10-Minute Talks
68 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 2 years ago -The world’s leading professors explain the latest thinking in the humanities and social sciences in just 10 minutes.
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Episodes
Tragedy and Postcolonial Literature
December 29, 2021 14:59 - 14 minutes - 13.7 MBIn this talk, Ato Quayson shares insights drawn from his book Tragedy and Postcolonial Literature. He argues that disputatiousness is one of the starting points that connects Greek and postcolonial tragedy. Speaker: Professor Ato Quayson FBA, Professor of English, Stanford University Image: Tragic mask in hand of greek statue of Melpomene. Via Getty Images
Hypermasculine leadership
December 29, 2021 14:03 - 11 minutes - 11 MBIn this talk, Georgina Waylen discusses hypermasculine leadership within the context of the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaker: Professor Georgina Waylen FBA, Professor of Politics, University of Manchester Image: Donald Trump Holds Rally At Iowa State Fairgrounds. © photo by Scott Olson via Getty Images
The politics of humiliation
December 29, 2021 12:32 - 11 minutes - 10.3 MBThe modern history of humiliation is different from the history of public shaming; both share certain features and practices, but differ as to intentions and goals. In this talk, Ute Frevert argues that liberal societies have made some progress in abolishing public shaming. But they have failed to bring about “decency“ in Avishai Margalit’s terms – a general refusal to humiliate others. She is the author of The Politics of Humiliation. A Modern History. Speaker: Professor...
Paradoxes of the Roman Arena
December 29, 2021 11:57 - 12 minutes - 11.6 MBIn this talk, Professor Kathleen Coleman FBA highlights certain paradoxes at the root of Roman civilisation, specifically those related to the staging of violent displays in the arena. Virtually everything that fueled Roman society can be implicated: ideology, religion, class structure, environment, economy. The Romans, evidently, tolerated these paradoxes. Can we learn anything from them? Speaker: Professor Kathleen Coleman FBA, James Loeb Professor of Classics and the Departmenta...
Public finances and the Union since 1707
December 29, 2021 11:16 - 9 minutes - 8.69 MBIn this talk, Professor Julian Hoppit FBA introduces his new book, The Dreadful Monster and its Poor Relations. Taxing, Spending, and the United Kingdom, 1707-2021, which explores the geography of public finances in the United Kingdom over the last three centuries. Why do some places feel they pay too many taxes and get too little public expenditure? Public finances have been at the heart of the making and the unmaking of the United Kingdom, but without much of a clear plan, allowin...
The making of Oliver Cromwell
December 28, 2021 16:15 - 12 minutes - 11.6 MBOliver Cromwell (1599-1658) is, in terms of sheer achievement, the greatest English commoner of all time and yet remains a deeply controversial figure. He represented himself, apparently compellingly, as an honest, pious, modest, and selfless servant of God and his nation, and yet most of his contemporaries found him ruthless, devious, and self-promoting. In this talk, Ronald Hutton sums up the findings of his latest book, The Making of Oliver Cromwell, which examines his actions an...
Poetry as Experience
December 28, 2021 16:00 - 10 minutes - 9.77 MBIn this talk, Derek Attridge addresses the question: "What is a poem's mode of existence?" Using a poem by William Wordsworth as an example, he argues that poems are not fixed lines of words but human experiences of language and the power of language. He is the author of The Experience of Poetry. From Homer's Listeners to Shakespeare's Readers. Speaker: Professor Derek Attridge FBA, Professor Emeritus of English, University of York Image: William Wordsworth engraving, 1873. C...
Disastrous: thoughts on a pandemic inspired by ancient astrology
September 08, 2021 11:00 - 11 minutes - 10.6 MBIn this talk, Jane Lightfoot considers what a particular corner of the classical world, astrology, thought about disease – how it classified it, what mental models it built around it, and how it might have coped, or failed to cope, with the situation that is facing us today. Speaker: Professor Jane Lightfoot FBA, Professor of Greek Literature; Charlton Fellow and Tutor in Classics, New College, University of Oxford Image: Waning gibbous moon and Mars. © photo by japatino via Gett...
The 1951 UN Refugee Convention: its origins and significance
July 28, 2021 12:00 - 11 minutes - 10.6 MBIn this talk, Peter Gatrell discusses the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, signed in Geneva on 28 July 1951. He explains the circumstances leading up to the Refugee Convention and considers what it was designed to achieve: a commitment to recognise and protect refugees who have a well-founded fear of persecution. At present, although many of the world’s refugees live in non-signatory states, the Refugee Convention remains a crucial element of internation...
Syntax: where the magic happens
July 21, 2021 09:00 - 15 minutes - 14.5 MBSyntax is the cognitive system that underlies the patterns found in the grammar of human languages. In this talk, David Adger explains what syntax as an area of study is, why he finds it important and fascinating, and why it is central to what it means to be human. The paperback edition of his book, Language Unlimited. The Science behind our most creative power was published in July 2021. His British Academy article, What is linguistics? is also available. Speaker: Professor Da...
Looking at sign languages
July 14, 2021 12:00 - 18 minutes - 17.1 MBThis talk introduces research on the sign languages of deaf communities: natural, complex human languages, both similar to and different from spoken languages. It includes discussion of sign language and the evolution of human language; sign language and the brain, and sign language acquisition by young children, as well as the history and future of British Sign Language (BSL). Speaker: Professor Bencie Woll FBA, Professor of Sign Language and Deaf Studies, University College Londo...
The Shogun’s Silver Telescope: The East India Company and the English quest for Japan
July 07, 2021 09:00 - 9 minutes - 9.29 MBOver the winter of 1610-11, a magnificent telescope was built in London. It was almost two metres long, cast in silver and covered with gold. This was the first telescope ever produced in such an extraordinary way, worthy of a great king or emperor. Why was it made, what was its political significance and who was it going to? In this talk, Timon Screech explores why the East India Company, which became the world's biggest trading organisation until the 20th century, prepared this sp...
Crèvecœur: What is an American?
June 30, 2021 12:00 - 11 minutes - 10.5 MBJ. Hector St. John de Crèvecœur (1735-1813) was a farmer as well as a complex thinker of the contradictions of American identity as described in his famous Letters from an American Farmer and, more strikingly, in his French texts which develop his description and analysis of the New World and its peoples. Many readers of his English work have focused on his wishful story of the land of the free, a hospitable refuge to the dispossessed of Europe, a glorious melting pot where the Amer...
Goods and possessions in late medieval England
June 23, 2021 09:00 - 10 minutes - 10.1 MBGoods and possessions offer us ways into understanding how late medieval people saw the world and their position in it. In this talk, Christopher Woolgar discusses objects of daily life, their significance and the meaning of material culture (what we might understand as ‘people’s stuff') in late medieval England, to reveal changes in mentality that came with a long-term social revolution, in the quantities and types of goods people had, and the lengths to which elites in particular ...
Writing the history of the British Academy
June 16, 2021 09:00 - 11 minutes - 10.5 MBThe British Academy is the UK's national academy for the humanities and social sciences and was founded in 1902. In this talk, Professor Sir David Cannadine discusses undertaking the task of writing the history of the Academy and why it is worth doing so, the importance of engaging with the challenging moments it has faced and how these were navigated, and if the history of the Academy is merely the history of a single institution or if it sheds light on how institutions more widely...
The Early Foucault
June 09, 2021 10:49 - 10 minutes - 10 MBIn this talk Stuart Elden discusses his new book, The Early Foucault and the research he did on the first period of Michel Foucault’s career. In particular, he highlights what Foucault did before the History of Madness in 1961 and how he came to write that book as well as the way newly available archival materials help to make sense of the period. His book, The Early Foucault, was published in June 2021. Speaker: Professor Stuart Elden FBA, Professor of Political Theory and Geogra...
George II Augustus von Welf, British King and German Prince-Elector
May 26, 2021 09:00 - 12 minutes - 28.7 MBGeorge II, King of Great Britain and Ireland and Elector of Hanover from 1727-60, was considered short-tempered and uncultivated, but during his reign presided over a great flourishing in his adoptive country - economic, military, and cultural. In this talk, Norman Davies places George II in the unfamiliar framework of a composite state, stressing the monarch's conviction that his native German possessions were no less important than his British ones, together with the unfamiliar st...
The Spectre of War - International Communism and the Origins of World War II
May 19, 2021 09:00 - 6 minutes - 15.7 MBWhy was there no alliance to block Hitler from launching aggression in Europe? The usual explanation given is that the British led by Neville Chamberlain were so averse to the thought of war that appeasement had no alternative. In this talk, Jonathan Haslam argues that the real reason was that they - as did the Poles and the Czechs - feared communism more than fascism and that an alliance with Stalin's Russia against Germany would bring the Reds into Central Europe. As Moscow suppor...
Women and mental health – talking about feelings
May 12, 2021 09:00 - 10 minutes - 24 MBDuring the COVID-19 pandemic women’s mental health has been a topic of concern as women have disproportionately carried the burden of care. In this talk, Lynn Abrams explores the links between a revolution in feelings amongst women in the 1960s and today’s mental health crisis. She shows how talking about feelings and self-help were alternatives to the ‘little yellow pill’ for many women struggling with loneliness and stress. Speaker: Professor Lynn Abrams FBA, Professor of Modern ...
Napoleon and God
May 05, 2021 09:00 - 8 minutes - 20.6 MBNapoleon had no religion, but he spent much of his career dealing with it. In this talk to mark the bicentenary of his death, William Doyle discusses how Napoleon saw that the upheavals of the French Revolution could never be ended unless its quarrel with the Catholic Church could be settled. This meant negotiating with the pope. Most of Napoleon's henchmen opposed the concordat which he concluded with Rome in 1801, but most French people welcomed it. Later, emperor and pope fell ou...
Choosing a title – George Eliot and 'The Mill on the Floss'
April 28, 2021 09:00 - 13 minutes - 31.8 MBBy late 1859, when she had almost finished writing her second novel, The Mill on the Floss, George Eliot was still unsure of its final title. Two other possible titles, ‘Sister Maggie’ and ‘The House of Atreus’ were under consideration almost up to the time of printing and in this talk, Rosemary Ashton discusses the case of The Mill on the Floss in the wider context of novel writing and title choosing. She is the author of several books which include discussion of George Eliot's wr...
More than one language - why bilingualism matters
April 21, 2021 09:00 - 12 minutes - 29.6 MBResearch shows that multilingualism in any languages, regardless of prestige or worldwide diffusion, can provide a range of linguistic, cognitive, and social benefits at all ages. It enables communication with international partners and understanding of local cultures as well as enhancing metalinguistic awareness, focusing, seeing both sides of an argument, and flexibly adapting to changing circumstances. However, as Antonella Sorace outlines in this talk, there are still many misco...
The miners’ strike of 1984-85
April 14, 2021 09:00 - 11 minutes - 25.4 MBThe miners’ strike of 1984-85 can be considered the last great battle of the organised industrial working class in the UK. The defeat of the strike led to deindustrialisation, the rapid closure of pits, the redundancy of the miners and the hollowing out of mining communities which impacts politics to this day. In this talk, Robert Gildea examines the miners’ strike through the lenses of class, community, and family, how it was both a performance and crisis of masculinity, and how t...
The nature of friendship
April 07, 2021 09:00 - 11 minutes - 25.8 MBWhat is it to be friends with someone? Why do we have friends? What do they do for us? In this talk, Robin Dunbar provides evidence that friendships are good for us, the relationship between the number and quality of close friendships and our psychological and physical health, and on what basis we select our friends. His book, Friends. Understanding the power of our most important relationships was published in March 2021. Speaker: Professor Robin Dunbar FBA, Professor of Evolutio...
Spinoza on philosophising
March 31, 2021 09:00 - 11 minutes - 25.9 MBPhilosophy, as Spinoza understands it, is the art of learning to live as joyfully and securely as we can. But because we can only practice this art collectively, philosophising is always a partly political project - a matter of learning to live together peacefully and harmoniously. What enables us to do this? In this talk Susan James discusses how some of Spinoza’s answers, especially his analysis of natural right, jolt our assumptions and make us reconsider the problem. Her book,...
Dealing with the past in Northern Ireland
March 24, 2021 13:00 - 12 minutes - 28 MBDealing with the past in relation to the Northern Ireland conflict is a politically sensitive topic often characterised by more heat than light. In this talk, Kieran McEvoy discusses the UK government’s commitment to introduce legislation regarding legacy issues now complicated by the parallel drive to protect British Army veterans from historical allegations arising out of their service in Northern Ireland. Speaker: Professor Kieran McEvoy FBA, Professor of Law and Transitional Ju...
What does the Good Friday Agreement mean?
March 24, 2021 13:00 - 9 minutes - 21.5 MBAs the Good Friday Agreement moves closer and closer to centre stage in Anglo-Irish relations, and potentially to UK-EU relations post-Brexit, how it is interpreted will become even more contentious. In this talk, Christopher McCrudden engages with the differing (and conflicting) historical, legal, and political interpretations as well as considering more broadly, what exactly is the Agreement? Speaker: Professor Christopher McCrudden FBA, Professor of Human and Equality Law, Queen...
The history of Belfast, a strange case of shared identity and sectarian division
March 24, 2021 13:00 - 9 minutes - 22.7 MBIn this talk, Marianne Elliot reflects on the existence and history of a 'shared space' Belfast identity, focusing particularly on the 1940s and 1950s, but also on post-Good Friday Agreement efforts to restore 'shared' living spaces, so damaged by the Northern Ireland Troubles. Speaker: Professor Marianne Elliot FBA, Professor Emerita, Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool This talk was part of the Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas and Politics. Image: Children mar...
China’s 14th Five Year Plan – the bold and the beautiful
March 17, 2021 10:00 - 10 minutes - 24.6 MBEvery five years since 1953, the Chinese Communist Party has produced a strategic blueprint setting out the broad framework and specific targets meant to guide policy and performance nationwide, across government, economy, and society. In this talk, Vivienne Shue discusses the preparation, substance and political timing of China's new 14th Five Year Plan and considers whether its bold objectives are attainable. Speaker: Professor Vivienne Shue FBA, Professor Emeritus of Contemporar...
In praise of Queen Astrid of Norway
March 10, 2021 10:00 - 10 minutes - 24.5 MBIn this talk, Judith Jesch introduces Astrid, a Swedish princess married to King, later Saint, Olaf of Norway, and her remarkable political intervention to ensure that her stepson succeeded to the throne in 1035 CE. Her actions are immortalised in a contemporary poem, composed in a genre previously reserved for male rulers, which shows how both she and the poet Sigvatr were pioneers in the transformation of the Norwegian monarchy at the end of the Viking Age. An annotated text and ...
The power of stories and the practice of rhetoric
March 03, 2021 10:00 - 13 minutes - 24.3 MBWith the rise of the internet and social media, the performance of storytelling and the arts of oratory have returned to centre stage. In this talk ahead of World Book Day, Marina Warner argues that in an era of public disinformation, the study of the uses of rhetoric, as deployed in many forms of literature, is urgently needed. Rhetoric used to be a pillar of literary education, and understanding its processes remains vital to sharpening epistemic vigilance and developing counterme...
The death of John Keats and his early reputation
February 24, 2021 10:00 - 11 minutes - 20.8 MBIn this talk to mark the bicentenary of the Romantic poet John Keats’ death on 23rd February 1821 in Rome, Nicholas Roe takes us back to the hours, days, and weeks immediately afterwards as well as discussing how Keats’ reputation evolved in posthumous years. He is the author of John Keats. A New Life. Speaker: Professor Nicholas Roe FBA, Bishop Wardlaw Professor of English Literature, University of St Andrews Image: John Keats by William Hilton, after Joseph Severn. Oil on canvas...
The origins of Stonehenge
February 17, 2021 10:00 - 7 minutes - 14.4 MBWhere did Stonehenge come from? In this talk Mike Parker Pearson investigates the origins of Stonehenge, its stones and their transportation as well as speculating on the motives behind the creation of this unique prehistoric monument. Read more about Stonehenge's origins by him on the Academy's blog and in a new article in the Antiquity journal. Speaker: Professor Mike Parker Pearson FBA, Professor of British Later Prehistory, University College London Transcript: https://www.t...
Charles Darwin and ideas of evolution
February 10, 2021 22:00 - 14 minutes - 26.4 MBCharles Darwin’s theory of evolution changed the way we think about our place in the world, although it took some time for its full implications to sink in. In this talk, Peter Bowler argues that at first it was widely assumed that humanity must be the goal of evolutionary progress. But Darwin’s theory of natural selection suggests that the ‘tree of life’ has many diverging branches and hence no predetermined endpoint. Humanity’s position in the world now seemed much less secure, al...
Saladin and the Crusades: medieval and modern perspectives
February 03, 2021 10:00 - 11 minutes - 21.6 MBWhat has been the legacy of the Crusades in Europe and across the Muslim world in modern times? Why is the evolution of the Saladin legend throughout history so remarkable? In this talk, Carole Hillenbrand argues that whilst the word ‘crusade’ is still used today with little heed to the historical context in which it first appeared, it is abundantly clear at both a scholarly and more popular level that there is now a continuing and genuine interest in discovering more about the phen...
Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and warnings from Hannah Arendt
January 27, 2021 09:16 - 10 minutes - 25 MBIn The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) the political thinker Hannah Arendt warned of the dangers if the distinction between fact and fiction – and between true and false – is lost. Aware of the fragility of democracy, Arendt argued that democracy depends on populations accepting facts about social life; without such shared facts, democracy can be imperilled. What happens though when facts become matters of opinion? In this 10-Minute Talk Michael Billig discusses the works of Hann...
Atheism in debate
January 20, 2021 10:00 - 11 minutes - 25.2 MBHeralded as the exponents of a 'new atheism', critics of religion such as Richard Dawkins are highly visible and vocal today. In this talk, David Fergusson explains the growing interest in the study of atheism and the different forms that this now takes. He suggests that faith communities can benefit from patient engagement with their critics, even while resisting the reductive explanations of the new atheism. Speaker: Professor David Fergusson FBA, Professor of Divinity, University...
Religion, theology and the ultimate nature of reality
December 16, 2020 10:00 - 10 minutes - 24.8 MBIn this talk, Keith Ward argues that most sophisticated religions are correct in thinking that there exists a spiritual dimension of reality based on wisdom, compassion and bliss as well as addressing how we can understand the phenomena of religion in the light of new scientific and global understanding. Speaker: Revd Professor Keith Ward FBA, Professor of Philosophy of Religion, Roehampton University Transcript: https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/podcasts/10-minute-talks-re...
Racism and religion in America – sin and the elusive 'problem of seeing'
December 09, 2020 10:30 - 13 minutes - 25.3 MBThe Unites States remains unusually religious as a country, but the issue of American racism is inextricably, and very problematically, related to its theological past. The history of white American Christianity is replete with biblical mandates for a racist system, and this may well have wider explanatory implications for police violence against non-white people and the strange incapacity of white people to 'see' elements of 'systemic racism' in the culture at large. Join Sarah Co...
The Hitler Conspiracies
December 02, 2020 10:00 - 8 minutes - 20.7 MBConspiracy theories are becoming more popular and more widespread in the twenty-first century. Nowhere have they become more obvious than in revisionist accounts of the history of the Third Reich and how Adolf Hitler supposedly didn’t die in 1945 but survived and lived into old age in Argentina. In this talk, Sir Richard Evans explains how conspiracy theories are constructed, amplified, and justified as well looking more widely at how the most bizarre and irrational theories find ...
The function of cynicism at the present time
November 25, 2020 10:15 - 11 minutes - 21.8 MBBroadly described, a cynic (in the primary modern sense) is a person given to casting doubt on the motives that drive other people. Often disparaged, cynicism is nevertheless part of the range of ways in which most of us may sometimes choose to engage with others – momentarily tuning up the aggression of our own intelligence. In this talk, Helen Small considers the characteristic features of cynicism, its origins and development as a philosophical branch, and what role it has playe...
Dark data
November 18, 2020 10:38 - 10 minutes - 18.6 MBIn the era of big data, it is easy to imagine that we have all the information we need to make good decisions. But in fact, the data we have is never complete. Just as much of the universe is composed of dark matter, invisible to us but nonetheless present, the universe of information is full of dark data that we overlook at our peril. In this talk David Hand explores dark data in the context of COVID-19 and the many ways in which we can be blind to missing data and how that can le...
Domestic and sexual violence during COVID-19
November 11, 2020 09:39 - 9 minutes - 22.3 MBPandemics throughout history have provided stark reminders of how the vulnerable can be exploited and abused and COVID-19 is no different. In this talk, Joanna Bourke outlines how the pandemic has exacerbated, not created, the problem of domestic and sexual violence in our society and how perpetrators have also used fear of the virus as a weapon as part of their arsenal of abuse. Speaker: Professor Joanna Bourke FBA, Professor of History, Birkbeck, University of London; Principa...
Science hasn't refuted free will
November 04, 2020 10:17 - 10 minutes - 24.2 MBIt is often suggested that free will is an illusion and a left-over from an outdated worldview; and that the idea of free will has no place in modern science. In this talk, Christian List argues that far from undermining free will, science actually offers some arguments in its support. Christian List’s 10-Minute Talk is based on his identically-titled article published in the Boston Review in February 2020. His book, 'Why Free Will is Real' was published in 2019. Speaker: Profes...
Early Medieval Wales – a matter of identity
October 28, 2020 11:31 - 12 minutes - 22.3 MBHow did people in early medieval Wales live? And how did their lives change between the departure of the Romans in the early fifth century AD and the coming of the Normans to Wales over 600 years later? In this 10-Minute Talk, Nancy Edwards considers some remarkable archaeological monuments, highlighting what these reveal about aspects of identity during this period. Speaker: Professor Nancy Edwards FBA, Professor of Medieval Archaeology, Bangor University Transcript: https://www....
What defenders of the slave trade have to teach us
October 21, 2020 09:39 - 11 minutes - 26.7 MBThe eighteenth-century writers who tried to mount a principled defence of the slave trade look like monsters to us today - quite rightly. But before we get on our high horses to condemn them, it’s worth hearing how uncomfortably closely their arguments anticipate patterns of thought in which most of us are implicated today. Speaker: Professor Alec Ryrie FBA, Professor of the History of Christianity, Durham University; Professor of Divinity, Gresham College Transcript: https://www....
Why laughter matters
October 14, 2020 05:51 - 13 minutes - 30.2 MBIn this 10-Minute Talk, cognitive neuroscientist Sophie Scott introduces her pioneering research into laughter. She talks about why we laugh, laughter’s role in social interactions and how laughter can help us to regulate emotions and improve our mood. Speaker: Professor Sophie Scott FBA, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London Transcript: https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/podcasts/10-minute-talks-why-laughter-matters/
Britain and Europe in a Troubled World
October 07, 2020 09:28 - 9 minutes - 21.9 MBIs Britain a part of Europe? Ahead of the publication of his latest book Britain and Europe in a Troubled World, Vernon Bogdanor untangles the history of Britain’s complex relationship with Europe and discusses how the EU needs to change if it is to avoid losing more member states. Spanning the last 75 years, this 10-Minute Talk provides the essential background to the struggle over Brexit. His latest book, 'Britain and Europe in a Troubled World' will be published in November 2020...
The crisis of the meritocracy - why Britain has needed more and more education
September 30, 2020 08:35 - 9 minutes - 18.3 MBBefore the Second World War, only about 20% of the population had any secondary education or only a few percent went to university; today secondary education has long been universal and 50% go to higher education. How and why did we get here from there? Peter Mandler talks about his new book The Crisis of the Meritocracy and explains why Britain, like most other modern societies, has needed to educate ever larger proportions of its citizenry to ever high levels. Speaker: Professor ...
COVID-19 and inequalities
September 23, 2020 09:35 - 11 minutes - 10.2 MBThe COVID-19 pandemic has been unequal and complex in its social and economic impact. It has amplified existing inequalities and has created new insecurities some of which threaten to persist into the future. Fiona Williams will unpick the dynamics and indicate what priorities they pose for social policies. The British Academy’s Shape the Future programme examines the societal, economic and cultural implications of the pandemic. Speaker: Professor Fiona Williams FBA, Emeritus Prof...