In Our Spare Times

In this episode, Jan-Willem Prügel discusses the historical origins and philosophical characteristics of Conservatism with two brilliant Oxford students of the humanities. Some say Conservatism is not even a proper political belief, some think of it as shorthand for the politics of the Tory or Republican party. Alas, it is so much more than that and so much more difficult to grasp. Explore the nature of this strange political creature and find out if there are not some aspects of it you find charming and worthy of implementing into your very own view of the world around you. Hello, little platoons, hello useful traditions.

Jan-Willem Prügel questions three Oxford mathematicians about the mythical entities known as numbers. What are they? And perhaps even more importantly, why are they? Show notes: https://media.podcasts.ox.ac.uk/ball/in_our_spare_time/sparetimes-number-systems-show-notes.pdf

Jan-Willem Prügel questions three Oxford mathematicians about the mythical entities known as numbers. What are they? And perhaps even more importantly, why are they? Show notes: https://media.podcasts.ox.ac.uk/ball/in_our_spare_time/sparetimes-number-systems-show-notes.pdf

Oxford students discuss the problem posed by the existence of evil in the world to the Christian and Hindu gods.

Aled Walker, Justin Ball, Valerian Chen, Jason Parisi discuss nuclear fusion as part of the In Our Spare Time series.

A new episode of of in our spare time, this time looking at the social aspects of language.

Oxford graduate students discuss Criminology, and the societal affects of real-life crime documentaries. In the final months of 2014, the most downloaded podcast on iTunes wasn't on politics or on current affairs, it was no grand historical narrative, and it certainly wasn't a comedy. The podcast was called 'Serial', by now downloaded over 80 million times, and it told, over the course of twelve long episodes, in intimate detail, the investigations of reporter Sarah Koenig into the murder of a single teenage girl, in Baltimore, 15 years previously. Whodunnits have been a feature of popular fiction for over 150 years: extremely popular fiction indeed, with Agatha Christie battling only William Shakespeare as the most popular author of fiction of all time. Yet, such detailed serialisations of real-life murder cases are a much newer phenomenon, and, from a certain perspective at least, a rather morbid one. Why do we as human beings seem to find these distressing stories so fascinating? Could podcasts such as Serial warp our perceptions of the realities of criminal justice? What responsibilities should such documentary makers have when presenting these cases.? And is even the very act -- the act of making the lives of such vulnerable people prime-time entertainment -- can that ever be ethically justified? The success of programmes such as Serial, and also Netflix's endlessly controversial 'Making a Murdurer', poses many questions to the professional scholar of the public's relationship with the criminal justice system -- the criminologist.

Oxford graduate students discuss the life and work of 19th century French mathematical prodigy Évariste Galois To appear on a commemorative stamp is surely the greatest stamp of fame. Évariste Galois -- 'Révolutionnaire et Géomètre', as the French stamp says -- was one of the most unusual and enigmatic mathematicians in history. He died when he was just 20 years old, in dramatic circumstances, but during his brief span he created mathematics which, in the decades after his death, would go on to revolutionise all aspects of the discipline.

Host Alice Harberd discusses Clytemnestra, a fascinating character from Greek Tragedy, with Emily Clifford and Lily Aaronovitch.

Oxford DPhil students discuss the relationship between scientific advice and government policy The relationship between scientists and politicians has never been an easy one. These days scientists advice our government on anything from run-of-the-mill policy decisions, to cyber-warfare, to natural disasters, to taxation, and on the future of our energy needs; but, with only 10% of MPs having a scientific background, is this advice always understood, and even when it is, do politicians always adhere to it? Host: Aled Walker (3rd year DPhil, Magdalen College, Mathematics) Guests: Kathyrn Boast (4th year DPhil, St. Peter's College, Physics), Rob Shalloo (3rd year DPhil, Lincoln College, Physics)

Host Aled Walker is joined by DPhil students Nonie Kubie and Daniel Rowe to discuss the American presidential election of 1896, a fascinating and pivotal moment in American history. "Having behind us the commercial interests and the labouring interests and all the toiling masses, we shall answer their demands for a gold standard by saying to them: 'You shall not press down upon the brow of labour this crown of thorns. You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.' " The year is 1896, and at the Democratic National Convention William Jennings Bryan has just concluded what is now considered to be one of the most powerful political addresses in American history. His subject now seems almost comically dry, a championing of bimetallism -- an underpinning of currency based on both gold and silver -- over the gold-standard policy of the sitting Democratic president Grover Cleveland; yet, from this single issue stemmed a wider social message, a message of support for the rural poor. "I tell you that the great cities rest upon these broad and fertile prairies. Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic. But destroy out farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country." At only 36 years of age, almost on the force of his fervent rhetoric alone, Bryan became the Democratic Party's presidential nominee. In the election campaign which followed, against Republican William McKinley, one may glimpse the state of the American nation, and its great social and economic divisions, as it turns to enter the twentieth century.

Alice Harberd, Michael Dobson, Fleur Smith, Adriana Stoiber, and Simon Smith discuss Shakespeare and Music.

Host Aled Walker and guests Cameron J. Quinn and Xavier Cohen discuss the life, the work, and the legacy of Karl Marx. Many famous men and women have found their final rest in Highgate cemetery: Michael Faraday rubs shoulders with George Eliot, Christina Rossetti with Anna Mahler. Yet of all those who lie interred in this forty acre plot, Karl Marx -- and his imposing tomb -- surely casts the greatest shadow. He is one of the most influential and controversial thinkers of the modern age. Upon his gravestone, the following phrase is etched: "The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." But what did Marx actually write? What were his influences? And have world events since his death serve to strengthen or to undermine his theory of history? Host: Aled Walker (2nd year DPhil, Mathematics, Magdalen College) Guests: Cameron J. Quinn (1st year DPhil, French, Merton College), Xavier Cohen (3rd year undergraduate, PPE, Balliol College)

Oxford Students discuss the Prime Number Theorem. Prime numbers have fascinated mathematicians since there were mathematicians to be fascinated, and The Prime Number Theorem is one of the crowning achievements of 19th century mathematics. The theorem answers, in a precise form, a very basic and naive-sounding question: how many prime numbers are there? Proved in 1896, the theorem marked the culmination of a century of mathematical progress, and is also at the heart of one of the biggest unsolved problems in mathematics today. Host: Aled Walker, 2nd year DPhil, Mathematics, Magdalen College Guests: Simon Myerson, 4th year DPhil, Mathematics, Oriel College: Sofia Lindqvist, 1st year DPhil, Mathematics, Keble College, Jamie Beacom, 1st year DPhil, Mathematics, Balliol College

Oxford students discuss the life of Oscar Wilde. "What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing." "Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination." "True friends stab you in the front." This great wit of the English language needs no introduction: a courter of controversy for his whole life, and ultimately a tragic martyr, in his own eyes at least, as a young man he spent four years studying at Magdalen College Oxford. There, the friends he made, and the influence of two tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin, remained with him for the rest of his brief life. ​Host: Aled Walker (2nd year DPhil, Mathematics, Magdalen College). Guests: Davis Rivera (Masters, Film Aesthetics, Pembroke College), Yannick Lambert (DPhil student, Classical Indian Religion and Language, Pembroke College), Conor Malloy (Masters, French Literature, Pembroke College).

Oxford students discuss medieval songs. The thirteenth century was a time of great change in Europe. The cities of Florence, Paris and Arras became thriving commercial centres; following the disastrous reign of King John of England, the French crown had also grown significantly in strength. Into this world we find the trouvères, poets and musicians who wrote and sang about the pains of love, on politics, and of devotion to the Virgin Mary. Their songs, preserved in twenty song-compendia called Chansonniers, but also found scattered throughout many early medieval manuscripts, are a rare window into medieval vernacular culture. Host: Aled Walker (2nd year DPhil student, Mathematics, Magdalen College). Contributors: Meghan Quinlan (2nd year DPhil student, Musicology, Merton College), Joseph Mason (2nd year DPhil Student, Musicology, Lincoln College). ​

Oxford students discuss roman senator Cicero. In 43BC, a year after the assassination of Julius Caesar, a man's severed head and hands were nailed to the speaker's podium of the Roman Senate. They had belonged to Marcus Tullius Cicero, who had risen from humble origins to become one of the most significant political figures in Rome. A lawyer by training, master orator, his name has become a byword for rhetorical skill and eloquence. He lived a remarkable life in the dying days of the Roman Republic, but also wrote extensively, on rhetorical theory, religion, and philosophy. The legacy of his writings, on Western education and thought in the Middle Ages, was immense.In this podcast we focus on his earliest surviving work. 'De Inventione' – meaning 'invention' or 'discovery' – is a treatise on rhetoric written by Cicero as a young man. Host: Aled Walker, 2nd year Mathematics DPhil student at Magdalen College Guests: Thierry Hirsch, recent Classics DPhil graduate of Lincoln College Alice Harberd, a third year undergraduate Classics student at Corpus Christi College Andrew Sillett, a lecturer in Classical languages and literature at Brasenose College.

Oxford Students discuss Dark Matter. For over three millennia, astronomers have been observing the heavens. Yet, less than one hundred years ago, observations were made suggesting the existence of a previously unknown substance, permeating the universe in vast abundance, yet invisible to even the most powerful telescope. This substance has been aptly christened 'dark matter', and though in nature it seems to be ubiquitous, all attempts to explicitly detect it have hitherto been unsuccessful. So, what is dark matter, why do we think it exists, and what has it got to do with a four-ton tank of liquid argon, two kilometres underneath Ontario? Host: Aled Walker, 2nd year Mathematics DPhil student at Magdalen College Guests: Peter Hatfield, a 3rd year Physics DPhil student at Lincoln College Fran Day, a 3rd year Physics DPhil student at Magdalen College Talitha Bromwich, a 2nd year Physics DPhil student at Magdalen College