim Owen KC has been involved in many of the most significant public, criminal and human rights law cases over the past four decades. Both bring unparalleled experience from the frontline of Britain's legal and political landscape. If you like The Rest Is Politics, Talking Politics, Law Pod UK and Today in Focus, you'll love Double Jeopardy.
Historian Josephine Quinn is the first woman to lead the Ancient History department at the University of Cambridge. She is also an honorary member of Wadham College and an emeritus fellow at Worcester College, both at the University of Oxford. Quinn is a well-known expert on the ancient Mediterranean, and her work questions many traditional ideas about identity, culture, and civilization. With a global and thoughtful approach, Quinn shows that ancient societies were much more connected than we usually think. In her book In Search of the Phoenicians (2018), she challenges the idea that the Phoenicians were one united group of sailors and traders. Instead, she explains that this identity was created much later for political or cultural reasons. Her latest book, How the World Made the West (2024), looks again at where the idea of “the West” comes from. She argues that it was not created by just Greece and Rome, but by many different cultures through trade, migration, and mixing of ideas. “The real problem is the idea of ‘civilizations,'” Quinn says. “That's what we should stop teaching. The word ‘civilizations,' as we use it today, only started in 19th-century Europe, around the same time people started talking about ‘the West.' It's easier to treat people badly if you believe they are totally different from you, if you can put them in a separate category. But humans have always wanted to connect with each other. If we stop thinking in terms of separate civilizations, we can see history more clearly.” Quinn encourages us to look at history as a conversation between people and cultures, not just a series of isolated empires or nations. In the end, her work reminds us that both the past and the present are built on human connections.
Given the gross miscarriages of justice exposed by the Post Office/Horizon scandal, the extraordinary delay in reversing the wrongful conviction of Andrew Malkinson due to repeated failures by the Criminal Cases Review Commission and the continuing calls for the case of Lucy Letby to be referred back to the Court of Appeal, is the criminal appeal system in need of fundamental reform? Connecting the dots between recent events, and the health of criminal justice in Britain is Professor Penney Lewis who joins Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC to explain, in accessible terms, insider legal perspectives on topics such as the basis on which the Court of Appeal decides whether a criminal conviction is unsafe; the admissibility of fresh, post-trial evidence; the need for reform of juror secrecy; compensation for the wrongly convicted; and whether the Supreme Court should be able to decide for itself whether to entertain an appeal from the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division). Link to the Law Commission's Summary of its Consultation Paper on criminal appeals: https://cloud-platform-e218f50a4812967ba1215eaecede923f.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/sites/54/2025/02/Criminal-Appeals-CP-Summary.pdf Penney Lewis was formerly Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Centre of Medical Law and Ethics in the Dickson Poon School of Law, King's College, London and is currently the Criminal Law Commissioner of the Law Commission of England and Wales. The Law Commission is currently consulting on reforms to the law governing criminal appeals including the tests applied by appeal courts and the Criminal Cases Review Commission, post-trial retention of and access to evidence, and compensation and support for the wrongly convicted. If you're looking for thoughtful legal system insights, a deeper understanding of UK politics, or an unflinching look at UK law and legal battles in Britain, this episode delivers it all. Law, politics, and justice - expertly unpacked on Double Jeopardy. ----- Covering the critical intersections of law and politics in the UK with expert commentary on high-profile legal cases, political controversies, prisons and sentencing, human rights law, current political events and the shifting landscape of justice and democracy. With in-depth discussions and influential guests, Double Jeopardy is the podcast that uncovers the forces shaping Britain's legal and political future. What happens when law and politics collide? How do politics shape the law - and when does the law push back? What happens when judicial independence is tested, human rights come under attack, or freedom of expression is challenged? And who really holds power in Britain's legal and political system? Get answers to questions like these weekly on Wednesdays at 6am GMT. Double Jeopardy is presented by Ken Macdonald KC, former Director of Public Prosecutions, and Tim Owen KC, as they break down the legal and political issues in Britain. From high-profile legal cases to the evolving state of British democracy, Double Jeopardy offers expert legal commentary on the most pressing topics in UK law, politics, and human rights. Ken Macdonald KC served as Director of Public Prosecutions from 2003-2008, shaping modern prosecutorial policy and advocating for the rule of law. He is a former Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, a crossbench member of the House of Lords, and a leading writer, commentator and broadcaster on politics and the rule of law. Tim Owen KC has been involved in many of the most significant public, criminal and human rights law cases over the past four decades. Both bring unparalleled experience from the frontline of Britain's legal and political landscape. If you like The Rest Is Politics, Talking Politics, Law Pod UK and Today in Focus, you'll love Double Jeopardy.
As support for populist movements grows, judicial independence and the rule of law are increasingly under attack. Lawyers around the world are becoming front-line defenders of democracy - and paying the price. Double Jeopardy hosts Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC explain the situation with expert legal commentary and legal system insights. Renowned international lawyer Robert Amsterdam joins the conversation to explore the vital - and increasingly precarious -role of legal professionals in democratic societies. Amsterdam reflects on his own extraordinary journey through high-profile legal cases, from political prosecutions to international corporate disputes. This episode focuses on current events in Ukraine, where a controversial draft law is raising alarms about human rights, religious freedom, client confidentiality, and the erosion of the rule of law. Together, they unpack the legal, political, and historical forces at play, while also connecting the dots to UK law, UK politics, prisons and sentencing, crime and punishment, and the broader criminal justice crisis. From British politics explained to global struggles over human rights law, current political events, and the collision between politics and law, this episode reveals the hidden battles shaping justice today - and why they matter to us all. -----Covering the critical intersections of law and politics in the UK with expert commentary on high-profile legal cases, political controversies, prisons and sentencing, human rights law, current political events and the shifting landscape of justice and democracy. With in-depth discussions and influential guests, Double Jeopardy is the podcast that uncovers the forces shaping Britain's legal and political future. What happens when law and politics collide? How do politics shape the law - and when does the law push back? What happens when judicial independence is tested, human rights come under attack, or freedom of expression is challenged? And who really holds power in Britain's legal and political system? Get answers to questions like these weekly on Wednesdays at 6am GMT. Double Jeopardy is presented by Ken Macdonald KC, former Director of Public Prosecutions, and Tim Owen KC, as they break down the legal and political issues in Britain. From high-profile legal cases to the evolving state of British democracy, Double Jeopardy offers expert legal commentary on the most pressing topics in UK law, politics, and human rights. Ken Macdonald KC served as Director of Public Prosecutions from 2003-2008, shaping modern prosecutorial policy and advocating for the rule of law. He is a former Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, a crossbench member of the House of Lords, and a leading writer, commentator and broadcaster on politics and the rule of law. Tim Owen KC has been involved in many of the most significant public, criminal and human rights law cases over the past four decades. Both bring unparalleled experience from the frontline of Britain's legal and political landscape.If you like The Rest Is Politics, Talking Politics, Law Pod UK and Today in Focus, you'll love Double Jeopardy.
What does the law say about who counts as a woman - and who gets to decide? Unpacking the UK Supreme Court's recent ruling on the definition of “woman” under the Equality Act 2010 and Gender Recognition Act is guest Karon Monaghan KC, one of the UK's leading employment and discrimination law barristers. See here for a link to the judgment. The discussion of this high-profile legal case tackles the legal system's treatment of trans rights, women's rights, and single-sex spaces, revealing the tensions at the heart of UK politics, human rights and equality law. Alongside hosts Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC, Karon explores the wider political issues in Britain, including the role of the EHRC and Stonewall in misrepresenting the law, the responsibilities of public institutions, and the rule of law in a polarised landscape. They also examine recent CPS guidance on consent and deception in sexual offences, raising crucial questions about the legal boundaries of sex, identity, and freedom of expression. With sharp analysis and expert legal commentary, this episode offers key legal system insights into the definitions of sex and gender in UK equality law, the balance of rights between different protected groups, and the future of politics and law in Britain.-----Covering the critical intersections of law and politics in the UK with expert commentary on high-profile legal cases, political controversies, prisons and sentencing, human rights law, current political events and the shifting landscape of justice and democracy. With in-depth discussions and influential guests, Double Jeopardy is the podcast that uncovers the forces shaping Britain's legal and political future. What happens when law and politics collide? How do politics shape the law - and when does the law push back? What happens when judicial independence is tested, human rights come under attack, or freedom of expression is challenged? And who really holds power in Britain's legal and political system? Get answers to questions like these weekly on Wednesdays at 6am GMT. Double Jeopardy is presented by Ken Macdonald KC, former Director of Public Prosecutions, and Tim Owen KC, as they break down the legal and political issues in Britain. From high-profile legal cases to the evolving state of British democracy, Double Jeopardy offers expert legal commentary on the most pressing topics in UK law, politics, and human rights. Ken Macdonald KC served as Director of Public Prosecutions from 2003-2008, shaping modern prosecutorial policy and advocating for the rule of law. He is a former Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, a crossbench member of the House of Lords, and a leading writer, commentator and broadcaster on politics and the rule of law. Tim Owen KC has been involved in many of the most significant public, criminal and human rights law cases over the past four decades. Both bring unparalleled experience from the frontline of Britain's legal and political landscape.If you like The Rest Is Politics, Talking Politics, Law Pod UK and Today in Focus, you'll love Double Jeopardy.
What happens when political leaders and media outlets misrepresent court decisions, and how does this impact judicial independence and public trust in the UK legal system?A range of high-stakes UK law and UK politics issues that have dominated headlines recently are tackled in this listener-driven postbag edition of Double Jeopardy. Hosts Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC begin with a scathing analysis of media misreporting on high-profile legal cases, including sensational headlines about immigration rulings that bear little resemblance to actual judicial decisions. Their discussion highlights the consequences of misinformation and the critical need for accurate, responsible journalism when reporting on UK law. They also discuss the legitimacy of political interference in a live criminal investigation, questioning the Justice Secretary's tweet calling for “the strongest possible punishment” in the aftermath of the HMP Frankland prison attack. Is it another example of the Lord Chancellor's lack of understanding of the separation of powers, or just the new norm in UK politics? Ken and Tim examine the evolving debate about “thin” and “thick” theories of the rule of law, including a discussion of international legal obligations, parliamentary sovereignty, and the ideological battle playing out in the corridors of Westminster. With references to Lord Bingham, Lord Wolfson KC, Professor Richard Ekins and Attorney General Lord Hermer KC, they consider what these distinctions mean for the future of UK politics and the ongoing crisis of both criminal and civil justice. Finally, the episode turns to Labour's shifting identity under Keir Starmer, dissecting the emergence of “Hard Labour” and what a security-first political agenda means for freedom of expression, human rights law, and the broader relationship between politics and law. From prisons and sentencing to the principles that govern crime and punishment, Double Jeopardy offers expert legal commentary that helps listeners understand how current events and current political events intersect with the UK's evolving legal framework.-----Covering the critical intersections of law and politics in the UK with expert commentary on high-profile legal cases, political controversies, prisons and sentencing, human rights law, current political events and the shifting landscape of justice and democracy. With in-depth discussions and influential guests, Double Jeopardy is the podcast that uncovers the forces shaping Britain's legal and political future. What happens when law and politics collide? How do politics shape the law - and when does the law push back? What happens when judicial independence is tested, human rights come under attack, or freedom of expression is challenged? And who really holds power in Britain's legal and political system? Get answers to questions like these weekly on Wednesdays at 6am GMT. Double Jeopardy is presented by Ken Macdonald KC, former Director of Public Prosecutions, and Tim Owen KC, as they break down the legal and political issues in Britain. From high-profile legal cases to the evolving state of British democracy, Double Jeopardy offers expert legal commentary on the most pressing topics in UK law, politics, and human rights. Ken Macdonald KC served as Director of Public Prosecutions from 2003-2008, shaping modern prosecutorial policy and advocating for the rule of law. He is a former Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, a crossbench member of the House of Lords, and a leading writer, commentator and broadcaster on politics and the rule of law. Tim Owen KC has been involved in many of the most significant public, criminal and human rights law cases over the past four decades. Both bring unparalleled experience from the frontline of Britain's legal and political landscape.If you like The Rest Is Politics, Talking Politics, Law Pod UK and Today in Focus, you'll love Double Jeopardy.
What happens when the very foundation of criminal justice - the prosecution disclosure process to the defence - fails to meet modern demands? This episode focuses on the Fisher Report, a groundbreaking review that addresses the critical issues surrounding prosecution disclosure in complex criminal trials, a key issue in the ongoing criminal justice crisis in the UK. Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC are joined by Ian Winter KC , a leading criminal silk, and the conversation explores how too many miscarriages of justice should force reform of the UK Justice System, with particular focus on the challenges faced by both prosecution and defence in the UK legal system. The discussion highlights how outdated practices in prosecution disclosure contribute to delays and injustices, and how the recommendations made by Jonathan Fisher KC aim to address these issues. They also discuss the role of AI in law in improving the disclosure process, a potential game-changer for the legal system. This exploration of AI in law speaks to broader issues of technology's role in the criminal justice system and its intersection with human rights law, judicial independence, and the rule of law. This episode emphasises the need for better training and a cultural shift within the legal system to meet modern expectations of justice, fairness, and transparency. From the importance of proportionality in disclosure to the challenges around redaction, this conversation highlights critical legal issues in Britain and how they relate to the evolving dynamics of politics and law. Double Jeopardy offers expert legal commentary on a high-profile legal case that could transform UK law and impact the way future criminal trials are handled.-----Covering the critical intersections of law and politics in the UK with expert commentary on high-profile legal cases, political controversies, prisons and sentencing, human rights law, current political events and the shifting landscape of justice and democracy. With in-depth discussions and influential guests, Double Jeopardy is the podcast that uncovers the forces shaping Britain's legal and political future. What happens when law and politics collide? How do politics shape the law - and when does the law push back? What happens when judicial independence is tested, human rights come under attack, or freedom of expression is challenged? And who really holds power in Britain's legal and political system? Get answers to questions like these weekly on Wednesdays at 6am GMT. Double Jeopardy is presented by Ken Macdonald KC, former Director of Public Prosecutions, and Tim Owen KC, as they break down the legal and political issues in Britain. From high-profile legal cases to the evolving state of British democracy, Double Jeopardy offers expert legal commentary on the most pressing topics in UK law, politics, and human rights. Ken Macdonald KC served as Director of Public Prosecutions from 2003-2008, shaping modern prosecutorial policy and advocating for the rule of law. He is a former Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, a crossbench member of the House of Lords, and a leading writer, commentator and broadcaster on politics and the rule of law. Tim Owen KC has been involved in many of the most significant public, criminal and human rights law cases over the past four decades. Both bring unparalleled experience from the frontline of Britain's legal and political landscape.If you like The Rest Is Politics, Talking Politics, Law Pod UK and Today in Focus, you'll love Double Jeopardy.
Is the UK heading toward a constitutional clash over crime and justice? Exploring a wide range of pressing issues, from the government's proposed emergency legislation to override revised sentencing guidelines, to the implications of an international summit on organised migration crime. Examining the complexities of asylum claims, the growing controversy around Article 8 of the Human Rights Act, and how media narratives are shaping public perception of the UK legal system. As expert legal commentators, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC explore the mounting tension at the heart of UK law and politics - where legal principles collide with political pressure. Ken and Tim also explore growing political pressures in the UK as they relate to pre-sentence reports, criticisms of the Sentencing Council, and the broader debate over a so-called two-tier justice system. They focus on the UK criminal justice crisis, rising prison populations, and the shifting line between the executive and the judiciary - highlighting real risks to judicial independence, the rule of law, and freedom of expression. This is UK politics explained at its most urgent - where current events, high-profile legal cases, and ideological clashes converge. Whether you're a lawyer, policymaker, or politically curious listener, Double Jeopardy delivers unmatched legal system insights and expert legal commentary from two of the UK's most experienced legal voices.First the letter from Lord Justice Davis to the Lord Chancellor dated 20th March 2025 can be found here.Just Stop Oil protesters appeal against sentence can be found here.-----Covering the critical intersections of law and politics in the UK with expert commentary on high-profile legal cases, political controversies, prisons and sentencing, human rights law, current political events and the shifting landscape of justice and democracy. With in-depth discussions and influential guests, Double Jeopardy is the podcast that uncovers the forces shaping Britain's legal and political future. What happens when law and politics collide? How do politics shape the law - and when does the law push back? What happens when judicial independence is tested, human rights come under attack, or freedom of expression is challenged? And who really holds power in Britain's legal and political system? Get answers to questions like these weekly on Wednesdays at 6am GMT. Double Jeopardy is presented by Ken Macdonald KC, former Director of Public Prosecutions, and Tim Owen KC, as they break down the legal and political issues in Britain. From high-profile legal cases to the evolving state of British democracy, Double Jeopardy offers expert legal commentary on the most pressing topics in UK law, politics, and human rights. Ken Macdonald KC served as Director of Public Prosecutions from 2003-2008, shaping modern prosecutorial policy and advocating for the rule of law. He is a former Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, a crossbench member of the House of Lords, and a leading writer, commentator and broadcaster on politics and the rule of law. Tim Owen KC has been involved in many of the most significant public, criminal and human rights law cases over the past four decades. Both bring unparalleled experience from the frontline of Britain's legal and political landscape.If you like The Rest Is Politics, Talking Politics, Law Pod UK and Today in Focus, you'll love Double Jeopardy.
Exploring the high-profile Lucy Letby case, and the dangers of relying too heavily on identification evidence, this episode of Double Jeopardy raises critical concerns about the ban on jury research and how it hampers efforts to improve the criminal justice system through controlled academic study. As expert legal commentators, Tim Owen KC and Ken Macdonald KC unpack the importance of pre-sentence reports in sentencing decisions - highlighting how vital they are in a time of crisis within UK prisons. They also consider how public scrutiny and media pressure impact legal representation in high-stakes cases. Through sharp insights into UK law and politics, the hosts focus on broader themes like the Rule of Law, judicial independence, and freedom of expression. This episode offers a timely and thought-provoking exploration of the intersection between crime and punishment, human rights law, and the UK's adversarial legal system.-----Covering the critical intersections of law and politics in the UK with expert commentary on high-profile legal cases, political controversies, prisons and sentencing, human rights law, current political events and the shifting landscape of justice and democracy. With in-depth discussions and influential guests, Double Jeopardy is the podcast that uncovers the forces shaping Britain's legal and political future. What happens when law and politics collide? How do politics shape the law - and when does the law push back? What happens when judicial independence is tested, human rights come under attack, or freedom of expression is challenged? And who really holds power in Britain's legal and political system? Get answers to questions like these weekly on Wednesdays at 6am GMT. Double Jeopardy is presented by Ken Macdonald KC, former Director of Public Prosecutions, and Tim Owen KC, as they break down the legal and political issues in Britain. From high-profile legal cases to the evolving state of British democracy, Double Jeopardy offers expert legal commentary on the most pressing topics in UK law, politics, and human rights. Ken Macdonald KC served as Director of Public Prosecutions from 2003-2008, shaping modern prosecutorial policy and advocating for the rule of law. He is a former Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, a crossbench member of the House of Lords, and a leading writer, commentator and broadcaster on politics and the rule of law. Tim Owen KC has been involved in many of the most significant public, criminal and human rights law cases over the past four decades. Both bring unparalleled experience from the frontline of Britain's legal and political landscape.If you like The Rest Is Politics, Talking Politics, Law Pod UK and Today in Focus, you'll love Double Jeopardy.
In this episode of Oxford+, host Susannah de Jager is joined by John Derrick, Managing Director at J.P. Morgan, to discuss the intricacies of European and U.S. capital markets, the importance of regulation, and the challenges faced by small and illiquid companies. The conversation also delves into the cultural differences in entrepreneurial aspirations between Europe and the U.S., highlighting the importance of failure in the U.S. as a part of the entrepreneurial journey as well as the UK's need for policy-led development to support infrastructure and energy security, emphasising the importance of coordinated efforts between private and government sectors. (2:03) The Lifecycle of Companies(9:18) Growth within the Oxford Ecosystem(13:57) Trends in Capital and Market Listings(23:18) The Role of Regulation and Recent AcquisitionsAbout the guest:John Derrick is a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan Private Bank focused on covering Entrepreneurs, Families and Foundations in the UK. His team has focused in recent years on growing the firm's footprint and connectivity in the university spin-out ecosystem, alongside his colleagues in the Innovation Economy and Global Shares team at J.P. Morgan. Before joining J.P. Morgan Private Bank, John had a fascinating career spanning from heading the Fine Wine department at the UK's leading wine merchant to executing some of the earliest tech transactions in the early 2000s at large investment houses. In his personal life, John is a trustee of Pimlico Opera which takes music into prisons and schools and was the Chair of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama for the last six years. John graduated in History and French from Wadham College, Oxford and joined the board of Oxford University Alumni in 2023. He lives in Oxfordshire with his husband and two children.Connect with John on LinkedInAbout the host:Susannah de Jager is a seasoned professional with over 15 years of experience in UK asset management. She has worked closely with industry experts, entrepreneurs, and government officials to shape the conversation around domestic scale-up capital.Connect with Susannah on LinkedInVisit our website to learn more and subscribe to our newsletter - oxfordplus.co.ukIf you have a question for Susannah, please get in touch - oxfordplus.co.uk/contactOxford+ is hosted by Susannah de Jager, supported by Mischon de Reya and produced and edited by Story Ninety-Four in Oxford.
The guest for this Episode is Carolin Duttlinger. She spoke about Kafka's allure, Kafka as a reader and Kafka Oxford Research Center.Carolin Duttlinger a Professor and tutor in German at Wadham College, Oxford. She teaches German literature, film and culture from the eighteenth century to the present, as well as translation. A particular focus of Carolin's research is the writer Franz Kafka. She is co-director of the Oxford Kafka Research Centre, which hosts conferences, and workshops and works closely with the Bodleian Library, where the majority of Kafka's manuscripts are kept. Carolin edited 'Franz Kafka in Context' a compilation of thirty-five short, accessible essays, where leading international scholars explore Kafka's personal and working life, his reception of art and culture, his engagement with political and social issues, and his ongoing reception and influence.Her books include Kafka and Photography and The Cambridge Introduction to Franz Kafka among others. She writes regularly for the Times Literary Supplement.You may Please use the link given in the show notes to buy the books mentioned .Please follow and review the Harshaneeyam Podcast on Apple and Spotify Apps.To buy the titles -https://tinyurl.com/duttlingerAbout Oxford Kafka Research Center -https://www.kafka-research.ox.ac.uk/About Bodleian Library at Oxford - https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/home* For your Valuable feedback on this Episode - Please click the link below.https://tinyurl.com/4zbdhrwrHarshaneeyam on Spotify App –https://harshaneeyam.captivate.fm/onspotHarshaneeyam on Apple App – https://harshaneeyam.captivate.fm/onapple*Contact us - harshaneeyam@gmail.com ***Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by Interviewees in interviews conducted by Harshaneeyam Podcast are those of the Interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Harshaneeyam Podcast. Any content provided by Interviewees is of their opinion and is not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual, or anyone or anything.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrpChartable - https://chartable.com/privacy
With D-day commemorations giving us images of "the finest generation" and discussion about how parties are targeting different age groups in the UK election, Anne McElvoy hosts a discussion looking at what divides and unites us in a fracturing world. Dr Eliza Filby - a historian of generational evolution and contemporary values and author of Inheritocracy and Generation Shift gives us the low down on boomers to Gen Alpha. Professor Rana Mitter is ST Lee Chair in US-Asia Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School and author of books including China's Good War: How World War II is Shaping A New Nationalism and China's War with Japan, 1937-1945: The Struggle for Survival. A presenter of Free Thinking on BBC Radio 3 before he joined Harvard, you can find him hosting plenty of Free Thinking discussions. Jo Hamya's debut novel was called Three Rooms. The Hypocrite explores what happens when we become frightened of the generations below us Tom Simpson is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford and a Senior Research Fellow at Wadham College. And joining the conversation to talk about how the political parties are trying to woo voters of different ages is Gaby Hinsliff, columnist for The GuardianProducer: Luke Mulhall
Speaker: Dr Oliver Butler, University of NottinghamAbstract: When automated decision-making technologies (ADM) are procured and used by public authorities, important design and implementation decisions are often delegated to the professional developers they sub-contract to co-produce such technology. This can undermine accountability, democratic oversight, and the allocation of public functions determined by legislative bodies. On the other hand, in some circumstances officials might appropriately defer to the expertise of developers. This presentation considers how the concept of non-delegation in public law could be reassessed in this context to improve accountable official decision-making and the proper retention of decision-making authority where ADM is co-produced for public purposes.Biography: Oliver Butler is an Assistant Professor at Nottingham University School of Law. He read law at the University of Cambridge and received a Distinction on the BCL at the University of Oxford, where he received the Faculty Prize in Constitutional Theory. He graduated from the LLM at Harvard Law School and was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2013. He worked at the Law Commission of England and Wales as a research assistant on the Data Sharing between Public Bodies project before returning to Cambridge to undertake his PhD on the development of information law in the UK and Europe. He was Fellow at Wadham College, Oxford, jointly with a research fellowship at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights and has taught constitutional, administrative and human rights law on the BA and BCL and researched emerging digital rights.For more information see:https://www.cipil.law.cam.ac.uk/seminars-and-events/cipil-seminarsThis entry provides an audio source for iTunes.
Speaker: Dr Oliver Butler, University of NottinghamAbstract: When automated decision-making technologies (ADM) are procured and used by public authorities, important design and implementation decisions are often delegated to the professional developers they sub-contract to co-produce such technology. This can undermine accountability, democratic oversight, and the allocation of public functions determined by legislative bodies. On the other hand, in some circumstances officials might appropriately defer to the expertise of developers. This presentation considers how the concept of non-delegation in public law could be reassessed in this context to improve accountable official decision-making and the proper retention of decision-making authority where ADM is co-produced for public purposes.Biography: Oliver Butler is an Assistant Professor at Nottingham University School of Law. He read law at the University of Cambridge and received a Distinction on the BCL at the University of Oxford, where he received the Faculty Prize in Constitutional Theory. He graduated from the LLM at Harvard Law School and was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2013. He worked at the Law Commission of England and Wales as a research assistant on the Data Sharing between Public Bodies project before returning to Cambridge to undertake his PhD on the development of information law in the UK and Europe. He was Fellow at Wadham College, Oxford, jointly with a research fellowship at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights and has taught constitutional, administrative and human rights law on the BA and BCL and researched emerging digital rights.For more information see:https://www.cipil.law.cam.ac.uk/seminars-and-events/cipil-seminarsThis entry provides an audio source for iTunes.
Denisse Salazar hosted Emeritus Professor Colin Mayer to delve into philosophical and moral discussions surrounding capitalism in modern society. They discussed why capitalism has persisted despite several attempts to diminish it and how its survival represents its moral superiority in comparison to other economic systems.***Colin Mayer is Emeritus Professor of Management Studies at the Blavatnik School of Government and Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford. He is an Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford and an Honorary Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford and St Anne's College, Oxford. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, the Centre for Economic Policy Research, and the European Corporate Governance Institute. He was Chair of the Scottish Government Business Purpose Commission, and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Oxford Playhouse, the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal, the UK Government Natural Capital Committee, the International Advisory Board of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, and the UK Financial Markets Law Committee Working Group on Pension Fund Trustees and Fiduciary Duties.
In this episode of The Writing Life, NCW Head of Programmes & Creative Engagement Holly speaks with novelist Michael Donkor about crafting identity in fiction. Michael Donkor was born in London to Ghanaian parents. He studied English at Wadham College, Oxford, followed by a Masters in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway. His first novel, Hold, was longlisted for the Dylan Thomas and shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize. He is a frequent contributor to outlets including the Guardian, the TLS and the Independent. Together, they discuss his new novel, Grow Where They Fall, and the different forms of identity represented in the book. Michael talks about writing queer characters of colour, how to show the reader signs that a character may not be as confident in their identity as they claim to be, and creating links between the past and present when writing different timelines of one character's life. They also touch on how Michael will be joining us for an event and workshop at our City of Literature weekend at Norfolk & Norwich Festival 2024, where he will expand on crafting identities and writing conflict in fiction further.
Michael Donkor was born in London to Ghanaian parents. He studied English at Wadham College, Oxford, followed by a Masters in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway. His first novel, Hold, was longlisted for the Dylan Thomas and shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prizes. He is a frequent contributor to outlets including the Guardian, the TLS and the Independent. Michael talks to Neil Denny his latest novel Grow Where They Fall. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
EPISODE 1917: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Colin Mayer, author of CAPITALISM AND CRISES, about the social responsibility of business in every industry, from oil to tobacco to AIColin Mayer CBE FBA is Emeritus Professor of Management Studies and Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, the Centre for Economic Policy Research and the European Corporate Governance Institute, an Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford, an Honorary Fellow of Oriel College and St Anne's College, Oxford, and he has an Honorary Doctorate from Copenhagen Business School. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Oxford Playhouse, and was co-chair of the Scottish Government Business Purpose Commission, a member of the UK Government Natural Capital Committee, and the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.
Here's how the Carcanet Press website describes him: Michael Schmidt FRSL, poet, scholar, critic and translator, was born in Mexico in 1947; he studied at Harvard and at Wadham College, Oxford, before settling in England. Among his many publications are several collections of poems and a novel, The Colonist (1981), about a boy's childhood in Mexico. He is general editor of PN Review and founder as well as managing director of Carcanet Press." Michael has been applying his judgement publishing poetry and fiction for more than fifty years “discovering” and rediscovering, along the way, many of the greatest writers of our age. We met at the Carcanet offices in Manchester to talk about, among others things, what he does; Germans in Mexico; the love of poetry; The Harvard Advocate; magazines as good tools for book editors; the importance of the past; the difference between editing books and magazines; poets John Ashbery and Edgell Rickword; writers starting on the left; generous patrons: Baron Robert Gavron; prosody; syllabics; leaving room for the reader; overproduction being a straight path to bankruptcy; an education at Oxford; Milton; the Understanding Poetry anthology; writing letters; the centrality of politics; notions of balance and continuity; principles of permanence and change; the difference between taste and judgement; catalysts; the Yiddish saying: “One word is not enough, two is too many.” Changing literary culture; Wallace Stevens; enhancing, extending and revitalizing the language…all this in tandem with a chorus of Manchester trams piping in, in the background, throughout the conversation.
Dr. Geréby György magyar filozófus, filozófiatörténész, egyetemi docens a Közép-Európai Egyetem (CEU) Középkortudományi Tanszékén. Egyetemi tanulmányait 1977-1983 között az ELTE filozófia–magyar szakokon végzi. 1982-ben filozófia szakos diplomát, 1983-ban magyar szakos tanári diplomát kapott. 1983 és 1992 között a pécsi Janus Pannonius Tudományegyetemen tanított. 1992 és 2007 között az ELTE Metafizika Tanszékén adjunktus, majd docens. 1993 óta rendszeres meghívott előadó a Közép-európai Egyetem-en (CEU). 2007 augusztusától a CEU egyetemi docense. 1986-1987-ben vendéghallgató az oxfordi St Edmund Hallban; 1990-19911-ben Osteuropastipendiat Fribourgban (Svájc), majd a British Council kutatója az oxfordi Pembroke College-ban (1993-ban). Fulbright oktatói ösztöndíjas, Rutgers Egyetem, Center for Russian and East-Central European Studies, 2002/3. tanév. Vendégtanár a Liverpooli Egyetem Filozófia Tanszékén, 1996/7 őszi félév, 2001/2 téli félév. A CEU Középkori Tanulmányok Tanszékének vezetője (2007-10). Az ELTE vendégoktatója 2007 óta. Keeley Visiting Fellow az oxfordi Wadham College-ban, 2013/4. tanév. Meghívást kapott az Isaiah Berlin előadások tartására, Corpus Christi College, Oxford, Hilary Term 2018. Címzetes egyetemi tanár, ELTE, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyNUhM8cVBE&t=1895s https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ger%C3%A9by_Gy%C3%B6rgy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNynvZ-MyZE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhd1cZmJxsI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sVpd7CemnU https://mersz.hu/gereby-isten-es-birodalom// https://philosophy.ceu.edu/people/gyorgy-gereby https://vimeo.com/19944980 https://medievalstudies.ceu.edu/sites/medievalstudies.ceu.edu/files/profile/field_file_attachment/gerebycvlop2022englupdated_2102.pdf http://epa.oszk.hu/00400/00458/00613/pdf/EPA00458_korunk_2015_02_062-070.pdf https://proteo.hu/sites/default/files/documents/publications/2019/1561483542.pdf Ábel Jenő emlékérem: https://okortudomany.hu/dijazottak/ #egyetem #filozófus #bécs Fejezetek: 00:00 Beköszönés 02:00 1977-1983 ELTE filozófia–magyar szak 3:30 1980 Társadalmi tudományok társasága 4:55 1983-1992 pécsi Janus Pannonius Tudományegyetem 8:00 Rendszerváltás 12:00 Politikai szerep 13:00 Miniszteri főtanácsadó, Oktatási tanácsadó 15:00 2002 Felzárkozás 17:00 Politikai szerepvállalás összefoglalása 20:53 Soros program 22:00 CEU 25:00 1992-2007 ELTE Metafizika Tanszék, adjunktus, majd docens 34:00 Ösztöndíjas munkák 43:00 Nyelvek 46:30 Magyar Ókortudományi Társaság: Ábel Jenő emlékérem 47:30 Apokrif iratok - új könyv 54:00 Királlyá lett a te istened - Fejezetek a politikai teológia történetéből 58:00 Bizánci cikk 59:03 Filózofus perek 1:02:00 Elköszönés --------
This series on artificial intelligence explores recent breakthroughs of AI, its broader societal implications and its future potential. In this presentation, Stuart Russell, professor of computer science at the UC, Berkeley, discusses what AI is and how it could be beneficial to civilization. Russell is a leading researcher in artificial intelligence and the author, with Peter Norvig, of “Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach,” the standard text in the field. His latest book, “Human Compatible,” addresses the long-term impact of AI on humanity. He is also an honorary fellow of Wadham College at the University of Oxford. Series: "The Future of AI" [Science] [Show ID: 38856]
This series on artificial intelligence explores recent breakthroughs of AI, its broader societal implications and its future potential. In this presentation, Stuart Russell, professor of computer science at the UC, Berkeley, discusses what AI is and how it could be beneficial to civilization. Russell is a leading researcher in artificial intelligence and the author, with Peter Norvig, of “Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach,” the standard text in the field. His latest book, “Human Compatible,” addresses the long-term impact of AI on humanity. He is also an honorary fellow of Wadham College at the University of Oxford. Series: "The Future of AI" [Science] [Show ID: 38856]
This series on artificial intelligence explores recent breakthroughs of AI, its broader societal implications and its future potential. In this presentation, Stuart Russell, professor of computer science at the UC, Berkeley, discusses what AI is and how it could be beneficial to civilization. Russell is a leading researcher in artificial intelligence and the author, with Peter Norvig, of “Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach,” the standard text in the field. His latest book, “Human Compatible,” addresses the long-term impact of AI on humanity. He is also an honorary fellow of Wadham College at the University of Oxford. Series: "The Future of AI" [Science] [Show ID: 38856]
This series on artificial intelligence explores recent breakthroughs of AI, its broader societal implications and its future potential. In this presentation, Stuart Russell, professor of computer science at the UC, Berkeley, discusses what AI is and how it could be beneficial to civilization. Russell is a leading researcher in artificial intelligence and the author, with Peter Norvig, of “Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach,” the standard text in the field. His latest book, “Human Compatible,” addresses the long-term impact of AI on humanity. He is also an honorary fellow of Wadham College at the University of Oxford. Series: "The Future of AI" [Science] [Show ID: 38856]
The AI Asia Pacific Institute (AIAPI) has hosted a series of conversations with leading artificial intelligence (AI) experts to study ChatGPT and its risks, looking to arrive at tangible recommendations for regulators and policymakers. These experts include Dr. Toby Walsh, Dr. Stuart Russell, Dr. Pedro Domingos, and Dr. Luciano Floridi, as well as our internal advisory board and research affiliates. The following is a conversation with Dr. Toby Walsh and Dr. Stuart Russell. Dr. Toby Walsh is Chief Scientist at UNSW.ai, UNSW's new AI Institute. He is a Laureate Fellow and Scientia Professor of Artificial Intelligence in the School of Computer Science and Engineering at UNSW Sydney, and he is also an adjunct fellow at CSIRO Data61. He was named by the Australian newspaper as a "rock star" of Australia's digital revolution. He has been elected a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, a fellow of the ACM, the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) and of the European Association for Artificial Intelligence. He has won the prestigious Humboldt Prize as well as the NSW Premier's Prize for Excellence in Engineering and ICT, and the ACP Research Excellence award. He has previously held research positions in England, Scotland, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland and Sweden. He has played a leading role at the UN and elsewhere on the campaign to ban lethal autonomous weapons (aka "killer robots"). His advocacy in this area has led to him being "banned indefinitely" from Russia. Dr. Stuart Russell is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of California at Berkeley, holder of the Smith-Zadeh Chair in Engineering, and Director of the Center for Human-Compatible AI and the Kavli Center for Ethics, Science, and the Public. He is a recipient of the IJCAI Computers and Thought Award and Research Excellence Award and held the Chaire Blaise Pascal in Paris. In 2021 he received the OBE from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and gave the Reith Lectures. He is an Honorary Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford, an Andrew Carnegie Fellow, and a Fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence, the Association for Computing Machinery, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His book "Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach" (with Peter Norvig) is the standard text in AI, used in 1500 universities in 135 countries. His research covers a wide range of topics in artificial intelligence, with a current emphasis on the long-term future of artificial intelligence and its relation to humanity. He has developed a new global seismic monitoring system for the nuclear-test-ban treaty and is currently working to ban lethal autonomous weapons. *** For show notes and past guests, please visit https://aiasiapacific.org/podcast/ For questions, please contact us at contact@aiasiapacific.org or follow us on Twitter or Instagram to stay in touch.
Watch the video of this episode here: https://youtu.be/5Ag6jpvIa2w?=sub_confirmation=1 On 6 October 2020 The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2020 #NobelPrize in Physics with one half to Roger Penrose and the other half jointly to Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez. I was delighted to have had this chance to discuss life, physics and everything with my friend Sir Roger Penrose, who endorsed my book Losing the Nobel Prize back in 2018. Well, now Sir Roger has WON the Nobel Prize. We discussed the first popular science book your host Professor Keating ever read: The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics https://amzn.to/306hUG1 and Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness https://amzn.to/2QFbt9M Sir Roger Penrose OM FRS (born 8 August 1931) is an English mathematical physicist, mathematician and philosopher of science. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics in the University of Oxford, an emeritus fellow of Wadham College, Oxford and an honorary fellow of St John's College, Cambridge. Penrose has made contributions to the mathematical physics of general relativity and cosmology. He has received several prizes and awards, including the 1988 Wolf Prize for physics, which he shared with Stephen Hawking for the Penrose–Hawking singularity theorems. Penrose sat down with Professor Brian Keating to discuss artificial intelligence, consciousness, cosmology, and the many fascinating developments in physics since the publication of The Emperor's New Mind in 1989. Additional Talks by Sir Roger Penrose: Conformal Cyclic Cosmology: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt1WH_SkazQ&t=2284s New Theory of Dark Matter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlSMME-Cl5g Physics and Fantasy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaIdJMxP6bA www.twitter.com/RogerPenrosePhy Summary of Professor Prenrose Concepts from Think Like A Nobel Prize Winner: https://briankeating.com/roger_penrose.php Subscribe to the Jordan Harbinger Show for amazing content from Apple's best podcast of 2018! https://www.jordanharbinger.com/podcasts Please leave a rating and review: On Apple devices, click here, https://apple.co/39UaHlB On Spotify it's here: https://spoti.fi/3vpfXok On Audible it's here https://tinyurl.com/wtpvej9v Find other ways to rate here: https://briankeating.com/podcast Support the podcast on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/drbriankeating or become a Member on YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmXH_moPhfkqCk6S3b9RWuw/join To advertise with us, contact advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sam Harris speaks with Stuart Russell and Gary Marcus about recent developments in artificial intelligence and the long-term risks of producing artificial general intelligence (AGI). They discuss the limitations of Deep Learning, the surprising power of narrow AI, ChatGPT, a possible misinformation apocalypse, the problem of instantiating human values, the business model of the Internet, the meta-verse, digital provenance, using AI to control AI, the control problem, emergent goals, locking down core values, programming uncertainty about human values into AGI, the prospects of slowing or stopping AI progress, and other topics. Stuart Russell is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of California at Berkeley, holder of the Smith-Zadeh Chair in Engineering, and Director of the Center for Human-Compatible AI. He is an Honorary Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford, an Andrew Carnegie Fellow, and a Fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence, the Association for Computing Machinery, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His book, Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, co-authored with Peter Norvig, is the standard text in AI, used in 1500 universities in 135 countries. Russell is also the author of Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control. His research covers a wide range of topics in artificial intelligence, with a current emphasis on the long-term future of artificial intelligence and its relation to humanity. He has developed a new global seismic monitoring system for the nuclear-test-ban treaty and is currently working to ban lethal autonomous weapons. Website: https://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/~russell/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stuartjonathanrussell/ Gary Marcus is a scientist, best-selling author, and entrepreneur. He is well-known for his challenges to contemporary AI, anticipating many of the current limitations decades in advance, and for his research in human language development and cognitive neuroscience. He was Founder and CEO of Geometric Intelligence, a machine-learning company acquired by Uber in 2016. His most recent book, Rebooting AI, co-authored with Ernest Davis, is one of Forbes’s 7 Must Read Books in AI. His podcast Humans versus Machines, will come later this spring. Website: garymarcus.com Twitter: @GaryMarcus Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That’s why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life’s most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.
This is a rebroadcast of an episode of This Thing We Call Art, a podcast where the host Kelly Lloyd speaks to people in the arts about their livelihoods. Lloyd originally interviewed artist Gordon Hall on March 1, 2021 and the 43-minute episode featuring portions of the three-hour-long conversation was released on February 17, 2022. The podcast features a conversation about Hall and Lloyd's experiences in art education at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, how art institutions handle interdisciplinarity, and the ethical responsibility of art school educators. Hall, currently an Assistant Professor of Sculpture at Vassar College, has included an addition to this rebroadcast to highlight how in the Spring of 2022, the contingent faculty at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago formed a union, Art Institute of Chicago Workers United, (AICWU) which is now certified with the National Labor Relations Board. The union is currently preparing to negotiate their first contract. You can follow their efforts and support them at aicwu.org and on social media at AIC_WU on Instagram, AICWUTweets on Twitter, and AIC Workers on Facebook. Kelly Lloyd is a transdisciplinary artist who focuses on issues of representation and knowledge production and prioritizes public-facing collaborative research. Lloyd has recently held solo exhibitions at the Royal Academy Schools (London), Crybaby (Berlin), Bill's Auto (Chicago), Demo Room (Aarhus), and Dirty House (London) for which she won the Art Licks Workweek Prize. Lloyd was the Starr Fellow at the Royal Academy Schools during the 2018/19 school year and is currently studying at The University of Oxford's Ruskin School of Art and Wadham College for her DPhil in Practice-Led Fine Art with support from an All Souls-AHRC Graduate Scholarship and an Open-Oxford-Cambridge Doctoral Training Programme Studentship. In 2021, Lloyd launched This Thing We Call Art, a podcast and online archive featuring excerpts from 50+ interviews with people in the arts she has conducted since 2017. Gordon Hall is an artist based in New York who makes sculptures and performances. Hall has had solo presentations at the MIT List Visual Arts Center, The Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, The Renaissance Society, EMPAC, and Temple Contemporary, and has been in group exhibitions at The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Brooklyn Museum, The Hessel Museum, Art in General, White Columns, Socrates Sculpture Park, among many other venues. Hall's writing and interviews have been published widely, including in Art Journal, Artforum, Art in America, and Bomb, as well as in Walker Art Center's Artist Op-Ed Series, What About Power? Inquiries Into Contemporary Sculpture (published by SculptureCenter), and Documents of Contemporary Art: Queer (published by Whitechapel and MIT Press.) A volume of Hall's collected essays, interviews, and performance scripts was published by Portland Institute for Contemporary Art in 2019. Hall is Assistant Professor of Sculpture at Vassar College.
This is a rebroadcast of an episode of This Thing We Call Art, a podcast where the host Kelly Lloyd speaks to people in the arts about their livelihoods. Lloyd originally interviewed artist Nicole Morris on February 25, 2021 and the 44-minute episode featuring portions of the two and a half-hour-long conversation was released on February 24, 2022. The podcast features a conversation that includes discussion of navigating being a solo artist and an art educator, the limitations of the formats of the solo show and the retrospective, motherhood, reproductive labor and care labor, and incidental interruptions in the creative process. Kelly Lloyd is a transdisciplinary artist who focuses on issues of representation and knowledge production and prioritizes public-facing collaborative research. Lloyd has recently held solo exhibitions at the Royal Academy Schools (London), Crybaby (Berlin), Bill's Auto (Chicago), Demo Room (Aarhus), and Dirty House (London) for which she won the Art Licks Workweek Prize. Lloyd was the Starr Fellow at the Royal Academy Schools during the 2018/19 school year and is currently studying at The University of Oxford's Ruskin School of Art and Wadham College for her DPhil in Practice-Led Fine Art with support from an All Souls-AHRC Graduate Scholarship and an Open-Oxford-Cambridge Doctoral Training Programme Studentship. In 2021, Lloyd launched This Thing We Call Art, a podcast and online archive featuring excerpts from 50+ interviews with people in the arts she has conducted since 2017. Nicole Morris is an artist working across gallery, education and community settings both in a solo and collaborative context. Her work uses textiles and film to explore themes of domesticity and labour and how these are performed or re-presented in new contexts. Her work has recently been included in exhibitions and projects at The Foundling Museum, London; Southwark Park Galleries, London; Royal Museums Greenwich, London; The Drawing Room, London; [SPACE], London; Baltic, Gateshead; South London Gallery; Bluecoat, Liverpool; G39, Cardiff; Jerwood, London and The National Gallery, Prague.
Have suggestions for future podcast guests (or other feedback)? Let us know here!In episode 44 of The Gradient Podcast, Daniel Bashir speaks to Professor Stuart Russell. Stuart Russell is a Professor of Computer Science and the Smith-Zadeh Professor in Engineering at UC Berkeley, as well as an Honorary Fellow at Wadham College, Oxford. Professor Russell is the co-author with Peter Norvig of Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, probably the most popular AI textbook in history. He is the founder and head of Berkeley's Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence and recently authored the book Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control. He has also served as co-chair on the World Economic Forum's Council on AI and Robotics.Subscribe to The Gradient Podcast: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Pocket Casts | RSSFollow The Gradient on TwitterOutline:* (00:00) Intro* (02:45) Stuart's introduction to AI* (05:50) The two most important questions* (07:25) Historical perspectives during Stuart's PhD, agents and learning* (14:30) Rationality and Intelligence, Bounded Optimality* (20:30) Stuart's work on Metareasoning* (29:45) How does Metareasoning fit with Bounded Optimality?* (37:39) “Civilization advances by reducing complex operations to be trivial”* (39:20) Reactions to the rise of Deep Learning, connectionist/symbolic debates, probabilistic modeling* (51:00) The Deep Learning and traditional AI communities will adopt each other's ideas* (51:55) Why Stuart finds the self-driving car arena interesting, Waymo's old-fashioned AI approach* (57:30) Effective generalization without the full expressive power of first-order logic—deep learning is a “weird way to go about it”* (1:03:00) A very short shrift of Human Compatible and its ideas* (1:10:42) OutroLinks:* Stuart's webpage* Human Compatible page with reviews and interviews* Papers mentioned* Rationality and Intelligence* Principles of Metareasoning Get full access to The Gradient at thegradientpub.substack.com/subscribe
Ankhi Mukherjee talks about that looks at the subject of psychoanalysis as a product of social and cultural processes, and thereby reorients concepts of parental and familial bonds, trauma, coping mechanisms and so on. The conversation focuses on her recent book on the subject, Unseen City: The Psychic Lives of the Urban Poor, which studies community-based psychiatry and how it serves the working classes in three global cities. Ankhi Mukherjee is Professor of English and World Literatures at the University of Oxford and a Fellow in English at Wadham College. Her most recent book is Unseen City: The Psychic Lives of the Urban Poor, published by Cambridge University Press in December 2021. Her second monograph, What Is a Classic? Postcolonial Rewriting and Invention of the Canon (Stanford, 2014) won the British Academy prize in English Literature in 2015. Mukherjee's other publications include Aesthetic Hysteria: The Great Neurosis in Victorian Melodrama and Contemporary Fiction (Routledge, 2007) and the collections of essays she has edited, namely A Concise Companion to Psychoanalysis, Literature, and Culture (with Laura Marcus, Wiley-Blackwell, 2015) and After Lacan (Cambridge UP, 2018). Mukherjee has published in competitive peer-reviewed journals, including PMLA, MLQ, Contemporary Literature, Parallax, and the Cambridge Journal of Postcolonial Literary Inquiry, and sits on the editorial boards of several international journals. At present, Mukherjee has two books under contract. She is writing A Very Short Introduction to Postcolonial Literature in the widely circulated VSI series (Oxford UP, 2023) and co-editing (with Ato Quayson) a collaborative volume titled Decolonizing the English Literary Curriculum (Cambridge UP, 2022). Image: © 2022 Saronik Bosu Music used in promotional material: ‘Avec Toi' by Dana Boulé. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Hosted by Andrew Keen, Keen On features conversations with some of the world's leading thinkers and writers about the economic, political, and technological issues being discussed in the news, right now. In this episode, Andrew is joined by Andrew Hodges, author of The Great Philosophers: Turing. Andrew Hodges is Emeritus Fellow in Mathematics at Wadham College, Oxford University. His classic text of 1983, since translated into several languages, created a new kind of biography, with mathematics, science, computing, war history, philosophy and gay liberation woven into a single personal narrative. He is an active contributor to the mathematics of fundamental physics, as a follower of Roger Penrose. See www.turing.org.uk for further material. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today we are discussing the general question of how neuroimaging (and mostly fMRI) fit into the landscape of neuroscience research approaches. More specifically we discuss the question of what, over the years, has neuroimaging taught us about the brain? In this fascinating discussion, we work through many related topics and get a solid sense of Dr. Passingham's perspectives on these - including his views on mentoring, a critique or refinement of David Marr's three criteria for understanding the brain, the need to put forth falsifiable hypotheses, his enthusiasm for for Optically Pumped Magnetometers, and the need for an array of tools and approaches - not just fMRI - for understanding the brain. Guest: Dick Passingham, Ph.D. is currently Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, and is also an Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford. In addition, he is Emeritus Honorary Principal Investigator at the Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging at University College London. His career has been spent at these two institutions, and from 1991–1995 also at the MRC Cyclotron Unit at the Hammersmith Hospital London. He has published over 200 research papers and eight books. Lastly, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2009 in recognition of his achievements.
In this Spotlighting an Author event, Dr. Fatemeh Shams discussed her latest book “A Revolution in Rhyme: Poetic Co-option under the Islamic Republic”. During the extensive Q&A section of the event, Shams answered a series of questions with topics from lack of academic attention to Persian poetry, to the cause and result relationship between the revolution and poetry in Iran. About Fatemeh Shams: Dr. Fatemeh Shams is Assistant Professor of Modern Persian literature at the University of Pennsylvania. She earned her Ph.D in Oriental Studies from University of Oxford, Wadham College. Before joining Penn, she taught Persian language and literature at the University of Oxford, University of SOAS, and The Courtauld Institute of Art in United Kingdom. Her fields of interest include the social history of modern Persian literature, classical and modern prose, literary institutions and their role in the literary production under authoritarian states, ideology, censorship, and official literature in modern Iran. As well as publishing numerous articles, she is also an award-winning poet and has published three collections of her poetry. About the book: A Revolution in Rhyme: Poetic Co-option under the Islamic Republic offers, for the first time, an original, timely examination of the pivotal role poetry plays in policy, power and political legitimacy in modern-day Iran. Through a compelling chronological and thematic framework, Shams presents fresh insights into the emerging lexicon of coercion and unrest in the modern Persian canon. Analysis of the lives and work of ten key poets traces the evolution of the Islamic Republic, from the 1979 Revolution, through to the Iran-Iraq War, the death of a leader and the rise of internal conflicts. Ancient forms jostle against didactic ideologies, exposing the complex relationship between poetry, patronage and literary production in authoritarian regimes, shedding light on a crucial area of discourse that has been hitherto overlooked.
“The best organizations encourage people to work together in teams and groups of people, promoting benefits that can be conferred on other parties – where the benefits are of considerable significance – to not just the customers and those organizations, but society and the natural world at large. That is what we need to be seeking from the organizations that we are creating, throughout the economies and nation-states in which we're operating, to help us address the problems that we're facing.” What does it take for an organization to deliver its purpose? How can we move from nice-sounding statements to putting our purpose into practice? In this fascinating conversation with Professor Colin Mayer, we explore what the best organizations are doing. We also discuss the role of trust and relationships in business, lessons from the financial crisis, how we can communicate trust – and Colin's definitions of ‘Sin-integrity' vs. ‘Saint-tegrity'. Colin Peter Mayer is a Professor of Management Studies at the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, and is the author of ‘Prosperity' and ‘Putting Purpose Into Practice'. He is also a Professorial Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford, and an Honorary Fellow of Oriel College and St Anne's College, Oxford. In 2017, he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to business education and the administration of justice in the economic sphere. Duration: 55:13
Thomas Sinclair (left), Ben Kenward (right)Lots of people are worried about the ethics of AI. One particular area of concern is whether we should program machines to follow existing normative/moral principles when making decisions. But social moral values change over time. Should machines not be designed to allow for such changes? If machines are programmed to follow our current values will they impede moral progress? In this episode, I talk to Ben Kenward and Thomas Sinclair about this issue. Ben is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Oxford Brookes University in the UK. His research focuses on ecological psychology, mainly examining environmental activism such as the Extinction Rebellion movement of which he is a part. Thomas is a Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy at Wadham College, Oxford, and an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Oxford's Faculty of Philosophy. His research and teaching focus on questions in moral and political philosophy. You can download the episode here or listen below. You can also subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify and other podcasting services (the RSS feed is here). Show NotesTopics discussed incude:What is a moral value?What is a moral machine?What is moral progress?Has society progress, morally speaking, in the past?How can we design moral machines?What's the problem with getting machines to follow our current moral consensus?Will people over-defer to machines? Will they outsource their moral reasoning to machines?Why is a lack of moral progress such a problem right now?Relevant LinksThomas's webpageBen's webpage'Machine morality, moral progress and the looming environmental disaster' by Ben and Tom
We are on board the Oxford Mathematics Space Probe for this Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture as we explore Black Holes with a Nobel Laureate, a Professor of the History and Philosophy of Physics & a broadcasting legend. EvenAlbert Einstein thought Black Holes impossible. Then in 1965 Roger Penrose provided the Mathematical tools for Physicists to go and find them. A compelling story of 20th Century Science. Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture in partnership with Wadham College.
We are on board the Oxford Mathematics Space Probe for this Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture as we explore Black Holes with a Nobel Laureate, a Professor of the History and Philosophy of Physics & a broadcasting legend. EvenAlbert Einstein thought Black Holes impossible. Then in 1965 Roger Penrose provided the Mathematical tools for Physicists to go and find them. A compelling story of 20th Century Science. Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture in partnership with Wadham College.
From ethics in healthcare policy, to the architecture of home-based working, to supporting the live music industry, arts and humanities research has made a big contribution to meeting policy challenges posed by the pandemic. One year on from the start of the pandemic, the Institute for Government, in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), was delighted to bring together a panel of researchers from across the arts and humanities to discuss the ways in which Covid-19 has changed their work and shifted their priorities. Arts and humanities research is at the forefront of efforts to understand the longer term social, cultural, and economic effects of the pandemic, as well as helping to shape a range of immediate policy responses.On our panel to discuss these issues were:Dr Adam Behr, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary and Popular Music at Newcastle UniversityDr Rebecca Brown, Career Development Fellow at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics and Research Associate, Wadham College, University of OxfordDr Frances Holliss, Emeritus Reader in Architecture at London Metropolitan UniversityDr Sabrina Germain, Senior Lecturer in Law at City, University of LondonThe event was chaired by Dr Alice Lilly, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government.We are grateful for the support of AHRC in staging this event.#IfGHumanities See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
From ethics in healthcare policy, to the architecture of home-based working, to supporting the live music industry, arts and humanities research has made a big contribution to meeting policy challenges posed by the pandemic. One year on from the start of the pandemic, the Institute for Government, in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), was delighted to bring together a panel of researchers from across the arts and humanities to discuss the ways in which Covid-19 has changed their work and shifted their priorities. Arts and humanities research is at the forefront of efforts to understand the longer term social, cultural, and economic effects of the pandemic, as well as helping to shape a range of immediate policy responses. On our panel to discuss these issues were: Dr Adam Behr, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary and Popular Music at Newcastle University Dr Rebecca Brown, Career Development Fellow at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics and Research Associate, Wadham College, University of Oxford Dr Frances Holliss, Emeritus Reader in Architecture at London Metropolitan University Dr Sabrina Germain, Senior Lecturer in Law at City, University of London. The event was chaired by Dr Alice Lilly, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Government. We are grateful for the support of AHRC in staging this event.
Guest author Dr Fatemeh Shams (Assistant Professor of Modern Persian Literature, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania) talks with Booktalk host Dr Zuzanna Olszewska (University of Oxford). Dr Zuzanna Olszewska is Associate Professor in the Social Anthropology of the Middle East, School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford. Book available for purchase online at A Revolution in Rhyme OUP Academic discount with promo code AAFLYG6 to save 30% https://global.oup.com/academic/product/a-revolution-in-rhyme-9780198858829?cc=gb&lang-en& A Revolution in Rhyme: Poetic Co-option under the Islamic Republic offers, for the first time, an original, timely examination of the pivotal role poetry plays in policy, power and political legitimacy in modern-day Iran. Through a compelling chronological and thematic framework, Shams presents fresh insights into the emerging lexicon of coercion and unrest in the modern Persian canon. Analysis of the lives and work of ten key poets traces the evolution of the Islamic Republic, from the 1979 Revolution, through to the Iran-Iraq War, the death of a leader and the rise of internal conflicts. Ancient forms jostle against didactic ideologies, exposing the complex relationship between poetry, patronage and literary production in authoritarian regimes, shedding light on a crucial area of discourse that has been hitherto overlooked. (Book description from OUP website) Dr Fatemeh Shams is a specialist in Persian literature. She earned her Ph.D in Oriental Studies from University of Oxford, Wadham College. Before joining Penn, she has taught Persian language and literature in various academic institutions including University of Oxford, University of SOAS and Courtauld Institute of Art in the United Kingdom. Her work focuses on the intersection of literature, politics and society. Fatemeh is interested in the evolution of poetry and patronage in the Persian literary tradition and the representation and transformation of this relationship in modern Iran. She has published articles and book chapters on poetry, patronage and politics in the Iranian context. Her forthcoming book A Revolution in Rhyme: Poetic Co-option Under the Islamic Republic (Oxford University Press, 2020) is particularly concerned with the question of poets and patrons in the past and present Iran. In her book she demonstrates the role of state-sponsored literary institutions and the ideological state apparatus in promoting state-sponsored literature in the post-revolutionary Iran. She has recently won the Humboldt Foundation Fellowship to join Forum Transregionale Studien in Berlin in 2021 in order to embark on her second book project on exile and exilic writing in Persian tradition. Fatemeh is also an internationally acclaimed, award-winning poet and has so far published three collections of poetry in Persian and English. Her first collection, 88 (Berlin: Gardoon, 2012) won the Jaleh Esfahani Poetry Award in London, UK. Her third bilingual collection, When They Broke Down the Door (Washington: Mage Publisher, 2015), translated by the world-famous British literary scholar, translator and poet, Dick Davis, won Latifeh Yarshater Book Award in 2016. Her poetry and her translations have been so far featured in the World Literature Today, Michigan Quarterly Review, Life and Legends, Poetry Foundation, Jacket 2, Penn Sound and more. The upcoming Penguin Anthology of 1000 Years of Poetry by Persian Women Poets translated by Dick Davis (2021) has featured a number of her poems. Website: https://mec.sas.upenn.edu/people/fatemeh-shams Dr Zuzanna Olszewska is a social anthropologist specialising in the ethnography of Iran and Afghanistan, with a focus on Afghan refugees in Iran, the Persian-speaking Afghan diaspora, the anthropology of literature and cultural production, and digital ethnography. She is the author of The Pearl of Dari: Poetry and Personhood among Young Afghans in Iran (Indiana University Press, 2015), an ethnographic inquiry into how poetic activity reflects changes in youth subjectivity in an Afghan refugee community, based on work with an Afghan cultural organisation in Mashhad, Iran. Website: https://www.isca.ox.ac.uk/people/dr-zuzanna-olszewska#tab-267761
A novel written by artificial intelligence is shortlisted for a literary prize. Google software beats a human opponent at Go, one of the most complex board games in the world. Self-driving cars recognize images and then make decisions. These are just some of the extraordinary accomplishments based on artificial intelligence that we have witnessed in the past few years. But there are many scientists who are pushing for a more cautious approach to how we move forward on machine intelligence. They say that we are not far off from developing superintelligent machines whose IQ far surpasses that of humans and who don't come with an off switch -- with seriously negative consequences for humanity. These scientists argue that we can prevent this loss of control but we need to act now by making sure algorithms ensure that benevolence and human mastery are foundational pillars. Critics say that this view of superintelligence highly overrates the abilities of machines today and in the future, and deeply underestimates the incredible powers of human thinking. They say that AI is nowhere close to matching the human talent for understanding and generalization -- and may never come close. Unsubstantiated fears of a superintelligent future are getting in the way of resolving one of the riddles of human existence - human intelligence - which could unlock untold creativity and progress. Arguing for the motion is Stuart Russell, Professor of Computer Science and Smith-Zadeh Professor in Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, and Honorary Fellow, Wadham College, Oxford. He's the author of Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control. Arguing against the motion is Melanie Mitchell, Davis Professor of Complexity at the Santa Fe Institute. She is the author of Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans. Sources: i24 News English, Wall Street Journal, Pro Robots, Big Think, Science Time, Web of Stories, ACLU, IEN News, ABC, DW The host of the Munk Debates is Rudyard Griffiths - @rudyardg. For detailed show notes on the episode, head to https://munkdebates.com/podcast. Tweet your comments about this episode to @munkdebate or comment on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/munkdebates/ To sign up for a weekly email reminder for this podcast, send an email to podcast@munkdebates.com. To support civil and substantive debate on the big questions of the day, consider becoming a Munk Member at https://munkdebates.com/membership Members receive access to our 10+ year library of great debates in HD video, a free Munk Debates book, newsletter and ticketing privileges at our live events. This podcast is a project of the Munk Debates, a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to fostering civil and substantive public dialogue - https://munkdebates.com/ The Munk Debates podcast is produced by Antica, Canada's largest private audio production company - https://www.anticaproductions.com/ Executive Producer: Stuart Coxe, CEO Antica Productions Senior Producer: Christina Campbell Editor: Kieran Lynch Producer: Nicole Edwards Associate Producer: Abhi Raheja
Rozmawiamy, czyli kultura i filozofia w Teologii Politycznej
Tytuł wykładu nawiązuje do mowy św. Pawła na ateńskim Areopagu, podczas której otwarcie wyraża on to, co jego publiczność nieświadomie czci. W swoim wykładzie abp. Williams przyjrzy się tym elementom współczesnej kultury, w których jego zdaniem można rozpoznać założenia o transcendentnych źródłach. Jest to między innymi kwestia uniwersalnej i nienaruszalnej godności ludzkiej, a także założenie, że możemy obdarzyć sensem życie innych ludzi, nawet obcych. Ta ostatnia kwestia zostanie zbadana z odwołaniem do myśli św. Edyty Stein. Trzecim, bardziej złożonym obszarem są okoliczności, w których ludzie są zmuszani do zajęcia stanowiska w imię czegoś „uświęconego” – czyli czegoś niemieszczącego się w ramach funkcjonalnego zarządzania światem. Punktem wyjścia będą rozważania Etty Hillesum na ten temat. Wykład zmierza do konkluzji na temat natury logosu w świecie i jego rezonansów teologicznych. Abp. Rowan Williams – urodzony w Swansea w Walii w 1950 r. Anglikański biskup, uczony, teolog i poeta. Master Magdalene College w Cambridge oraz profesor honoris causa na Wydziale Współczesnej Myśli Chrześcijańskiej na University of Cambridge. Ukończył teologię w Christ's College w Cambridge i uzyskał tytuł doktora filozofii w 1975 roku w Wadham College w Oksfordzie. Był arcybiskupem Walii w latach 2000-2002 i arcybiskupem Canterbury w latach 2002-2012. Mianowany jako life peer w Izbie Lordów w 2013 roku, pełnił tę funkcję jako baron Williams z Oystermouth od 2013 roku do przejścia na emeryturę 31 sierpnia 2020 roku.
I had an inappropriate amount of fun talking with Dr. Fiona Ellis in this episode. If your inner-nerd doesn't get pumped by the end, then it is hibernating. There's a high likelihood you will end up getting her book God, Value, and Nature. Plus my son Elgin (12) joins for the intro and while he wasn't impressed by 3.5 million downloads of the podcast last year, he is thrilled I now have 1,000 YouTube subscribers. In this episode we discuss... the space between reductive naturalism and supernaturalism expansive naturalism the relationship between science, philosophy, and religion prejudice against religion and value in the academy Iris Murdoch's platonic idealism the relationship of transcendence and immanence how the question of value is connected to religion Honest to God by John AT Robinson Paul Tillich's ecstatic naturalism why Spinoza is a theistic expansive naturalist expanding naturalism on behalf of affirming our humanity argument for the existence of God from desire Sartre, Levinas, Nietzche & the lack the generative nature of the lack Fiona likes to teach Schopenhauer's the world as will and representation....Berkeley, Spinoza The cultural universality of love in contrast to God Divine action in expansive naturalism Dr. Fiona Ellis is Professor of Philosophy at University of Roehampton and Director of the Centre for Philosophy of Religion. She worked at Heythrop College for 12 years, and has been Director of the Centre for Philosophy of Religion since 2010. Before Heythrop she had lectureships at Wadham College, Oxford, and Queen's College, Oxford, and did her graduate work (BPhil and DPhil) at Oxford University under the supervision of Professor David Wiggins and Professor Paul Snowdon. Her research interests are in philosophy of religion (broadly construed), the relation between philosophy and theology, philosophical idealism, naturalism, the philosophy of love and desire, and the meaning of life. Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sir Roger Penrose OM FRS is an English mathematical physicist, mathematician and philosopher of science. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics in the University of Oxford and Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford.
As part of the BBC's year of science programming, Melvyn Bragg looks at the history of the oldest scientific learned society of them all: the Royal Society. Melvyn travels to Wadham College, Oxford, where under the shadow of the English Civil War, the young Christopher Wren and friends experimented in the garden of their inspirational college warden, John Wilkins. Back in London, as Charles II is brought to the throne from exile, the new Society is formally founded one night in Gresham College. When London burns six years later, it is two of the key early Fellows of the Society who are charged with its rebuilding. And, as Melvyn finds out, in the secret observatory in The Monument to the fire, it is science which flavours their plans.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss an iconic piece of 20th century maths - Gödel's Incompleteness Theorems. In 1900, in Paris, the International Congress of Mathematicians gathered in a mood of hope and fear. The edifice of maths was grand and ornate but its foundations, called axioms, had been shaken. They were deemed to be inconsistent and possibly paradoxical. At the conference, a young man called David Hilbert set out a plan to rebuild the foundations of maths – to make them consistent, all encompassing and without any hint of a paradox. Hilbert was one of the greatest mathematicians that ever lived, but his plan failed spectacularly because of Kurt Gödel. Gödel proved that there were some problems in maths that were impossible to solve, that the bright clear plain of mathematics was in fact a labyrinth filled with potential paradox. In doing so Gödel changed the way we understand what mathematics is and the implications of his work in physics and philosophy take us to the very edge of what we can know.With Marcus du Sautoy, Professor of Mathematics at Wadham College, University of Oxford; John Barrow, Professor of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge and Gresham Professor of Geometry and Philip Welch, Professor of Mathematical Logic at the University of Bristol.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Algerian-French writer and Existentialist philosopher Albert Camus. Shortly after the new year of 1960, a powerful sports car crashed in the French town of Villeblevin in Burgundy, killing two of its occupants. One was the publisher Michel Gallimard; the other was the writer Albert Camus. In Camus' pocket was an unused train ticket and in the boot of the car his unfinished autobiography The First Man. Camus was 46. Born in Algeria in 1913, Camus became a working class hero and icon of the French Resistance. His friendship with Sartre has been well documented, as has their falling out; and although Camus has been dubbed both an Absurdist and Existentialist philosopher, he denied he was even a philosopher at all, preferring to think of himself as a writer who expressed the realities of human existence. Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957, Camus' legacy is a rich one, as an author of plays, novels and essays, and as a political thinker who desperately sought a peaceful solution to the War for Independence in his native Algeria. With Peter Dunwoodie, Professor of French Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London; David Walker, Professor of French at the University of Sheffield; Christina Howells, Professor of French at Wadham College, University of Oxford.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss prime numbers: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17 … This sequence of numbers goes on literally forever. Recently, a team of researchers in Missouri successfully calculated the highest prime number - it has 9.1 million digits. For nearly two and a half thousand years, since Euclid first described the prime numbers in his book Elements, mathematicians have struggled to write a rule to predict what comes next in the sequence. The Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler feared that it is "a mystery into which the human mind will never penetrate." But others have been more hopeful... In the middle of the nineteenth century, the German mathematician Bernhard Riemann discovered a connection between prime numbers and a complex mathematical function called the 'zeta function'. Ever since, mathematicians have laboured to prove the existence of this connection and reveal the rules behind the elusive sequence. What exactly are prime numbers and what secrets might they unlock about our understanding of atoms? What are the rules that may govern the prime sequence? And is it possible that the person who proves Riemann's Hypothesis may bring about the collapse of the world financial system? With Marcus du Sautoy, Professor of Mathematics and Fellow of Wadham College at the University of Oxford; Robin Wilson, Professor of Pure Mathematics at the Open University and Gresham Professor of Geometry; Jackie Stedall, Junior Research Fellow in the History of Mathematics at Queen's College, Oxford.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Jean-Paul Sartre, the French novelist, playwright, and philosopher who became the king of intellectual Paris and a focus of post war politics and morals. Sartre's own life was coloured by jazz, affairs, Simone de Beauvoir and the intellectual camaraderie of Left Bank cafes. He maintained an extraordinary output of plays, novels, biographies, and philosophical treatises as well as membership of the communist party and a role in many political controversies. He produced some wonderful statements: "my heart is on the left, like everyone else's", and "a human person is what he is not, not what he is", and, most famously "we are condemned to be free". Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss how Sartre's novels and plays express his ideas and what light Sartre's life brings to bear on his philosophy and his philosphy on his life. With Jonathan Rée, philosopher and historia; Benedict O'Donohoe, Principal Lecturer in French at the University of the West of England and Secretary of the UK Society for Sartrean Studies; Christina Howells, Professor of French at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Wadham College.