Street art strays far away from traditional art in a number of ways. However, its recent recognition as an art form leaves us wondering what is it that makes art art? What are the roles of art? And how does the valuation of art function? What, exactly differentiates vandalism from street art? In this episode of OxPods, Philosophy and French student Ines Ghalia interviews Dr Macs Smith, Fellow in French at The Queen’s College and author of Paris and the Parasite to learn about the transgressive a...
Mar 06, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 4
When infectious diseases sweep through human populations, they can often bring detrimental effects to the health and functioning of society. But why do the pathogens that underpin these diseases require human hosts? Why do they cause illness? And importantly, can we predict how they will spread through populations? In this episode of OxPods, biology PhD student Joe Woodman will be interviewing Professor Sunetra Gupta, a theoretical epidemiologist who uses mathematical models to determine the evo...
Feb 24, 2023•21 min•Season 5Ep. 3
Have you ever wondered about the origin of Romance? Maybe your mind turns to Austen and Bronte? Really it's lineage is far longer, spreading back to the High Middle Ages and stories of King Arthur and Sir Gawain. In this episode, Ursula White, a second year English Student at Somerville College, discusses the varied and fascinating world of Medieval Romance with Professor Laura Ashe, a renowned scholar of Medieval literature, history and culture, and frequent guest on the BBC Podcast in Our Time...
Feb 23, 2023•16 min•Season 4Ep. 3
In the 6th century BCE, coins were first minted in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). Despite over 2500 years of human history, coins have continued to be a part of everyday life. Why were they invented? Why were they so successful? And what role has coinage played in the development of human history? In this episode, Alice Hazell, a Classical Archaeology and Ancient History student at Lady Margaret Hall speaks to Dr. Volker Heuchert, research lecturer in Greek coinage and the curator of Greek and ...
Feb 22, 2023•19 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Obesity and increasing rates of overweight pose a growing issue in global health today. Why are more people gaining more weight, when its health burden seems so clear? Miya McFarlane, a Human Sciences undergraduate at Regent’s Park College, discusses the social and cultural roots of obesity with Professor Stanley Ulijasek, a professor of human ecology whose two strands of research are Nutritional anthropology and Obesity. He is also currently the Director for the Unit of Biocultural Variation an...
Feb 21, 2023•34 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Marriage is an evolving concept: legislation to allow same-sex marriage in England and Wales was only passed in the United Kingdom 2013 and took effect in 2014. It’s evolving nature prompts some important questions: what is the point of marriage? Is marriage as an economic contract compatible with the instability of a romantic relationship? How long will marriage as an institution survive? In answering these questions, this episode of OxPods will look into the role of marriage in society, the na...
Feb 20, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 3
The microbiome refers to the community of microorganisms living inside a host. But why are they there? What benefits can these microbes provide to their hosts? And could they enable their hosts to colonise new niches? Alex Rodway, biology master’s student at Jesus College, will be discussing these questions with Dr Sarah Knowles, Associate Professor of Ecosystem Biology and Tutorial Fellow of Keble College, whose research focusses on the mammalian microbiome.
Feb 10, 2023•19 min•Season 5Ep. 2
Have you ever heard the term ‘women’s writing’ and wondered what it actually means - writing by women, writing for women, writing about women? While this term is increasingly prevalent in both popular culture and literary studies, it is difficult to define and has sparked much critical debate in recent years. Flora Symington, English student at Somerville College, discusses this with Lorna Hutson, Professor of English Literature at Merton College and an expert on Early Modern literature, who’s r...
Feb 09, 2023•21 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Industrialisation in the 19th century prompted a ‘chromo revolution’, as the development of new artificially-produced paints provided new ways to experience and depict colour. Paul Gauguin used this colour development in new ways to visualise (and stereotype) the French colonial landscape. Born in 1848, Gauguin has been the subject of public interest and controversy since the late 20th century, as the focus of several blockbuster exhibitions. Gauguin’s time in Tahiti is notorious, but less well ...
Feb 08, 2023•23 min•Season 3Ep. 2
As result of global Covid lockdowns and satisfying videos on TikTok, pottery has experienced a new revival. With thousands of years of history behind the practice, what benefits might it have in store? And why might it just be the hobby of the future? In this episode, Alice Hazell, Classical Archaeology and Ancient History (CAAH) student at Lady Margaret Hall, will be interviewing Cathy O'Brien, an archaeology DPhil candidate at Keble college, who has used theories of cognitive archaeology and a...
Feb 07, 2023•18 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Common to Christianity, Judaism and Islam is the concept of an all-powerful, all-knowing, and benevolent God. Surely, then, this God knows everything you have done and everything you will do in your life. This raises a profound philosophical problem: is there free will within an Abrahamic context if God knows our future? Why doesn’t God intervene if He knows one will never find religion? Join Katie Peachey, a second year Philosophy and Theology student from St Peter’s College, and Dr Tim Mawson,...
Feb 06, 2023•24 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Across the globe, biologists have set up a series of long-term study populations, where all individuals within an animal population are monitored both across their own lifespan and also over many generations. But what's the point of this, and what questions can be answered using long-term studies that can’t be addressed through alternative experiments? In this episode of OxPods, biology PhD student Joe Woodman will be interviewing Prof Ben Sheldon FRS, whose research into ecology, evolution and ...
Jan 27, 2023•22 min
According to recent polls, the most well-known Shakespeare plays are Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth, all of which are tragedies. Although Shakespeare wrote just as many comedies as he did tragedies, they simply are not as popular or widely read, and this trend applies to other playwrights of Shakespeare’s time as well. Flora Symington, English Literature student, asks world-renown drama expert and Professor of Shakespeare, Emma Smith, why this is the case, and why she thinks we could all ...
Jan 26, 2023•21 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Over the past few decades, US politics has become increasingly polarised, resulting in the emergence of a highly fractured political landscape, exemplified by the storming of the Capitol in January 2021. How did American politics become so polarised? What are the origins of these divisions? And how do we define what it means to be an American today? To find out, in this episode of OxPods, Katerina Zagurova, history student at The Queen´s College, will be interviewing Dr Bruce Shulman, the Harmsw...
Jan 25, 2023•37 min•Season 3Ep. 1
When the world was brought to a halt by the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals all over the world stepped up to the job of saving lives and ‘bringing normal back again’. In Oxford, Dr Adam Ritchie was one of them. In this episode of OxPods, Miya McFarlane, Human Sciences undergraduate at Regents Park College, interviews Dr Ritchie, a senior programme manager of the Oxford-AstraZeneca mass vaccine program, on how he helped vaccinate people all over world.
Jan 24, 2023•46 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Last summer, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, reigniting a fifty-year abortion debate once thought settled in the Western world. Though disguised by coverage of judges and commentators alike, the crux of the debate remains deeply philosophical: what is the moral value of a foetus? Is it a human being? Is it a person? To answer these questions, Todd Horton, law graduate from Trinity College, will be interviewing Professor Jonathan Herring, a pre-eminent exponent of the ‘relational’ co...
Jan 23, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Many social animals live in groups that appear to be relatively unaffected by disease. But just how is this possible? And what could we, humans, learn from the way that animals deal with disease? To find out, in this episode of OxPods, Alex Rodway, biology master’s student at Jesus College, will be interviewing Dr Chris Pull, whose research looks at the ways in which animal collectives have evolved avoidance, resistance and tolerance strategies to mitigate the damaging effects of disease.
Jan 09, 2023•27 min
