Public lecture podcasts

On the University of Bath Thought Train we sit down with an academic from the University to talk about their work and current events. Dr Ben Bowman (Dept. of PoLIS)is this week's guest and joins us to talk about: - The aftermath of the 2017 General Election - A perceived liberal bias in the British education system - The power of the youth vote - Electoral reform

In this IPR 'in conversation' event BBC Director of Radio and Education James Purnell discusses the Corporation's mandate and how it will be fulfilled in a future of fake news, changing processes of democratic debate and an uncertain British identity. This IPR 'in conversation' event took place on 21 June 2017

In 1990, Harvard biologist Stephen Jay Gould posed an intriguing question. What would happen if we were able to re-run the Tape of Life? Would small perturbations to the starting conditions yield radically different outcomes, or would the course of evolution follow a familiar path, differing only in its details? The first worldview sees evolution as an essentially open-ended process of unlimited potential, while the second regards evolution as more predictable. If the latter is true, can we make any generalisations about the manner in which evolution is likely to precede on the largest scale? Which ‘macroevolutionary rules’ – if any – withstand scrutiny and allow us to elevate evolutionary biology from a historical to a predictive science? In his Inaugural Lecture as Professor of Evolutionary Palaeobiology, Matthew Wills considers some possible answers to these questions, drawing upon his own work and the broader field. He explores how most major groups evolve according to a common template and whether there is evidence for actively driven trends in morphological complexity on macroevolutionary scales. He also considers whether there are rules governing the demise of species at mass extinction events, and asks whether evolution in deep time can teach us anything about the likely effects of the current biodiversity crisis.

How do you make materials that make themselves? Karen Edler's research looks at ways of getting molecules in solution to find the middle ground between completely dissolving and being totally insoluble, to persuade them to put themselves together into complex and intricate structures. This work looks at self-assembly in a range of different systems, from lipid nanodiscs through to porous oxides, for applications from catalysis to drug delivery. By attempting to understand how structures form, this podcast - recorded in April 2017 - covers how Bath researchers hope to develop design rules to produce novel materials.

In this IPR Public Lecture Dame Fiona Reynolds - former Director-General of the National Trust and Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge - reflects on her efforts to protect natural beauty and sites of cultural heritage, as well as the efforts of conservationists and urban planners through history. This IPR Public Lecture took place on 27 March 2017

In this IPR Public Lecture Professor Janine Wedel - IPR Global Chair and Professor in the School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs at George Mason University - examines the rise of Donald Trump and his populist contemporaries, analysing their appeal and their precedents in post-Soviet Eastern Europe. This IPR Public Lecture took place on 15 March 2017

In this IPR Public Lecture, Astronomer Royal, life peer and Cambridge scholar Lord Rees surveys the century ahead and the prospects it offers mankind. From AI and robotics to climate change and mass extinction, he makes the case that this is a time of great potential - for success as well as catastrophe. This IPR Public Lecture took place on 9 February 2017.

In this IPR Public Lecture, veteran diplomat and author of Article 50 Lord Kerr of Kinlochard shares his insight into the negotiating process Britain will go through to leave the European Union. Examining Theresa May's strategy and the history of relations between Brussels and London, the life peer sets out five possible scenarios for the future of Brexit Britain. This IPR Public Lecture took place on 26 January 2017.

In this IPR Public Lecture, eminent economist Professor Roger Farmer of UCLA takes a look at financial crises, and their fundamental causes. Drawing on a number of novel economic models, he makes his suggestions for monetary and fiscal policy. This IPR Public Lecture took place on 22 November 2016.

Andrew Hall compares the sounds of bells to the frequencies of chemicals captured by a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectrometer. http://blogs.bath.ac.uk/csct/2016/a-chemical-chorus/