OxPods

Over 3.3 billion people get almost 20% of their protein from seafood. The consumption of species from wild populations is pivotal in preventing malnutrition and improving food security, especially in developing nations. But this can leave marine populations vulnerable. One group of marine taxa which is facing continued threats due to exploitation is sharks! In this episode, 4th-year master’s stude...

For such a popular genre of music, Grime is too often ignored in academic musicology. When it is studied, it is often the words rather than the music itself that receives the most attention, ignoring the wealth of sound worlds and production styles that have a crucial role in defining the world's perception of both the genre and the community of artists and fans.   In this episode, Florence Al...

Media and extremism have a complex relationship, from the evolution of fringe beliefs into mainstream discourse to the strategies extremists employ to influence public opinion. In the modern context, these issues have manifested themselves throughout the globe and across the political spectrum. Sophia Herbert, PPE finalist at New College, speaks to Dr. Julia Ebner, postdoctoral Research Fellow at...

Dire effects of climate change and biodiversity loss seem to encompass almost everything, from the news stories, documentaries, and many forms of literature. Climate pessimism highlights the narrative of planet ‘collapse’ with its natural processes and species. Even with such unprecedented environmental change, optimism can help unite people to act and drive positive change. In this episode of OxP...

The literature of the Renaissance is full of fascinating undercurrents, and using different approaches to these works opens conversations around some difficult themes, indeed certain works of literature from the 16th and 17th centuries create feelings of ‘discomfort’. This term can be used to discuss themes of transformation, translation, creation and generation, summarised in the concept of ‘disc...

Nostalgia is often framed as a uniquely modern phenomenon, but scholars have increasingly noticed that a longing for ‘the good old days’ stretches much farther back in history than you might think. Some time periods are perceived as hotbeds of nostalgia due to fast-paced social change, and the late medieval period is one such era. In this episode, Charlie Bowden, a History student at Jesus College...

Depression has developed from a taboo topic to one that is highly spoken about and investigated. There are a number of debates surrounding the theme: its heritability, its symptoms, and whether diagnoses can have a positive or negative impact. Aylin Gurleyen, a second-year psychologist at Brasenose College, discusses these questions with professor of developmental psychopathology, Dr Lucy Bowes. H...

Superconductors are fascinating. When sufficiently cooled, they lose all their electrical resistance, becoming an effective perfect conductor of electricity. This intriguing property already sees use in MRI machines and particle colliders (like CERN’s particle collider). However, currently known superconductors are either too brittle to be stretched into wires, or they require significant cooling,...

The Literature of the Classical world can seem distant to us, separated by 2000 years and all the changes that came during those years. But throughout that time, Classics has been understood and used in ways which enrich our understanding of these original texts as well as our understanding of the time at the point of reception. Reception studies attempt to work with this idea and think about the...

Postmodernism - the idea that human language can never fully capture reality - has been a buzzword since the second half of the 20th century. But how have postmodern ideas influenced historiography - the writing of history?  In this episode, Minh Nguyen, a 2nd-year history undergraduate at New College, talks to Prof. John Marriott, Visiting Fellow at Kellogg College to explore how postmodernism ha...

Within evolutionary anthropology, a persistent yet pervasive question is that of the traits of the LCA. The LCA is the last common ancestor shared by the humans, or the Homo genus, and chimpanzees and bonobos, otherwise known as the Pan genus. Learning about the LCA can inform us of what it really means to be human. What traits are unique to the hominin lineage? And how did these traits contribute...

In a time of great global challenges and injustices, international institutions are vital in tackling these shared problems. Yet, while positive in intention, many international institutions have been worryingly ineffective in practice. So why is this the case? Why do some international institutions fail in their stated aims, while others succeed?  In this episode, Jack Morrin, PPE 2nd year at New...

The trajectory of evolving species is strongly affected by the environment in which they exist, and one particularly interesting example of this is when organisms evolving on islands differ predictably from their continental counterparts through a suite of morphological and behavioural traits, known as ‘The Island Syndrome’. But what is it that’s so special about islands that leads to this process...

The works of William Shakespeare are synonymous with English identity, but why is this? Why is a 16th-century playwright still considered relevant today? And why are some of our favourite rom-coms based on his plays?  In this episode of OxPods, English Language and Literature undergraduate Freya Radford interviews Dr Carla Suthren, a Lecturer in English at St Catherine’s College Oxford, whose rese...

Intelligent life on our planet arrived relatively late on a geological timescale, but why did life take so long to evolve and how have major catastrophic events, such as meteorite impacts, shaped the evolution of complex life? In this episode, Elyse Airey, a biology undergraduate at Queen's College, speaks to Mike Bonsall, Professor of Mathematical Biology and Fellow at St. Peter's College...

England was mired in the political and theological pressures of the Reformation under the Tudor dynasty, but popular perception of its monarchy and people have often obscured the true nature of religious change in the sixteenth century. In this episode, Charlie Bowden, a History student at Jesus College, speaks to Dr Lucy Wooding, Langford Fellow and Tutor in History at Lincoln College, about the...

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, medical experts ranging from statisticians and demographers to virologists and consultants were depended upon by politicians. Their advice had serious implications for the country: but what is and ought to be the role of experts in governance, national and international?  Sophia Herbert, a Third-Year PPE student at New College interviews Dr Jan Eijking to uncover...

Sex is so widespread that you could assume it’s essential for life as we know it, playing a central role in the evolution and development of animal and human societies. However, it’s not the only way of producing offspring, and compared to asexual reproduction, sex actually entails a number of costs. Because of this, ‘Why sex?’ is one of the most fundamental questions in biology that has puzzled s...

The 2023 Barbie movie was a massive box office hit, with an incredible construction of 'Barbie World'. The soundtrack played a huge role in this world-building, with its heavy use of synthesised instruments and hyperpop creating what can only be described as a sense of 'plasticity'. In this episode, undergraduate Music student Florence Allen is joined by Dr. Adam Harper, a music cr...

Niccolò Machiavelli was one of the foremost political theorists of the Renaissance. His treatise ‘The Prince’ has enjoyed immense notoriety as an instruction manual for good leadership of a state, even being required reading for civil servants when Alastair Campbell oversaw Downing Street communications. But when we speak of Machiavellian politicians in the modern day, are we actually discussing t...

Literature is full of talking animals, from modern works like Paddington to Middle English works like The Owl and The Nightingale. But why do writers create non-speaking animals that speak? And why employ animals in literature at all? In this episode of OxPods, English Language and Literature undergraduate Chloe Smith interviews Dr Eleanor Parker, a Lecturer in Medieval English Literature at Brase...

The common people have had representation in English political life since the establishment of Parliament, but it wasn’t until the sixteenth century that a ‘public sphere’ truly emerged outside of the halls of Westminster. The rise of the mercantile classes, particularly in London, gave the people a voice that governmental elites could no longer ignore. How did this system of accountability come i...

In life and in death, our bodies have stories to tell. Isabelle Rycroft, third-year Human Scientist at St Hugh's College, is joined by Professor Sue Black to discuss the ever-advancing field of Forensic Anthropology. Sue Black is one of the world-leading forensic anthropologists and anatomists. Professor Black is the 65th President of the Royal Anthropological Institute and the Life-Time Profe...

Forty years ago, the large blue butterfly was extinct in Britain. The intensification of farming has pushed half of the butterfly species in the UK to the brink of extinction. However, at Daneway Banks Nature Reserve in Gloucestershire, the large blue butterfly has made a comeback. In this episode, Biology masters student Tosca Hulett discusses the extinction an re-establishment of the large blue...

While now a favourite Halloween costume, being a witch in the early modern period was a serious matter. Between the years 1400 and 1782, around 40,000-60,000 people, primarily women, were executed in Europe for being "witches." Who were these witches and why were they so feared? In this episode, Minh Nguyen, a 2nd-year history undergraduate at New College, speaks to Dr. Leif Dixon, lectu...