Gresham College Lectures

This lecture will re-examine how the First World War ended, anticipating the centenary commemorations in 2018. It will discuss both why Germany requested a ceasefire, and why the Allies and America granted one. It will argue that the German army was near collapse, and that Germany was not defeated by a 'stab in the back' at home. None the less, the Allies had good reasons not to press on to Berlin.A lecture by David Stevenson, Professor of International History at LSE 7 November 2018The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/ending-wwi-11-novemberGresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege Support the show

Leading actor and Shakespeare scholar Michael Pennington discusses the direct effect on the dramatist's writing of the theatres he wrote for, so different from ours. From cinematic intimacy to heroic spaciousness, his plays reflect his actors' technique and the social range of his audience, allowing him the means to look further and deeper into the human condition, its public and inner life, than any dramatist has achieved before or since.A lecture by Michael Pennington, Actor and Founder of the English Shakespeare Company 6 November 2018The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/shakespeares-stagesGresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege Support the show

Professor Wilks will discuss the notion of an artificial Companion, a long-term software agent that could be present in any device: a screen, handbag or even a furry toy - and which understands the person it 'lives' with and whose memories and knowledge it comes to acquire and manage through conversation. One can think of a core function of Companion as living with an elderly person, lonely and wanting to revisit their memories and memorabilia, but needing assistance with information and agency.A lecture by Yorick Wilks, Visiting Professor of AI 6 November 2018The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/information-personal-companionsGresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege Support the show

The Protestant Reformation confronted Europeans with a clamour of religious alternatives. Catholics and Protestants taught their people to doubt the other side's religion (while still believing their own) and taught them to be incredulous while maintaining that faith is a virtue.This lecture will trace how, as Europe's religious landscape fractured, some people fell between the cracks. In long religious wars of attrition, it was all too easy to conclude that all religions were equally true, or equally false.A lecture by Alec Ryrie, Gresham Professor of Divinity 1 November 2018The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/reformation-trained-us-to-be-scepticsGresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege Support the show

Medicine demands factual knowledge, physical skill and the ability to work with patients and colleagues. Most of the time clinicians learn from other clinicians, studying hard within a frame that discourages exploration outside medicine. Focusing on the performance of medicine challenges this frame by connecting with actors, musicians, craftsmen, dancers and other experts. This lecture explores the idea of frames, using illustrations to ask what benefits may result from thinking widely and challenging longstanding assumptions.A lecture by Roger Kneebone, Visiting Professor of Medical Education 31 October 2018The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/performing-medicine-surgeryGresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege Support the show

Crime thrives in a social environment which is conductive to its commission, and it harms the society which spawns it most of all. That is as true of bribery and corruption as it is true of knife-armed postcode gangs. If the common ethical code that prevents the vast majority from offending in a particular way begins to break down, there is a serious problem.A lecture by Nicholas Cooke QC 30 October 2018The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/bribery-corruption-the-cityGresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege Support the show

THE 2018 PETER NAILOR MEMORIAL LECTURE ON DEFENCEToday's cry in democratic states, and not just from representatives of populist parties, is government with the people rather than government for the people. This presents a problem for issues of war and strategy. Presidents and Prime Ministers, in presenting their decisions to their electorates, use rhetoric borrowed from the Second World War, although they are not committing their states to wars on that scale. The declared ends do not match the means. The result is public confusion and strategic failure.Hosted by the Mercers' Company.A lecture by Sir Hew Strachan FBA FRSE 29 October 2018The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/strategy-and-democracyGresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege Support the show

In his new book, Haunted by Christ, Richard Harries explores the role of faith in the lives of twenty novelists and poets. Non-believers like Samuel Beckett and Philip Pullman as well as believers like T.S. Eliot and W.H. Auden all struggled with faith. At a time when religions language is meaningless or feels stale for many, we can rediscover its freshness and force in the works of novelists and poets. Lord Harries will be in conversation with Alec Ryrie, the new Gresham Professor of Divinity.A lecture by The Rt Revd Lord Harries and Professor Alec Ryrie 25 October 2018The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/modern-writers-struggle-for-faithGresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege Support the show

THE 2018 BRITISH SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS / GRESHAM COLLEGE ANNUAL LECTUREAs a commemoration of the end of the First World War, the event will focus on the theme of mathematics in war and peacetime. The main speaker, Professor David Aubin will speak on Science Leaders under Fire: Stories about Mathematicians Killed in World War I (6 pm), preceded by shorter presentations by Professor June Barrow-Green on Euler's Work on Ballistics (4 pm) and by Professor Tony Royle on The Nature of Life for the Flying Mathematicians of the Royal Aircraft Factory During World War I (4.45 pm). There will be a short break at 5.30 pm during which refreshments can be purchased from the Museum cafeteria. Ends at 7 pm.A lecture by Professor David Aubin, Professor in the History of Science at Paris-Sorbonne University 24 October 2018The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/mathematics-in-war-and-peace-ww1-storiesGresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege Support the show

THE 2018 BRITISH SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS / GRESHAM COLLEGE ANNUAL LECTUREAs a commemoration of the end of the First World War, the event will focus on the theme of mathematics in war and peacetime. The main speaker, Professor David Aubin will speak on Science Leaders under Fire: Stories about Mathematicians Killed in World War I (6 pm), preceded by shorter presentations by Professor June Barrow-Green on Euler's Work on Ballistics (4 pm) and by Professor Tony Royle on The Nature of Life for the Flying Mathematicians of the Royal Aircraft Factory During World War I (4.45 pm). There will be a short break at 5.30 pm during which refreshments can be purchased from the Museum cafeteria. Ends at 7 pm.A lecture by Professor Tony Royle, Associate Lecturer at Open University 24 October 2018The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/mathematics-in-war-and-peace-flying-mathematiciansGresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/greshamcollege Support the show