About this podcast
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
The newest 50 of 1,000 episodes
- Rather Trivial Things? Finding the Precious in an Alternative Museum History - Kate Hill · 44 minThis lecture was recorded by Professor Kate Hill on 14th of October 2026 at Barnard’s Inn Hall, London. Kate is Professor of History at the University of Lincoln, UK, where she…
- What Do You Need a Mathematician For? Perspectives from the 17th Century - Volker Remmert · 50 minIn the early modern period, it was common practice to praise the mathematical sciences, a typical example being Martinus Hortensius’ Inauguration Speech on the Dignity and the…
- What is the Purpose of Yoga: Transcendence or Transformation? - Jim Mallinson · 54 minThis lecture was recorded by Professor Sir Jim Mallinson on 5th of October 2026 at Barnard’s Inn Hall, London. Jim Mallinson is the Boden Professor of Sanskrit at the University…
- Rethinking Deterrence for a Disrupted World - Martin Connell · 45 minThe unipolar world of American military dominance, which characterised the relatively stable 35-year post-Cold War period, is now well and truly over. This lecture reveals how…
- Shakespearean England and Views of the Irish Language - Mícheál Ó Mainnín · 46 minThe Irish language has been associated with politicisation and conflict, particularly in the context of contemporary Northern Ireland identity politics. However, debates around…
- The Gods of Ancient Greece | Gresham College Podcast with Prof Melissa Lane and Prof Ronald Hutton · 48 minThis episode of the Gresham College Podcast features a conversation between two Gresham Professors: Melissa Lane, Gresham Professor of Rhetoric and Ronald Hutton, Gresham…
- Women of Bath and Willesden: Ordinary Women in English Literature - Marion Turner · 44 minIn this lecture, Professor Marion Turner explores ‘ordinary women’ in English literature, arguing that Chaucer’s 14th-century Wife of Bath was the first such woman: a…
- AI as Therapist? Intimacy Without Understanding - Matt Jones · 50 minAI systems are increasingly positioned as supports for anxiety, loneliness, and distress. This lecture examines large language models trained to simulate therapeutic dialogue…
- Where is Queer Love in the Shoah History? - Anna Hájková · 37 minWhere are the stories of great queer love in the Shoah? There are almost none. Anna Hájková explains why the history of same-sex desire in the Shoah, that is, queerness among…
- Carbon: Our Flexible Friend that Built the Natural World - Helen Czerski · 1 h 0 minCarbon used to be something that was only mentioned in school chemistry classes, but now it seems to be everywhere: on the news, in political debate, in discussions on health…
- Cosmology’s Mad Idea: Inflation & the Creation of Our Universe - Chris Lintott · 51 minOur expanding Universe only makes sense if, early on, it expanded rapidly in a period of cosmic inflation. In this lecture, we consider the evidence for this apparently arbitrary…
- The Future of Creativity - Daniel Susskind · 46 minThis lecture was recorded by Daniel Susskind on the 23nd of September 2026 Dr Daniel Susskind is a writer and economist. He explores the impact of technology, and particularly…
- The Myth and Promise of the U.K. Jury Trial - Clive Stafford Smith · 47 minThe Lammy plan to eliminate half of U.K. criminal jury trials has provoked a rebellion among many lawmakers. Recent Palestine Action cases highlight the jury’s moral role, with…
- Is the HIV pandemic over? - Matt Higgins · 45 minA stark advert picturing a gravestone chiselled with ‘AIDS: DON’T DIE OF IGNORANCE’ captured the horror of this disease in the 1980s. Now, for HIV-infected people able to access…
- Cracking the Whip: Strings, Chains and Dinosaurs - Alain Goriely · 52 minThis lecture was recorded by Alain Goriely on the 15th of September 2026 Alain Goriely is a mathematician with broad interests in mathematical methods, mechanics, sciences, and…
- The Sky at Night, Tonight: A New View of the Changing Sky - Chris Lintott · 49 minOn a remote mountain top in Chile, scanning the sky with the largest astronomical camera ever built, the Vera Rubin Observatory is conducting the deepest and most sensitive…
- Cello - In Search of a Voice - Kate Kennedy · 50 minHow do we tell stories of past voices through a cello, the voice of its player? This lecture explores what it means to be separated from your voice, and to find it again. Dr Kate…
- Why Do We Need Empathy? - Jane Shaw · 45 minThis lecture was recorded by Jane Shaw on Monday, 07 Sep 2026. Professor Jane Shaw is Provost of Gresham College and Professor of the History of Religion at the University of…
- On the Nature of Time According to Modern Physics - Jim Al-Khalili · 46 minThis is the Annual Sir Thomas Gresham Lecture. What does modern physics have to say about the meaning of time? Is it a fundamental feature of reality or merely an emergent…
- Music of Sleep and Dreams - Milton Mermikides · 49 minThis lecture was recorded by Professor Milton Mermikides on the 19th of June 2026 Milton Mermikides is a composer, guitarist, technologist, academic and educator in a wide range…
- The Morrigan: The Nightmare Queen - Ronald Hutton · 53 minThis lecture was recorded by Ronald Hutton on the 17th of June 2026 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London Professor Hutton is Professor of History at the University of Bristol. He took…
- There Must be a Better Way: Thoughts on the Future of Family Law - Sir Andrew McFarlane · 53 minThis is the Annual Gray's Inn Reading 2026. The lecture was delivered within three months of Sir Andrew McFarlane’s retirement after 21 years on the Family Bench. Whilst the…
- Education - And Its Limits - Daniel Susskind · 52 minThis lecture was recorded by Professor Daniel Susskind on the 26th of May 2026 Dr Daniel Susskind is a writer and economist. He explores the impact of technology, and…
- The White Knight: Ice - Helen Czerski · 58 minThe polar regions are still some of the most inaccessible and least touched by humans, but they are deeply linked to the rest of Earth. We will cover the history of exploring…
- Cicero In and On Political Crises - Melissa Lane · 43 minThis lecture was recorded by Melissa Lane on the 11th of June 2026 Melissa Lane is the Class of 1943 Professor of Politics, Princeton University and is also Associated Faculty in…
- Forging Better Futures for You and AI - Matt Jones · 50 minIn this last lecture, I will work to wake us from the AI as Overlord spell. We will explore other possible futures, looking first look at the potential of AI fitting in with us…
- Current Challenges to the US Constitution - Clive Stafford Smith · 45 minThe Americans are very proud of their written constitution. During the first 3/8 of President Trump’s second term of office, the constitution has been severely tested. Where has…
- Shock of the Nude: Pioneering Women Artists and the Cultural Politics of Modern China - Di Wang · 37 minThis lecture was recorded by Dr Di Wang on the 8th of June 2026 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London Dr Di Wang is an art historian and curator. Her work focuses on art and culture of…
- Pluto Isn’t a Planet - Chris Lintott · 52 minThis lecture was recorded by Chris Lintott on the 3rd of June 2026 Professor Chris Lintott is a Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford, and a Research Fellow at…
- Plato to Polybius on Constitutional Change - Melissa Lane · 48 minThis lecture was recorded by Melissa Lane on the 28th of May 2026 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London Melissa Lane is the Class of 1943 Professor of Politics, Princeton University and…
- Going Global: Chinese Independent Documentary - Luke Robinson · 46 minThis lecture will focus on independently produced Chinese documentary cinema as it has entered the Anglophone industry market. Using “Plastic China” by the award-winning director…
- Should We Manipulate People’s Emotions? - Robin May · 46 minThis lecture was recorded by Robin May on the 20th of May 2026 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London Professor of Infectious Disease at the University of Birmingham, and (interim) Chief…
- Society and Survival During the Holocaust - Mary Fulbrook · 45 minThis lecture focuses on experiences of hiding and help during the Holocaust across Europe, including the German Reich itself, to highlight the significance of surrounding…
- Music of the Body - Milton Mermikides · 47 minMusic and biology are profoundly entwined. The heart beats, footsteps fall into familiar tempi, and even the movement of our limbs follows a natural rhythmic hierarchy—as if we…
- The Pill and the Planet - Ian Mudway · 59 minModern medicine's success in extending lifespans comes at an environmental cost. This lecture explores the pollution from single-use plastics, pharmaceuticals and medical waste…
- How Hard is too Hard? An Introduction to Complexity - Colva Roney-Dougal · 44 minThis lecture was recorded by Colva Roney-Dougal on the 11th of May 2026 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London Colva Mary Roney-Dougal OBE is a British mathematician specializing in group…
- Making Memory Visible Through Photograph - Julia Winckler · 1 h 1 minWith an academic background in social, cultural anthropology and photography, I have spent the last twenty-five years working on projects that have bridged photographic and…
- Dionysus: Lord of Misrule - Ronald Hutton · 47 minThis lecture was recorded by Ronald Hutton on the 6th May 2026 at Barnard’s Inn Hall, London Professor Hutton is Professor of History at the University of Bristol. He took…
- A Living Planet - Helen Czerski · 59 minEarth is a living planet. But how much life is there, and what is it doing? We will discuss the distribution of biomass on Earth, and compare the effects of microbes, wild…
- Music, Death and Afterlife - Mieko Kanno · 41 minThis lecture was recorded by Mieko Kanno on the 5th May 2026 at Barnard’s Inn Hall, London Mieko Kanno is a violinist and an academic, active in both capacities as Professor of…
- Give Peace a Chance: Legal Implications of the Israel-Palestine Conflict - Clive Stafford Smith · 41 minThis lecture was recorded by Clive Stafford Smith on the 30th of April 2026 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London Clive Stafford Smith JD OBE is a dual UK-US national, the founder and…
- The Shape of Tiles: Regular and Irregular, Hard and Soft - Alain Goriely · 51 minTiling involves filling a plane or space with repeated elements, known as tiles. This simple concept is deeply embedded in the natural world and human design, appearing in…
- The Ground We Stand On - Helen Czerski · 53 minThis lecture was recorded by Helen Czerski on the 19th of February 2026 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London Helen Czerski is a physicist and oceanographer with a passion for science…
- Tales from Television: Bringing the Natural World into Your Home - George McGavin · 59 minNew camera technology can help make stunning footage for natural history programmes but the key to success is down to a lot of hard work, planning and a bit of luck. In this…
- Science behind Love and Grief - Podcast with Robin May · 41 minThis episode of the Gresham College Podcast features an interview with Robin May, hosted by Jeoffrey Sarpong. Professor Robin May is a Professor of Infectious Disease at the…
- Why Do We Love? - Robin May · 50 minThis lecture was recorded by Robin May on the 22nd of April 2026 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London Professor of Infectious Disease at the University of Birmingham, and (interim)…
- Taming AI - Matt Jones · 53 minWatch the Q&A session: https://youtu.be/gj4d75_Clgg In this lecture, we look at proposals to limit AI powers and impacts, so bad outcomes are outweighed by social benefits from…
- A World Without Work - Daniel Susskind · 51 minIn the future, we may face ‘structural’ technological unemployment in the labour market – where there is no longer enough work to occupy the human workforce. This lecture…
- The Dictionary City: Londoners and the Oxford English Dictionary - Sarah Ogilvie · 53 minLondoners who helped create the world's largest English dictionary. She has unearthed a fascinating group of people across all social classes who represent some of the most…
- Music of the Mind - Milton Mermikides · 45 minThis lecture was recorded by Milton Mermikides on the 15th of April 2026 at LSO, London Milton Mermikides is a composer, guitarist, technologist, academic and educator in a wide…
