Public lecture podcasts

In his inaugural lecture, titled 'Disembedded elites? Policy communications and the transformation of elite networks', Professor David Miller reviewed the main writing on 'power elites' in the tradition of power structure research and asked what's changed with the advent of neoliberalism?

This lecture from Dr Lynette Goddard (Senior Lecturer in Drama and Theatre at Royal Holloway, University of London) focuses on the tradition of the Caribbean yard play to examine how the organisation of stage space relates to the experiences of the characters.

We think of time travel as fiction, but there is nothing in the laws of physics that prevents us building a time machine. What's more, relativity provides practical opportunities to travel through time. Listen back to Brian Clegg, author of 'Dice World, Gravity, A Brief History of Infinity, Inflight Science and Build Your Own Time Machine', talking about the potential solutions to time travel from...

The Levels and Moors are an enormous floodplain in the heart of Somerset and for tens of thousands of years were an ever changing mix of different wetland habitats. In this podcast, archaeologist and historian, Dr Richard Brunning, explores how the present day landscape was largely created and 'tamed' in the early medieval period after the Roman conquest.

Pain is a major health care problem worldwide. It affects the well-being of millions of individuals, and its financial burden upon our societies is considerable. Pain is not a simple reflection of the degree of tissue-damage, it is strongly influenced by expectations and beliefs individuals hold about pain and their ability to cope with it. In this lecture, Dr Katja Wiech from the Centre for Pain...

Modern knee replacement is a highly successful operation, relieving the pain and disability of knee osteoarthritis. However, it has limitations and these, combined with the changes in population demographics, present significant challenges for both current and future healthcare systems. Professor Richie Gill's inaugural lecture 'What is wrong with knee replacement?' explores these issues and the r...

Delivered by Professor Allyson Pollock, public health research and policy specialist at Queen Mary, University of London, this IPR lecture explored major changes and challenges to the NHS through government reform, what this means for patient access and what needs to be done about it.

Local historian and archaeologist, Dr Simon Draper, discusses place names and their links to Anglo-Saxon landscape architecture for a number of Wessex communities in this Minerva series lecture (formally known as GULP). From the 7th century onwards, what was the meaning of place names like 'bury' and why were they significant?

How can government, industry and business better work together to invest in long-term research to harness solar energy and transform carbon dioxide into energy fuel? In this lecture, Global Chair at the University, Professor Geoffrey Ozin talks about using carbon dioxide as a source of fuel rather than treating it as a waste product and pioneering advances in nano-chemistry.

Ms Lambert, of Goldsmiths University, has worked as a history lecturer for 20 years. Her talk will look at the repeated failures to recover 'holy land' territories after 1147.

In a global system that seems to be remorselessly concentrating capital into fewer hands, this lecture will examine efforts to move money the other way in order to promote food security, with particular reference to Ethiopia. In this lecture, Professor James Copestake will highlight the growing business-orientation of aid and explore scope for being more transparent about its impact.

In this lecture Professor Steve Gough spoke to explore inconsistencies in the way we think of education, and to examine the role of human learning as our interactions with nature - particularly through economic activity - create and re-create our environment.

Are trends in global politics simply the result of large impersonal structural forces, or does human agency matter? For example, would America have become the dominant country in the 20th century regardless of who was president? To what extent did leaders matter, and if so, what kind of leader? Leadership theorists focus their attention on what they call transformational leaders, but were "transfo...

Where did the idea of infinity come from? Who were the people who defined and refined this paradoxical quantity? Why is infinity, a concept we can never experience or truly grasp, at the heart of science? How can some infinities be bigger than others? An exploration of one of the most mind-boggling features of maths and physics, this talk uncovers the amazing paradoxes of infinity and introduces t...

In this lecture, art history and cultural theory lecturer Dr Jonathan Koestle-Cate will examine how modern art continues to play a significant role in the life of the church.

In this lecture, Mr Simon Garrett, Head of Learning at Bristol Zoo, asks the controversial question of how much wildlife we actually need, or even like in this thought provoking insight into the future.

In this lecture, Mr Russell Bowes, a freelance garden historian, will be sharing mysterious tales of how people have died in the garden, and how you can protect yourself against herbaceous murderers.

In this lecture, Dr James Betts from the Department of Health will examine the importance of eating breakfast for overall good health, and whether missing breakfast could increase a person's risk of becoming overweight or suffering from heart disease or diabetes.

In this lecture, Dr Susan Oosthuizen, historic landscape specialist from the University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education, will explore the archaeological evidence for the management of prehistoric pasture.

In this lecture, Dr Paul Shepherd from the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering will share the secrets behind the building of the Olympic Park and explore the ways in which mathematics was used in the construction and operation of the Olympic Games.

In response to the shortage of munitions hampering military operations in France, in 1915 the British Government embarked on a programme of factory building unparalleled in history. This talk explores the construction of the major explosives and shell filling factories, the conditions within and the part played by "Tommy's Sisters" in their operation.

In this inaugural lecture, Professor David Coley from the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering will address why so few buildings in the UK are built using the low-energy technologies that are now available.

In this inaugural lecture, Professor Tess Ridge from the Department of Social and Policy Sciences, will be discussing the hidden costs of the Government's poverty and austerity policies for Britain's poorest children.

44th Annual Lecture of Bath Institute of Medical Engineering (BIME) Professor Gail Mountain, Professor of Health Services Research (Assisted Living Research) at University of Sheffield; Director of EPSRC-funded SMART Consortium & Principle Director of KT-EQUAL Consortium will describe how technology can be used to meet the needs of an ageing population.

Lord Tugendhat, the Chancellor of the University of Bath, talks about trust and transparency in public life and business.