Relatively Prime: Stories from the Mathematical Domain

We are back with a new series in Relatively Prime that we are going to be calling Seminars! The seminars are going to be going out into the Relatively Prime feed off and on and they will be tackling the big questions about mathematics. In other words the seminars will be more of a meta conversation about what goes on in mathematics and our first conversation is going to be about funding in mathema...

Sorry for the unannounced hiatus that has now lasted for four years, but our host and producer Sam Hansen has had a lot of life events and changes that led them to not be able to devote the time they needed to making the show. We are planning on coming back very soon, but until then please enjoy this episode about the Mathematics of Voting from the podcast Carry the Two made by the Institute for M...

On this episode of Relatively Prime, Michole Enjoli and Noelle Sawyer take over for Black in Math Week. They talk to Brea Ratliff and José Vilson, two Black math educators, and discuss what it’s like to be Black in math, what they would say to people making common false statements about Black students in math, and better hopes and dreams for Black students. Black in Math week is November 8th – 13t...

On this episode of Relatively Prime Samuel is joined by Brittany Rhodes the creator of the amazing monthly mathematics subscription box Black Girl Mathgic. They discuss where the idea of the box came from, what comes in the boxes each month, and why everyone benefits when young Black women are centered in mathematics. If you want to help Brittany and Black Girl Mathgic reach more people you can he...

On this episode of Relatively Prime Samuel is joined by Brigitte Stenhouse of the Open University to talk about the life and times of Mary, and William, Somerville. Music: Lowercase n

On this month's Relatively Prime Samuel shares three scenes from the life of Benjamin Banneker. One about a clock, one about a solar eclipse projectsion, and one about a puzzle. You can learn more about the life of Benjamin Banneker by checking out the book The Life of Benjamin Banneker by Silvio Bendini which was essential in the production of this episode and it is available to borrow for free o...

In this live episode recorded at the 2020 Joint Mathematics Meetings in Denver Samuel Hansen talks about the truth behind the stories we all tell in mathematics. In order to do this they will investigate the actual facts of the Galois narrative, have a conversation about where and when the decimal point appeared with Glen R Van Brummelen of Quest University, and play a game of 2 lies and a truth w...

To wrap up the year 2019 Samuel Hansen is joined by Katie Steckles and Christian Lawson-Perfect of Aperiodical.com to discuss some of the big stories from the world of mathematics this year. The stories they discuss include Hannah Fry's Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, Karen Uhlenbeck's Abel Prize, year two of the Big Internet Math Off, a new multiplication algorithm, a new pi digits record,...

On this episode of Relatively Prime we explore the thoughts of authors of general audience mathematics books. Specifically they share why they started writing, how they choose their topics, and how they think about their audiences. It features clips from interviews Samuel Hansen conducted with Colin Adams, Ivars Peterson, John Allen Paulos, Jordan Ellenberg, Dave Richeson, Matt Parker, Steve Strog...

For this episode of Relatively Prime Samuel decided that instead of speaking to a guest they would instead talk about the research they are conducting now that they are the Mathematics & Statistics Librarian at the University of Michigan. This research looks into how the citations of mathematical publications age over time, and its discussion includes a first for Relatively Prime - Data Sonificati...

On this month's episode of Relatively Prime Samuel Hansen speaks with Professor Mike Spivey from University of Puget Sound about his interactive fiction game A Beauty Cold and Austere. They discuss how interactive fiction and mathematics work together, some of the mathematical puzzles in the game, and just what easter eggs might be hiding within the game. Music: Sepgil Broke for Free A Beauty Cold...

This episode is a bit of a blast from the past. Samuel has recently been going back through some of the old episodes from season 1 and while there were listening to The Score they realized that while the story about Robert Schneider and the non-Pythagorean scale was great it barely scratched the surface of amazing things Robert talked about in the interview. Upon registering to the original conver...

On this episode of Relatively Prime Samuel Hansen is joined by fellow podcasters and friends Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett of the Aperiodical to talk about their new mathematical podcast Mathematical Objects. They discuss about where the idea for the podcast came from, how talking about objects can lead to conversations which range from research mathematics to history and back again, and it eve...

On this episode of Relatively Prime Samuel speaks with the founders, Sylvia Bozeman of Spellman College and Rhonda Hughes of Bryn Mawr, a current director, Ami Randunskaya of Pomona College, and a former director, Ulrica Wilson of Morehouse College, of the Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education (EDGE) program. They discuss why EDGE was started, how it transformed from a program to help young wo...

If a person is going to become a mathematician it is important for them to be able to see examples of people like themselves who have already made that journey. All too often this type of representation is few and far between for many mathematically inclined black and brown young people. On this episode of Relative Prime Samuel Hansen is joined by the four co-creators of Mathematically Gifted & Bl...

Here on Relatively Prime we have discussed mathematical novels and poetry and music and even featured mathematics sketches, but we have yet to talk movies. That oversight is going to rectified on this episode by featuring two interviews Samuel had done with people who have made movies where mathematics is the star. First up is Samuel's conversation with the creators of the Flatland and Flatland² S...

On Relatively Prime we talk a lot about mathematicians and their research, but it has been a long time since we have talked about an absolutely integral part of how people end up becoming mathematicians and doing research...Math Teachers. After all if there were no math teachers then who would first tempt us into the world of mathematics with wondrous things like factoring, which is totally what g...

In a traditional move for the start of January we attempt a review of the year. In an untraditional move, we choose the year 1811. Samuel and Peter weren't able to speak directly because of the ongoing tension following American independence and the brewing Anglo-American war of 1812, but they cover some mathematical hot topics and the work of several contemporary mathematicians, including Carl Fr...

This bonus episode of Relatively Prime features a live podcast recording from 2018's Annual MathsJam Gathering. This live podcast featured segments from Math/Maths, Wrong But Useful, Talkdust, Strongly Connected Components/Travels in a Mathematical World/All Squared, The Aperiodcast, Relatively Prime, Taking Maths Further, and a surprise bonus show. It was a blast to record and hopefully also a bl...

Welcome to the fourth and final episode of the Cycle of Mathematics mini-series from Relatively Prime. In this mini-series we are covering mathematics from its start as an idea to its publication to it inspiring the cycle to start anew. In this this episode we arrive at the inspiration step of the cycle. Specifically we hear from Michelle Girvan from the University of Maryland on how the Watt-Stro...

Welcome to the third episode of the Cycle of Mathematics mini-series from Relatively Prime. In this mini-series we are covering mathematics from its start as an idea to its publication to it inspiring the cycle to start anew. In this this episode we bring to you a tour of where mathematics articles go after they are published so that they may be found, Mathematical Reviews/MathSciNet. Samuel is sh...

Welcome to the second episode of the Cycle of Mathematics mini-series from Relatively Prime. In this mini-series we are covering mathematics from its start as an idea to its publication to it inspiring the cycle to start anew. In this this episode we bring to you the story of the hidden labor of mathematical research, that of the editors and the peer review referees. In order to do this Samuel spo...

Welcome to the new Cycle of Mathematics mini-series from Relatively Prime. In this mini-series we will be covering mathematics from its start as an idea to its publication to it inspiring the cycle to start anew. In this first episode we bring to you the story of the ground breaking small-world network research of Duncan Watts and Steven Strogatz which spawned the mathematical discipline of networ...

As this is being written there is around 18 hours left in the final match of the Aperiodical's Big Internet Math Off between Matt Parker and Dr. Nira Chamberlin. In honor of the final Samuel got on the phone and talked with the creator of the Math Off Christian Lawson-Perfect about where the idea came from and what it has been like to run. Samuel also got a hold of Dr. Nira Chamberlin who was kind...

Sadly Samuel did not make it to the final round of The Aperiodical's Big Internet Math Off, but lucky for y'all in a fit of profound arrogance, as well as trying to deal with some potential scheduling issues which could have accompanied victory, they had already made all of their entries. Instead of letting them languish in the dust bin of mathematical communication history Samuel has decided to r...