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Odds and Evenings

Odds and Evenings

Odds and Evenings

Playing around with maths and puzzles was something that the two hosts spent their time at university doing together. Now in their late twenties with proper grown up jobs, Alaric and Alex carve out the occasional evening to sit back and smell the numbers. Not all of the mathematics is entry level, but they envisioned this podcast for those people whose science degrees may be long behind them, but who still get a kick out of recreational numbering. If this is your first time listening, episode 4 (http://www.oddsandevenings.com/4) is a good representation of the show as a whole and can be used as a jumping on point. All episodes can be played in browser here (http://www.oddsandevenings.com/episodes) or you can subscribe on all major podcast apps (http://www.oddsandevenings.com/subscribe).
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Top 10 Odds and Evenings Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Odds and Evenings episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Odds and Evenings 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 Odds and Evenings episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

The boys are in the same room, and they have a guest! They talk about an awful tennis tournament mixup, a teeny tiny card game and the primest day of the year.

Odds and Evenings

Twitter - https://twitter.com/OddsAndEvenings
Website - http://www.oddsandevenings.com

Topics discussed

  • Quantum Go Fish
  • Amateur-Professional Tennis Tournament Problem
  • Prime Day

Show Notes

Some divisbility criteria
The Trachtenburg System

Credits

Hosted By
Alaric - http://alaricstephen.com
Alex - http://twitter.com/speakmouthwords

Guest
Matthew - http://mscroggs.co.uk/

Editing by Alex
Invisible playing cards supplied by Alaric

Theme music by David Russell - https://youtube.com/DavidRussell323

Special Guest: Matthew Scroggs.

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Odds and Evenings - #30 - Delta-Y, Diversity and Dynamics
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07/14/19 • 53 min

The boys sit down with an infinite box of resistors, worry just how diverse their business is and think through the peculiar physics of balloons.

Odds and Evenings

Twitter - https://twitter.com/OddsAndEvenings
Website - http://www.oddsandevenings.com

Topics discussed

  • Resistor Mathematics
  • How to Measure Diversity
  • Balloon in a Car

Show Notes

The XKCD Resistor Problem we Mention
An article I wrote which uses Δ-Y transformations for calculating resistance
The Diversity Formula
An article I wrote about Simpson's Paradox
The Sprinkler Problem

Credits

Hosted By
Alaric - http://alaricstephen.com
Alex - http://twitter.com/speakmouthwords

Editing by Alex
Fish schematics by Alaric

Theme music by David Russell - https://youtube.com/DavidRussell323

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Odds and Evenings - Mini Episode: Bidding Game
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07/05/19 • 12 min

Here's something a little different. Over at Aperiodical they are running the Big Internet Math Off 2019, where 16 mathematicians present pitches to compete in a tournament. We were very pleased to be nominated to take part. For this round we thought we'd do what we do best, albeit in smaller, snack sized portion.

We are up against Grant Sanderson of 3Blue1Brown which is a channel that we both love. You can find both of our pitches here, where if you like what you hear we would very much appreciate your support by voting for Alaric.

Most importantly, here is the file that my student Ed Ceney created so you can try to come up with the best strategy yourself.

The paper outlining the original experiment can be found here.

Normal episodes will resume shortly.

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Odds and Evenings - #28 - Rugby, Rolling and Robots
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03/16/19 • 93 min

The boys help organise a rugby training scheme, set robots upon an infinite hotel and discover some lovely patterns in the probability of Snakes and Ladders.

Odds and Evenings

Twitter - https://twitter.com/OddsAndEvenings
Website - http://www.oddsandevenings.com

Topics discussed

  • Rugby Training Problem
  • Busy Beavers
  • Gamble Shambles

Show Notes

Articles written by Alaric on Langton's:

Busy Beaver on Wikipedia
Noether's Theorem
The Music Episode

Maths Jam (that you should totally be attending)

Credits

Hosted By
Alaric - http://alaricstephen.com
Alex - http://twitter.com/speakmouthwords

Editing by Alex
Appreciation of the phrase Busy Beavers by Alaric

Theme music by David Russell - https://youtube.com/DavidRussell323

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Odds and Evenings - #27 - Strangers, Scaling and Scores
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02/14/19 • 69 min

The boys partake unto an unwavering curiousity as to who is friends with whom. Infinite-dimensional animals are discussed, and they ponder the potentially undue rewards of chess pros.

Odds and Evenings

Twitter - https://twitter.com/OddsAndEvenings
Website - http://www.oddsandevenings.com

Topics discussed

  • Ramsey's Theorem
  • Scaling
  • Sports and Games Rating

Show Notes

Scale by Geoffrey West
Goblin Game Spreadsheet
Quantum Computing Video

Credits

Hosted By
Alaric - http://alaricstephen.com
Alex - http://twitter.com/speakmouthwords

Editing by Alex
The actual good questions by Alaric

Theme music by David Russell - https://youtube.com/DavidRussell323

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Odds and Evenings - #26 - Geometry, Goblins and Getting to Pubs
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01/28/19 • 72 min

The boys find themselves on the wrong side of the mathematical orthodoxy, rejecting the concepts of distance and angles, before immediately forgetting about that and using distances and angles to solve a problem.

Odds and Evenings

Twitter - https://twitter.com/OddsAndEvenings
Website - http://www.oddsandevenings.com

Topics discussed

  • Rational Geometry
  • Goblin Game
  • Car Pool Problem

Show Notes

Introduction to Rational Geometry Overview by Norman Wildberger
The Video in his Lecture Sequence which covers some of the topics we discussed on our show
The 5 Laws of Rational Geometry
Goblin Game
New Prime Discovered

Credits

Hosted By
Alaric - http://alaricstephen.com
Alex - http://twitter.com/speakmouthwords

Editing by Alex
Calls for radical overthrowing of the establishment by Alaric

Theme music by David Russell - https://youtube.com/DavidRussell323

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Odds and Evenings - #24 - Shamir's, Sums and Seatings
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12/15/18 • 65 min

The boys celebrate a year of the podcast, try to get a hold on some of the weirder polygonal numbers and debrief after big maths jam.

Odds and Evenings

Twitter - https://twitter.com/OddsAndEvenings
Website - http://www.oddsandevenings.com

Topics discussed

  • Trapezium Numbers
  • Shamir's Shared Secrets
  • Vampire and Werewolf Lies

Show Notes

Catriona Shearer's Geometry Puzzles on Twitter
Mathigon's Tweet about Trapezium Numbers
An Article on Properties of Trapezium Numbers
Alaric's Lock Gates Article
A Good Quality Shamir's Shared Secrets Article
The Vampire and Werewolf MAT Question
The Answers to the MAT Question

Credits

Hosted By
Alaric - http://alaricstephen.com
Alex - http://twitter.com/speakmouthwords

Editing by Alex
Silver Service at the Vampire-Werewolf Symposium by Alaric

Theme music by David Russell - https://youtube.com/DavidRussell323

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Odds and Evenings - #21 - Torque, Truth and Time Signatures
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10/19/18 • 72 min

The boys settle a dicussion about a bike that Alaric has been aching to talk about for a fortnight, Alex finally brings up music and then they both dive down the Gödel rabbit hole with some puzzles.

Odds and Evenings

Twitter - https://twitter.com/OddsAndEvenings
Website - http://www.oddsandevenings.com

Topics discussed

  • Bike Pedals
  • Time Signatures
  • Taking an Offer Puzzles

Show Notes

Follow Up

Visualisation of the Codepad Solution from Tom Verduyn
Maths Jam Annual Gathering Page
The Shade (Alex's New Podcast)

Maths From the Show

Visuals of the Two Cycloids Mentioned: Prolate and Curtate
Video of the Bike Moving
Unusual Time Signatures
Forever Undecided: A Puzzle Guide to Gödel The book I talk about in the third part of the show. It's great.
The Gödel Sentence on Wikipedia (Related to the puzzle)

Credits

Hosted By
Alaric - http://alaricstephen.com
Alex - http://twitter.com/speakmouthwords

Editing by Alex
Incomplete knowledge of incompleteness theorems by Alaric

Theme music by David Russell - https://youtube.com/DavidRussell323

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Odds and Evenings - #19 - Probability, Pubs and Power
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09/09/18 • 54 min

The boys delve into some stats and game theory problems, ending with a classic from Conway.

Odds and Evenings

Twitter - https://twitter.com/OddsAndEvenings
Website - http://www.oddsandevenings.com

Topics discussed

  • Dominion Probabilities
  • The Cheapest Beer in Prague
  • The Angel Problem

Show Notes

Dominion Probabilities Article
The Generalised Coupon Collecting Formula in [Wolfram Alpha](www.wolframalpha.com) Type this into input: sum from j=0 to 25 of ((-1)j(25 choose j)(((25-j) choose 10)/(25 choose 10))8)
(I couldn't directly link because the % signs in the URL were messing up our site linking. Apologies for the mess.
The Secretary Problem
The Angel Problem (by Alaric)
James Grime's Video on the Codepad Problem

Credits

Hosted By
Alaric - http://alaricstephen.com
Alex - http://twitter.com/speakmouthwords

Editing by Alex
Back to school vocals by Alaric

Theme music by David Russell - https://youtube.com/DavidRussell323

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Odds and Evenings - #32 - Quiz Shows, Queues and Quavers
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06/15/20 • 65 min

The boys return to think about the structure of a quiz show round, they learn how to queue effectively and they investigate the best tunings for guitars.

Odds and Evenings

Twitter - https://twitter.com/OddsAndEvenings
Website - http://www.oddsandevenings.com

Topics discussed

  • Only Connect Loops
  • Adding a Teller
  • Alternative Tunings

Show Notes

Queuing Blog
Cabbage Tuning
Under the Bridge Tuning
David's Kingdom Heart Video Series

Credits

Hosted By
Alaric - http://alaricstephen.com
Alex - http://twitter.com/speakmouthwords

Editing by Alex
Infeasible App Ideas by Alaric

Theme music by David Russell - https://youtube.com/DavidRussell323

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FAQ

How many episodes does Odds and Evenings have?

Odds and Evenings currently has 33 episodes available.

What topics does Odds and Evenings cover?

The podcast is about Mathematics, Games, Maths, Podcast, Podcasts, Science, Physics and Math.

What is the most popular episode on Odds and Evenings?

The episode title '#31 - Cards, Competitions and Celebrations (w/ Matthew Scroggs)' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Odds and Evenings?

The average episode length on Odds and Evenings is 62 minutes.

How often are episodes of Odds and Evenings released?

Episodes of Odds and Evenings are typically released every 16 days, 1 hour.

When was the first episode of Odds and Evenings?

The first episode of Odds and Evenings was released on Dec 10, 2017.

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