Gresham College

"The Pros and Cons of Stable Monetary Value" - Long Finance Panel Discussion

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 17:51:22 -0000

Many critics claim that the problem with economics is that it has no theory of value. From early economists, such as Smith, Ricardo and Marx, to later economists, pinning value to economics has proved disputatious. In turn, problems with understanding value reverberate to problems with money, problems with the long term and problems with sustainability.

This panel discussion at this Long Finance conference will examine the question of "The Pros and Cons or Stable Monetary Value"?
The panellists are (from left to right):
- Professor Michael Mainelli
- Ben Dyson
- Professor Charles Goodhart
- Marusa Freire

The full downloadable versions of this and the other parts of the Long Finance Conference are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/into-the-folly-of-value-reforming-sustainable-finance

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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George Eliot and Relationships

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 12:51:22 -0000

Mary Ann Evans experienced difficult relationships with her family while growing up in Warwickshire, and with nineteenth-century London society more generally after she moved to the city and lived with a married man, George Henry Lewes.

Her seeking of independence in London as a writer (with her later emergence as 'George Eliot'), her experience of rejection, and the widening of her intellectual and cultural life, will be discussed, interwoven with analysis of the deep understanding of relationships in her novels characterised by authorial sympathy and humour.

A lecture by Rosemary Ashton, University College London 25 November

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/eliot-relationships

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
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Clusters Of Galaxies - Professor Carolin Crawford

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 07:51:22 -0000

Clusters of galaxies are the largest organised structures in the Universe that appear gravitationally bound, containing thousands of galaxies all confined to a volume of space only tens of millions of light years across. They are laboratories for extreme galaxy evolution, as many of the processes that can change the structure of galaxies are accelerated in such a crowded environment. Clusters of galaxies also provide important constraints for cosmology: from both the way they are grouped into superclusters that trace the 'large scale structure' of Universe; and the fact that their internal properties lead to powerful confirmation for the need for dark energy.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/clusters-of-galaxies

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

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How the English Learned to Hate Catholics

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 02:51:22 -0000

Medieval England was proudly Catholic and ostentatiously loyal to Rome. But from the late sixteenth century until recent times - and even now - anti-Catholic prejudice has been a cornerstone of English and British identity.

This lecture will look at how this prejudice grew out of the persecution of Protestants in the 1550s, at the idealistic historian who crystallised it, and at the political crises, real and invented, which turned his text into a paranoiacs' charter.

A lecture by Alec Ryrie, Gresham Professor of Divinity 20 November

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/how-the-english-learned-to-hate-catholics

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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Leprosia: The Lost Leprosy Hospitals Of London - Professor Carole Rawcliffe

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 21:51:22 -0000

Today, any mention of the medieval leper conjures up alarming images of exclusion, ostracism and fear, but such ideas are largely the product of the Victorian age, and have only limited basis in reality. By focusing upon the institutional provision made available for victims of leprosy in London between 1100 and 1500, we can explore the complexity of reactions to a disease that might be regarded as either a punishment for sin or a mark of divine favour. We will also trace the gradual impact of medical concepts of contagion and segregation, which developed alongside long-established religious teaching about the vital importance of providing proper care for men and women whose sufferings were widely identified with those of Christ.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-lost-hospitals-of-london-leprosaria

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Values And Value In The Marketplace - Lord Green

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 16:51:22 -0000

Lord Green, Minister of State for Trade and Investment, will speak about issues related to his recent book 'Good Value: Reflections on Money, Morality and an Uncertain World'. The description for which is as follows:

How should we create wealth in societies, and why is it necessary to do so? What improves the lives of the largest number of people? And how do we, living in a globalised world caught in an age of financial and ecological turbulence, respond to the differing needs of individuals and institutions?
Lord Green reflects on how the human desires for exploration and exchange have led us into a globalised, urban world, and considers why it is that capitalism is the best system by which to improve material human wealth. As the world's financial order is in a state of flux, how do we align these drives, and capitalism, with our spiritual and psychological needs? And how should the financial sector respond not only to the current crisis but to the wider needs of the people it serves. Do businesses - and banks in particular - have a duty to society that goes beyond the creation of profit? Does open market capitalism remain our best hope for creating wealth that benefits all of society? Encompassing history, politics, religion and economics, Good Value offers new perspectives on how we can live in a richer, more dynamic world.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/values-and-value-in-the-marketplace

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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The End of Matter?

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 11:51:22 -0000

Black holes give rise to some of the most spectacular phenomena we see in the cosmos. They significantly distort space-time and they grow by stealing material from other stars.

This talk will separate science fiction from science fact and elucidate what we know about these mysterious objects, and how they have shaped, and continue to shape, our Universe.

A lecture by Katherine Blundell, Gresham Professor of Astronomy 20 November

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/end-of-matter

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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English Architecture, 1830 to 1914: On Top Of The World - Professor Simon Thurley

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 06:51:22 -0000

Economic dominance brings cultural dominance and the architecture of Empire was, in part, a template for the world. But as the century turned there were already signs of big changes which were to go on to shape the England we now live in.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/on-top-of-the-world-1830-to-1914

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

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Sir Thomas Gresham and the Tudor Court

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 01:51:22 -0000

This lecture will explore Gresham's service to the crown during the turbulent politics of mid-Tudor England.

Gresham served three Tudor monarchs, and his career exemplifies the reliance of the Tudors on the intellectual gifts and financial capital of 'new men' in an age of religious transformations and expanding government and warfare. But his public career was dependent on the court itself, and the personal relationships he forged both with the preeminent statesmen of the age and with Queen Elizabeth herself

A lecture by Alexandra Gajda 14 November

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/gresham-tudor-court

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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London's Forgotten Children: Thomas Coram and the Foundling Hospital - Dame Gillian Pugh

Wed, 23 Sep 2026 20:51:22 -0000

In 1739, Captain Thomas Coram was dismayed at the sight of children dying on the dung heaps of London. These children, mostly foundlings and orphans, were products of a poverty-stricken society where the attitude towards babies born outside of wedlock meant a life of rejection and inferiority. After 17 years of campaigning, Coram managed to persuade sufficient 'persons of quality and distinction' to support his petition to the King to grant a Royal Charter for the building of the Foundling Hospital in Bloomsbury.
Over the next two hundred years, thousands of children were brought to the Foundling Hospital by mothers who were unable to look after their illegitimate children. There they were provided with excellent health care and education fit for their station in life before apprenticing the boys to learn a trade and the girls to domestic service.
In this lecture Dame Gillian Pugh, former chief executive of Coram, offers a fascinating history of the first children's charity and charts the rise of this incredible institution. It examines the attitude towards foundlings as illegitimate children over the years and brings us up to date on the innovative work of the charity today, now known simply as Coram.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/london%E2%80%99s-forgotten-children-thomas-coram-and-the-foundling-hospital

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Unlocking the Health Benefits of Nature

Wed, 23 Sep 2026 15:51:22 -0000

Nature's benefits to human health are so well-attested, that the medical profession is now actively engaged in fighting for a clean, healthy environment as a human right and prescribing it as treatment across the world from Shetland to Japan.

So how does being close to nature improve your health and well-being and how can this help us achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 to 'ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages'?

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/health/

A lecture by Jacqueline McGlade, Frank Jackson Foundation Professor of the Environment 12 November

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/reconnecting-with-nature

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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The Universities: Over Regulation - Baroness Ruth Deech

Wed, 23 Sep 2026 10:51:22 -0000

A century ago, British universities started to receive government funds. Since then, the universities have increasingly been called on to assist in meeting national objectives, as defined by successive governments, in return for decreasing amounts of financial support. Their independence is threatened and their status is arguably on the decline. How and why has this come about? Have universities failed to attract students from all backgrounds and, if so, what is the cause? How can their vitality and autonomy be restored?

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-universities-over-regulation

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Maths and Voting

Wed, 23 Sep 2026 05:51:22 -0000

We live in a democracy in which we all have a chance to vote. But does voting mean that the views of the majority are truly represented when it can be shown (mathematically) that all voting systems have flaws?

In this talk we use mathematics to look at these flaws and answer associated questions (eg. voting trends and gerrymandering). For a bit of light relief we will see how the same principles work in the Eurovision Song Contest.

A lecture by Chris Budd OBE, Gresham Professor of Geometry 12 November

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/maths-and-voting

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Britain in the 20th Century: The Collapse of the Postwar Settlement, 1964-1979

Wed, 23 Sep 2026 00:51:22 -0000

The 1960s saw a new course in British politics -- the commitment of both major parties to entry into the European Community, as the European Union was then known, and a conversion to the doctrine of planning. This involved a greater degree of state intervention in the economy, together with the control of incomes and a recasting of the system of industrial relations.
This caused problems which put the authority of government in question. In the February 1974 general election, voters were asked to resolve the issue of 'Who Governs?' Both Labour and Conservative administrations sought to assert themselves against the trade unions. When, in the 'winter of discontent' of 1979, it seemed that government had become too weak to do so, the postwar settlement collapsed.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/britain-in-the-20th-century-the-collapse-of-the-postwar-settlement-1964-1979

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

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100 Essential Things You Didn't Know You Didn't Know About Sport

Tue, 22 Sep 2026 19:51:22 -0000

A lecture to mark the publication of Professor Barrow's latest book, 100 Essential Things You Didn't Know You Didn't Know About Sport.

The book asks the question, "What can maths tell us about sports?"
It sheds light on the mysteries of running, jumping, swimming and points scoring across the whole sporting spectrum. Whether you are a competitor striving to go faster or higher, or an armchair enthusiast wanting to understand more, this is a fascinating read with one hundred short pieces that range across a wide number of sports.
Find out: Why high-jumpers use the Fosbury Flop? How fast Usain Bolt can ultimately run and how he could break his records without running any faster? Whether there is a limit to human performance? Who the strongest man or woman is, pound for pound? Why there are so many different scoring systems in sport? If a 100-kilogram mass weighs more in London than it does in Singapore; what the best strategy for taking football penalties is? What the effect of those banned skin-tight swimsuits are? Why golf balls are dimpled? And, last, but not least, why does the bounce of a Superball seem to defy Newton's laws of motion.
Written for anyone interested in sport or simple maths, the book will enrich your understanding of sport and enliven your appreciation of maths.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/100-essential-things-you-didnt-know-you-didnt-know-about-sport

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Charles I: The Court at War

Tue, 22 Sep 2026 14:51:22 -0000

During the Civil War Charles I's court, denied access to its usual country residences, was forced to set itself up in a series of makeshift locations. The most important of these was Oxford which Charles converted into a large and well-organised courtly campus.

Oxford, and a series of other temporary 'palaces', had to be both elegant court centres and efficient military headquarters; these very unusual royal houses cast new light on the key protagonists in England's Civil War.

A lecture by Simon Thurley, Visiting Professor of the Built Environment 6 November

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-court-at-war

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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The Opening Salvo: Beethoven's String Quartet in F major - Christopher Hogwood and the Wilhelm Quartet

Tue, 22 Sep 2026 09:51:22 -0000

A talk and performance of Beethoven's String Quartet in F major, Op. 18 No.1
By Professor Christopher Hogwood and the Wilhelm Quartet

How to be revolutionary without scaring away your public? How to announce yourself as a new broom without alienating the more stalwart connoisseurs?
Beethoven faced these problems when presenting his first six string quartets for publication as opus 18; did he win his public and allay their fears with his choice of opening?
The Wilhelm Quartet presents the evidence.

The Wilhelm Quartet comprises:
- Marciana Buta (violin)
- Charlotte Skinner (violin)
- Daisy Spiers (viola)
- Hetty Snell (cello)

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-opening-salvo

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Dams, Radiators and The Shard: The Legacy of English Gardening

Tue, 22 Sep 2026 04:51:22 -0000

BOOK LAUNCH

This lecture describes three ways in which technology developed for gardens changed the shape of England and its built environment. Gardening innovations in water engineering (17th and 18th century artificial lakes), central heating for greenhouses, and glass in construction went on to have a significant impact on our lives and environment.

Roderick Floud's An Economic History of the English Garden will be launched at this event.

A lecture by Roderick Floud, Former Provost of Gresham College 5 November

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/english-gardening

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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The End of Space and Time? - Professor Robbert Dijkgraaf

Mon, 21 Sep 2026 23:51:22 -0000

Robbert Dijkgraaf's focus is on string theory, quantum gravity, and the interface between mathematics and particle physics, bringing them together in an accessible way, looking at sciences, the arts and other matters.

Professor Dijkgraaf studied physics and mathematics at Utrecht University. He gained his PhD cum laude in 1989 with Nobel Prize-winner Gerard 't Hooft. He held positions at Princeton University and Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study. In 2003 his research was rewarded with the NWO Spinoza Prize, the highest scientific award in the Netherlands.

Many of his activities are at the interface between science and society. He writes columns, is involved in a popular TV science programme and initiated www.proefjes.nl (science education).

The End of Space and Time with Professor Robbert Dijkgraaf was recorded live on 20 March 2012 in London, UK.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-end-of-space-and-time

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AI Weapons, War and Ethics

Mon, 21 Sep 2026 18:51:22 -0000

This lecture will explore fully autonomous weapons, the products of AI technology, and the arguments for and against their use. It will then look at the more complex issues of the ethical role of the state in the protection of its population, and the ethical choices of individuals versus those of corporations, whose role in large-scale military-industrial complexes is crucial.

The lecture will also mention the emergence of a form of psychopathology in some weapons producers.

A lecture by Yorick Wilks, Visiting Professor of Artificial Intelligence 5 November

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/ai-weapons

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Profiling a Killer - Professor Glenn D Wilson

Mon, 21 Sep 2026 13:51:22 -0000

How do the real Crackers operate and how successful are they? Intuitive approaches to criminal profiling capture the imagination but actuarial methods are often more effective. The new science of geographical profiling is described and how it has helped to "crack" certain famous cases.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/profiling-a-killer

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Weighing the Universe

Mon, 21 Sep 2026 08:51:22 -0000

The cosmic microwave background is the luminous echo of the primordial explosion, the Big Bang — literally the oldest light in the Universe. Exquisitely precise measurements of this light have allowed astronomers to achieve what might seem impossible: weighing the universe, and thereby establishing the geometry of space.

This lecture will explain the physics of the cosmic microwave background and the challenges in understanding where our universe came from.

A lecture by Roberto Trotta, Visiting Professor of Cosmology 4 November

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/weighing-the-universe

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Contemporary Christian Art - The Rt Revd Lord Harries of Pentregarth

Mon, 21 Sep 2026 03:51:22 -0000

Contrary to much opinion, the current scene of faith-related art is very much alive. There are new commissions for churches and cathedrals, a number of artists pursue their work on the basis of a deeply convinced faith, and other artists often resonate with traditional Christian themes, albeit in a highly untraditional way. The challenge for the artist, stated in the introduction to the course of lectures above, is still very much there: how to retain artistic integrity whilst doing justice to received themes.

This lecture is part of Lord Harries' series on 'Christian Faith and Modern Art'. The last century has seen changes in artistic style that have been both rapid and radical. This has presented a particular problem to artists who have wished to express Christian themes.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/contemporary-christian-art

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A History of Hair

Sun, 20 Sep 2026 22:51:22 -0000

The 2014 scandal over Rachel Dolezal's lying about being of African-American heritage reignited debates about the politics of hair. It has been followed by numerous books with titles such as Don't Touch My Hair.

This lecture explores how hair has been seen as symbolic of empowerment, deviance, and identity. It looks at the role of big business in promoting grooming products (including scalp-damaging chemicals); the hair grooming regulations of the military; and the political significance of facial hair.

A lecture by Joanna Bourke, Gresham Professor of Rhetoric 31 October

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/history-of-hair

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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"To Wear Or Not To Wear?" - Changing Social Norms With Regard To Eyewear - Neil Handley

Sun, 20 Sep 2026 17:51:22 -0000

Studying the history of spectacles brings together the twin themes of technological development and mankind's increasing understanding of physical optics, but it is as much about charting different historical attitudes to the face and one's appearance before others. Only if we attempt to understand the cultural influences and motivations for wearing (or not wearing) spectacles do we gain an accurate picture of why some developments in eyewear styles were so slow to gain speed and why ideas of fashion have always caused some people to prefer suffering over the available relief.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/to-wear-or-not-to-wear-changing-social-norms-with-regard-to-eyewear

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Infection, Immunity and Cancer

Sun, 20 Sep 2026 12:51:22 -0000

Examples of cancers caused largely by infections include cervical cancer, some liver cancers, and gastric cancer. If the infection can be prevented, or treated, the cancer can also be prevented. When the immune system is damaged, including by infections like HIV, cancers increase. Understanding the importance of the immune system has led to new avenues for the treatment of cancer.

This lecture will also consider one of the fastest moving areas of cancer treatment, stimulating the immune system to attack cancers.

A lecture by Chris Whitty, Gresham Professor of Physic 30 October

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/infection-immunity-cancer

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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The Lost Hospitals of London: St Luke's - Professor Nick Black

Sun, 20 Sep 2026 07:51:22 -0000

The extraordinary story of this neglected quarter of London that in the late 19th century boasted seven major hospitals, of which only one survives today.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-lost-hospitals-of-london-st-luke%E2%80%99s

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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The Ballets Russes: Courting the Exotic

Sun, 20 Sep 2026 02:51:22 -0000

Diaghilev found that the Oriental style that had been cultivated by Russian composers was a perfect match for the Parisians' love of exoticism, and he started to commission new ballets for this market niche. These were so successful that even Parisian women's fashions came under their influence. But Russian folk art and music had the same exotic appeal in Paris, and Diaghilev discovered that Stravinsky was the man to turn this new 'product' into great art that was also modernist and attention-grabbing.

A lecture by Marina Frolova-Walker, Gresham Professor of Music 29 October

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/ballets-russes-exotic

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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Twenty-first Century Threats: Tuberculosis - Professor William Ayliffe

Sat, 19 Sep 2026 21:51:22 -0000

A cultural and medical history of tuberculosis, and its threat to the world today.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/twenty-first-century-threats-tuberculosis

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Freedom Song: The Fisk Jubilee Singers' Story

Sat, 19 Sep 2026 16:51:22 -0000

PART OF OUR BLACK HISTORY MONTH SERIES

A choir of ex-slaves, raising funds to build their University, toured America from 1871, suffering discrimination and hardship. They came to England, were treated with respect and sang to Queen Victoria and Gladstone. Spiritual songs are folk music and belong to us all, but because they came out of such horrific suffering it's hard to know how to sing them.

This lecture tells the tale of the singers whose courage and enterprise brought them to the world. The songs they sang include Steal Away to Jesus, Go Down, Moses and Deep River.

A lecture by Professor Harvey Brough with Emily Dankworth, Christina Gill, Wills Morgan and Michael Henry, Vox Holloway Choir 24 October

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/freedom-song

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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The Economics of HIV / AIDS - Professor Markus Haacker

Sat, 19 Sep 2026 11:51:22 -0000

Over the last decades, HIV/AIDS has emerged as a major new disease, reversing gains in life expectancy that had been won over many decades in numerous countries, and becoming a leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time, the disease has triggered an unparalleled international response. In this lecture Dr. Markus Haacker provides an intriguing account of the social and economic repercussions of the epidemic, as well as the direct health consequences, and discusses the contribution of the evolving global response to HIV/AIDS.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/twenty-first-century-threats-hivaids

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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A Global History of the Eclipse of 29 May 1919

Sat, 19 Sep 2026 06:51:22 -0000

THE 2019 BRITISH SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS / GRESHAM COLLEGE ANNUAL LECTURE

The event will focus upon mathematical expeditions, outlining how the use of mathematics has been instrumental to the success of historical voyages of exploration.

The main speaker, Professor Ana Simões, will discuss A Global History of the Eclipse of 29 May 1919 (6pm). This will be preceded by shorter presentations by Dr Stephen Johnson on Privateer and Mathematician: the Voyages of Edward Wright (4pm) and by Dr Rebekah Higgitt on Mathematical Practice and 18th-Century British Voyages of Scientific Exploration (4:45pm).

A lecture by Professor Ana Simões, University of Lisbon 23 October

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/eclipse-29-may-1919

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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Mathematics and Sport: On the Waterfront - Professor John D Barrow

Sat, 19 Sep 2026 01:51:22 -0000

What can maths tells us about the best way to rig a rowing eight? Does a cox help or hinder a racing boat? How does the speed of a kayak or a canoe depend on the number of paddlers? And what if you fall in -- can maths tell us anything about the best way to swim?

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/on-the-waterfront

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Mathematical Practice and the 18th-Century British Voyages of Scientific Exploration

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 20:51:22 -0000

THE 2019 BRITISH SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS / GRESHAM COLLEGE ANNUAL LECTURE

The event will focus upon mathematical expeditions, outlining how the use of mathematics has been instrumental to the success of historical voyages of exploration.

The main speaker, Professor Ana Simões, will discuss A Global History of the Eclipse of 29 May 1919 (6pm). This will be preceded by shorter presentations by Dr Stephen Johnson on Privateer and Mathematician: the Voyages of Edward Wright (4pm) and by Dr Rebekah Higgitt on Mathematical Practice and 18th-Century British Voyages of Scientific Exploration (4:45pm).

A lecture by Dr Rebekah Higgitt, University of Kent 23 October

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/british-voyages-of-scientific-exploration

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Decolonization: The End of Empire? - Professor Richard J. Evans

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 15:51:22 -0000

European empires, re-divided after the defeat of Germany in 1918, continued to expand after the First World War, reaching their greatest extent in the early 1940s. The imperial ambitions of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany created new empires that turned out to be very short-lived. With the emergence of the Cold War came a bipolar world dominated by two anti-colonial powers, the USA and USSR. Nationalism in the colonies grew apace, spurred by the loss of imperial legitimacy through the genocidal rule of Nazi Germany in Eastern Europe. Other European powers now began to feel that empire was unjustifiable following an immensely costly war that ended with human rights being enshrined in the United Nations Charter. Japanese rule over many European colonies in the Pacific severed ties with the imperial power and destroyed the legitimacy of empire. Once one major colony, such as India, gained independence, the momentum for others to follow became unstoppable. The lecture concludes by examining the legacy of empire in a post-colonial world. Have we escaped its influence or is it still with us?

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/decolonization-the-end-of-empire

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

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Privateer and Mathematician: The Voyages of Edward Wright

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 10:51:22 -0000

THE 2019 BRITISH SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS / GRESHAM COLLEGE ANNUAL LECTURE

The event will focus upon mathematical expeditions, outlining how the use of mathematics has been instrumental to the success of historical voyages of exploration.

The main speaker, Professor Ana Simões, will discuss A Global History of the Eclipse of 29 May 1919 (6pm). This will be preceded by shorter presentations by Dr Stephen Johnson on Privateer and Mathematician: the Voyages of Edward Wright (4pm) and by Dr Rebekah Higgitt on Mathematical Practice and 18th-Century British Voyages of Scientific Exploration (4:45pm).

A lecture by Dr Stephen Johnston, University of Oxford 23 October

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/privateer-and-mathematician

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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The Universities: Under Regulation - Baroness Ruth Deech

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 05:51:22 -0000

All universities are anxious to raise funds and some have come under criticism for accepting funds from despotic regimes which are seeking credibility and influence. What are the limits of fundraising? British universities have also acquired a reputation for hosting extremist speakers and for failing to control racial and religious hatred on campus, in the name of academic freedom and freedom of speech. What are the ambits of freedom of speech? Why is campus life threatening to some students, and what should universities do about it? Student complaints are on the increase. The Coexistence Trust has come into being to build networks of trust between Muslim and Jewish students on campus and to fight antisemitism and Islamophobia. How can students be encouraged to take up peaceful dialogue and not fight international battles at home?

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-universities-under-regulation

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Frozen in Time?

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:51:22 -0000

Most information from outer space reaches us at the speed of light and this governs our understanding of time and evolution in the cosmos. When we observe the Universe, we are 'looking back in time': we see the Universe as it was, not how it is. This is actually very helpful as we seek to discern and understand cosmic history and how the Universe has changed since earlier times.

A lecture by Katherine Blundell OBE, Gresham Professor of Astronomy 23 October

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/frozen-in-time

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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Bethlem Hospital: The history of the legendary institution for the mentally ill - Colin S. Gale

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 19:51:22 -0000

Bethlem Hospital was an integral part of London's charitable provision for the poor in medieval and early modern times. Hand in hand with public benevolence went great public interest in the objects of charity. Until 1770, the Hospital was open (at specified times of the week) to any member of the public who wished to see inside, and 'poor boxes' were strategically placed near the entrance for donations. Bethlem was by no means the only early modern hospital to permit this level of public access to its inner workings, but it is probably the best known for having done so. The memory of Bethlem's display of the misery of its patients for entertainment and gain is a powerful metaphor to this day.

Bethlem Archivist Colin Gale will explore the reality behind this metaphor via written and pictorial sources from the Hospital's own archives and the published writings of visitors.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-lost-hospitals-of-london-bethlem-hospital-worth-a-visit

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

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Building Sustainable Communities: A New Era for Twinning

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 14:51:22 -0000

In contrast to their stark socio-economic and environmental differences, the communities of Harbury, UK and Sekenani, Kenya are building 'collaborative ecosystems' that are helping people and their environment to flourish.

With similar ideas on issues as wide-ranging as energy generation to the creation of well-being, these two communities are actively engaged in delivering the UN Sustainable Development Goal 17, 'to revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development' through a new community twinning approach.

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/globalpartnerships/

A lecture by Professor Jacqueline McGlade, Frank Jackson Foundation Professor of the Environment 15 October 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/building-sustainable-communities

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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The Desublimation Of Modern Art: A Theological Task - Professor Ben Quash

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 09:51:22 -0000

Professor Ben Quash questions the place of 'the sublime', as defined by Immanuel Kant, in contemporary Christian art.

This talk was a part of the Gresham College conference, 'Thinking Theologically about Modern Art'. The full conference can be accessed on the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/seminar-thinking-theologically-about-modern-art

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Organ Transplants and Human Rights Abuses in China

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 04:51:22 -0000

This lecture reports on the findings of The Independent Tribunal into Forced Organ Harvesting from Prisoners of Conscience in China (June 2019), which examined reports of state-sponsored murder for the harvesting and sale of organs.

The very need for a People's Tribunal to deal with an issue of this gravity reflects the timidity of governments when asked to deal with the criminal behaviour of another state. The tribunal's conclusions will be set within the ethical standards expected of medical practitioners around the world.

A lecture by Professor Sir Geoffrey Nice QC and Professor Martin Elliott, Barrister and Surgeon 10 October 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/human-rights-china

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Modern Art: The Art Of Modern Life? - Professor George Pattison

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 23:51:22 -0000

Professor George Pattison examines a number of works in light of Baudelaire's definitive description of "the painter of modern life'', and considers the potential implications of such a definition on modern theological art.

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Sir Joseph Bazalgette (1819-1891) And the Cleansing of the Victorian Metropolis

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 18:51:22 -0000

2019 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Sir Joseph Bazalgette, and will see the building of the first major addition to the system he created to prevent sewage entering the Thames. The Thames Tideway Tunnel is now finally making its way 16 miles beneath the course of the river from Acton to the Thames Estuary, to intercept storm water which would otherwise enter the Thames.

The illustrated lecture will examine Bazalgette's achievement and the work involved in building this latest addition to it.

A lecture by Dr Stephen Halliday, Writer and Historian 9 October 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/bazalgette

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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A Sense Of The Sacred: Art and Architecture - Professor Frances Spalding

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 13:51:22 -0000

By exploring the architecture, stained glass windows and art installations of a variety of religious buildings, Frances Spalding shows the numerous ways in which ideas of 'the sacred' have been realised. Buildings covered include Lincoln Cathedral, Liverpool's Roman Catholic Cathedral and Le Corbusier's Notre Dame du Haut.

This talk was a part of the Gresham College conference, 'Thinking Theologically about Modern Art'. The full conference can be accessed on the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/seminar-thinking-theologically-about-modern-art

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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1667 and The Royal Society: A Manifesto for the Future

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 08:51:22 -0000

When Thomas Sprat's The History of the Royal-Society of London appeared in 1667, it was less a history than a manifesto for the future, designed to convince Charles II that experimental research was a worthwhile investment.

Focusing on experiment and travel, this lecture describes the aims and activities of the early Royal Society almost two centuries before the word 'scientist' was invented. As Sprat made clear, science, imperialism and finance were inextricably linked.

A lecture by Dr Patricia Fara, Clare College Cambridge 8 October 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/1667-royal-society

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Marching to an Antique Drum? - Contemporary Christian Art - Roger Wagner

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 03:51:22 -0000

Artist Roger Wagner offers an overview of his own career and perspectives on the pressures faced by a modern Christian artist. He details the influence of artists such as Giorgio de Chirico and TS Eliot on his work, as well as his resistance to what Robert Hughes has called "institutional modernism".

This talk was a part of the Gresham College conference, 'Thinking Theologically about Modern Art'. The full conference can be accessed on the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/seminar-thinking-theologically-about-modern-art

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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The Maths of Future Computing

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 22:51:22 -0000

This lecture examines the mathematics behind computing, starting with the history of the explosive growth of computer technology, from code breaking through to all aspects of modern communication and security, as well as the simulation of physical processes as varied as the evolution of the universe to predicting the weather. It looks at the types of problems computers can solve, as well as the future possibilities of quantum computing.

A lecture by Chris Budd OBE, Gresham Professor of Geometry 8 October 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/maths-future-computing

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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Thinking Theologically About Modern Art - Discussion

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 17:51:22 -0000

At the end of the conference, 'Thinking Theologically About Modern Art', the speakers review issues raised by the proceeding talks.
The speakers are:
* Professor the Rt Revd Lord Harries
* Professor Ben Quash
* Professor Frances Spalding
* Professor George Pattison
* Dr Jonathan Koestlé-Cate
* Roger Wagner

This discussion was a part of the Gresham College conference, 'Thinking Theologically about Modern Art'. The full conference can be accessed on the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/seminar-thinking-theologically-about-modern-art

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Time Management in the Digital Age

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 12:51:22 -0000

Classic time management frameworks advise us to focus on the important rather than the urgent. But these frameworks seem not to be applicable to the 21st century, where technology means that we are constantly bombarded with deadlines.

This talk will explain how to focus on important long-term goals but at the same time meet urgent short-term deadlines; how to use email as an effective communication tool without being overwhelmed by it; and how to outsource and automate routine tasks.

A lecture by Alex Edmans, Gresham Professor of Business 2 October 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/time-management

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Is There A God-Shaped Hole In Contemporary Art? - Jonathan Koestlé-Cate

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 07:51:22 -0000

Is there, as Allan Doig suggests, "a God-shaped hole in the middle of modern art"? Should contemporary church commissions meet criteria of accessibility, aesthetic quality and clear Christian symbolism? Should non-believers be commissioned to produce Christian art? Dr Jonathan Koestlé-Cate offers some answers to these questions.

This talk was a part of the Gresham College conference, 'Thinking Theologically about Modern Art'. The full conference can be accessed on the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/seminar-thinking-theologically-about-modern-art

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Human Traffic: Race and Post-War Migration Policy

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 02:51:22 -0000

THE 2019 ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLIN MATTHEW MEMORIAL LECTURE

PART OF OUR BLACK HISTORY MONTH SERIES

In the years after 1945 successive British governments set out to weaponise the nation's immigration policy. To maintain historic ties to the Old Commonwealth, and shore up Britain's position as a 'world power' they encouraged and even subsidised the emigration of over a million Britons while simultaneously recruiting thousands of East Europeans for new lives in Britain.

Yet in 1948, with the arrival of the Empire Windrush and the passing of the British Nationality Act, another, unplanned and unwanted migration was set in train.

A lecture by David Olusoga OBE, University of Manchester 1 October 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/human-traffic

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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The New Normal: Rebalancing Our Priorities - Professor Kenneth Costa

Mon, 14 Sep 2026 21:51:22 -0000

It is time for the banking and financial sectors to stop apologising and start changing. But how?
Professor Costs outlines three key themes for change needed in order to estable a "New Normal" for how we operate in the commerical and financial world: a re-ordering of our priorities, the respect the ethical, and the creation of a better spirit in which to carry out business.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-new-normal-rebalancing-our-priorities

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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How to Avert a Climate Catastrophe

Mon, 14 Sep 2026 16:51:22 -0000

After the UN Climate Action Summit in September, our Environment Professor will be talking to three experts about whether we still have a meaningful chance of averting a climate catastrophe, and how we can get there. The Extinction Rebellion protests pushed climate up the news agenda early in 2019, but what has happened since then, and what is happening globally?

Professor Vicky Pope will discuss the challenges of climate modelling and reduction of emissions; Dr Damien Short will talk about why we need to legislate against Ecocide; and Professor Geoffrey Beattie will discuss the psychology that stops us from taking action.

A lecture by Jacqueline McGlade, Dr Damien Short, Vicky Pope and Professor Geoffrey Beattie 30 September

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/avert-climate-catastrophe

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Brain Reconstruction: The next biomedical breakthrough, or a biological impossibility?

Mon, 14 Sep 2026 11:51:22 -0000

"Brain Reconstruction: The next biomedical breakthrough, or a biological impossibility?" by Professor Jack Price, Professor of Developmental Neurobiology and Head of the Centre for the Cellular Basis of Behaviour, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London.

How close are we to true brain reconstruction? Professor Jack Price details the latest advances in this field of neuroscience, as well as covering the conceptual and regulatory obstacles that researchers face.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/brain-reconstruction-the-next-biomedical-breakthrough-or-a-biological

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Everyone Expects the Spanish Inquisition: The Making of Spain's 'Black Legend'

Mon, 14 Sep 2026 06:51:22 -0000

Spain became a byword for cruelty in much of Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, whether it was the brutality of American colonisation, the tyranny of the Spanish Inquisition or the horrors of the Eighty Years' War in the Netherlands.

This lecture will survey this 'black legend' and ask what made it so enduring - and why some parts of the story, such as the Inquisition's genocidal campaign against Spanish Jews, received so much less attention than others.

A lecture by Alec Ryrie, Gresham Professor of Divinity 25 September 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/spains-black-legend

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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Gresham's Law in Economics: Background to the Crisis - Professor Victoria Chick

Mon, 14 Sep 2026 01:51:22 -0000

Sir Thomas Gresham said that "bad money drives out good". In Economics, bad theory has driven out good. This fact shaped the decisions of bankers and regulators and thus serves partly to explain the crisis that broke in 2007 and whose shadow extends to this day. This lecture will explore key areas in which Economics has chosen to take what Victoria Chick regards as the wrong path and how these developments led to changes in the institutional structure of the economy and the behaviour of its participants that made it less stable and less able to contribute to general economic well-being.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/greshams-law-in-economics-background-to-the-crisis

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Exporting Russia: Diaghilev's Beginnings

Sun, 13 Sep 2026 20:51:22 -0000

The great Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev didn't have the talents to become an artist or the money to become a patron. His gift was to inspire, facilitate and market artistic projects that were highly colourful and distinctive. In this lecture we follow his early years, when he published The World of Art, a provocative Russian journal, exhibited Russian visual art in Paris, and then brought Russian music there, culminating in his production of Musorgsky's opera Boris Godunov.

A lecture by Marina Frolova-Walker, Gresham Professor of Music 24 September 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/diaghilevs-beginnings

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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The Roman Denarius and the Euro: A precedent for monetary union? - Dr Andrew Burnett FBA CBE

Sun, 13 Sep 2026 15:51:22 -0000

A look at the way the Roman Empire has sometimes been used as an historical precedent for the European Union, and specifically the way that the integration of the Roman monetary system has been seen as a (sometimes justifying) precedent for modern European monetary union.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-roman-denarius-and-the-euro-a-precedent-for-monetary-union

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Musical Openings

Sun, 13 Sep 2026 10:51:22 -0000

The hammerblow introduction to Beethoven's 'Eroica' Symphony and the iconic four-note opening motif of the 5th Symphony, the unresolved start of Wagner's Tristan and Isolde, the sensuously meandering melody that begins Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, and the identical fanfare that opens both Monteverdi's opera Orfeo and his 1610 Vespers.

This lecture looks at how composers of all periods have risen to the challenge of how to write a memorable musical opening sentence.

A lecture by Jeremy Summerly, Visiting Professor of Music History 19 September 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/musical-openings

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Twenty-first Century Threats: Malaria - Professor Frank Cox DSc

Sun, 13 Sep 2026 05:51:22 -0000

In 1955, the World Health Organization announced an ambitious plan to eradicate malaria from the face of the earth. Now, nearly sixty years later, malaria still afflicts some 250 million people of whom over a million, mostly children, die each year. What went wrong?

In this lecture, Professor Frank Cox of Gresham College and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine will attempt to answer this question against a background of the history of malaria until 1955, what happened between 1955 and 1978 when the eradication plan was abandoned and finally where this leaves us today and concludes with the sobering possibility that malaria may never be eradicated.

he transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/twenty-first-century-threats-malaria

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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James I: The Court at Play

Sun, 13 Sep 2026 00:51:22 -0000

Before he became King of England in 1603 James I had never set foot in an English royal palace. What he found when he did was a mixed blessing: he may have liked the grandeur and riches, but he hated the stuffy formality. His answer was to create an entirely new sort of country residence devoted to hunting, reading and relaxation with his male favourites.

Architecturally incoherent these places may have been, but James's remarkable forgotten country houses tell us a huge amount about the man and the dawn of the Stuart age.

A lecture by Simon Thurley CBE, Visiting Professor of the Built Environment 18 September 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-court-at-play

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Britain in the 20th Century: Thatcherism, 1979-1990 - Professor Vernon Bogdanor

Sat, 12 Sep 2026 19:51:22 -0000

Margaret Thatcher sought to solve the deep-seated problems of the British state outside the parameters of the postwar settlement. The main ideological victims of the collapse of the postwar settlement were One Nation Conservatism, the paternalistic ethos of Churchill and Macmillan, and the belief in government intervention, the idea that governments could fine-tune the economy to secure full employment.
Margaret Thatcher's governments encouraged the spread of ownership so that Britain could become a property-owning democracy and a capital-owning democracy. Thatcherism seemed for a time to be in accordance with the trends of social change and by the end of the 20th century, Britain was a far more fluid and individualistic society than it had been in the immediate postwar years.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/britain-in-the-20th-century-thatcherism-1979-1990

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

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Striking the Balance Between Common Sense and Legal Reasoning

Sat, 12 Sep 2026 14:51:22 -0000

THE 2019 GRAY'S INN READING

Lord Kerr intends to address the recent decision in Stocker v Stocker and the challenges which confront judges when required to take on the role of a jury in applying a common-sense approach to the meaning of words. He will try to consider and reflect on the essential role of the Courts in upholding individual rights and how best this role can be performed whilst also ensuring that decisions accord with society's broader expectations of justice.

A lecture by Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore PC QC, Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdomw 20 June 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/grays-inn-reading-2019

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Mathematics and Sport: Final Score - Professor John D. Barrow

Sat, 12 Sep 2026 09:51:22 -0000

Why are there so many different scoring systems in operation in sport? We look at how structuring matches into a series of sets affects the relative roles of luck and skill in determining the winner of the contest. Did table tennis make a significant change to the game when it changed its scoring system? We also look at events like the decathlon where points are awarded for performances in different disciplines to see what sort of decathlete is most likely to win given the present points system.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/final-score

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Byron and the Age of Sensation

Sat, 12 Sep 2026 04:51:22 -0000

Jonathan Bate will explore the life and work of the original celebrity poet - Lord Byron.

He will show how Byron was simultaneously a Romantic and an anti-Romantic, and how his influence spread to almost every corner of Europe, from the Russia of Pushkin to the Greek War of Independence.

A lecture by Sir Jonathan Bate, Gresham Professor of Rhetoric 11 June 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/byron-age-of-sensation

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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The BBC: Defending The Public Interest - Baroness Ruth Deech

Fri, 11 Sep 2026 23:51:22 -0000

From 2007 the Governors were replaced by Trustees; but there was still disquiet about the best method of regulating the BBC. BBC regulation is fragmented: some regulatory functions rest with OFCOM, and the National Audit Office investigates some financial matters. It is said that the Trust cannot be both a champion of the licence fee payers and of the BBC management. Should regulation of the BBC be wholly external to it? Is OFCOM any better placed to defend public service broadcasting than the Trust? The BBC World Service is a vital accurate news source for many parts of the world: is it better placed under the control of the BBC or the Foreign Office?

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-bbc-defending-the-public-interest

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Wellbeing at the Bar? Is a Legal Aid Lawyer's Work all Stress and Distress?

Fri, 11 Sep 2026 18:51:22 -0000

Over the course of her Professorship, Professor Delahunty has striven to talk openly about the way in which the Family Court deals with emotive and challenging issues such as sexual abuse, child death in infancy, child neglect and child exploitation.

At what personal cost is that work undertaken? How can one delete the retinal images of abuse after the case has ended?

A lecture by Jo Delahunty QC, Gresham Professor of Law 6 June 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/family-lawyer-stress-distress

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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The Making Of Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts - Dr Sally Dormer

Fri, 11 Sep 2026 13:51:22 -0000

Illuminated manuscripts are some of the most beautiful artefacts to survive from the Middle Ages. Their production involved transforming animal skins into parchment; copying texts; painting and gilding minatures; and binding folios between boards, a process that reveals much about medieval scribal and artistic practice.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-making-of-medieval-illuminated-manuscripts

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mergers and Acquisitions: Do They Create or Destroy Value?

Fri, 11 Sep 2026 08:51:22 -0000

Mergers and acquisitions (M and A) are perhaps the most important decisions that a company ever faces, yet very many deals destroy substantial value.

This talk will discuss the correct and incorrect motives for M and A, using both examples and large-scale evidence. It will discuss the conflicts of interest that may lead investment banks to persuade clients to do value-destroying deals, and ways to motivate these conflicts. It will also critically analyse policy proposals to reform M and A, e.g. a national interest test.

A lecture by Alex Edmans, Gresham Professor of Business 5 June 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/mergers-acquisitions-value

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Large Telescopes And Why We Need Them - Professor Carolin Crawford

Fri, 11 Sep 2026 03:51:22 -0000

Beyond the Solar System, all astronomers have to work with is the light that falls to the Earth from distant cosmic objects. Newer, larger telescopes are always needed to boost scientific progress, and the next generation of facilities - whether the 42m diameter optical-infrared Extremely Large Telescope, or the Square Kilometre Array of radio dishes - will represent a huge advance. We shall look at the science driving the need for such large telescopes, through history and to the present-day and beyond. Many scientific and engineering challenges are involved in the design and construction of the largest telescopes and their mirrors, and technological developments will be essential to their success.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/large-telescopes-and-why-we-need-them

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

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Aristotle's Lyceum

Thu, 10 Sep 2026 22:51:22 -0000

In the 330s BCE, the great philosopher and scientist, Aristotle of Stagira in northern Greece, returned to Athens and founded his Lyceum. The first institution in world history to encompass teaching, research and the collection of a vast library, the Lyceum immediately began to revive even Plato's Academy in international reputation.

This lecture looks at the archaeological site of the Lyceum, discovered accidentally in 1996, and asks how the remains can illuminate Aristotle's life, work, and incomparable contribution across academic disciplines, from Political Theory and Aesthetics to Zoology, Physics and Astronomy.

A lecture by Edith Hall, Visiting Professor of Classics 30 May 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/aristotle-lyceum

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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The Inconsistent Sun - Professor Claudio Vita-Finzi

Thu, 10 Sep 2026 17:51:22 -0000

Changes in the Sun's output can endanger health, power supplies and satellite systems. To prepare adequately for such events and to make judicious use of solar energy we need to investigate the Sun's 4.7 billion year history.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-inconsistent-sun

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Toothpaste, Custard and Chocolate: Mathematics Gets Messy

Thu, 10 Sep 2026 12:51:22 -0000

THE 2019 JOINT LONDON MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY ANNUAL LECTURE

This talk looks at mathematical modelling of real, complex fluids in flow situations - some with serious commercial applications, and some just for fun.

Focusing on the chocolate fountain, we experience one of the key day-to-day tools of an applied mathematician, scaling analysis, to answer the question: why doesn't the chocolate fall straight down?

A lecture by Helen Wilson, Professor of Applied Mathematics University College London 29 May 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/mathematics-gets-messy

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Drawings in Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts - Dr Sally Dormer

Thu, 10 Sep 2026 07:51:22 -0000

Medieval drawings are frequently viewed as the poor cousins of fully-painted miniatures. But in England, an appreciation of drawing persisted throughout the Middle Ages. Based within the late 10th and early 11th centuries, this lecture proves that drawing was more than an expedient alternative to full paint.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/drawings-in-anglo-saxon-manuscripts

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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The Changing Impact of Infections as We Go Through Life and Age

Thu, 10 Sep 2026 02:51:22 -0000

The very young and very elderly are particularly susceptible to many infections and for many infections, age will predict how likely someone is to die once infected. The immediate and long-term effects of an infection changes throughout our life course. Some infections which if caught as a child are usually relatively trivial are likely to be much more severe in young adults including mumps and chickenpox.

Other infections present in very different ways depending on the age of the sufferer; for example, severe malaria in young children is a completely different disease from severe malaria in adults although the parasite is the same. Otherwise trivial infections can have major effects in pregnant women or particularly on their unborn babies; examples include rubella and Zika. Several vaccines work differently in different age groups. This changing pattern of what makes disease severe as we progress from the first trimester of pregnancy by stages through to becoming very elderly has implications for treatment and prevention of disease.

A lecture by Chris Whitty CB, Gresham Professor of Physic 22 May 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/infections-as-we-age

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Lyme Disease "Is it safe to walk in the park?" - Professor Patricia Nuttal

Wed, 09 Sep 2026 21:51:22 -0000

"...It was lovely last weekend. Warm enough to wear shorts and sandals taking the dog for a walk in the park. How can this nasty red rash on my ankle have anything to do with it? Don't remember being bitten. There was a little black thing on my ankle, but just scratched it off. Doctor says it's Lyme Disease. Never heard of it. Have to take these horrible antibiotics -- and no drinking! Last time I go for a walk in the park..."

How real is this scenario? Professor Pat Nuttall will consider the likelihood of being bitten by a tick carrying the Lyme Disease spirochaete, Borrelia burgdorferi. The disease derives its name from Lyme, Connecticut in North America, where it was described in the 1970s as a distinct clinical entity among children believed to have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Now it is recognised in temperate regions across much of the northern hemisphere. The reasons for the seemingly prolific spread of the disease, and the prospects of controlling it, will be discussed. Yes, it is safe to walk in the park, but there are some provisos...

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/twenty-first-century-threats-lyme-disease-is-it-safe-to-walk-in-the-park

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Exploring Earth from Space

Wed, 09 Sep 2026 16:51:22 -0000

In recent years, multiple space missions have been launched. Many have set out across our galaxy to explore other systems and planets, capturing people's imaginations and helping us to understand more about the origins of the universe. But there are also a myriad of space missions and platform that are sending data back to earth that are telling us about how earth is changing. Today the earth is opening up its secrets as never before.

A lecture by Jacqueline McGlade, Frank Jackson Foundation Professor of the Environment 21 May 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/exploring-earth-from-space

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Home Office Mathematics - Professor Bernard Silverman

Wed, 09 Sep 2026 11:51:22 -0000

The Chief Scientific Adviser is the head of Home Office Science, which provides scientific advice and support to the whole range of the Home Office's work as the lead government department for immigration and passports, drugs policy, crime, counter-terrorism and police. Many aspects of our scientific work involve mathematics, and in this talk a selection will be presented. These show not only how mathematics is used by one particular government department, but also how wide is the range of topics where mathematical thinking and methods are important.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/home-office-mathematics

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Energy and Matter at the Origin of Life

Wed, 09 Sep 2026 06:51:22 -0000

The origin of life is one of the biggest questions in science, but until recently it was, experimentally, a question in chemistry. Now, gene sequences and a better understanding of cell growth under extreme conditions are giving insights from biology. These point to hydro-thermal vent environments as 'incubators' that could drive growth in a similar way to cells at the origin of life.

Professor Lane will discuss how these ideas are being tested in the lab.

A lecture by Nick Lane, Professor of Evolutionary Biochemistry University College London 20 May 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/energy-matter-origin-of-life

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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The Art of Rhetoric - Simon Lancaster

Wed, 09 Sep 2026 01:51:22 -0000

Most people fear giving speeches, almost as much as the rest of us dread listening to them. The lectern has a cruel capacity to render even the mighty vulnerable. Fortunately there is a science to the art of public speaking and it dates back to Ancient Greece. Simon Lancaster will open up a veritable treasure trove of ancient rhetorical devices and help you discover how to become a master in the language of leadership.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-art-of-rhetoric

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Staying in Touch with Patients

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 20:51:22 -0000

Touch is central to the performance of medicine. Traditionally, doctors depended on touch to diagnose illness. Revolutions in imaging technology, machine learning and artificial intelligence seem to reduce the need for physical examination. Yet touch is not only about gathering information but is how we express compassion and care.

This lecture considers how 'gnostic' touch (identifying disease) and 'pathic' touch (conveying care) are becoming separated by technological developments, and asks what we can do to ensure that touch remains central in connecting doctors and patients.

A lecture by Roger Kneebone, Visiting Professor of Medical Education 28 May 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/staying-in-touch-patients

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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The Challenge of the Solo: The Baroque Violin - Christopher Hogwood and Pavlo Beznosiuk

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 15:51:22 -0000

Pavlo Beznosiuk, one of the world's leading baroque violinists, explains and demonstrates the challenge of music for solo violin; works by Nicola Matteis and Heinrich Biber lead to a discussion and performance of the famous Chaconne from Bach's Solo Partita in D minor. Can such a work be satisfactorily analysed or does "music begin where words leave off"?

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-challenge-of-the-solo

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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The Cockney Romantics: John Keats and his Friends

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 10:51:22 -0000

The word Romanticism makes us think of mountain tops and stormy seas, but the younger generation of English Romantics (above all, John Keats) were Londoners through and through. They were even mocked as 'the Cockney School of Poetry'.

Jonathan Bate will track Keats to Hampstead and tell of the extraordinary circle of writers - opium-eater Thomas De Quincey, essayist Charles Lamb, master-critic William Hazlitt - who wrote for The London Magazine, until its gifted editor was killed in a duel with a rival critic.

A lecture by Sir Jonathan Bate FBA, Gresham Professor of Rhetoric 14 May 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/cockney-romantics-john-keats

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Innovation in the Social Sciences - Professor Sir Roderick Floud

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 05:51:22 -0000

Innovation is seen as the key to economic growth. But is this true of innovation in services, which now employ 75% of us, as well as in manufacturing industry? This lecture explores innovation in the "knowledge industries" through the development of the subject of economic history over the past 50 years.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/innovation-in-the-social-sciences

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Is There Danger Ahead With AI: Superintelligence, Ethics, Work, Leisure and Automation

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 00:51:22 -0000

Professor Wilks will discuss the argument that 'superintelligent' AI may turn against us, as Hawking and Bostrom have warned. It will be argued that these worries misrepresent the achievements and potential of AI, and that the ethical dilemmas of AI will be deeper and more challenging than just managing idleness due to automation, or how to blame an automated car in a crash. They will include how to treat the artificial Companions created to curate our own lifetimes of information.

A lecture by Professor Yorick Wilks, Visiting Professor of AI 14 May 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/danger-ai-ethics-work-leisure

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Britain in the 20th Century: A new consensus? 1990-2001 - Professor Vernon Bogdanor

Mon, 07 Sep 2026 19:51:22 -0000

The fall of Margaret Thatcher left a legacy that was both contested and divisive. During the 1990s, the Conservative Party, under the impact of divisions on Europe and on economic policy, began to fragment. But, after four election defeats, Labour, under Tony Blair, who relabeled the party New Labour, seemed to be adopting some of the main tenets of Thatcherism. To what extent was there a new consensus in the 1990s, and were the policies of the New Labour government, elected in 1997, an extension of Thatcherism or a repudiation of it?

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/britain-in-the-20th-century-a-new-consensus-1990-2001

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jesus, Hitler and the Abolition of God

Mon, 07 Sep 2026 14:51:22 -0000

This series has argued that the origins of modern secularism lie in the age of the Renaissance. This last lecture will track that legacy down to the present. From Tom Paine through Bakunin to modern humanism and anti-Nazism, religion has not collapsed intellectually. Instead, religious impulses - defiance of unwelcome moral authority, the quest for ever-deeper truths, a readiness to judge churches by their own standards - have given our age a profoundly secular ethic with deeply religious roots.

A lecture by Professor Alec Ryrie, Gresham Professor of Divinity 9 May 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/jesus-hitler-abolition-of-god

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Regulating the Regulators - Baroness Ruth Deech

Mon, 07 Sep 2026 09:51:22 -0000

One of the Coalition Government's first actions was to attempt a bonfire of the quangos. In order that the baby should not be thrown out with the bathwater, one has to consider what areas of life do and do not need regulation. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority is highly regarded and is a good example of inexpensive necessary regulation in the interests of patients and children. It has however been under consideration for abolition. There are good and bad quangos. What general principles should govern regulation and who should do the regulating?

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/regulating-the-regulators

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Gresham's Exchange

Mon, 07 Sep 2026 04:51:22 -0000

'Go to the Exchange, crave gold as you intend.'' (William Haughton, Englishmen for My Money, 1598). Sir Thomas Gresham's first great contribution to the life of London was the Royal Exchange, the purpose-built merchants' bourse which opened in 1567.

Why did Gresham finance and build it? What did Londoners (and others) do there? And what does the Exchange tell us about Gresham's ambitions both for himself and for London?

A lecture by Professor Stephen Alford, University of Leeds 8 May 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/greshams-exchange

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Illuminated Psalter Manuscripts - Dr Sally Dormer

Sun, 06 Sep 2026 23:51:22 -0000

Psalters containing the 150 Psalms were immensely popular medieval manuscripts, used by a wide array of patrons for liturgical, scholastic and devotional purposes. This lecture explores how the Psalms inspired a rich tradition of literal, historical and interpretative illustration, from the 9th to the 14th centuries, across Europe.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/illuminated-psalter-manuscripts

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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The Unacclaimed Accompanist

Sun, 06 Sep 2026 18:51:22 -0000

There is far more to piano accompaniment than meets the ear or eye. Vocal celebrities are reliant on an accompanist's skills in indisputably great music composed for an equal partnership of voice and piano, and yet the hard-working pianist's public profile seldom matches that of the singer. Skills developed over many years are often accorded faint praise and small fees.

Graham Johnson examines a problematic profession that continues to attract many gifted young pianists to its ranks and asks why.

A lecture by Graham Johnson OBE, British classical pianist and Lieder accompanist 7 May 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/unacclaimed-accompanist

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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'This ain't the shop for justice': Crime in Dickens's London - Dr Tony Williams

Sun, 06 Sep 2026 13:51:22 -0000

From his childhood acquaintance with London, when he feared he might become 'a little robber or a little vagabond', Charles Dickens was fascinated by crime. His novels all include criminal activity of some kind as he investigates criminal psychology and the causes of crime. Dickens lived through a period of considerable development in society's treatment of criminals: the foundation of the Metropolitan Police in 1829, the Detective Force in 1842, the same year as the New Model Prison opened at Pentonville; the ending of transportation and of public executions; the word 'penology' was first used in 1838, the year he began to publish Nicholas Nickleby. Dickens engages with these issues very fully, both in his fiction and in his journalism, as this talk will explore.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/%E2%80%98this-ain%E2%80%99t-the-shop-for-justice%E2%80%99-crime-in-dickens%E2%80%99s-london

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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The Child and Medical Treatment: The Chance to Live, or to Die with Dignity?

Sun, 06 Sep 2026 08:51:22 -0000

What happens when doctors and parents cannot agree on whether a child should be given experimental medical treatment? Why is there any question mark over a parent's right to decide if medical treatment for their child continues?

From the parents of Ashya King who successfully secured proton beam therapy for their son to the despair surrounding baby Charlie Gard and his life-limiting genetic disorder: how does the court make decisions that can potentially prolong life or bring about the death of a child?

In this lecture, Professor Jo Delahunty is joined by Dr Imogen Goold.

A lecture by Jo Delahunty QC and Dr Imogen Goold, Gresham Professor of Law and Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Oxford 2 May 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/child-medical-treatment

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Privacy and Publicity in Family Law - Their Eternal Tension - The Rt Hon Sir Nicholas Wall

Sun, 06 Sep 2026 03:51:22 -0000

There is general agreement among non-family lawyers that family procedures should be more transparent. But exactly what role should the media play in matters of family justice?

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/privacy-and-publicity-in-family-law-their-eternal-tension

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Leonardo's Salvator Mundi: Scholarship, Science and Skulduggery

Sat, 05 Sep 2026 22:51:22 -0000

The newly discovered Salvator by Leonardo, the world's most costly picture, is one of his most notable creations, in which he used his 'science of art' to transform a stock subject into a profound expression of the ineffability of the divine.

We will look at the remarkable story of its discovery, its conservation and scientific examination, the research into how it works as an image and its provenance. We will also look at the scandalous events of its ownership and how it came to be where it is now.

A lecture by Martin Kemp, University of Oxford 1 May 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/leonardo-salvator-mundi

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Star Dust - Professor Carolin Crawford

Sat, 05 Sep 2026 17:51:22 -0000

Interstellar space is not truly a vacuum devoid of matter. Mixed into vast diffuse clouds of atomic gas are minute grains of silicate and carbonate materials known as 'dust', alongside complex molecules deep in the cold hearts of nebulae. We shall look at how we can detect and observe this tenuous material, through the processes by which dust scatters and absorbs visible light, and emits its own infrared glow. This interstellar matter is of fundamental importance to us all, as it is the reservoir from which all planets form... and any lifeforms living on those planets.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/star-dust

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Intertwined Impacts of Pollution and Inequality on Health

Sat, 05 Sep 2026 12:51:22 -0000

Pollution is a much more complex problem than many realise and cannot be resolved solely through global and regional agreements. Pollution is closely connected with behavioural and technology choices, production and consumption practices, industrial processes and pricing policies, financial and business sector orientation and a culture of consumerism and irresponsibility to the environment and impacts on people's health. Only by changing behaviours can we tackle pollution.

A lecture by Jacqueline McGlade, Frank Jackson Foundation Professor of the Environment 30 April 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/pollution-inequality-health

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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The Postmodern Detective: Contemporary London Crime Fiction - Dr Jenny Bavidge

Sat, 05 Sep 2026 07:51:22 -0000

The urban detective has traditionally been a figure supremely able to penetrate the mysteries of the city, yet set apart from the populace he protects. Have recent London crime stories abandoned their confidence in the interpretative abilities of the detective? Can we still believe in omniscient figures such as Dickens' Inspector Bucket or Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes? Is London still a place where mysteries can be satisfactorily solved? This talk will explore the changing role and persona of the London detective, and look at novels where the detecting is done by some unlikely figures, including female pharmacists (Janet Stevenson's London Bridges) or children (Siobhan Dowd's The London Eye Adventure).

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-postmodern-detective-contemporary-london-crime-fiction

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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500 Years of Mathematics: Are We Living in a New Golden Age?

Sat, 05 Sep 2026 02:51:22 -0000

Much has happened in the 500 years since the birth of Thomas Gresham, and mathematics is no exception. Most mathematicians were then in awe of the Greeks and felt little had been done since. But the start of modern mathematics soon followed, marked by the solution of the cubic equation. Mathematics has grown explosively since then and we are now in an age of great discovery.

The last 500 years of progress in maths will be reviewed, to see where it is going next and ask whether we are truly living in a mathematical Golden Age.

A lecture by Chris Budd, Gresham Professor of Geometry 30 April 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/500-years-mathematics-golden-age

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
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Parliament and the Public: Strangers or Friends? - The Rt Hon John Bercow

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 21:51:22 -0000

How can the House of Commons engage more effectively with the public which it serves? Can modern technology assist this enterprise?

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/parliament-and-the-public-strangers-or-friends

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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The Meaning, Value and Sanctity of Human Life

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 16:51:22 -0000

Recent advances in medical science have brought complex ethical dilemmas, particularly around the beginning of human lives (abortion, embryo research, IVF, gene therapy, stem cells) and its ending (switching off ventilators, persistent vegetative state (PVS) and 'dying with dignity' or assisted suicide).

Although none of these topics occurs directly in the New Testament, references to 'life' abound, and healing was the centre of Jesus' earthly ministry. Can our approach enable the Biblical material to assist contemporary medical debates?

A lecture by Richard Burridge, Visiting Professor of Ethics and Theology 25 April 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/meaning-value-sanctity-life

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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What has the City ever done for us? - The Lord Mayor of London, David Wootton

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 11:51:22 -0000

The Rt. Hon. The Lord Mayor, Alderman David Wootton, examines the role, contribution and connections of the City and business - fundamental elements of our community.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/what-has-the-city-ever-done-for-us-the-lord-mayors-annual-gresham-lecture

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Does Finance Benefit Society?

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 06:51:22 -0000

Since the financial crisis, there has been a strong view that the financial sector has little benefit for society. The stock market is not a net supplier of capital - as much money is spent on share buybacks as is raised from new issuance. Moreover, most stock market trading is speculative side-bets between investors, with no new money being raised by firms.

This talk will show that stock market trading may contribute to society even if does not lead to firms raising new capital.

A lecture by Alex Edmans, Gresham Professor of Business 24 April 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/does-finance-benefit-society

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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Literary London Crime: The Dark Eyes of London - Cathi Unsworth

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 01:51:22 -0000

London is a city of secrets, a shifting, seething mass of intrigue, venality and violence, in constant cultural flux. The perfect setting for crime fiction - but how does the modern writer decode this centuries' old conurbation?
Cathi Unsworth investigates those authors who haunt certain regions of the capital -- Ken Bruen's Dirty South; Dreda Say Mitchell's Illicit East; Derek Raymond's West End Jungle -- those, like Jake Arnott, who create epic pop histories from our forgotten past; and those, like Iain Sinclair, whose meditations on the geography of violence have inspired a different kind of crime fiction.
Along the way, she will also explore the cult writers who helped to shape these contemporary authors' visions and the clandestine vocabulary of the City of Slang.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/literary-london-crime-the-dark-eyes-of-london

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Mining Volcanoes: Diamonds, Copper and Hot Water

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 20:51:22 -0000

Volcanoes provide many natural resources from which society can benefit. Diamonds and most of the world's copper are mined from eroded extinct volcanoes while many active volcanoes offer the possibility of extracting huge amounts of geothermal energy. The volcanic processes that transport diamonds to the Earth's surface and enrich copper beneath volcanoes, show how volcanoes can be a major energy and resource.

A lecture by Richard Herrington, Head of Earth Sciences at the Natural History Museum 17 April 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/mining-volcanoes

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
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Berlioz's Requiem: The Grande Messe des Morts and the Absence of God - David Cairns

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 15:51:22 -0000

David Cairns delivers this lecture on Berlioz's Grande Messe des Morts Op. 5 (Requiem), ahead of the City of London Festival performance of the piece by the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Sir Colin Davis, which took place at St. Paul's Cathedral.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-grande-messe-des-morts-and-the-absence-of-god

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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The Natural Environment of Tudor London

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 10:51:22 -0000

Tudor London is variously reported as a squalid seething mass of humanity choking on its own filth and fumes, and as a delightful garden where babbling brooks and sweet flowers delighted the senses of people such as Elizabeth I, Shakespeare and Erasmus.

Drawing on evidence from contemporary maps, paintings and writings, and modern environmental science, the lecture will offer a 'virtual' walk around the City with Sir Thomas Gresham, evaluating these different perspectives on the City's air, water, soil and wildlife.

A lecture by Carolyn Roberts, Emerita Professor of the Environment 10 April 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/natural-environment-tudor-london

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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Arthur Conan Doyle and London: "A Stout Heart in the Great Cesspool" - Richard Burnip

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 05:51:22 -0000

From the impressions of his first youthful visit, to his mature years when all doors opened for him, London was an important backdrop to much of Conan Doyle's life and work. From the Sherlock Holmes stories to The Lost World (in this, the 100th anniversary year of Professor Challenger's first great adventure) this lecture examines some of the locations which influenced him. It will also touch on some of his lesser known works and include the place which perhaps meant more to him than any other in London, and to which he returned in his writing throughout his life.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/a-stout-heart-in-the-great-cesspool-arthur-conan-doyle-and-london

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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AI and Education: The Reality and the Potential

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 00:51:22 -0000

This lecture will consider the current reality of AI in education and its transformative potential.

Professor Luckin will introduce what we mean by the term AI and how the development of increasingly smart technologies in the workplace and home requires us to change how and what we teach and learn. It will be explained how AI is already supporting the teaching and learning process, with speculation about the possible futures that AI might provide in order to help us tackle our greatest educational challenges.

A lecture by Rose Luckin, University College London 9 April 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/ai-education-reality-potential

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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The Legal Profession: Regulating for independence - Baroness Ruth Deech

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 19:51:22 -0000

Britain's legal profession is renowned the world over for its skill and independence. The cab rank rule governs barristers, ie they are obliged to accept the next case that presents itself, thereby ensuring that even the most unpopular of defendants has a representative, and that the barrister is not identified with the client's cause. This is a vital ingredient of the Rule of Law. Should there be self regulation or should the profession be regulated by external bodies composed of lay members? Through the centuries the lawyers, although unpopular, have maintained their professional standards and their own systems of governance and education. What difference will the Legal Services Act 2007 make, and should we continue to have a divided profession, barristers and solicitors?

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-legal-profession-regulating-for-independence

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Dying in Today's World

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 14:51:22 -0000

In the 50 years since the hospice movement started, lessons from research have revolutionised care of the dying in the UK and in many places around the world. Yet the cruel myth that opioids shorten the lives of those with severe pain from cancer and other diseases leaves many denied the treatment they deserve. Those watching the person they love die carry the memory for the rest of their lives.

The concept of a 'good death', and how it can be achieved will be discussed, including the importance of open conversations with children being bereaved. Discussion will also tackle some of the issues around physician- assisted suicide and euthanasia.

A lecture by Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, Independent Crossbench member of the House of Lords 9 April 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/dying-today

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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The Lost World of 1962 - Dominic Sandbrook

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 09:51:22 -0000

In this lecture, Dominic Sandbrook, the acclaimed historian of Sixties Britain, marks the 50th anniversary of the City of London Festival by looking back at Britain in 1962. Fifty years on, the Britain of Harold Macmillan, Acker Bilk, Jimmy Greaves and James Hanratty feels like a vanished world. But was life back then really so different?

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-lost-world-of-1962

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

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Crown, Country and the Struggle for Cultural Supremacy

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 04:51:22 -0000

The fourth lecture in this series considers Britain's unique cultural development and how the changing balance of power and wealth between the aristocracy and the monarchy from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century has fundamentally influenced today's national cultural landscape of art and architecture.

A lecture by Simon Thurley, Visiting Professor of the Built Environment 3 April 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/crown-country-cultural-supremacy

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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Human Livelihoods Depend on Wild Flowers: Kew's Millennium Seed Bank explained - Dr Robin Probert

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 23:51:22 -0000

In this talk Dr Robin Probert explains why human livelihoods depend so much on wild plant diversity. He outlines the current threats to wild plants across the globe and how Kew's Millennium Seed Bank Partnership works to conserve plants and make seeds available for habitat repair, re-introduction and research. Current work in the UK that aims to restore wildflower meadows and other threatened habitats is also highlighted.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/human-livelihoods-depend-on-wild-flowers-kew%E2%80%99s-millennium-seed-bank-explained

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Political Spending on the Internet

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 18:51:22 -0000

FULBRIGHT LECTURE

Government officials in the UK and the USA have struggled to find effective ways to regulate political spending on the internet. The question of appropriate regulation is challenging - both in practice and principle.

Professor Ringhand discusses how officials in the United Kingdom and the United States have approached the problem, and how they have faced surprisingly similar challenges despite the different underlying approaches to political campaign financing taken by each nation.

A lecture by Lori Ringhand, University of Georgia and University of Aberdeen 2 April 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/political-spending-internet

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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Trading Places and Travelling: Musical Legacies of the Hanseatic League - Dr Geoffrey Webber

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 13:51:22 -0000

The cities of Northern Europe developed their trading links with our own City of London. An important by product of their economic success was the flowering of culture in all these cities and their attraction of talent from other places.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/trading-places-and-travelling-musical-legacies-of-the-hanseatic-league

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Infections of the Abdominal Organs

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 08:51:22 -0000

Our gut is permanently full of large numbers of bacteria and other organisms but serious infections relatively rarely occur due to its extraordinary immune system. Infections of these organs can, however, occur in specific situations. Specialised bacteria and parasites can damage the gut or its functions including direct invasion or toxins. The liver can be damaged by hepatitis viruses, parasites and other infections.

Common gut bacteria (Gram negative bacteria) which in their normal place inside the gut cause no serious problems occasionally bypass the body's defences and can set up serious infections including septicaemia. Public health including the sanitation movement reduced but has not eliminated transmission of these potentially dangerous infections. This lecture will consider infections that normally live inside our gut, how the body keeps them there and what happens when this fails.

A lecture by Chris Whitty, Gresham Professor of Physic 27 March 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/infections-abdominal-organs

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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Maeterlinck's Golaud: Between Shakespearean 'Sadism' and Emersonian Disquiet - François de Médicis

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 03:51:22 -0000

As title roles of both Maurice Maeterlinck's play and Claude Debussy's opera, Pelléas and Mélisande tend to monopolize the spotlight in most commentary. Nonetheless, major studies have demonstrated the centrality of Golaud and the unusual dramatic function of the violence he deploys, which Professor de Medicis explores in this lecture.

This is a part of the conference, 'Debussy: Text and Ideas', which is available in full on the Gresham College website.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/debussy-text-and-ideas-part-one

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 22:51:22 -0000

Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (1932) was more a personal than a political drama. All was well for the first two years after the opera's première in 1934, but shortly after Stalin went to a performance, it was vigorously condemned in the state press. The pretext was the opera's music, but it is more likely that the plot and especially the staging offended against the conservative turn in the social morality now promoted by the state. When a revival became possible, Shostakovich chose to rework the opera, renaming it Katerina Izmailova.

A lecture by Marina Frolova-Walker, Visiting Professor of Russian Music 26 March 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/shostakovich-lady-macbeth-mtsensk

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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'Secrets and Lies' or the Truth about Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande - Katherine Bergeron

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 17:51:22 -0000

Katherine Bergeron focuses her attention on the last act of Pelléas. The narrative incongruities that surface in the unbroken final scene become the basis for a broader exploration of the question of truth (la vérité) that the opera itself raises.

This is a part of the conference, 'Debussy: Text and Ideas', which is available in full on the Gresham College website.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/debussy-text-and-ideas-part-one

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Cruelty to Animals

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 12:51:22 -0000

Understanding changing relationships between human and non-human animals is central to our world today.

This lecture starts by looking at early-modern understandings of the nature of 'animal' and 'human' life, before turning to the rise of 'rights of animals'. It concludes by investigating late twentieth and early twenty-first century thought about evolution, the Great Apes, and liberationist and ecology movements.

A lecture by Joanna Bourke, Visiting Professor of History 21 March 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/cruelty-to-animals

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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Claude Debussy Concert - Sophie Bevan (soprano) and Sebastian Wybrew (piano)

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 07:51:22 -0000

A recital of the songs of Claude Debussy, by Alumni of the Royal College of Music: Sophie Bevan (soprano) and Sebastian Wybrew (piano). Pieces performed, with the poets used for the text by Debussy, include the following:

Stéphane Mallarmé (1842--1898)
Apparition
Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé
Soupir
Placet futile
Éventail

Paul Verlaine (1844--1896)
Fêtes galantes I
En sourdine
Fantoches
Clair de lune
Mandoline

Paul Bourget (1852--1935)
Deux romances
Romance
Les Cloches

Charles Baudelaire (1821--1867) from Cinq Poèmes de Ch. Baudelaire
Le Jet d'eau
Harmonie du soir

This is a part of the conference, 'Debussy: Text and Ideas', which is available in full on the Gresham College website.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/debussy-text-and-ideas-part-two

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Art and Power in the English Aristocratic House

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 02:51:22 -0000

The English Aristocracy is often seen as a rural elite concentrating its patronage of art and architecture in the countryside.

This lecture questions this view and shows how, from the sixteenth century, aristocratic families deployed their collections and commissioned their buildings in both town and country in order to further their political and dynastic ambitions.

A lecture by Simon Thurley, Visiting Professor of the Built Environment 20 March 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/art-power-english-aristocratic-house

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Resonances of Baudelaire in Debussy's Piano Music - Roy Howat

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 21:51:22 -0000

Roy Howat considers two Debussy piano pieces, "Les sons et les parfums" of 1910 and "Les soirs illuminés par l'ardeur du charbon" of 1917, whose titles come from within Baudelaire poems Debussy set in 1889 ('Le balcon' and 'Harmonie du soir'). Like 'Clair de lune' and 'La fille aux cheveux de lin' (two piano pieces that directly share their title with one of his earlier songs), they are musically quite independent of the associated songs, yet invite exploration of whatever subtler relationships they may bear to these particularly structured poems of Baudelaire's, sometimes via other Debussy works.

This is a part of the conference, 'Debussy: Text and Ideas', which is available in full on the Gresham College website.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/debussy-text-and-ideas-part-one

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Brexit and the Future of Britain

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 16:51:22 -0000

At the time of writing, it appears that Britain will leave the European Union on 29th March at 11 pm British time, 12 midnight Continental time. How will Britain fare outside the European Union? And how will Brexit affect British politics? Will the Britain of 2020 become like the Britain of 1972, the year before we joined the European Community, precursor of the European Union - or has our 46 year membership of European institutions led to irreversible changes in our constitution and system of government?

A lecture by Vernon Bogdanor, Emeritus Professor of Law 13 March 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/brexit-future-of-britain

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Reflections on the New Edition of Debussy's 'Pelléas et Mélisande' - Professor David Grayson

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 11:51:22 -0000

Critical editing must of necessity concern itself with facts, many thousands of them, but the edition that is its object must be based on an understanding of the work itself, an understanding that may evolve during the editorial process. In this lecture, Professor David Grayson discusses some of the insights gained from preparing a critical edition of Pelléas.

This is a part of the conference, 'Debussy: Text and Ideas', which is available in full on the Gresham College website.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/debussy-text-and-ideas-part-one

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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How Will We Learn Maths in the Future?

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 06:51:22 -0000

Mathematics education is changing rapidly and a big driver for this is the use of new technology. In particular the widespread use of computers has transformed the way that we do mathematics, with computers not only able to mark exam papers, but also to do the algebra required to answer the questions.

In this talk, we will look at the modern developments of computer based teaching and learning. At the same time we examine those parts of teaching maths which require the human touch and look forward to a future of maths education where computers and human teachers work well together.

A lecture by Chris Budd OBE, Gresham Professor of Geometry 12 March 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/learn-maths-future

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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Debussy and the Independent Art Bookshop - Denis Herlin

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 01:51:22 -0000

In July 1893, a score for voice and piano of Debussy's La Damoiselle élue was published, with a decorative cover illustrated by Maurice Denis. The publisher of this editorial masterpiece was not, however, part of the music publishing world. It was published, in fact, by the composer and occultist Edmond Bailly, who owned a small bookshop at 11 rue de la Chaussée d'Antin in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Between 1890 and 1895, Bailly published all the authors of the Symbolist generation, including Henry de Régnier, André Gide, Pierre Louÿs, Paul Claudel, and even Oscar Wilde in the form of the French version of Salomé. The bookshop was also a place of exchange and Debussy frequented the place regularly. Poets, illustrators and musicians met there towards the end of each afternoon to discuss art. Such a convergence the arts in the unique environment that was the Librairie de l'Art indépendant could not help but permeate and deeply enrich Debussy's work. In August 1893, the composer began to write Pelléas et Mélisande. It seems, therefore, that the atmosphere of the Librairie de l'Art indépendant had a significant impact on the birth of Debussy's major masterpiece.

This is a part of the conference, 'Debussy: Text and Ideas', which is available in full on the Gresham College website.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/debussy-text-and-ideas-part-one

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Politics and the Legal Profession

Sat, 29 Aug 2026 20:51:22 -0000

Cuts to legal aid, the concept of online justice, diversity within the legal profession and the judiciary, the independence of the Judiciary from the State, the impact the press can have on perceptions of fairness of justice: this lecture explores the controversial issue of how the politics of the day or decade can affect the way in which the Justice system functions in private and is perceived by the public.

A lecture by Jo Delahunty QC, Gresham Professor of Law 7 March 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/politics-and-legal-profession

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Debussy, Banville and the Problem with Fixed-Form Poems - Dr David Evans

Sat, 29 Aug 2026 15:51:22 -0000

The influence of French poet Théodore de Banville (1823-1891) on Debussy is generally thought to have been limited to the early years of the composer's development. Yet by composing his Trois Chansons de Charles d'Orléans (1908) and Trois Ballades de François Villon (1910), after setting a further two of Charles d'Orléans' Rondels in the Trois Chansons de France (1904), Debussy was quite clearly following in the footsteps of his early poetic hero. Dr David Evans offers an analysis of Debussy's Villon and Orléans settings read in relation to Banville's Trente-six Ballades à la manière de François Villon (1873) and Rondels à la manière de Charles d'Orléans (1875). For Debussy, Dr Evans suggests, these songs' inventive use of fixed form poems allowed him to explore the aesthetic tension between past and future, tradition and innovation, novelty and cliché, inviting us to reflect on where, precisely, 'genuine' music is to be heard in the early years of the twentieth century.

This is a part of the conference, 'Debussy: Text and Ideas', which is available in full on the Gresham College website.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/debussy-text-and-ideas-part-two

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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The Greatest Speech of all Time: Pericles' Funeral Oration

Sat, 29 Aug 2026 10:51:22 -0000

In 431 BCE the Athenian statesman Pericles delivered one of the most influential speeches of all time, his Epitaphios or Funeral Oration. The occasion was at the funeral of the first Athenian soldiers to lose their lives in the Peloponnesian War. This lecture examines the history of this beautiful site, the momentous occasion on which Pericles spoke, and the ways in which his speech, recorded by the historian Thucydides who was present at its delivery, has informed subsequent epoch-making orations from Lincoln at Gettysburg to Kennedy and Obama.

A lecture by Edith Hall, Gresham Professor of Business 6 March 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/pericles-funeral-oration-cemetery

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Verlaine's poetry performed through Debussy's musical sounds: 'Spleen' in Text and Song

Sat, 29 Aug 2026 05:51:22 -0000

Dr Mylène Dubiau-Feuillerac argues that Debussy was attracted to Paul Verlaine's poems because of their innovative character and the writer's attempt at "dislocating the poetry" in a more sonorous way than the text might represent. The last melody of the Ariettes oubliées (1903), 'Spleen', is an example of this essential intertwining of idea and structure of text with musical composition.

This is a part of the conference, 'Debussy: Text and Ideas', which is available in full on the Gresham College website.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/debussy-text-and-ideas-part-two

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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The Stewardship Role of Investors

Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:51:22 -0000

Poor stewardship by investors has been argued to be a cause of poor corporate governance. Moreover, when investors do engage with companies, they do so to increase short-term profit at the expense of long-run value.

This talk will critically analyse the evidence on whether shareholder activism is beneficial for long-term value and suggest policies to promote the 'good' type of shareholder engagement. It will stress that reform must extend far beyond asset managers to the entire investment industry.

A lecture by Alex Edmans, Gresham Professor of Business 6 March 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/stewardship-role-investors

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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The Victorians: Time and Space - Professor Richard J. Evans, Gresham College

Fri, 28 Aug 2026 19:51:22 -0000

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, communication was slow, even relatively short journeys were uncertain and time-consuming, and people were dependant on the forces of nature for energy; this lecture charts the development of new modes of communication, from the railway to the radio, the telegraph to the telephone, the steamship to the motor-car and examines their efforts on perceptions of time and space.

The lecture transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-victorians-time-and-space

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

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How Astronomy Changed our View of the Cosmos: from Gresham to the 21st Century

Fri, 28 Aug 2026 14:51:22 -0000

Thomas Gresham lived from 1519 to 1579. The first telescope was designed in 1608 in the Netherlands, and first pointed at the heavens by Galileo a year later. The greatest discoveries since the pre-telescope era have been that of the existence of many other planets around distant stars, and the vastness of the universe.

So much has happened since Gresham's era, yet many of the questions about our cosmic origins still remain.

A lecture by Joseph Silk, Gresham Professor of Astronomy 6 March 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/astronomy-gresham-21st-century

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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How liturgy affected the development of the organ - Richard Townend

Fri, 28 Aug 2026 09:51:22 -0000

When Sir Christopher Wren rebuilt the church of St Margaret in Lothbury after the Great Fire, it had no organ. The George Pike organ was completed in 1801 and its pipe work, standing in its original case, forms the basis of the 1984 restoration by John Budgen. The rich sound that comes from its pipes have a clarity that has led many renowned experts to call it one of the finest classical organs in Great Britain. It was played by Mendelssohn.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/catholics-versus-protestants-how-liturgy-affected-the-development-of-the-organ

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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The Myth of the Lone Heroic Surgeon

Fri, 28 Aug 2026 04:51:22 -0000

People often think that surgery is about the skill of a single surgeon. In fact operations depend on teamwork, with nurses, surgeons, anaesthetists and technicians all playing vital roles as they work together. Experts outside medicine need similar skills and have much to teach clinicians.

This lecture introduces Rachel Warr, a leading puppeteer and dramaturg. After Rachel demonstrates how she and her colleagues bring puppets to life, we will discuss how her expertise in dexterity, team-working and preparation for performance can shed light on the world of surgery.

A lecture by Roger Kneebone, Visiting Professor of Medical Education 27 February 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/lone-heroic-surgeon

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Sustainability: The Problem of Time - Professor Avinash Persaud - Gresham College

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 23:51:22 -0000

Professor Avinash Persaud, Chairman, Warwich Commission on International Financial Reform, Executive Chairman, Intelligence Capital Limited and Emeritus Gresham Professor of Commerce.
Introduced by Alderman Alison Gowman and Professor Michael Mainelli.

This was the keynote address from the September 2010 Long Finance event at the Guidhall in the City of London.
The Long Finance initiative to establish a World Centre of Thinking on Long-Term Finance began in 2007 with a question, "When would we know our financial system is working?" which challenges a system that can't provide today's 20 year olds with a reliable financial retirement structure. The aim of the Long Finance Institute is "to improve society's understanding and use of finance over the long-term." The research project proposals range from theory versus practice or fiscal versus monetary to sustainability versus robustness. The iconic project for Long Finance is the Eternal Coin, with the objective of starting a global debate about society's values over the long-term.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/sustainability-root-problems-in-finance

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Zombie Ants and Fearless Mice: Parasites and the Brain

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 18:51:22 -0000

Parasites can dramatically change the behaviour of their hosts. A parasitic worm turns a tropical ant berry-red and causes it to climb high, attractive prey for birds, the worm's next host. A mouse infected by toxoplasma gondii no longer fears cats - making it easier for the parasite to be eaten by its next host, a cat. A jewel wasp precisely injects neurotoxins into its cockroach prey's brain. These parasite manipulations can tell us how brains, including our own, work normally.

A lecture by Dr Tristram Wyatt, Research Fellow at the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford 26 February 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/parasites-controlling-behaviour-brain

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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British Prime Ministers from Attlee to Blair - Professor Vernon Bogdanor

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 13:51:22 -0000

A lecture to mark the publication of Vernon Bogdanor's book based on the series of lectures delivered at Gresham College during 2006 and 2007, 'Leadership and Change: Prime Ministers in the Post-War World'.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/british-prime-ministers-from-attlee-to-blair

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Taking London to the World: Robert Paul Shows his Native City in Motion

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 08:51:22 -0000

Britain's pioneer filmmaker, born 150 years ago in North London, vividly portrayed the variety of life in 'the imperial metropolis' at the end of the 19th century, conscious of its historic appeal but also emphasising the modernity of which he was a part.

A lecture by Ian Christie, Visiting Professor in the History of Film and Media 25 February 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/robert-paul-native-london

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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A "Sing In" with Gilbert and Sullivan - Robin Wilson and Others

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 03:51:22 -0000

What is it about Gilbert and Sullivan that has made their works so enormously popular for so many generations? It is, among other things, their perfect marriage between words and music that gives endless pleasure to singers and audiences alike. Gilbert's wonderful wit and Sullivan's irresistible tunefulness magically combine to provide entertainment on the highest level, of the sort which has so magnificently stood the test of time and will surely continue to do so. Professor Wilson's lecture could well provide an opportunity for audience participation!

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/a-%E2%80%9Csing-in%E2%80%9D-with-gilbert-and-sullivan

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Volcanoes and Society

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 22:51:22 -0000

There are an estimated 800 million people living close enough to active volcanoes to be affected when they erupt. As well as casualties from volcanic eruptions there can be major economic losses and societal disruption, especially when communities have to be evacuated. The eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland in April-May 2010 did not kill anyone but disrupted the travel of millions of people and cost the airline industry billions of dollars. This highlighted the increasing vulnerability of modern globalised societies.

New approaches to volcanic hazard assessment and risk management are emerging as more information is required to respond to volcanic emergencies - illustrated by approaches to some recent eruptions, such as the Soufriere Hills Volcano, Montserrat.

A lecture by Sir Stephen Sparks, Visiting Professor of Geology 20 February 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/volcanoes-society

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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The Role of the Media in Post-Conflict Societies: Northern Ireland - Carrie Porter

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 17:51:22 -0000

Since Northern Ireland's sectarian politics turned to power-sharing in 1998, the country has struggled to define itself within its "peace process". The media serves as a barometer of this progress as it re-defines its own purpose within the newly formed society. Caroline Porter will look specifically at the role of different media outlets, with particular emphasis on the most popular radio shows, to see how the media becomes a player in the contemporary peace process of Northern Ireland.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-role-of-the-media-in-post-conflict-societies-a-contemporary-look-at-northern

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Psychosis: Making and Inhabiting a Different Reality

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 12:51:22 -0000

One of the most mysterious experiences that we come across in psychiatry is 'Psychosis', which refers to a loss of contact with reality. It has many causes and manifestations and it poses major challenges to our understanding.

Professor Fletcher proposes that it can be understood in terms of the normal functioning of the mind, which seeks to construct a working model of reality even though it has very little direct contact with that reality.

A lecture by Paul Fletcher, Bernard Wolfe Professor of Health Neuroscience at University of Cambridge 19 February 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/inhabiting-different-reality

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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The History of British Cartoons and Caricature - The Rt Hon Lord Baker

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 07:51:22 -0000

Political, satirical, comic and incendiary: from Hogarth's images of London life, through the Golden Age of Punch Magazine, to the present day; the eclectic and vibrant tradition of representing ones life and times in cartoons continues to hold its place in modern Britain in print, in film and now through the internet.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-history-of-british-cartoons-and-caricature

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Infections of the Lung and Heart

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 02:51:22 -0000

The lung has a large surface area, is open to the outside world and is the site for some of the most common serious infections, in particular pneumonia. Several bacteria, viruses and some less common lung infections including tuberculosis and fungal disease can damage the lung, and some occupations and pastimes increase this risk.

The heart is less susceptible to infection but infections of the heart valves or structures around the heart, and heart muscle inflammation can be severe. Some lung infections are becoming less common due to vaccination, whilst others are likely to increase globally. Infections via the respiratory route are often the most difficult to combat via public health measures.

A lecture by Chris Whitty, Gresham Professor of Physic 13 February 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/infections-lung-heart

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
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The Victorians: Art and Culture - Professor Richard J. Evans

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 21:51:22 -0000

The Victorian age began as an age of realism, in literature and art, and of nationalism and romanticism in music and culture. By the end of the century, however, the high noon of Victorian culture was starting to give way to more disturbing developments - the disintegration of musical tonality, the emergence of abstract art, the eruption of the 'primitive' into cultural styles and the arrival of modernism onto the artistic scene. This lecture examines the characteristics of Victorian culture and the reasons for its decline.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-victorians-art-and-culture

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

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Maths in the City: Future Cities

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 16:51:22 -0000

The world's population is rapidly expanding and the majority of this population will live in large city conurbations. What will out future cities look like? How will transport system work, how will people move around, and how will we supply them with energy and remove their waste? What sort of houses will people live in in the future and what will our communities look like? The lecture will show how mathematical models can help us understand how cities work and how they might evolve in the future.

A lecture by Chris Budd, Gresham Professor of Geometry 12 February 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/maths-future-cities

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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Maths with Pictures - Professor John D. Barrow

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 11:51:22 -0000

How pictures have been used in mathematics. The use of illustrations in ancient mathematics books, the invention of the first graphs and the representation of probabilities, sets and formulae by pictures. We look at the role played by computers in exploring and displaying the behaviour of extremely large and complicated problems. This has changed the culture of applied mathematics and science and influences the way research is done and the forms in which it is presented.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/maths-with-pictures

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Music Made of Listening: John Cage and 4'33"

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 06:51:22 -0000

Musicians make sounds - that much, you'd have thought, is obvious! Yet more than the sounds they make, it's the choices that musicians are making about how and when to play that really matter - choices that are made through listening.

John Cage is a composer who revolutionised 20th century music through the choices he has made. This lecture will explore Cage's music, focusing on his most famous piece 4'33". This will be then followed by an interview with pianist and composer Rolf Hind.

A lecture by Professor Tom Service, Gresham Professor of Music 11 February 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/communities-listeners-string-quartet-jazz-band-orchestra

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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The German Revolution in English Organ Technology - Robert Quinney

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 01:51:22 -0000

'Pedalling ahead with Mendelssohn: The German revolution in English organ technology'
by Robert Quinney, Sub-Organist, Westminster Abbey with Robert Smith, Organist, St Mary-at-Hill

Gresham Professors Sir Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke supervised the rebuilding of St Mary's which still reflects their gracious and spacious vision for their first post-Great Fire church. In the early 16th century the choir, which included Thomas Tallis and William Munday, sang elaborate daily services. St Mary-at-Hill boasts what has been described as one of the ten most important organs in the history of British organ building, built by William Hill in 1848 and restored by Mander Organs.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-german-revolution-in-english-organ-technology

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Bubbles, Manias and Market Failures: The Unintended Consequences of Regulatory Responses

Mon, 24 Aug 2026 20:51:22 -0000

Although financial bubbles are in some sense banal and a feature of financial capitalism, the seeds of the next bubble are often sown by regulatory responses to previous ones. This has been the case since the South Sea Bubble and Mississippi Scheme, and has recurred at regular intervals in the intervening 300 years.

This lecture explores how regulators try to prevent what will hopefully be the 'last' bubble and suggests that the most effective regulatory frameworks were developed during the normal operation of markets, not in response to crises.

A lecture by Professor D'Maris Coffman, Professor of Economics and Finance of the Built Environment, UCL 7 February 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/bubbles-market-failures-regulatory-responses

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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The Character of Twentieth Century Britain - Professor Vernon Bogdanor

Mon, 24 Aug 2026 15:51:22 -0000

During the 20th century, Britain underwent a major transformation. A country in which a law-abiding individual would hardly notice the existence of the state had become one in which, from the cradle to the grave, no one could avoid it. An empire controlling the destiny of one-quarter of the human race, having no allies because she needed none, had become an offshore island with an ambiguous relationship towards the Continent. How did this come about and what were its consequences?

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/britain-in-the-20th-century-progress-and-decline-the-character-of-twentieth

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

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The Varieties of Forgiveness

Mon, 24 Aug 2026 10:51:22 -0000

Forgiveness is often discussed as if it were a single, straightforward, phenomenon. The reality, however, is not so simple. For instance, we can identify three different types of forgiveness: inter-personal forgiveness, God's forgiveness, and self- forgiveness. Moreover there is variety within each of these main types, and connections between them.

In this lecture the varieties of forgiveness will be presented and the integrity, value and limits of each type explored.

A lecture by The Revd Dr Stephen Cherry, Dean at King's College Cambridge 7 February 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/forgiveness

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Satire, Print Shops and Comic Illustration in 18th and 19th Century London - Mark Bills

Mon, 24 Aug 2026 05:51:22 -0000

This lecture tells the story of visual satire in London, a city in which caricature flourished like no other. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the people of London have been both amused and outraged by the thousands of social and political satires in paint, paint and engravings which have variously and humorously described London and its people. The enormous body of cartoon images range from the specific to the general: from caricature portraits of leading figures to the London 'types' recognized by all Londoners; from specific events and political debacles to the state of a typical London street. The array of approaches of artists, both 'high' and 'low', amateur and professional, is equally wide and extends from light-hearted mocking to vitriolic and libellous attacks. This lecture leads us through the various ages of the production of cartoons in London, from the independent print publisher to the editor of a comic journal, providing us with a rare perspective on the life of the city through its contemporary satirical images.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/satire-print-shops-and-comic-illustration-in-late-eighteenth-and-nineteenth

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Gresham's World: Global Traffic, Trade, and the Metamorphosis of England

Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:51:22 -0000

Global trade and traffic, many of Gresham's contemporaries would say, had altered sixteenth-century England beyond recognition, from its food, fashion, and language, to the look and feel of its cities and neighbourhoods. How did its subjects respond to this transformation?

Using contemporary print and theatre, this lecture will discuss how England and Englishness was defined, even as the boundaries between the home and the world became increasingly diffuse.

A lecture by Nandini Das, Professor of English Literature, University of Liverpool 6 February 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/gresham-global-traffic-trade-england

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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Cello - In Search of a Voice - Kate Kennedy

Sun, 23 Aug 2026 19:51:22 -0000

0:00 // Introduction — a cellist, her shadow and what an instrument really means
3:26 // The journey — following six cellos and their players across Europe
7:24 // The Cristiani Stradivarius — the first female cello soloist and her forgotten Siberian odyssey
11:05 // Cremona — the treasure trove and playing a cello that bears the scars of its adventures
14:55 // The Mendelssohn — how a composer wrote a cellist's voice into his music
17:18 // The Mara Stradivarius — surviving the Nazi occupation of Trieste
18:45 // The shipwreck — jumping from a burning ship in the River Plate with a Stradivarius
22:54 // The resurrection — W.E. Hill and Sons rebuild a cello from sudden black fragments
24:07 // Anita Lasker-Wallfisch — how a cello saved her life at Auschwitz
26:22 // The Auschwitz orchestra — Alma Rosé, a motley assortment of girls and survival through music
38:00 // The bee cello — a Stradivarius given over to a colony of bees in an orchard
44:29 // The Open String Cello — building an instrument from the inside out for children who need it
48:07 // Conclusion — a cello cannot preserve a person intact, but it can carry something of them onwards

Watch the Q and A session here: https://youtu.be/u1wQAZTHzzM

How 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 Kennedy traces a journey she took across Europe with her cello, to uncover the stories of instruments and their players. The result was a host of eccentric, sometimes tragic, always extraordinary accounts of silencing and survival, from the Auschwitz orchestra to a shipwreck, and even a cello full of bees.

This lecture was recorded by Kate Kennedy on the 9th of September 2026

Dr Kate Kennedy is a biographer, cellist, and broadcaster. She is one of the foremost critics of twentieth-century music, and lectures in Music and English at Oxford University, and is a regular presence on BBC Radio 3.
Kate is the Director of the Oxford Centre for Life-Writing and a Supernumerary Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford, having previously held Research Fellowships in English and Music at the University of Cambridge. She is also Director of the Centre for the Study of Women Composers, Director of the Museum of Music History, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
Her most recent book Cello: A Journey Through Silence to Sound was published in August 2024 with Head of Zeus / Bloomsbury. It is a group biography that weaves together four narratives of cellists who suffered various forms of persecution, injury, and misfortune. She is also the author of the Dweller in Shadows – A Life of Ivor Gurney (Princeton University Press), and editor of Literary Britten, Lives of Houses (co-edited with Dame Hermione Lee), and The Silent Morning – Culture and the Armistice 1918. Both Cello and Dweller in Shadows were shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society prize.

The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/cello-voice

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today

Website: https://gresham.ac.uk
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Support Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today

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The 30th Anniversary of The Children Act 1989: Is It Still Fit For Purpose?

Sun, 23 Aug 2026 14:51:22 -0000

The Children Act 1989 embodied a change in philosophy by making the child's welfare the courts 'paramount' concern, moving away from the concept of parental rights towards the right of the child. It embraced the idea of shared parental rights and responsibilities and that children are best cared for within their families but not at the expense of suffering avoidable significant harm.

Has the Act done right by children since 1989? Has it adapted to the challenges of childhood and society?

A lecture by Jo Delahunty QC, Gresham Professor of Law 31 January 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/30-anniversary-children-act-1989

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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Fun with Visual Illusions - Professor William Ayliffe

Sun, 23 Aug 2026 09:51:22 -0000

Visual illusions entertain and astonish us. How and why they occur is due to the way our visual system processes information. The study of visual illusions leads to many surprising and counterintuitive conclusions about vision. How illusions occur will be illustrated with many beautiful, well-known examples from art history as well as novel images. Following this talk the world out there will seem to be a very different place.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/fun-with-visual-illusions

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Evolution since Sir Thomas Gresham: How Changes Over The Past Five Centuries Have Moulded Evolution

Sun, 23 Aug 2026 04:51:22 -0000

In celebrating 500 years since the birth of Sir Thomas Gresham, Professor Jones will examine how changes since the sixteenth century have affected the evolution of human beings and that of the animals and plants around us.

Professor Jones will deal with the accelerating shifts in plants, animals and humans as they cope with human activities, from gold-mining to global warming, and will speculate about where life might be on Gresham's six- hundredth anniversary.

A lecture by Steve Jones, Visiting Professor of Genetics 29 January 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/evolution-gresham-five-centuries

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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The Sky at Night, Tonight: A New View of the Changing Sky - Chris Lintott

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 23:51:22 -0000

00:00 // Welcome and Meet the Vera Rubin Observatory
01:10 // First Look: Sloan vs Rubin's Stunning Images
03:57 // Just How Big Is Rubin's View of the Sky?
07:08 // The Old Way: Begging Telescopes for Time
14:17 // The Sky Surveys That Paved the Way
17:44 // Building a Billion-Dollar Telescope
19:27 // Mirrors, Cameras and Engineering Marvels
24:41 // Disaster Strikes: Storms in the Chilean Desert
26:30 // First Discoveries: Asteroids, Comets and an Interstellar Visitor
35:40 // Supernovae, Dark Matter and What's Next

Watch the Q and A session here: https://youtu.be/ehP4fkdVEFM

On 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 survey of the sky yet. This lecture covers whatever it’s found in the previous week, from supernovae to asteroids, giving us a glimpse of science in action.

This lecture was recorded by Chris Lintott on the 14th of September 2026

Professor Chris Lintott is a Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford, and a Research Fellow at New College.

Having been educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge and University College London, his research now ranges from understanding how galaxies form and evolve, to using machine learning to find the most unusual things in the Universe, to predicting the properties of visiting interstellar asteroids. He was the founder of the Zooniverse citizen science platform, which provides opportunities for more than two million online volunteers to contribute to scientific research, and which was the topic of his first book, 'The Crowd and the Cosmos’. His latest book is ‘Our Accidental Universe’.

Professor Lintott is best known for presenting the BBC's long-running Sky at Night program, and as an accomplished lecturer. Away from work, he cooks, suffers through being a fan of Torquay United and Somerset cricket, and spends time with a rescued lurcher, Mr Max. He can often be found at the helm of Oxford’s science comedy night, ‘Huh, That’s Funny’.

The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/sky-night

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today

Website: https://gresham.ac.uk
X: https://x.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollege
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollege
Support Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today

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How to be a Shakespearean Atheist

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 18:51:22 -0000

Villainous atheists were, like witches, stock figures of the European imagination in the Renaissance. But when Shakespeare and his contemporaries put them on the stage, 'atheists' could be uncomfortably compelling.

This lecture will explore how the sixteenth century found ways of distancing itself from religion - like Christopher Marlowe, who raged against its moral constraints, or Michel de Montaigne, a devout Catholic who cloistered his faith in one honoured corner of his life where it would not be disturbed.

A lecture by Alec Ryrie, Gresham Professor of Divinity 24 January 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/shakespearean-atheist

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Asylum seekers and ambivalence in contemporary Britain - Andrew Keefe

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 13:51:22 -0000

Psychoanalytic theory illuminates the polarised nature of the asylum debate and the powerful feelings for and against refugees. Historic, literary and clinical examples reveal migration as part of human nature and the unconscious forces revolving around the concept of exile.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/why-do-we-hate-why-do-we-help-asylum-seekers-and-ambivalence-in-contemporary

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Reforming Corporate Governance

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 08:51:22 -0000

The UK is considered a world leader in corporate governance, but governance failures are blamed for the loss of trust in business.

This talk will discuss rigorous evidence on what optimal governance should look like - including issues such as boardroom diversity, independence of directors, employee representation, and whether directors' fiduciary duty should be to shareholders or all of society. It will conclude that reform is indeed necessary, but on different issues to what is typically argued.

A lecture by Alex Edmans, Gresham Professor of Business 23 January 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/reforming-corporate-governance

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege

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Cracking the Whip: Strings, Chains and Dinosaurs - Alain Goriely

Sat, 22 Aug 2026 03:51:22 -0000

00:00 // Welcome: What Is the Real Scientific Method?
03:44 // A Bizarre Discovery: The Sound of a Cracking Whip
06:48 // The Secret to Actually Cracking a Whip
09:26 // The Mysterious Chain Fountain
11:35 // Ancient Whips and Supersonic Dinosaurs
14:32 // 1927: Proving Whips Break the Sound Barrier
20:36 // Naive Physics: Energy, Momentum, and Where They Fail
29:43 // Building the Real Mathematical Model
37:40 // Simulations That Nail the Data Perfectly
41:04 // Solving the Twice-the-Speed-of-Sound Puzzle
47:12 // From Sperm to Octopuses: Why This Math Matters

Watch the Q and A session here: https://youtu.be/LxlmVEKXa8w

A cracking whip is invariably surprising. What generates such a stunning sound? In this lecture, through simple demonstrations of whips and chains on a pulley, Professor Goriely builds simple models to explain the extreme acceleration that takes place in the motion of ropes.

In particular, he shows how these models have solutions that blow up to infinity and learns, like the dinosaurs did, how to tame these infinities to produce a stunning crack.

This 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 engineering. He is well known for his contributions to dynamical systems, mathematical biology, as well as fundamental and applied mechanics. He is particularly well known for the development of a mathematical theory of biological growth, culminating with his seminal monograph The Mathematics on Mechanics of Biological Growth (2017).

He received his PhD from the University of Brussels in 1994 where he became a lecturer. In 1996, he joined the University of Arizona where he established a research group within the renowned Program of Applied Mathematics. In 2010, he joined the University of Oxford as the inaugural Statutory Professor of Mathematical Modelling and fellow of St. Catherine’s College. He is currently the Director of the Oxford Centre for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.

In addition, Alain has enjoyed scientific outreach based on problems connected to his research, including tendril perversion in plants, twining plants, umbilical cord knotting, whip cracking, the shape of seashells, brain modelling, and he is the author of a Very Short Introduction to Applied Mathematics (2017). His work has been recognized by a Sloan Fellowship, a Royal Society Wolfson Research Award, the Cozzarelli Prize from the National Academy of Sciences and the Engineering Medal from the Society of Engineering Sciences. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2022.

The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/cracking-whip

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today

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Infections and the Nerves

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 22:51:22 -0000

Certain infections have a particular impact on the peripheral nerves as part of their normal disease process. Some infectious effects are predominately on the motor nerves such as polio (currently heading for eradication); these can cause weakness or paralysis. Other infections affect or invade the sensory nerves including leprosy and the common viral infection herpes zoster which initially presents as chickenpox. Some bacteria produce toxins which have powerful effects on the nerves including tetanus, diphtheria and botulinum.

This lecture will cover how infections can interfere with peripheral nerves and recent progress made against these debilitating diseases.

A lecture by Chris Whitty, Gresham Professor of Physic 16 January 2019

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/infections-nerves

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
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Support the show (https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/one-donation)

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Words and Pictures: Mixed Encounters - Dr Jenny Uglow

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 17:51:22 -0000

This beautifully illustrated lecture explores the connections and interactions between British writers and artists.
As children, learning to read, we look first at the pictures in books - they tell the tale in their own way. With great writers, this power endures: artists connect with words in different ways. This lecture will explore fascinating examples of the relationships between artists and writers, from those that work independently from one another, such as Wordsworth and Thomas Bewick, to those that work very closely throughout the creative process, such as Dickens and Phiz.
This lecture touches on a peculiarly British tradition of community and defiance of authority, unmasking pretension and celebrating energy and warmth, linking daily life to the universal and the sublime.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/words-and-pictures-mixed-encounters

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Current Challenges to the US Constitution - Clive Stafford Smith

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 12:51:22 -0000

0:00 // Introduction — Trump versus the Constitution after 16 months
1:27 // The five worst Supreme Court decisions of all time
3:13 // Dred Scott 1857 — the case that helped start a civil war
5:33 // Plessy v Ferguson 1896 — separate but equal and Angola prison
8:38 // Buck v Bell 1927 — eugenics, sterilisation and echoes in the present
10:43 // Korematsu 1944 — Japanese internment and the road to Guantanamo
13:39 // Bowers v Hardwick — criminalising sodomy and how Stafford Smith fought it
18:00 // Lawrence v Texas — how the Supreme Court finally overruled Bowers
19:18 // The current court — immunity for presidents and the 22 unanimous decisions
21:38 // Roberts versus Clarence Thomas — two very different conservatives
23:44 // The biggest decision of this term — Trump's tariffs struck down 6 to 3
26:19 // Why Britain needs a constitution — prisoners' votes and Cameron's contempt
27:43 // Criminal cases — death row, mental disability and the court doing its job
31:20 // First Amendment cases — conversion therapy, gender and street preaching
35:38 // Louisiana v Calais — gerrymandering, affirmative action and why it will backfire
42:13 // Conclusion — the Constitution is surviving, but Britain has no such protection

Watch the Q and A session here: https://youtu.be/EYtlT4N0z28

The 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 the Constitution succeeded in providing legal safeguards, clarity and stability, and where has it failed? How will the remainder of this presidency look? And what is coming after Trump?

This lecture was recorded by Clive Stafford Smith on the 4th of June 2026

Clive Stafford Smith JD OBE is a dual UK-US national, the founder and director of the Justice League a non-profit human rights training centre focused on fostering the next generation of advocates.
He was the Senior Prefect at Radley College, where he studied maths and science; then a Morehead Scholar at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), where he took a degree in Politics; and a Stone Merit Scholar each of his three years at Columbia Law School, graduating in 1984.
He previously founded and directed the legal action charities Louisiana Capital Assistance Center (1993 in New Orleans) and Reprieve (1999 in London). Since 1984 he has tried many capital cases, and helped to represent over 400 people facing execution in the US and elsewhere. He also brought the first challenge to Guantánamo Bay, where he has secured the release of 87 detainees, and continues to assist the remaining 15. In all five of the cases he has helped bring to the U.S. Supreme Court the petitioner has prevailed.
He has recently taken on the case of Aafia Siddiqui, the woman who has most suffered from the US rendition-to-torture program – abducted with her three children. He continues to work on capital cases in the US, including a Post-Mortem Project where he is investigating the claims of innocence of 184 people executed since 1977.
Clive has published a number of books including Bad Men (2008, describing work in Guantánamo) and Injustice (2012, on the capital case of Kris Maharaj), both of which were short-listed for the Orwell Prize; and most recently The Far Side of the Moon (2023), deconstructing the parallel lives of his father and a client Larry Lonchar, both of whom were labelled Bipolar. He has many other publications, including manuals for the defence of capital cases, and law review articles about aspects of capital defence. He has worked on many films and documentaries, starting with Fourteen Days In May (1987), recently ranked as one of the top BBC documentaries of all time.

The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/current-challenges-us-constitution

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Black Holes: No need to be afraid! - Professor Ian Morison

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 07:51:22 -0000

Black Holes seem to have a bad press that is largely undeserved. The lecture will explain what Black Holes are, how we can discover them even through they cannot be seen and how Stephen Hawking has shown that they are not totally black!

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/black-holes-no-need-to-be-afraid

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

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Shock of the Nude: Pioneering Women Artists and the Cultural Politics of Modern China - Di Wang

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 02:51:22 -0000

00:00 | Introducing Dr. Wang: Art, Science and the Body
01:22 | Setting the Scene: Modernity Fought Through the Body
02:35 | 1919: Nude Models Arrive at Shanghai Art Academy
05:11 | The New Cultural Movement and Coeducation
06:32 | 1925: The Warlord Government Bans Nude Models
08:03 | "The Nude Doesn't Belong in China": One Critic's Case
09:09 | Brushwork as the True Essence of Modern Art
11:14 | The Counter-Case: The Nude as Scientific Truth
11:44 | 1851: A Pioneering Anatomical Treatise in Chinese
13:29 | Anatomy, Evangelization and Scientific Racism
14:31 | The Body as a Site of Empire: "Sick Men of Asia"
15:08 | 1892: Medicine First Undresses the Female Body
16:56 | Eugenics and the Politics of Women's Health
18:24 | The Nude Goes Global: Transnational Print Networks
19:20 | The Young Companion: Venus Meets Chinese Beauty
20:47 | 1927: Breast Binding Bans and the Cult of Curves
23:48 | March 1927: The Wuhan Women's Emancipation Parade
27:32 | Pan Yuliang: From Brothel to First Female Professor
30:20 | War, Exile and the 1941 Paris Salon Attack
33:45 | Legacy: The Nude Debate Resurfaces in 1979 Beijing

Watch the Q and A session here: https://youtu.be/gmlQqetDMlk

The bare, naked, nude, and tradition-defying body constituted one of the most radical sites of cultural transformations in China’s pivotal historical transition from the last imperial dynasty to a new Republic. This lecture reveals how the female nude – at the intersection of art, medicine, and science – became deeply entwined with the cultural politics of nationalism and modernisation, structured new racial, gender, and class relations, and simultaneously, shaped the genesis of modern art and visual culture in China.

This 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 East Asia from the late-nineteenth century to the present.

Following her doctorate at the University of Oxford, she has taught as a departmental lecturer and research associate at the Department of History of Art at Oxford. Her first book project reveals the surprising entanglement of medicine, science, and revolutionary politics in the genesis of a socially engaged modern art and visual culture in China, offering the first inter-disciplinary history on how science and medicine shaped the contours of avant-garde thinking in China during the modern period.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/nude-china

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

Website: https://gresham.ac.uk
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Extinction or Evolution: The Future for Offshore Centres - The Hon Anne Craine

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 21:51:22 -0000

From the unique position as Europe's oldest continuous democracy, Anne Craine, Treasury Minister of the Isle of Man, will explore what the future holds for offshore centres; how they can survive, even prosper; how they need to adapt and why they serve a valid, even useful role in international finance.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/extinction-or-evolution-the-future-for-offshore-centres

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Pluto Isn’t a Planet - Chris Lintott

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 16:51:22 -0000

00:00 // Introduction: Why Pluto Isn't a Planet
03:28 // Discovery of Uranus and a Mysterious Orbit
05:49 // How Neptune Was Found Through Math
08:16 // Percival Lowell's Hunt for "Planet X"
09:49 // Clyde Tombaugh Discovers Pluto (1930)
14:09 // A Brief History of Counting the Planets
18:02 // Pluto's Odd Orbit Raises Early Doubts
22:21 // The Kuiper Belt Theory Takes Shape
26:09 // Discovering Pluto's Moon, Charon
30:12 // Eris and the Rise of the Trans-Neptunian Objects
34:27 // The IAU's Chaotic 2006 Vote
42:43 // New Horizons: Pluto Up Close at Last
47:38 // The Verdict — Why Pluto Isn't a Planet

Watch the Q and A session here: https://youtu.be/k73e3lnz3pg

In 2006, the International Astronomical Union adopted a definition of a planet that demoted Pluto to just one of what is likely hundreds of dwarf planets in our Solar System. Exploring the remote Kuiper Belt, this lecture challenges us to think about what kinds of scientific questions are worth our attention, what it means to name something – and why Pluto is worth caring about anyway.

This 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 New College.

Having been educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge and University College London, his research now ranges from understanding how galaxies form and evolve, to using machine learning to find the most unusual things in the Universe, to predicting the properties of visiting interstellar asteroids. He was the founder of the Zooniverse citizen science platform, which provides opportunities for more than two million online volunteers to contribute to scientific research, and which was the topic of his first book, 'The Crowd and the Cosmos’. His latest book is ‘Our Accidental Universe’.

Professor Lintott is best known for presenting the BBC's long-running Sky at Night program, and as an accomplished lecturer. Away from work, he cooks, suffers through being a fan of Torquay United and Somerset cricket, and spends time with a rescued lurcher, Mr Max. He can often be found at the helm of Oxford’s science comedy night, ‘Huh, That’s Funny’.

The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/pluto-planet

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today

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English Architecture: Making England in the Shadow of Rome, 410-1130 - Simon Thurley

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 11:51:22 -0000

When the English nation rose out of the ruins of the Roman Province of Britannia, people remained obsessed with their Roman past. Seismic social and political change in 1066 barely upset the vision of patrons and architects and Rome remained England's cultural capital driving the imagination of its architects.

This is a part if the series of lectures, 'God, Caesar and Robin Hood: How the Middle Ages were Built':
The English Middle Ages saw the construction of some of the world's greatest buildings, structures that still shape our towns, cities and countryside and mould our national identity. These four lectures give a controversial new view of how medieval England was built starting with the departure of the Romans and ending with the Reformation.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/making-england-the-shadow-of-rome-410-1130

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

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Plato to Polybius on Constitutional Change - Melissa Lane

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 06:51:22 -0000

00:00 | Polybius's Question: How Did Rome Conquer the World?
00:39 | Polybius: Hostage, Historian and Tutor to Scipio
02:05 | The Fall of Corinth and the Greek Cause
02:52 | Why Constitutional Stability Matters: Avoiding Stasis
03:31 | Plato's Circle: The Image of Stability
04:48 | Adding Growth: Rome's Second Question
06:23 | Stability vs Growth: Sparta and Rome Compared
09:30 | Lecture Roadmap: From Greece to Rome
10:01 | Polybius on Why Constitutions Matter
11:31 | Herodotus's Three Simple Constitutions
12:56 | Aristotle's Six-Fold Scheme: Good and Bad Rule
14:11 | Mixing Constitutions to Avoid Decline
15:10 | Three Modes of Mixing: Blending, Co-Presence, Counterbalancing
19:39 | Sparta's Mixed Constitution: Kings, Elders and Assembly
21:17 | Plato and Aristotle on Sparta's Flaws
27:42 | Polybius's Active Counterbalancing and the Rust Metaphor
32:11 | Polybius on Rome's Mixed Constitution
35:30 | Rome's Elements: Consuls, Senate and Assembly
40:02 | Polybius's Cycle of Constitutions
44:45 | Legacy: Adams, Hobbes and the Case for Mixed Government

Watch the Q and A session here: https://youtu.be/-18jnBqpQxQ

Plato in the fourth century BCE penned an indelible sequence of constitutional decline ending in tyranny, as well as a more complex set of possibilities for mixing different constitutional kinds. Two centuries later, Polybius portrayed constitutional change as cyclical, with an eventual collapse of democracy into ‘ochlocracy’ (mob rule) and then reversion to monarchy. These and other ancient authors proposed that a mixed constitution might prevent unwanted political change – an idea that would influence many later generations of political thinkers.

This 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 is also Associated Faculty in the Department of Classics and Department of Philosophy. Previously she was Senior University Lecturer at Cambridge University in the Faculty of History and Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge.

She studied for her first degree in Social Studies (awarded summa cum laude) at Harvard University, and then took an MPhil and PhD in Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, where she was a student at King’s College, supported by appointments as a Marshall Scholar, Truman Scholar, and Mary Isabel Sibley Fellow of Phi Beta Kappa.

Professor Lane is an author, lecturer and broadcaster who has received major awards including being named a Guggenheim Fellow, and the Lucy Shoe Meritt Resident in Classical Studies at the American Academy in Rome. She has published widely in journals and authored or introduced nine major books including Greek and Roman Political Ideas; Eco-Republic; and most recently, Of Rule and Office: Plato’s Ideas of the Political, which was awarded the 2024 Book Prize of the Journal of the History of Philosophy.

Professor Lane is the only person ever to have delivered both the Carlyle Lectures and the Isaiah Berlin Lectures at the University of Oxford.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/plato-polybius

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

Website: https://gresham.ac.uk
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Mathematical History: Triangular Relationships - Professor Patricia Fara

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 01:51:22 -0000

"And first, the fair PARABOLA behold,
Her timid arms with virgin blush unfold!..."

Mathematical poetry may seem an unlikely form of satire, but 'The Loves of the Triangles' (1798) was not only a clever parody of Erasmus Darwin (Charles' grandfather) but also a powerful political commentary expressing contemporary fears of revolution and evolution.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/triangular-relationships

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Going Global: Chinese Independent Documentary - Luke Robinson

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 20:51:22 -0000

0:00 // Introduction — Chinese independent documentary and the question of going global
3:28 // The Sundance-K'Nex workshops — training Chinese filmmakers for overseas markets
7:40 // Story as commodity — character-driven narrative and the three-act structure
10:07 // The humanitarian industrial logic — NGOs, storytelling and the Open Society Foundation
14:12 // Plastic China — the film, its subjects and its international success
16:01 // How the film works — two families, a child's right to education and formal choices
23:03 // The narrowing of focus — from structural critique to personal story
28:12 // What the format does — harmonising contradiction rather than confronting it
31:02 // Screening Plastic China in the UK — what audiences actually felt
33:21 // Audience responses — moving, shocking, overwhelming
36:10 // What viewers said they would do next — individual action over structural change
38:02 // Political mimesis and its limits — affect that short-circuits critique
40:16 // Worrying about China — liberal frameworks and the problem of difference
43:14 // Conclusion — the compromises Chinese independent documentary makes to go global

Watch the Q and A session here: https://youtu.be/QJMOYmf0CmQ

This 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 Wang Jiuliang as a case study, I will explore what the implications of cross-border collaborations are for documentary form and content, and how this may encourage a particular set of viewer responses. This will allow me to locate the documentary form in relation to broader liberal arguments over China’s place in the world system and assess the limitations of this approach to “going global” for independent Chinese documentary.

This lecture was recorded by Luke Robinson on the 27th of May 2026

Luke Robinson is a Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor in Film Studies in the Faculty of Media, Arts, and Humanitiies, University of Sussex.
He is the author of Independent Chinese Documentary: From the Studio to the Street, and the co-editor of two further collections on Chinese film culture: (with Chris Berry) Chinese Film Festivals: Sites of Translation and (with Chris Berry, Lydia Wu and Sabrina Yu) Chinese Independent Cinema: Past, Present, and a Questionable Future.
His writing has appeared in books and journals including DV-made China, The New Chinese Documentary Movement, Vocal Projections, Screening China’s Soft Power, positions: Asia cultures critique, Film Studies, Screen, and Journal of Chinese Cinemas.
Between 2019 and 2025 he was co-investigator on the AHRC-funded project, “Independent Cinema in China: State, Market, and Film Culture”. One of the outcomes of this grant was the establishment of the Chinese Independent Film Archive, located at Newcastle University.

The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/chinese-documentary

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today

Website: https://gresham.ac.uk
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The Past is a Foreign Country - Christopher Hogwood

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 15:51:22 -0000

In its passage from manuscript composition to audible performance, a musical work passes through the hands of editors, teachers, interpreters, recording engineers and many others, all of whom make decisions, often based on personal choices, and have to satisfy the tastes and needs of a changing public. With over a century of recorded sound as evidence, we can now assess the options and expectations of the modern performer, and measure these against the evidence available to the interpreter today, and the range of choices to be made.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-past-is-a-foreign-country

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Should We Manipulate People’s Emotions? - Robin May

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 10:51:22 -0000

00:07 | Introduction: Can We Manipulate Human Emotions?
00:52 | You've Already Done It — Since Birth
01:57 | Personal Space as Emotional Manipulation
03:04 | Lyndon Johnson and the Proximity Effect
04:28 | Stress on the Tube: New York Subway Study
06:45 | Smells and Mood: The Bakery Experiment
08:46 | The Case For Emotional Manipulation: Hate Crime and Mental Health
10:25 | The Case Against: Dictators, Abuse and Macbeth
11:50 | Mood Stabilizers: Lithium and Lamotrigine
13:47 | Antidepressants: How SSRIs Work
18:22 | Psychoactive Drugs: MDMA, Ecstasy and Risk
20:24 | Psilocybin and PTSD: Promising Clinical Trials
21:56 | Military Use and Ethical Minefields
23:32 | Cordyceps: The Fungus That Controls Ants
25:58 | Rabies: A Virus That Lowers Serotonin
27:47 | Toxoplasma Gondii: The Parasite in 1 in 3 of Us
31:09 | Brain-Computer Interfaces and Neuralink
34:52 | The Easiest Mood Hack: Your Diet
36:01 | The Gut-Brain Axis and the Human Microbiome
42:48 | Is Your Personality Really Yours — Or Your Bacteria's?

Watch the Q and A session here: https://youtu.be/PWoDmVOSTTA

We think of emotions as being central to our characters and our sense of self. But emotions are the product of brain chemistry and, like most biological processes, are malleable. Thus far, our ability to artificially manipulate emotions has been extremely rudimentary, but we are on the cusp of a revolution in neuroscience that will open the door to powerful emotional manipulation. How can we navigate the ethical minefield that this will uncover, and what will it mean for our understanding of who we really are?

This 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 Scientist at the UK Health Security Agency, Robin May was appointed Gresham Professor of Physic in May 2022. Between July 2020 and September 2025 he served as Chief Scientific Adviser at the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

Professor May’s early training was in Plant Sciences at the University of Oxford, followed by a PhD on mammalian cell biology at University College London and the University of Birmingham. After postdoctoral research on gene silencing at the Hubrecht Laboratory, The Netherlands, he returned to the UK in 2005 to establish a research program on human infectious diseases. He was Director of the Institute of Microbiology and Infection at the University of Birmingham from 2017-2020.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/peoples-emotions

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

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Britain in the 20th Century: Responses to Decline, 1895-1914 - Professor Vernon Bogdanor

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 05:51:22 -0000

It was during these years that British statesmen first came to appreciate that her international and economic position was under threat. The growth of German and American economic power exposed the fragility of Britain's hitherto unquestioned pre-eminence. Imperialism was the first response to decline, social reform the second. It was these years that saw the first stirrings of a new collectivism in the 'New Liberalism'.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/britain-in-the-20th-century-responses-to-decline-1895-1914

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

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Forging Better Futures for You and AI - Matt Jones

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:51:22 -0000

00:00 // AI as an Environment
00:34 // Coronation Choir Experiment: How Music Shapes Attention
02:27 // Reframing Artificial Intelligence: From Tool to Living Environment
03:41 // Old AI Fears: Faster, Smarter and Assimilating Us
04:17 // Humanoid Robots, AI Coworkers and AI Companion Pets
05:28 // Why AI Isn't Human: Mumbai, the Pope and a New Yorker Poem
09:16 // Three Kinds of Power: Generative, Instrumental and Environmental
10:38 // Michelangelo and the Power of Material Tools
11:25 // How Cities, Buffets and Digital Design Shape Behaviour
12:52 // AI as Agent vs AI as Instrument
13:26 // Learning AI Like a Violin: How to Avoid "AI Slop"
14:45 // Extended Cognition: Skateboards, Scalpels and the Crutch Story
17:38 // Memory, the Google Effect and Prompting Claude AI Properly
22:59 // Co-Creating with AI: Sketch-to-Image Research
26:26 // Negroponte vs Weiser: The 1992 AI Debate That Predicted Today
30:49 // Two AI Futures: Personal Butler vs Calm Technology
33:19 // Cities, Music and the Neuroscience of Anticipation
39:52 // Desirable Difficulty and the Risk of AI Knowledge Collapse
44:24 // Critical Thinking, Attention and Tristan Harris on Big Tech
48:14 // Designing Better AI: Alignment, Nudges and Key Takeaways

Watch the Q and A here: https://youtu.be/FX7ZwIzgz-I

In 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: things we can chat to; humanoid robots; or even devices that draw on understandings of pets to make them more palatable and pleasing. Secondly, I’ll suggest a way to weave AI into everyday life: as a “simple” instrument to enable our souls to sing.

This lecture was recorded by Professor Matt Jones on the 2nd of June 2026 at Barnard’s Inna Hall, London

Matt Jones is a computer scientist at Swansea University - and a Fellow of the British Computer Society - who works alongside colleagues from many other disciplines and directly with everyday folk across the world to explore the future of digital technologies. Over the last 30-plus years, this human-centred approach has led to novel approaches for, amongst other things, mobile phone-based information searching and browsing, pedestrian navigation, voice assistants and deformable displays.

Much of his work has been driven by intense and sustained engagements with “low resource” communities from informal settlements in India, South Africa, and Kenya. Through their generous and gracious participation, these extra-ordinary users with the fresh and diverse perspectives have stimulated insights into the future of digital technologies for everyone, globally. In all this work, Matt works as part of a long-standing collaborative team with Jen Pearson, Simon Robinson and Thomas Reitmaier (from Swansea) and colleagues in India (including Dani Raju) and South Africa (including Minah Radebe).

His work has been supported by the UK’s science funders (EPSRC and UKRI). Currently, this funding includes a Fellowship to explore the future of interactive AI and leadership roles in responsible AI and inclusive digital technologies. This funding has led to a series of impactful publications, talks and influences on people, policies, and practices.

Matt has collaborated with private, public and third sector organisations, including Microsoft, the NHS, Google, IIT-B, the BBC and IBM. He is a member of the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office’s Research Advisory Group and Welsh Government’s AI reviews.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/ai-futures

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should h

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"Made in America": Christian Fundamentalism - Dr John A Dick

Tue, 18 Aug 2026 19:51:22 -0000

We are increasingly aware that fundamentalism is not a monolith. It has political, cultural, social and religious implications which at times are extremely grave. Its characteristics and impact are often defined by the culture of the place in which it develops.
This is an attempt to define and clarify the 21st century form of Christian fundamentalism in both academic and practical terms as found in North America.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the full conference are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/a-swift-survey-of-fundamentalism

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

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What did eighteenth-century men want? - Professor Amanda Vickery

Tue, 18 Aug 2026 14:51:22 -0000

Such is the gloom that surrounds settling down today and the glamour that attaches to mature bachelor freedom, it is hard to imagine that there was a time when marriage represented the summit of a young man's hopes.

Forty years after the sexual liberalization of the 1970s, it is easy to forget that only marriage promised true sexual fulfillment for Christians, turning furtive or frustrated boys into fully-realized men. Marriage was the only acceptable framework for children, through whom men made a claim on the future, but also confirmed their potency. Virility was one of the most celebrated masculine qualities. The father who led a handsome family into church radiated both an air of commanding respectability and a glow of unmistakable sexual success.

Marriage promised physical excitement. Two days before his marriage in January 1754, 33 year old Josiah Wedgwood positively frothed with anticipation of 'the blissful day! When she will reward all my faithful services and take me to her arms! To her Nuptial bed! To - Pleasures which I am yet ignorant of'. He took the precaution of working over-time the week before his wedding to clear time to enjoy his bride uninterrupted. Marriage was a sexy prospect.

In the 17th and 18th century, bachelorhood was a temporary and unprestigious state best solved by marriage. The Batchelor's Directory of 1694 was unequivocal - 'Matrimony - what can better agree with man and more exactly relate to his necessities?' Even men who felt no attraction to the opposite sex had to marry to gain the full benefits of adulthood.

There were even proposals to levy a tax on mature bachelors as a deterrent and a punishment for their evasion of the burden of domestic government and social provision. Perpetual bachelors were the 'vermin of the State' pronounced the Women's Advocate stonily. 'They enjoy the benefit of society, but Contribute not to its Charge and Spunge upon the publick, without making the least return'.

We associate the history of home and private life with women, but what did house and domesticity mean to men? More than you might think argues Professor Amanda Vickery.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/what-did-eighteenth-century-men-want

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Cicero In and On Political Crises - Melissa Lane

Tue, 18 Aug 2026 09:51:22 -0000

00:00 // Introduction: Meet Professor Melissa Lane
00:15 // Cicero's Dilemma: A Letter on Tyranny
03:07 // Who Was Cicero? Rise of a "New Man"
05:36 // Philosopher and Statesman of Rome
09:44 // Five Crises That Defined Cicero's Life
12:27 // Crisis One: The Gracchi and Land Reform
18:39 // Crisis Two: Sulla's Dictatorship and Civil War
23:16 // Crisis Three: The Catiline Conspiracy
27:13 // Crisis Four: Caesar's Tyranny and Assassination
31:45 // Crisis Five: Cicero's War Against Mark Antony
38:09 // Conclusion: Hero of the Republic, or Its Undoing?

Watch the Q and A session here: https://youtu.be/QLC154lRXZ0

An enthusiast of the Roman mixed constitution, Cicero was elected consul and in that role dramatically curbed the tyrannical ambitions of Catiline. He would later become fatally embroiled in the shifting politics of later generations of ambitious strongmen, while also writing his own theories of constitutional change. This lecture explores Cicero’s life and death as a way to articulate the crises of the late republic.

This 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 the Department of Classics and Department of Philosophy. Previously she was Senior University Lecturer at Cambridge University in the Faculty of History and Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge.

She studied for her first degree in Social Studies (awarded summa cum laude) at Harvard University, and then took an MPhil and PhD in Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, where she was a student at King’s College, supported by appointments as a Marshall Scholar, Truman Scholar, and Mary Isabel Sibley Fellow of Phi Beta Kappa.

Professor Lane is an author, lecturer and broadcaster who has received major awards including being named a Guggenheim Fellow, and the Lucy Shoe Meritt Resident in Classical Studies at the American Academy in Rome. She has published widely in journals and authored or introduced nine major books including Greek and Roman Political Ideas; Eco-Republic; and most recently, Of Rule and Office: Plato’s Ideas of the Political, which was awarded the 2024 Book Prize of the Journal of the History of Philosophy, and was published in a paperback edition with modifications in 2025.

Professor Lane is the only person ever to have delivered both the Carlyle Lectures and the Isaiah Berlin Lectures at the University of Oxford.

The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/cicero

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today

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Changing Money: Communities, Longer Term Finance and You - Ian Harris

Tue, 18 Aug 2026 04:51:22 -0000

In a world where technologies enable our communities to be at once local and global, the very essence of money is changing. We are living longer, yet our financial infrastructures are inherently short term. Young people seeking responsibly to plan their futures and their retirements find the conventional world of finance baffling and mostly inappropriate. This lecture explores these trends and looks to the future of money as a unit of account, a medium of exchange and as a store of longer-term value.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/changing-money-communities-longer-term-finance-and-you

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Continued Fractions - Professor John Barrow

Mon, 17 Aug 2026 23:51:22 -0000

What are continued fractions? How can they tell us what is the most irrational number? What are they good for and what unexpected properties do they possess? How did Ramanujan make good use of their odd features to make striking discoveries? We will look at how they have played a role in the study of numbers, chaos, gears and astronomical motions.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/continued-fractions

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

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Philanthropy Then, Philanthropy Now - Julia Unwin (Chief Executive, The Joseph Rowntree Foundation)

Mon, 17 Aug 2026 18:51:22 -0000

This lecture outlines the challenges of modern-day society and how they affect a charity's ability to deliver its purpose, and discusses how a 'Good Society' could be built through the individual, community, market and state.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/philanthropy-then-philanthropy-now

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Jesus in Art - The Rt Hon Lord Richard Harries

Mon, 17 Aug 2026 13:51:22 -0000

Early Christian carvings depict Jesus as a beardless Roman youth. Yet the image with which we are familiar is very different. This lecture will explore the dominant imagery associated with Jesus in different ages and cultures.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/christian-themes-in-art-jesus-in-art

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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Correction of Optical Defects: From Spectacles to Lasers - Professor William Ayliffe

Mon, 17 Aug 2026 08:51:22 -0000

Despite sophisticated techniques; Laser, intraocular surgery and contact lenses; spectacles remain the most popular method for correcting optical defects of the eye. Roger Bacon (1266) proposed that convex lenses could be used for elderly people with failing sight, replacing crystals used for magnification. Printing exploded the need for spectacles and by the close of the 20th century amazing advances in surgery corrected vision defects.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/correction-of-optical-defects-from-spectacles-to-lasers

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website.
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

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There Must be a Better Way: Thoughts on the Future of Family Law - Sir Andrew McFarlane

Mon, 17 Aug 2026 03:51:22 -0000

0:00 // Introduction — there must be a better way, and why Parliament has finally moved
6:38 // Four decades of change — Children Act, Domestic Abuse Act and transparency
9:57 // The June 2025 consultation — reforming financial remedies on divorce
13:33 // Codification plus — capturing judge-led change in statute
14:42 // Prenuptial agreements — making qualifying agreements legally binding
16:22 // Cohabitation — 3.5 million couples and the common law marriage myth
20:27 // Why should a child's financial support depend on whether parents were married?
24:10 // Private law and separating parents — keeping families out of court
29:47 // Child focused courts — social work reports before any hearing, £82 million rollout
32:28 // Adoption at 100 — a model built for babies that now serves three-year-olds
35:05 // Lifelong links — maintaining relationships for children in care and care leavers
36:03 // Enduring relationships policy — the government's new ambition for children in care
39:17 // Surrogacy — a law unchanged for 30 years and a growing commercial problem
43:13 // Foreign surrogacy — two women in their 60s, Northern Cyprus and four years in limbo
49:26 // The commercial elephant in the room — and what Parliament must address
51:30 // Conclusion — family law has never stood still, and the future will be digital

Watch the Q and A session here: https://youtu.be/XjH-XlyLcMI

This 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 phrase ‘un-plugged’ may not be appropriate, it is anticipated that the lecturer will no longer feel restrained by judicial caution when commenting upon the future development of Family Justice. In addition to a focus on the future of adoption law and the need for significant reform in relation to the financial rights of cohabitants, the lecturer will use a perspective gained from 8 years as the judicial Head of Family Justice to offer suggestions for reform of the system itself.

This lecture was recorded by The Rt Hon Sir Andrew McFarlane on the 15th of June 2026

Andrew McFarlane was called to the Bar in 1977 and practiced in chambers in Birmingham until 1993 when he moved to specialist family law chambers in London. He appeared at all levels of court including the House of Lords and the European Court of Human Rights. He was appointed as a QC in 1998. In April 2005 he was appointed to the High Court, Family Division and was for 5 years the Family Division Liaison Judge for the Midland Circuit. He was the legal member of the Government ‘Family Justice Review’ Panel. In July 2011 he was appointed to be a Lord Justice of Appeal sitting full time in the Court of Appeal. On the 28th July 2018 Sir Andrew succeeded Sir James Munby as President of the Family Division and Head of Family Justice; he is due to retire as President at Easter 2026.
Together with the late David Hershman he is the co-author of a loose-leaf legal text book entitled “Children: Law and Practice”. In addition, he has contributed to other publications and lectured throughout the UK and abroad.
Sir Andrew has been a trustee of YoungMinds (the national young person’s mental health charity) and is Patron of HOPE Family Centre (Bromyard) and of a prisoner support charity ‘Not Beyond Redemption’. In addition to being Chancellor of the Diocese of Exeter, Sir Andrew was Chairman of the Church of England Clergy Discipline Commission and President of Clergy Discipline Tribunals for 5 years until 2019. He has been a native of Herefordshire and Worcestershire for over 35 years and is a lay canon of Hereford Cathedral.

The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/grays-inn-26

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosit

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The Morrigan: The Nightmare Queen - Ronald Hutton

Sun, 16 Aug 2026 22:51:22 -0000

00:00 | Introduction: Hutton's Final Lecture as Gresham Professor
00:42 | The Morrigan: Bridget's Dark Alter Ego
01:26 | A Modern Icon: Global Fame and Worship
02:34 | Pop Culture: Madonna, Villains and Modern Devotees
03:53 | What Does "The Morrigan" Mean? A Name in Dispute
05:35 | Nightmare Queen: Tracing Her Terrifying Etymology
06:13 | Decades of Scholarly Disagreement Over Her Identity
07:58 | Building Blocks, Never a Structure: The Lecture's Thesis
14:15 | Battle Spirits: Generic Terrors and Named Goddesses
18:02 | Meet the Big Five War Goddesses
21:44 | Magic as a Neutral Cosmic Power
27:09 | Macha's Three Contradictory Origin Stories
31:17 | The Badb: Crow Spirit and Doom-Prophet
36:45 | At Last, The Morrigan: What Makes Her Distinct
37:59 | Three Distinguishing Features and Cosmic Prophecy
40:18 | Propositioning Cú Chulainn: Rejection and Revenge
41:20 | Global Parallels: Athena, Ishtar and Gilgamesh
43:18 | The Death of Cú Chulainn and the Raven on the Shoulder
48:00 | What She Is: A War Goddess of Love and Combat
51:32 | Reclaiming The Morrigan: Freedom in Reinterpretation

Watch the Q and A session here: https://youtu.be/Yb15EWQL59M

The Morrigan functions today largely as the supreme dark Celtic goddess, associated with violence, sex, shape-shifting and sorcery: the scary side of female power. This talk is designed to search for her in her medieval Irish roots, in order to explain her modern reputation and also to see if she was once a rather different and more complex figure. It locates her as originally one of five different Irish war goddesses, each with their own distinctive characteristics, of whom she was the most unusual. By doing so it also shows why she has survived as a modern celebrity while the others have been forgotten, but also how those others have contributed to her modern image.

This 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 degrees at Cambridge and then Oxford Universities, and was a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. He is now a Fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Historical Society, the Society of Antiquaries and the Learned Society of Wales, and has won awards for teaching and research.

He has lectured all over the world, authored twenty books and ninety-six essays, appeared in or presented scores of television and radio programmes, and sits on the editorial boards of six journals concerned with the history of religion and magic.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/goddess-morrigan

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

Website: https://gresham.ac.uk
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The White Knight: Ice - Helen Czerski

Sun, 16 Aug 2026 17:51:22 -0000

00:00 // Welcome to the Lecture
00:41 // Fridtjof Nansen and the Mystery of the Arctic
01:14 // Crossing Greenland: Nansen's First Expedition
01:40 // The USS Jeannette and the Trans-Arctic Current Theory
04:19 // Designing the Fram: A Ship Built Never to Be Crushed
08:57 // Why the Arctic Is a Human Place, Not Just Wilderness
09:58 // What's Coming: Physics, MOSAiC, and the Future of Ice
10:19 // The Physics of Ice: Why Isn't It White?
13:16 // Albedo: How Ice Reflects the Sun's Energy
18:08 // Why Ice Floats (and Why That's Bizarre)
19:15 // The Pink Hedgehog: How Sea Ice Makes Freshwater
25:56 // Latent Heat: Ice as Earth's Thermal Buffer
27:29 // Sea Ice vs. Glaciers vs. Icebergs: Know the Difference
30:01 // Arctic vs. Antarctic: Which Holds More Ice?
32:21 // Captain Scott and Antarctica's Moving Ice
39:30 // Modern Exploration: The MOSAiC Expedition
42:10 // What Scientists Discovered Drifting With the Ice
47:30 // How Climate Change Is Transforming the Ice
51:34 // Arctic Amplification and the New Geopolitical Frontier
55:27 // Closing Thoughts: Ice, Choice, and the Future

Watch the Q and A here: https://youtu.be/AZAi7mIdXFw

The 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 them, the challenges of measuring this environment, and the current state of knowledge about the ice at both poles. We will also cover the likely future for the polar regions – the incentives driving different actions, what science suggests about the consequences, and coming events to look out for.

This lecture was recorded by Helen Czerski on the 21st of May 2026 at Barnard’s Inn Hall, London

Helen Czerski is a physicist and oceanographer with a passion for science, sport, books, creativity, hot chocolate and investigating the interesting things in life.
She is a Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at University College London and her research focus is the physics of breaking waves and bubbles at the ocean surface. These bubbles change underwater sound and light, help transfer gases from ocean to atmosphere (helping the ocean breathe) and also eject ocean material into the air. She has spent months working on research ships in the Antarctic, the Pacific, the North Atlantic and the Arctic, and is an experienced field scientist.
Helen has been a regular science presenter on the BBC for 15 years, covering the physics of the natural world in BBC2 landmark documentaries (including ‘Orbit’, ‘Operation iceberg’ and ‘Supersenses’), and the physics of everyday life in a range of BBC4 documentaries (including ‘From ice to fire: The incredible science of temperature’, ‘Sound waves: The symphony of physics’, and ‘Colour: The spectrum of science’, along with many others). She currently co-hosts BBC Radio 4’s flagship climate and environment programme Rare Earth.
Helen's first book Storm in a Teacup won the Italian Asimov Prize and the Louis J. Battan Author prize from the American Meteorological Society. Blue Machine won the Wainwright Prize for Conservation Writing. She was awarded the Institute of Physics Gold Medal in 2018 for her work on physics communication, and an Honorary Fellowship of the British Science Association in 2020. She has been a Trustee of Royal Museums Greenwich since 2018, and was one of the 2020 Royal Institution Christmas Lecturers, giving her Lecture on the topic of the ocean.

The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/white-knight

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's m

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The Death of the Roman Republic? - Melissa Lane

Sun, 16 Aug 2026 12:51:22 -0000

00:00 // Welcome and Introduction
00:16 // Ovid's Claim: "Caesar Is the Republic"
03:52 // Exile: The Danger of Writing Under Augustus
04:17 // Tonight's Question: Charting Roman Autocracy
05:30 // Tacitus and the Timeline of Roman History
07:34 // Tacitism: Tacitus's Legacy in Early Modern Europe
08:14 // Republic vs Empire: A Terminological Clarification
09:01 // When Did the Roman Republic Really End?
10:04 // Rethinking the Republic's "Fall"
11:43 // Lecture Roadmap: Three Parts
12:56 // Princeps: Augustus's Ambiguous Title
15:09 // "Making the Emergency Permanent"
20:39 // Did Augustus Really Limit His Own Power?
22:21 // The 23 BCE Conspiracy and Constitutional Change
25:33 // Autocratic Legalism: Law as a Tool of Power
26:33 // From Tiberius to Nero: Eroding the Republic
28:46 // Tacitus's Verdict on Tiberius and Nero
32:36 // Seneca, Nero, and the Choice of Exit, Voice, or Loyalty
36:29 // Tacitus as Author: Writing Truth Under Tyranny
42:25 // Agricola: Survival and Courage Under Domitian

Watch the Q and A session here: https://youtu.be/BwuejjL2Lvw

Did the Roman republic die with Julius Caesar? With Cicero? With the gradual consolidation of power in the hands of Caesar’s adoptive son, who would in 27 BCE receive from the Senate the additional honorific appellation ‘Augustus’? By looking at how imperial rule preserved remnants and facades of republican language and institutions, this lecture will interrogate the ways in which a popular constitution can be undermined and gradually transmuted into a dictatorial one.

This lecture was recorded by Melissa Lane on the 18th of June 2026

Melissa Lane is the Class of 1943 Professor of Politics, Princeton University and is also Associated Faculty in the Department of Classics and Department of Philosophy. Previously she was Senior University Lecturer at Cambridge University in the Faculty of History and Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge.

She studied for her first degree in Social Studies (awarded summa cum laude) at Harvard University, and then took an MPhil and PhD in Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, where she was a student at King’s College, supported by appointments as a Marshall Scholar, Truman Scholar, and Mary Isabel Sibley Fellow of Phi Beta Kappa.

Professor Lane is an author, lecturer and broadcaster who has received major awards including being named a Guggenheim Fellow, and the Lucy Shoe Meritt Resident in Classical Studies at the American Academy in Rome. She has published widely in journals and authored or introduced nine major books including Greek and Roman Political Ideas; Eco-Republic; and most recently, Of Rule and Office: Plato’s Ideas of the Political, which was awarded the 2024 Book Prize of the Journal of the History of Philosophy, and was published in a paperback edition with modifications in 2025.

Professor Lane is the only person ever to have delivered both the Carlyle Lectures and the Isaiah Berlin Lectures at the University of Oxford.

The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/death-rome

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today

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Education – And Its Limits - Daniel Susskind

Sun, 16 Aug 2026 07:51:22 -0000

00:00 // Introduction: What This Talk Covers
01:44 // The Remarkable Rise of Generative AI
03:18 // Why "More Education" Has Always Been the Answer
05:57 // Structural vs Frictional Technological Unemployment
07:18 // The Illusion of "Future-Proofing"
08:19 // Case Study: The UK's Mandatory Coding Curriculum
14:07 // Why Future Skills Are Impossible to Predict
16:59 // Preparing for Uncertainty, Not Resolving It
22:22 // Back to Basics and Critical Use of AI
32:49 // Rethinking How and When We Educate
43:19 // The Real Limits of Education

Watch the Q and A session here: https://youtu.be/aJHAgt1iqVk

The most popular response to the challenge of automation is ‘more education’. This lecture argues that, for now, that is our best response. But ‘more education’ must go beyond simply rethinking what skills will be valuable in the future. We must also rethink how we educate – the way we teach has not really changed for centuries. And we must also rethink when we educate – providing people with a fixed set of skills at the start of their lives is no longer enough. However, there are serious limits to education – it is not the panacea that many imagine.

This 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 particularly AI, on work and society. He is the Mercers’ School Memorial Professor of Business at Gresham College. He is also a Digital Fellow at the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, a Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Ethics in AI at Oxford University, an Associate Member of the Economics Department at Oxford University, and a Research Professor at King’s College London. He is a member of the UK Government’s Expert Panel on AI and the Future of Work.

His new book, Growth: A Reckoning (2024), was chosen by President Obama as one of his ‘Favourite Books of 2024’ and was a runner-up for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year 2024. He is also the author of A World Without Work (2020), described by The New York Times as "required reading for any potential presidential candidate thinking about the economy of the future” and a runner-up for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year 2020, and co-author of the best-selling book, The Future of the Professions (2015). His TED Talk, on the future of work, has been viewed more than 1.7 million times.

His next book, What Should My Children Do? How to Flourish in the Age of AI, will be published in 2026. And his first novel, The Basilisk Stare, will be published in 2027.

Previously he worked in various roles in the British Government – in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, in the Policy Unit in 10 Downing Street, and in the Cabinet Office. He was a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard University.

The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/education-limits

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today

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