Gresham College Lectures

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/7mW52bW23goIt has become something of a cliché to say that data is the new oil. That isn’t the full story. For centuries it has proved itself to be infinitely re-usable. It has enabled the creation and reinforcement of collective memory. It has been documented in innumerable formats, from maps to databases, taxonomies, and infographics. We make sense of the world through the technology we use to process and visualise data. This lecture is an exploration of our enduring love for it.This lecture was recorded by Victoria Baines on 25th February 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Victoria is IT Livery Company Professor of Information Technology.Victoria is a Senior Research Associate of the Intellectual Forum at Jesus College, Cambridge, a Senior Research Fellow of the British Foreign Policy Group, and a Fellow of the British Computer Society. She is also Visiting Fellow at Bournemouth University’s School of Computing, a former Visiting Research Fellow at Oxford University, and was a guest lecturer at Stanford University in 2019 and 2020. She is a graduate of Trinity College, Oxford and holds a doctorate from the University of Nottingham. She serves on the Safety Advisory Board of Snapchat, the Advisory Board of cybersecurity provider Reliance Cyber, and is a trustee of the Lucy Faithfull Foundation.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/data-love-story-agesGresham 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://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todayWebsite:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/IAilwM_WdbIUntil the nineteenth century, the favourite ancient pagan gods in Western culture were those related to human qualities and activities. During that century, especially in Britain, attention switched to a horned divinity associated with the countryside and wild nature, usually personified as the Greek Pan. This lecture explores how and why this happened, and the impact on British culture, when the full subversive potential of this deity as a force for personal liberation became realised. It also shows how the image subsequently evolved from a classical god into an archetype.This lecture was recorded by Ronald Hutton on 19th February 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Ronald is the Gresham Professor of Divinity.He is also Professor of History at the University of Bristol and a Fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Historical Society, the Society of Antiquaries and the Learned Society of Wales.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/return-horned-godGresham 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://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todayWebsite:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

Robin May, the Gresham Professor of Physic and Chief Scientific Adviser at the Food Standards Agency, discusses the fascinating world of plant immunity. He reveals how plants can recognize pathogens and form immunological memories, even inheriting defenses from parent plants. The conversation explores groundbreaking ideas like using plants for producing human antibodies and edible vaccines, potentially revolutionizing global health. May also shares insights on harnessing plant immunity for disease detection through innovative engineering techniques.

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/gQdabAQT3JwSophocles’ Antigone refers to “unwritten laws,” as does Thucydides’ Pericles. From the late fifth century BCE, the idea that laws are more effective when learned by memory and observation than when put into writing, forms a distinctive current in political reflections. Plutarch would even claim that the Spartan lawgiver Lycurgus had prohibited the writing down of his laws. This lecture will present Greek authors’ reflections on the interplay between writing and orality remain relevant to debates about ethical formation today. This lecture was recorded by Melissa Lane on 20th February 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Melissa Lane is Gresham Professor of Rhetoric.Melissa is also the Class of 1943 Professor of Politics, Princeton University and is also Associated Faculty in the Department of Classics and Department of Philosophy. Previously she was Senior University Lecturer at Cambridge University in the Faculty of History and Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge.Having previously held visiting appointments at Harvard, Oxford, and Stanford, she will be Isaiah Berlin Visiting Professor in the History of Ideas in the Faculties of Philosophy and History at Oxford University, and a Visiting Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, in Michaelmas Term 2024.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/unwritten-laws-legacies-antigone-and-lycurgusGresham 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://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todayWebsite:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

As we navigate towns and cities, public spaces are all around us. These offer a respite from our often-busy routines. Public spaces are more than just the leftover areas between buildings; they depend on how interests are designed and negotiated, and its success is measured by the interactions that take place in it: the passage of the sun, the root of trees, and even the way they are used by children. However, these areas are constantly threatened by the way local and commercial funding invest in it.Using recent projects, primarily in London and North America, this lecture will invite audiences to think about public space beyond the space between and around buildings; to view public spaces, their design and their constructions, under a new light.This lecture was recorded by Liza Fior on 28th January 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Liza Fior is a founding Partner of muf architecture/art, and Professor of Architecture and Spatial Practice at the University of the Arts London. She was previously a visiting professor at Yale University.muf architecture/art are internationally acclaimed for their hyper-local approach to design; exclusively working in the public realm - including on streetscapes, parks and open spaces, buildings masterplans, temporary commissions and furniture. The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/public-spaceGresham 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://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todayWebsite:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

Mike Brewer, Interim Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation and Visiting Professor at LSE, dives into the UK's growing generational wealth gap. He discusses how household wealth has nearly doubled due to soaring house prices, but young people struggle with homeownership. Income stagnation since the mid-2000s has hit younger cohorts particularly hard. Brewer also explores recent shifts in generational wealth dynamics, suggesting that millennials are starting to improve their economic standing while proposing solutions for addressing systemic disparities in wealth distribution.

The discharge of raw sewage into rivers, and the financial problems of major water companies, have become serious political and social concerns for the public. British cities have faced similar challenges in the past, most notoriously with the ‘Great Stink’ in London in 1858 that led to the construction of Bazalgette’s sewer. Consequently, many cities took utilities into public ownership in the late nineteenth century in what is termed ‘gas and water socialism’. Why did this happen, and why were utilities returned to private ownership in the later twentieth century? The lecture will conclude by assessing the success or failure of the current system of regulated private ownership. Should there be a return to public ownership?This lecture was recorded by Martin Daunton on 11th February 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Professor Martin Daunton is Visiting Gresham Professor of Economic History.He is a British academic and historian. He was Master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, between 2004 and 2014. He is Emeritus Professor of Economic History at the University of Cambridge.He has written two books on the history of taxation in Britain – Trusting Leviathan and Just Taxes, and co-edited with colleagues in Berlin a volume of essays on the political economy of public finance in leading OECD countries since the 1970s. His book The Economic Government of the World, 1933 to 2023 was published by Allen Lane in 2023.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/water-sewage-crisisGresham 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://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todayWebsite:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/7pvF4FdbYWUThis lecture explores how information asymmetry leads to adverse selection and moral hazard, with a focus on their presence in financial markets and institutions such as insurance and credit markets. It will examine how regulations intended to solve a particular set of issues might exacerbate problems, potentially resulting in financial crises or other disastrous events.This lecture was recorded by Raghavendra Rau on 20th January 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, LondonRaghu is the Mercers School Memorial Professor of BusinessHe is also the Sir Evelyn de Rothschild Professor of Finance at Cambridge Judge Business School.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/hidden-risksGresham 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://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todayWebsite:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/gWJmpSO4WZIFinance involves a group of people attempting to make rational decisions on valuation, but people are complicated. People can be self-interested, they can make mistakes, or, in stark contrast, they can act altruistically. This lecture will introduce the concept of agency problems in the finance sector, focusing on the conflicts that arise between different groups of stakeholders. It will discuss examples of fraud, insider trading and other types of human behavior that can reduce the public's trust in the markets.This lecture was recorded by Raghavendra Rau on 21st October 2024 at Barnard's Inn Hall, LondonRaghu is the Mercers School Memorial Professor of BusinessHe is also the Sir Evelyn de Rothschild Professor of Finance at Cambridge Judge Business School.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/hidden-conflicts-financeGresham 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://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todayWebsite:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/bKMV8i9Mq40The brain is mostly organised in small modular regions connected to each other. Typically, each region performs different cognitive tasks, from image processing to language. This organisation leads us to model the brain as a network, the ‘brain connectome’. This fundamental view of the brain has become a central paradigm for neurosciences linking topological properties of networks to brain functions. This lecture presents ideas from graph theory to study this network and understand the way that the brain learns and operates.This lecture was recorded by Alain Goriely on 4th February 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Alain is Gresham Professor of Geometry.He is currently the Director of the Oxford Centre for Industrial and Applied Mathematics and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2022.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/connected-brainGresham 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://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todayWebsite:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show