Gresham College Lectures
Gresham College has been providing free public lectures since 1597, making us London's oldest higher education institution. This podcast offers our recorded lectures that are free to access from the Gresham College website, or our YouTube channel.
Episodes
2852 episodes
How Inequality Affects Mental Health - Lade Smith
Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/UzxyNc8vuNsTraditional risk factors for mental illness include genetics, perinatal factors, substance use, negative life events, trauma and orga...
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50:07
Saints & Liars: The Stories of Americans Who Saved Endangered People from the Nazis - Debórah Dwork
Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/Tt_xU005mikThis Lecture unveils the hidden history of Americans who risked their lives to save others during WWII. These intrepid people travell...
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42:15
Why believe in Conspiracy Theories? - Peter Knight
Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/EyU7TCE1QJQWith Brexit, the US presidential election and the Covid pandemic, conspiracy theories now seem to be everywhere. It’s commonly argued...
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53:36
The Ancient History of Computers and Code - Victoria Baines
What links an ancient shipwreck to the textile mills of Northern England? Both contained forerunners of the computing we use today. Computer language and software also have a long history, featuring military research and the repurposing of earl...
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46:42
The Convoluted Brain: Wrinkles and Folds - Alain Goriely
Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/_Q_30OIPzXwThe human brain has a very distinct and complex appearance with valleys and ridges folding over themselves. The same convolutions are found in large mammals, but not in smaller...
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49:42
The Health Gap: Achieving Social Justice in Public Health - Michael Marmot
Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/leCxdECjyDMReducing health inequalities is a matter of social justice. Strategies must address the social gradient in health, and efforts should extend beyond healthcare to address ...
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51:55
Why Writing Women Back into History Matters - Janina Ramirez
Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/IJT3B9WZntcRediscovering remarkable historical figures such as the Birka Warrior Woman, Hildegard of Bingen, and King Jadwiga offers a fresh perspective to understand an era often dismiss...
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50:41
The Origins of Modern Paganism - Ronald Hutton
Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/sYqJomnunFgThe deeper exploration of Paganism begins with its roots in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, and the question of how ancient paganism was regarded then. It considers the mains...
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46:40
Does the UK have a Water Crisis? - Carolyn Roberts
The management of water supplies, flooding and water pollution in the UK is currently the subject of great controversy, and public interest has never been higher. Following a short introduction by Professor Carolyn Roberts, this focused day wil...
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2:18:19
Is Trump the same Nixon in 1968? - Luke A. Nichter
Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/D3Lz-M1P9VkThe 1968 Presidential Election remains the most divisive in modern U.S. history, with Democrat Hubert Humphrey, Republican Richard Nixon, and independent George Wallace at the ...
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46:34
What is a Puzzle Canon? The Divine Trickery of J.S. Bach - Milton Mermikides
Behind the sublime precision and expressive power of Bach’s music lies a mischievous spirit. From puzzle canons (where the performer must solve a riddle to reach the score), melodies that run upside-down and backwards against themselves, hidden...
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46:48
Why Does Britain Have a Housing Crisis? - Martin Daunton
This lecture was recorded by Martin Daunton on 22nd October 2024 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Martin is Visiting Professor of Economic History.Martin was also Master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, between 2004 and 2014, and ...
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54:32
The Sondheim Showstopper: ‘Send in the Clowns - Dominic Broomfield McHugh
Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/gtCsGQ14nU0This lecture examines ‘Send in the Clowns’, probably the most commercially successful song written by the revered Stephen Sondheim. Yet it confounds the expectations of a shows...
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52:27
How do we secure Europe? - Catherine Ashton
Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/YltPv0VUFgQWith the ongoing war in Ukraine, long-term planning for security in Europe is essential. What will be the role of NATO, EU enlargement, and the support of the UK to ensur...
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43:38
Is the Public Lecture Dead? - Martin Elliott
Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/wiAFxEnq8t4Gresham College has been delivering public lectures since 1597 through times of great social, political and technological change. Its commitment to deliver lectures for f...
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51:11
Do Microbes have Immune Systems? - Robin May
Watch the Q&A session here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDRNuI4VwmkWe often think of immunity as being a human, or at least mammalian, phenomenon. But in fact almost all living organisms have some form of immune system. In this ...
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41:21
How to raise the Net Zero conversation - Myles Allen
Watch the Q&A session here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKaTcobzidkIn a year of elections, climate change is emerging as a divisive political issue, and in many countries for the first time. This may be partly a consequence of p...
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51:58
Were Laws created by Greek Legends? - Melissa Lane
While Lycurgus of Sparta and Solon of Athens are now the best-known lawgivers of Greek antiquity, there were many others, from king Minos in Crete to Zaleucus and Charondas in southern Italy. This lecture explores the specific roles attributed ...
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44:49
Human Rights Law: Bringing Power to the Powerless - Clive Stafford Smith
This first lecture looks at the power that is given to advocates in a country that has a constitutional structure like the US. I have brought The American Constitution powers an American lawyer in ways unavailable to the British. I will i...
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36:31
What is Modern Paganism? - Ronald Hutton
What is modern Paganism, and how does it relate to witchcraft, Druidry and other phenomena? This lecture is designed to answer that question, and in doing so to provide an overview of the different traditions that make up Paganism today. It wil...
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45:27
Does having a big brain make your smarter? - Alain Goriely
Watch the Q&A session here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFCDvsq6N5gFor centuries scientists have tried to identify what is special about the human brain. How do we approach this problem from a mathematical standpoint? The first ...
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55:07
A Mirror in the Sky - Chris Lintott
The first lecture in the series considers the most famous telescope of all, the Hubble space telescope. A project more than forty years in the making, Hubble overcame an initial disaster with a misshapen mirror to drive a revolution in every pa...
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44:15
The Stories We Make Up & The Stories That Make Us - Bernardine Evaristo OBE
Many decades ago, as a young graduate from drama school, I was presented with a stark choice – either to shape my story myself, through writing, or to feel aggrieved at the detrimental narratives circulating about people like me in Britain at t...
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35:29
Does the UK Constitution need reform? - Charles Falconer PC, KC
The Gray's Inn Reading 2024Does the UK’s constitution provide too much freedom for those that wish to abuse it? Specific examples of this might include Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s lawbreaking during COVID, the selection o...
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36:55
Plato's Cave: Thinking about Climate Change - Melissa Lane
In The Republic, Plato explores the predicament of the Cave: a passive citizen body, a conniving and self-interested set of sophistic opinion-formers and demagogic political leaders, a systematically misleading and damaging order of political s...
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39:34
