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 cha...
Nov 01, 2021•1 hr 46 min
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
Oct 28, 2021•1 hr 15 min
Oxford students discuss the problem posed by the existence of evil in the world to the Christian and Hindu gods.
Jul 26, 2017•49 min
Aled Walker, Justin Ball, Valerian Chen, Jason Parisi discuss nuclear fusion as part of the In Our Spare Time series.
Jun 13, 2017•39 min
A new episode of of in our spare time, this time looking at the social aspects of language.
Mar 20, 2017•43 min
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 s...
Jan 20, 2017•44 min
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 ...
Jan 18, 2017•42 min
Host Alice Harberd discusses Clytemnestra, a fascinating character from Greek Tragedy, with Emily Clifford and Lily Aaronovitch.
Dec 02, 2016•46 min
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 adh...
Nov 04, 2016•34 min
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 a...
Oct 21, 2016•40 min
Alice Harberd, Michael Dobson, Fleur Smith, Adriana Stoiber, and Simon Smith discuss Shakespeare and Music.
Jul 25, 2016•41 min
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 hi...
Jun 29, 2016•48 min
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...
Jun 09, 2016•38 min
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 frien...
May 26, 2016•44 min
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 C...
May 13, 2016•44 min
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 Repub...
Apr 04, 2016•46 min
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 Repub...
Apr 04, 2016•46 min
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,...
Apr 04, 2016•42 min
