Spirit of the Hall

In this episode, hear Olly Belcher, President of the St Edmund Hall Association, in conversation with Eloise Smith who came up to the Hall in 1996 to read English Literature and Language.  Eloise managed to combined her degree with her fencing career during which time she became the Commonwealth Fencing Champion in the Individual Women’s Foil in 1998.  Shortly after Eloise left Tedd...

In this episode, hear Olly Belcher, President of the St Edmund Hall Association, in conversation with Sir Mark Sedwill who came up to the Hall in 1987 to undertake an MPhil in Economics.  After the Hall, Mark joined the Foreign Office and embarked on an exciting career all over the Middle East and South Asia where he ended up as Ambassador to Afghanistan.  He then became NATO’s...

In this episode, hear Olly Belcher, President of the St Edmund Hall Association, in conversation with Richard Luddington who came up to the Hall in 1978 to read History and then did his MPhil in Management Studies.  Richard was the only Aularian to receive a first class honors as well as blues in three different sports and we hear how he balanced his academic and sporting careers.  Richa...

In this episode, hear Olly Belcher, President of the St Edmund Hall Association, in conversation with Paisley Kadison, a one year visiting student to Teddy Hall from the States in 2005.  Paisley came to Teddy Hall when she was just seventeen and tells us her journey to get there as well as what it was like visiting for just one year.  Today, she is General Counsel at Accel-KKR and involv...

Our first guest in Series Three is former Principal Keith Gull whose great affection for Teddy Hall is apparent. Keith became Principal in 2009 and handed over the reigns to Professor Kathy Willis in 2018. Spirit of the Hall podcast is produced by the St Edmund Hall Association, the voluntary alumni body independent which represents all Aularians. The views and opinions expressed in the podcast ar...

Coming Soon is Series 3 of Spirit of the Hall. On the 12th April, our first guest in Series Three is former Principal Keith Gull whose great affection for Teddy Hall is apparent. Keith became Principal in 2009 and handed over the reigns to Professor Kathy Willis in 2018.    We will also hear, amongst others, from Paisley Kadison, a visiting student from the States who came over when...

In the final episode of Series Two, hear Olly Belcher, President of the St Edmund Hall Association, in conversation with Reverend Dr Zachary Guiliano, Teddy Hall’s Chaplain and Career Development and Research Fellow.  Several of our podcast guests have cited Teddy Hall’s Chapel as their favourite place in College.  Zach was born in the American Mid-West and reflects on his journey f...

In this episode, hear Olly Belcher, President of the St Edmund Hall Association, in conversation with former JCR President Julien Kress who came up to the Hall from France in 2019 to read History and is currently in his final year.  After only two terms at Teddy Hall, the Covid pandemic struck, the country went into lock-down the day before Hilary Term ended and Julien returned to France wher...

In this episode, hear Olly Belcher, President of the St Edmund Hall Association, in conversation with Choral Scholar Fred Tyrrell who came up to the Hall in 2019 to read Mathematics.  At the end of Fred’s second term at Oxford, the first Covid lock-down was announced and so he has experienced life as a student going into lock down and then coming out of it again.  On top of thi...

In this episode, hear Olly Belcher, President of the St Edmund Hall Association, in conversation with Reverend Canon Tim Bryan who came up to the Hall in 1975 to read Geography.    During Tim’s time at Oxford he played in three rugby Varsity matches and led Oxford to victory over Cambridge when he captained the team.  Apart from rugby, Tim became a Christian in his second term...

In this episode, hear Olly Belcher, President of the St Edmund Hall Association, in conversation with Manisha Tank who came up to the Hall in 1994 to read PPE.  During Manisha’s time at Teddy Hall she had premonitions and deja vus which made her feel that she really was meant to be there.  After the Hall, Manisha joined the competitive world of broadcasting and has worked all over the wo...

In this episode, hear Olly Belcher, President of the St Edmund Hall Association, in conversation with Mike Shaw who came up to the Hall in 1959 to read History.   After the Hall, Mike found himself in the literary world and rose to the top as Managing Director of Curtis Brown.  Despite the new digital world we all find ourselves in today, Mike believes there is always a role fo...

In this episode hear Olly Belcher, President of the St Edmund Hall Association, in conversation with Dr Tom Crawford, Teddy Hall’s Early Career Teaching and Outreach Fellow in Mathematics, also known as the Naked Mathmetician.  Tom believes anyone can study maths, you just need to learn in a way that suits you.  His maths tattoos and body piercings also prove that there is room in the SC...

In this episode hear Olly Belcher, President of the St Edmund Hall Association, in conversation with Dr Bill Cogar who came up to the Hall in 1976 from the States to read Modern History.  Bill loved the friendly nature of Teddy Hall and became the Junior Dean in 1979, the year after the College accepted women for the first time.  After the Hall, Bill became a Professor at the US Nav...

In this episode hear Olly Belcher, President of the St Edmund Hall Association, in conversation with Maggie Carver CBE who came up to the Hall in 1982 to read Biochemistry.  Maggie threw herself into everything at Oxford :  her subject, sport, music, the Oxford Union and her social life.  Since then she has risen to the top of many companies and been a wonderful mentor to many...

In the first episode of Series Two, hear Olly Belcher, President of the St Edmund Hall Association, in conversation with Emeritus Fellow and quondam Principal Justin Gosling who has touched the hearts and minds of many Aularians over the years.  Justin reflects on his years at Teddy Hall since he joined the College in 1960; he was the Senior Tutor for PPE and became the Principal in 1982...

Spirit of the Hall will return on the 12th October with our first episode of Season 2, bringing you conversations with some of Teddy Hall’s most fascinating alumni, fellows and staff.  We will hear through this series how Teddy Hall’s unique spirit has shaped us all whether in politics, academia, business, entertainment, technology or through friendships, family and fun.  Our first guest...

In the last episode of Series One, hear Olly Belcher, President of the St Edmund Hall Association, in conversation with James Howarth, Teddy Hall’s brilliant librarian.   James studied at Oxford himself and joined the Hall in 2018 having been librarian at Lambeth Palace Library, the International Institute of Strategic Studies, the Taylorian Library and Balliol College.  James speak...

In this episode hear Olly Belcher, President of the St Edmund Hall Association, in conversation with David Gauke who came up to the Hall in 1990 to read Law and graduated into legal practice in 1995 before he became South West Hertfordshire’s Member of Parliament in 2005.  Since then David has held many positions in Government including Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Secr...

In this episode hear Olly Belcher, President of the St Edmund Hall Association, in conversation with Bidisha who started her journalist career at 14.  Bidisha came up to the Hall in 1996 to read English Language and Literature and during her first year, she published her first book, Seahorse.  Since then she has journeyed through the worlds of journalism, radio, writing and film.  B...

This episode is with Ronny Tong who came up to the Hall from Hong Kong in 1972 to read Law.   His determination to get to Oxford in the first place is inspiring.  After Oxford, Ronny set up his own law practice in Hong Kong and later became Chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association.   Ronny ventured into politics and founded the Civic Party in 2006; he was later appoi...

This episode is with Akaash Maharaj who came up to the Hall from Canada in 1990 to read PPE. In his second year, he was elected as JCR President which remains one of the warmest experiences of his life. After Teddy Hall, having NEVER been on a horse before, Akaash decided to get on a saddle and went onto become an Equestrian star representing Canada at the World Championships. Akaash then set up t...

In this episode hear Olly Belcher, President of the St Edmund Hall Alumni Association, in conversation with one of CNN’s main sport anchors, Amanda Davies. Amanda came up to the Hall in 1998 to read Geography.  She played tennis for the University and rowed in Teddy Hall’s first boat.  Hear how she missed being at the 1999 Champions League finals to watch her beloved team Manchester Unit...

This episode features Aularian contemporaries and friends Richard Kilgarriff and Stuart Ford. Richard is a former executive for Time Warner and founder of Bookomi, which brings insights from the world’s most brilliant minds via events, email and audio blog. Stuart is a Los Angeles based film producer and Chairman of AGC Studios, one of Hollywood’s leading independent film and TV production compani...

In this episode hear Olly Belcher, President of the St Edmund Hall Alumni Association, in conversation with former Adjutant-General of the British Army General Sir Michael Rose. Sir Michael was born in 1940 in Quetta, former British India. In 1964, having graduated from Teddy Hall with a degree in PPE (Politics, Philosophy and Economics), he was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards. He subseque...