Written in the era of the founding of Gresham College, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream portrays the hypnotic dreaminess of a fairy world in which the real and the fantastic are blurred. This lecture explores how the innate musicality of Shakespeare’s original has provoked adaptations across the centuries, including Ashton and Balanchine’s b…

This lecture looks at the evolution of Guantánamo Bay, first as a focal point of Haitian immigration in 1991 (Gitmo 1.0), to the more famous detention of terror suspects in 2002 (Gitmo 2.0), and back to immigration in 2025. We will explore how Gitmo 3.0 is probably already over, and how we were able to head it off so quickly through legal challenge…

The reflection of my right hand in a mirror is a left hand that looks similar yet is very different from the right. Many natural structures such as proteins, climbing vines, and seashells exhibit the same property known as chirality. Some of these objects are clearly left-handed, some are right-handed, some are both. The ultimate origin of chiralit…

Planet Earth is an intricate and interconnected system, with some fundamental rules that we usually ignore. But we are part of our planet, not separate to it or just perched on top of it. This lecture will consider the two primary rules of Earth: that energy continually flows through the system (in from the Sun and then out again to space) and that…

Ever since modern economic growth began three centuries ago, people have suffered from periodic bursts of anxiety about the technologies of the time taking on the work that they do. This opening lecture explores the history of ‘automation anxiety’ – from the Luddites who smashed framing machines at the start of the Industrial Revolution in Britain …

ttps://x.com/GreshamCollege Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/tv554JY9TPU In 1588, the young Galileo delivered some lectures that were impressive enough to secure him a mathematics professorship at the University of Pisa. His subject? The geometry of Dante’s Inferno. In this lecture we’ll look at some of Galileo’s deductions, and how the…

The lecture shares perspectives from global history, comparative politics, and international relations to revaluate whether the twentieth-century collapse of European colonialism was as definitive as often portrayed. It suggests that, while in some ways, ending European Empires remade our contemporary world, in others processes of decolonization ar…

Decolonisation movements sought to win sovereignty and control over national resources, especially oil. This lecture explores oil’s influence on national independence struggles, from the 1955 Bandung Conference to the rise of OPEC and the nationalisation of crude reserves. It examines how these shifts reshaped global power, exposing both the succes…

Shanawdithit was a woman who bore witness to the death of her world in the early nineteenth century, creating the only first-hand account we have of the Beothuk people from the Island of Newfoundland. This lecture seeks to narrate the history of her fascinating and important life, alongside the history of her island, which was England’s first trans…

Ever feel like the financial world works against you? This lecture discusses "behavioral finance" – how our brains get tricked by money matters. We will explore how to use these insights to your advantage, navigate conflicts of interest with financial "experts," and make smarter decisions for yourself and your investments. This lecture was recorded…

The lecture will examine the pros and cons of democracy in today's world, focusing on the importance of domestic and international rule of law to maintain democratic ideals, which are fragile in times of conflict. There will be examples given, highlighting the current War in Ukraine and the political situation in the United States, the influence of…

Health over the last 150 years in the UK and internationally has been transformed and this rapid rate of change will continue. Improvements in public health and the shifting demographic structure are altering the trajectory and frequency of disease. Advances in science including new drug classes, diagnostics and AI are changing what is possible in …

How long is the coastline of Britain? What is a rhombicuboctahedron? Which US president proved Pythagoras’s theorem? These and many other intriguing questions will be addressed in this lecture on renowned mathematical equations and their history. The selected equations span various areas of mathematics and cover a timeline of 4000 years, from early…

We perceive the world through the processing of information given by our senses. Sometimes, this processing is faulty leading to illusions: shapes or sounds that we perceive differently from their physical reality. These illusions have delighted children and scientists alike for centuries. This lecture reveals how simple geometric illusions can be …

Our understanding of the human immune system today is vastly different from that of 50 years ago. This knowledge has led to immune-based therapies that would have seemed like science fiction to our grandparents: monoclonal antibodies, T-cell therapies, anti-cancer vaccines, precision immune suppression – the list is endless. In this lecture, we loo…

This is the fourth lecture from the Gresham Festival of Musical Ideas. https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/series/musical-ideas-2025 Professors Sarah Hart and Milton Mermikides reveal the deep connections between music and mathematics. Whether that’s the Euclidean rhythms that shape funky grooves, the set theory that maps every possible chord, or a…

This is the first lecture from the Gresham Festival of Musical Ideas. https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/series/musical-ideas-2025 Musical instruments have been found in the archaeological record from at least 40,000 years ago and despite the diversity of human civilization, we are yet to find a culture which lacks music. Other species also make ‘…

This is the second lecture from the Gresham Festival of Musical Ideas. https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/series/musical-ideas-2025 Why does a rhythm make us tap our feet—or even get up and dance? In conversation with Professor Milton Mermikides, neuroscientist Professor Morten Kringelbach reveals how the brain finds pleasure, meaning, and movemen…

This is the third lecture from the Gresham Festival of Musical Ideas. https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/series/musical-ideas-2025 This dialogue presents the what and why of Ancient Greek music, and its profound role in philosophy, society and the individual. Education without music was an impossibility in ancient Greece; virtue without music, equ…

This is the fifth and final lecture from the Gresham Festival of Musical Ideas. https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/series/musical-ideas-2025 Professors Lintott and Mermikides present and discuss historical and contemporary musical representations of astronomical data including Pythagoras’s parallelism of tuning purity and celestial movement, Plato…

Accra’s James Fort is an iconic monument for Ghana and modern Africa. This lecture explores the fort's evolution -from its role as a trading post in the early European-African encounters, through its significance during the trans-Atlantic trade and enslavement, to its later use as a modern colonial prison in the post-independence era. It also explo…

This lecture considers ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ from Carousel (1945). Perhaps Rodgers and Hammerstein’s most operatic song, it was originally written for Metropolitan Opera star Christine Johnson but has gone on to be recorded by artists as diverse as Elvis Presley and Marcus Mumford and sung at both the Last Night of the Proms and Liverpool Footb…

We have to stop fossil fuels from causing global warming – before the world stops using fossil fuels. There’s only one solution: safe and permanent disposal of one tonne of carbon dioxide for every tonne still generated by burning fossil fuels. But how do we achieve this without overheating the planet or stoking political conflicts? This lecture pr…

Whether you are human or computer, viruses can ruin your day, so taking steps to avoid them is important. This lecture will ask whether there are similarities between human immunity and computer immunity? Can we use discoveries in one system to help protect against infections in the other? Might we one day take our laptops for regular vaccinations,…

Now over 50 years old, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon remains the perfect example of a concept album. Blending cyclical forms, jazz and modal harmony, experimental electronics, multi-layered guitars, studio techniques and haunting lyrics, this lecture will examine why this album has retained its popularity, critical success, and enduring influe…

How have lawgivers featured in modern revolutions? This lecture considers key moments in revolutions, including seventeenth-century Britain, eighteenth-century France and (what would become) the United States, and twentieth-century Iran. The appeal to lawgivers (including ancient ones from many cultures) in revolutionary visions and in consolidatin…

The U.S. Constitution had to be formed through debate before it could be ratified. Mirroring this, a British constitution must emerge through debates held by the next generation. This lecture indicates schools are a good environment to foster this. For students, there are many contentious issues that tap into discussions at the heart of writing a c…

The JWST is the most expensive and powerful telescope astronomers have ever constructed. Its launch in 2021 started a new phase in our exploration of the cosmos, with the observatory's golden mirrors producing instantly iconic images of the Solar System's giant planets, nearby star-forming regions and galaxies, and our distant universe. The lecture…

Why do smart people make dumb financial choices? This lecture explores the surprising link between our psychology and money mistakes. We will see how fear, overconfidence, and even our desire to be liked can cloud our judgment, especially when dealing with financial "experts". Learn how these psychological blind spots worsen conflicts of interest, …

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/hLBfAVyeMBs Throughout history, authorities have struggled to manage individuals’ urges to speak out against injustice and malpractice. IT has given us new means to obtain and publish data that others may wish to protect or even conceal. To some, those who hack and leak are heroes. To others, they are cr…

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/3ntebbsM4Hw This lecture delves into musical forms which rely on the most economical of materials and concepts. From Steve Reich’s adoption of rhythmic cycles and phasing in Ewe drumming to the expressive power of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt’s music, we explore how profound effect can emerge from such ap…

This lecture was recorded by Ronald Hutton on 14th May 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 lec…

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/VOGzTymAYno For many modern thinkers, the lawgiver has been important as a founder or re-founder of civic identity and cultural values. From Machiavelli on Moses; to Rousseau on Solon, Lycurgus, and the need for a lawgiver to make a true social contract possible; to Nietzsche and his followers seeking a …

Diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s are devastating neurological conditions that typically occur at old age and lead to systematic dementia and debilitating symptoms. The underlying mechanisms of these diseases are poorly understood. Yet, a striking feature of these conditions is the characteristic pattern of invasion throughout the brain, …

This lecture was recorded by Melissa Lane on 6th March 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 Lectur…

This lecture was recorded by Myles Allen on 29th April 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London. Myles is the Frank Jackson Foundation Professor of the Environment. Myles is also is currently Director of the Oxford Net Zero initiative. He was awarded the Appleton Medal and Prize by the Institute of Physics in 2010, and in 2022 a CBE for services to clima…

This lecture was recorded by Alderman Alastair King on 14th April 2025 at Guildhall, London. Alastair King is the 696th Lord Mayor of the City of London His civic responsibilities began when he was first elected as Common Councillor for Queenhithe Ward in 1999 – giving him over 24 years’ uninterrupted service; he was appointed Deputy for the Ward i…

This lecture was recorded by Clive Stafford Smith on 10th April 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London. Clive is the Gresham Professor of Law He is the founder and director of the Justice League a non-profit human rights training centre focused on fostering the next generation of advocates. He also teaches part time at Bristol Law School and Goldsmiths…

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/Y9JR7El863k Our alert systems for identifying safety and security threats have evolved over time. As the threat from wild animals diminished, the perceived threat from other humans increased. To defend our territories and our livelihoods, we began to gather intelligence on our enemies, in the hope that b…

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/G_SpC_BV4jA In the late nineteenth century, Joseph Chamberlain transformed Birmingham with municipal enterprise and urban improvement, but in the last few years, local authorities have been facing serious financial difficulties, and some of the largest, such as Birmingham, have faced the equivalent of ba…

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/qz9a4zXIFz0 The ancient Druids have long represented some of the most striking and controversial figures in ancient and medieval literature. In this lecture, we will look at the many different ways in which the modern imagination has been inspired by them, both as heroic ancestors and as demonic villains…

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/PcNoOjT30VY Vaccination has changed the world, saving millions of lives and enabling us to eradicate a lethal disease for the first time in human history – not to mention their critical role in ending the Covid-19 pandemic. This lecture explores how a vaccine actually works, why mRNA vaccines are truly g…

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/H8nG29pO_y4 Asteroids were for years considered 'celestial vermin' - objects which got in the way of more interesting fodder for astronomers. Now, they are central to our Solar System's story, representing the building blocks from which planets are made, and capable of telling us the history of the last …

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/-TsWDdeQK34 Composed by Jerry Herman of Hello, Dolly! fame, ‘I Am What I Am’ first appeared in the Broadway musical La Cage aux Folles (1983). As well as gaining importance as a gay anthem during the AIDS crisis, the song has gone on to become a hit for several Black divas including Gloria Gaynor and Shi…

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/9tcRtGh7hkM This lecture looks at debates and dialogues that characterise realist photography in Apartheid South Africa (1948-1994) examining the tensions between advocacy, propaganda and the ‘struggle’ on the one hand and the poetics of everyday life on the other. Figures from Ernest Cole and David Gold…

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/rKoYL4yrNsg Despite being cited as one of the most creative and influential guitarists of all time, and his tragically short life, Jimi Hendrix’s playing and composing are yet to be fully analysed. This lecture will demystify his diverse influences and reveal the full range of his extraordinary invention…

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/cjJSWgvHZKw This lecture puts forth the ethical and economic case for a basic income, enabling financial security and therefore a better quality of life for all. Financial insecurity affects one’s ability to make rational decisions – studies show it even lowers short-term IQ – making it even harder to im…

Despite its quiet appearance, the brain is the seat of complicated wave dynamics. Indeed, cognitive processes are carried out through communications between neurons, leading to synchronisation and oscillations at different frequencies that can be recorded. Together, these oscillations also create waves that propagate through different regions. Apar…

The right to free expression is severely threatened in many places in the world, yet it has also never been so passionately defended. This lecture focuses on the recent history of banned literature. It considers the changing nature of literary censorship, arguments in defence of free expression, why literary writers have so frequently pushed the bo…

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/0jSUfa0LQAo This lecture examines agency problems in various relationships, including between investors and fund managers, and within financial intermediaries. This lecture was recorded by Raghavendra Rau on 3rd February 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London Raghu is the Mercers School Memorial Professor of…