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Gresham College Lectures

Gresham College Lectures

Gresham College

Gresham College has been providing free public lectures since 1597, making us London's oldest higher education institution. This podcast offers our recorded lectures that are free to access from the Gresham College website, or our YouTube channel.

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Top 10 Gresham College Lectures Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Gresham College Lectures episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Gresham College Lectures for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Gresham College Lectures episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Gresham College Lectures - Markets and Marxism: USA, USSR and China
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11/08/23 • 59 min

Different models of economic modernity competed during the Cold War.
Washington feared that the transition from colonial peasant societies would provide an opening for Marxists, as in Vietnam. But by 1989, the Soviet economic model was in crisis and attempts to create a market economy led to Putin’s kleptocracy. In China, the disaster of Mao’s Great Leap Forward was followed by successful transformation.
Why did the Soviet Union fail where China succeeded?
This lecture was recorded by Martin Daunton on 31 October 2023 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/pilgrimages-holland
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
Twitter: https://twitter.com/greshamcollege
Facebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollege

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Gresham College Lectures - Mathematical Structure in Fiction

Mathematical Structure in Fiction

Gresham College Lectures

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03/09/21 • 59 min

Mathematical concepts have often been used to create new structural forms in fiction, as in the works of Raymond Queneau and Jorge Luis Borges.
The members of Queneau's Oulipo group (including Georges Perec and Italo Calvino) sought to create works using various constraints as an impetus to innovation.
Eleanor Catton's The Luminaries (2013) continues in this tradition. And mathematical concepts have even been used as plot devices, such as series of dastardly murders made possible by the mathematical idea of "non-transitivity".
A lecture by Sarah Hart 9 March
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/maths-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. 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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This lecture investigates how and why the song ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ has become so popular, transcending its roots in the MGM musical Meet Me in St Louis to become a presence in the canon of secular popular Christmas songs.

Live and recorded examples from artists including Judy Garland and Sam Smith will explain both how this remarkable song works and the process by which it became so popular. What gives this song its prayer-like quality?

Professor Broomfield-McHugh will be joined by singer and actor David Bedella.

This lecture was recorded by Dominic Broomfield-McHugh and David Badella on 6th December 2023 at St Paul's Church, Covent Garden, London.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/merry-little
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
Twitter: https://twitter.com/greshamcollege
Facebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollege

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Gresham College Lectures - The End of the Universe

The End of the Universe

Gresham College Lectures

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06/12/23 • 66 min

The Universe is expanding, increasingly so. Will this persist or will it collapse back on itself? If it does expand forever, what happens to the galaxies? What is the long-term trajectory for the ultimate in collapsed matter, black holes?

A lecture by Katherine Blundell OBE recorded on 31 May 2023 at Barbican Centre, London.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/end-universe
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
Twitter: https://twitter.com/greshamcollege
Facebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show

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Gresham College Lectures - Antisemitic Conspiracy Theories: Past, Present and Future?
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11/30/23 • 58 min

Antisemitism has existed and continues to exist on many levels, from unthinking prejudice to highly developed theories. Common to all levels is an explicit, or more often, implicit belief that all Jews, usually defined in racial terms, are conspiring secretly to undermine civilisation, order, or social and cultural stability.

This lecture considers the evolution of this conspiracy theory since the Middle Ages, examines its nature and operation today, and considers its future development.

This lecture was recorded by Sir Richard Evans on 22 November 2023 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/antisemitic-conspiracy
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
Twitter: https://twitter.com/greshamcollege
Facebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show

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Gresham College Lectures - Computers: A History

Computers: A History

Gresham College Lectures

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03/09/21 • 61 min

Even the most humdrum of electrical devices nowadays contains at least one computer; yet surprisingly few people are aware of their history, their form or function.
In this talk we will see that not only is the history of computers rich and diverse, their architecture likewise. Astonishingly, all the computers ever made can be modelled by one universal machine - the Turing machine.
A lecture by Richard Harvey 9 March
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/computer-history
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 College Lectures - Aristotle

Aristotle

Gresham College Lectures

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03/04/21 • 44 min

Plato's most brilliant student and perhaps the most significant intellectual in world history, Aristotle of Stageira built on the doctrines he had studied at the Academy but also radically disagreed with them.
The founder of Athens' second great university, the Lyceum, did not believe there was any perfect, ideal world that transcended human ability to see, touch, smell and hear it, and proposed that all philosophy begin from with material reality of being a human animal in a complex natural world.
Aristotle contributed to many disciplines—scientific subjects as well as 'Humanities', but his core philosophical beliefs are laid down in his Nicomachean Ethics, Politics and Rhetoric, which are analysed in this lecture, as well as the major works of the next generation of practitioners of what became known as 'Peripatetic' philosophy.
A lecture by Edith Hall 4 March
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/aristotle
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

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Gresham College Lectures - Populism, Aristotle and Hope

Populism, Aristotle and Hope

Gresham College Lectures

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06/09/23 • 73 min

The Annual Sir Thomas Gresham Lecture 2023

The period from 1988 to 2003, was one of extraordinary optimism. Every year the number of democracies increased, human rights improved, violent conflict reduced, there were fewer refugees and there was less global poverty. It was an era of triumph for the western liberal Democratic model for the United States and the politics of the centre ground.

But the next 11 years was disrupted by series of humiliating shocks to the west – the fiasco of the Iraq war, the global financial crisis, and the emergence of social media all contributed to the loss of faith in the western economic model. This was the period when China having joined the World Trade Organisation grew rapidly larger than the French British German Japanese economies. A period when new democracies ceased to emerge. When the Arab Spring cruelly exposed the false hopes of a Facebook revolution. Public confidence in the future waned.

This was the prelude for the new age, beginning in 2014 – the age of populism. From the election of Narendra Modi in India, through Brexit, Trump and Bolsonaro - a new form of politics, emerged on four continents - pitching an imagined “people“ against an “elite“ exploiting the new potential of social media and growing resentment, to inflame polarisation. Politics became even more vicious and divisive. The pragmatic centre ground disappeared.

Across the world, the number of democracies began to shrink, violent conflict increased, refugees increased so did civilian deaths in conflict. And in 2022, the Russian invasion of Ukraine brought a new authoritarian inflection to the age of populism. China, whose economy in 2005 was still smaller than that of the United Kingdom now had an economy seven times larger. The rise of UAE and Saudi reinforced the prestige of authoritarian economic powers. Western failures to respond to the crisis in Syria and Crimea undermined their credibility. The United States and Europe struggling both to come to terms of their own colonial histories and divisions within their own country, lurched into isolation. International development aid reduced. Poverty in Africa continued to explode.

Many of the fundamental structures which drove the stagnation, polarisation and collapse remain today. Nevertheless, there is a maturity and reality to the centre ground which should still be a source of inspiration.

Reenergising the centre requires rediscovering the fundamental principles of Aristotle‘s theory of language. The combination of logos, pathos, and ethos. Hope, reality, and truth can, and should suggest a better future for the democratic politics and the global order.

A lecture by Rory Stewart OBE recorded on 8 June 2023 at The Old Library, Guildhall, London.
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/thomas-gresham-23
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
Twitter: https://twitter.com/greshamcollege
Facebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollege
Instagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollege

Support the show

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Gresham College Lectures - Criminal Minds

Criminal Minds

Gresham College Lectures

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01/21/14 • 63 min

What makes a criminal? Are they born or made? Professor Wilson examines the evidence: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/criminal-minds
How do personality, social deprivation and upbringing affect criminality? Is crime due to economic need, a failure of conscience or a need for excitement?
If genetic contributions or brain damage can be established should they be taken to reduce culpability? What is prison for and are there alternative punishments that are more effective? Can criminals be reformed, or simply contained?
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/criminal-minds
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 1,500 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

Support the show

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Gresham College Lectures - Restraining Police Restraint

Restraining Police Restraint

Gresham College Lectures

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03/04/21 • 73 min

We hear too often about sudden death in adults following prolonged and often unnecessary police restraint. What do people know about the dangers of restraint and how widespread is our understanding of such deaths?
This talk by Professor Leslie Thomas QC, with a panel of distinguished guests including Deborah Coles, Director of INQUEST, and Dr Nat Cary, a forensic pathologist, explores the legal implications facing the state and what steps can be taken and implemented to save more lives and have safer policing.
Do these deaths disproportionately affect African Caribbean men given recent BAME stop and search statistics?
A lecture by Leslie Thomas QC, Deborah Coles and Dr Nat Cary 4 March
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:
https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/police-restraint
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

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FAQ

How many episodes does Gresham College Lectures have?

Gresham College Lectures currently has 2865 episodes available.

What topics does Gresham College Lectures cover?

The podcast is about History, Podcasts and Education.

What is the most popular episode on Gresham College Lectures?

The episode title 'The End of the Universe' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Gresham College Lectures?

The average episode length on Gresham College Lectures is 54 minutes.

How often are episodes of Gresham College Lectures released?

Episodes of Gresham College Lectures are typically released every day.

When was the first episode of Gresham College Lectures?

The first episode of Gresham College Lectures was released on Jul 3, 1984.

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