UCL Minds

Join hosts Xand and Rochelle for Episode 2 ‘Singing the praises of communities with Dr Daisy Fancourt and Eric Whitacre. “Every single person feels part of something larger than themselves.” Communities are vital for a functioning society, but in an ever-changing world, has the concept of what ‘community’ means evolved into something new? Can virtual choirs really help with regulating emotions and...

In this contributed interview from the Department of Statistical Science at UCL, we speak with Professor Chris Holmes. Chris is Professor of Biostatistics at the departments of Statistics and the Nuffield Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford. He is also the Director for the Health Programme at the Alan Turing Institute. We discussed a recent presentation given at the department on Ba...

For this podcast we are visited by Noriko Cable (UCL), Kate Bennett (Liverpool), Sherry Hamby (University of the South), and Kristen Krause (Rutgers). The podcast is hosted by Jennifer McGowan (UCL). This podcast covers: 1. How would you define resilience in adulthood?, 2. What are the benefits of resilience in adulthood?, 3. What challenges do adults face in building resilience?, 4. What resource...

Benedetto De Martino talks to Selina and Caswell about decision making, why we make choices that are bad for us, and the importance of having a hobby - plus a banjo makes an appearance. For more information and to access the transcript: www.ucl.ac.uk/research/domains/neuroscience/brain-stories-podcast Date of episode recording: 2022-03-15 Duration: 00:41:30 Language of episode: English Presenter:...

In the second of a two-part feature recorded for LGBTQ+ History Month, presenter Roxie talks to Juliet Jacques, writer, journalist and author of Trans: A Memoir about her 2021 short-story collection Variations and the politics of representing trans history. She also speaks to Ben Miller, historian, writer and co-host of the Bad Gays podcast about complicating conventional queer histories as well a...

This episode is a live recording of UCL's event City of Women: creating an interactive map of London’s remarkable women. The event was part of UCL's 'Stand with Hope' campaign, a series of activities and events aimed at generating discussion on the gender inequalities that persist in the UK and mark the display of Hope the Lego Suffragette at UCL. About the event Reni Eddo-Lodge, Rebecca Solnit an...

“The fundamental relationship that must come in is humanity to the rest of nature.” Would it be such a radical change to flip on its head the idea of improving the overall health of the public to prop up the economy? Redefining the idea of prosperity in the 21st Century and the balance between human wellbeing and economics are among the topics discussed by our guests: two leading thinkers in the f...

For this podcast we are visited by Nicole Creasey (University of Amsterdam), Professor Jay Mancini (Virgina Tech), and Dr Gretchen Pianka (Resilience University). The podcast is hosted by Nicole Creasey (University of Amsterdam). This podcast covers: 1. What is family resilience? How would you define it? 2. Why is family resilience important? 3. What challenges due families face in building resili...

We’re looking towards the light in episode four. We wanted to understand more about the thought processes behind lighting spaces and the considerations that need to be made when designing with light. With this in mind, we reached out to two experts on light from The UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering. Join host Christoph for a fascinating discussion on the different kinds of li...

In the first of a two-part feature celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month, our presenter Roxana speaks to Dr Noreen Masud, BBC New Generation Thinker and Lecturer at the University of Bristol, about her work on flatness, negative affect, and the aphorism, and how each might help us resist heteronormativity. She also speaks to Talen Wright, PhD student at UCL Division of Psychiatry, about her research in...

The Nahrein Network speaks to Mr Ali al-Makhzomy, founder of Bilweekend tour company in Iraq, which caters to local tourists. Mr al-Makhzomy was awarded a research grant by the Nahrein Network and partner, the British Institute for the Study of Iraq, to undertake research on developing new methods to strengthen Iraq's tourism infrastructure. For more information and to access the transcript: https...

In this interview from the Department of Statistical Science at UCL Clair Barnes, a recent PhD student, talks to Dr Terry Soo about her research into weather forecasting and her experiences of doing a PhD. We discover the difference between weather and climate and how to tell if ancient homes were randomly built! To access the transcript: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/statistics/transcript-episode-3 Date...

This episode is a recording of UCL's "More than the right to vote: feminism and citizenship" event, held on 17 February. The panel includes: Professor Sasha Roseneil (chair), UCL Pro-Provost (Equality & Inclusion) (Chair) Dr Victoria Showunmi, UCL IOE Professor Joyce Harper, UCL Institute for Women's Health Professor Ann Phoenix, UCL IOE Event information: Despite the long struggle for women’s suf...

Date of lecture: Tuesday 8 February 2022 About the lecture: In the light of famous recent trials and allegations in the US and UK, the question of how - and whether - we should talk about memory research in the courtroom has become a hotly debated issue. In this lecture Dr Julia Shaw will explain the concept of false memory and how memory experts can play an important role in educating judges and...

This is the seventh podcast in the Resilience Research Group's series on 'What is Resilience?'. For this podcast we are visited by Dr Chris Wekerle (McMaster University), Dr Heather Prime (York University), Prof Jo Boyden (Oxford university), Prof Sherry Hamby (University of the South, Tennessee), Nicole Creasey (University of Amsterdam), Dr Rebecca Graber (Brighton University), Prof Marc Zimmerma...

Date: Tuesday 1 February 2022, 1-2pm About the lecture: As we make major sacrifices to limit our environmental damage to the planet, the billionaire space tourism companies Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, and SpaceX are burning dirty fuels to send a few wealthy people on a joyride to outer space. Only three companies are offering space tourism flights and there were far fewer this year than the mill...

In episode three, we're exploring accessibility within the built environment. We want to know: why aren't we more aware, more conscious, more active in trying to fully consider accessibility when we create new spaces? And what are the ways in which we need to shift our thinking to ensure spaces are accessible to everyone? Tune in to hear Christoph speak with Zoe Partington, an award-winning contem...

Date: Tuesday 18 January 2022 About the lecture: Does power corrupt, or are corrupt people drawn to power? Are entrepreneurs who embezzle and cops who kill the result of poorly designed systems or are they just bad people? Are tyrants made or born? If you were suddenly thrust into a position of power, would you be able to resist the temptation to line your pockets or seek revenge against your enem...

Digital communication technologies can transform interactions for children with severe speech and physical impairments and their social partners. In this podcast, we hear about how interdisciplinary perspectives can help to guide how we study these interactions by drawing on speech and language therapy practice, human computer interaction and multimodal communication. In this episode, we are joine...

Computer applications dominate contemporary social life, but who are the programmers who build these applications and what cultural values do they share? Combining the knowledge of programming with training in anthropology is one way of trying to understand the social life of programmers. In this episode, we are joined by Dr Gui Heurich. Gui studied anthropology in Brazil. In 2016 he joined UCL So...

In this episode, we are joined by Dr Alejandra Albuerne. Alejandra is an architectural engineer who has worked in Spain and the UK. In 2016 she completed her PhD at Oxford University across Engineering Science and Archaeology. Before this Alejandra worked for structural engineering and architectural firms for nine years. She joined UCL in 2017 as a Lecturer in Sustainable Heritage at the Bartlett...

Digital health interventions are rapidly growing and offer unique advantages compared with face-to-face interventions, including their ability to deliver tailored support to users, as and when needed. The development, optimisation, evaluation, and real-world implementation of digital health interventions requires expertise from researchers, allied professionals and end-users working across diverse...

We often take for granted that collaborative research is dependent on relationships, which can mean that we understate the skill and intention required to create fruitful partnerships. Hear about how researchers can be intentional and strategic about building mutually beneficial and equitable collaborations. In this episode, we are joined by Dr Michel Wahome, who joined UCL in 2021 as a lecturer i...

This episode introduces the Together We Create series which explores the collaborative social research being undertaken by Early Career Researchers at UCL. It sets the scene for the series by highlighting how social researchers collaborate with other disciplines, organisations, and communities, showcasing the range of this work, from collaborating with deep ocean scientists and fishing communities...

In this first episode of 2022, host Roxana Toloza Chacon talks to Emma Cavell, Daniel Lewis, Joshua Lok, and Jake Wiseman, four PhD students from the UCL English Department, to discuss Muriel Spark’s crusade against ‘received wisdom’, the anxieties of Biblical translation, and going beyond ‘literature in English’. We’ll also meet the team behind the Moveable Type podcast and hear from Editor-in-Ch...