Math-Life Balance
25 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsThe official podcast version of Mura Yakerson's YouTube channel Math-Life Balance. What Mura has to say about the content:
"In this [podcast] I post my non-professional interviews with professional mathematicians. I ask my colleagues about their personal experience in math, their struggles and lifehacks. I hope that this shared experience would be helpful for other people in the math community, especially for young mathematicians!"
Interviews are posted weekly during the weekends.
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Episodes
Interview with Jeremiah Heller and Vesna Stojanoska
July 13, 2022 19:13 - 49 minutes - 112 MBIn this interview, Jeremiah Heller and Vesna Stojanoska share their experience of combining math and family life, discuss their ways to get over occasional demotivation in research and speak about social aspects of research. Jokes included! Jeremiah's homepage: https://faculty.math.illinois.edu/~jbheller/ Vesna's homepage: https://faculty.math.illinois.edu/~vesna/ Mike Hopkins’ talk at Paul Goerss’ birthday conference: youtu.be/Ix4pg87LKVk Chapters: 0:00 teaser 0:34 their family and ot...
Interview with Dhruv Ranganathan
December 19, 2021 11:15 - 48 minutes - 112 MBDhruv Ranganathan is a lecturer at Cambridge University, working in algebraic geometry. In this video, Dhruv talks about doing research with undergrads, being tortured by math problems, looking for friends to write math papers, and other cool stuff! Dhruv's webpage: https://www.dhruvrnathan.net Photo: from the webpage 0:00 teaser 0:41 from cricket to air planes 2:16 adventure novels childhood 4:46 what do algebraic geometers do 8:39 experience of undergrad research 12:30 how undergra...
Interview with Kevin Buzzard
November 29, 2021 10:38 - 1 hour - 141 MBKevin Buzzard is a professor in Imperial College London working in number theory and formal proof verification. In this interview, Kevin shares his views on the role of computers in doing math, tells about his experience of upbringing 3 kids as a researcher and raises questions about the way we approach math education. Lots of glorious laughter and unforgettable facial expressions are included! Kevin's homepage: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/k.buzzard Channel podcast: https://anchor.fm...
Interview with Maria Chudnovsky
August 30, 2021 05:55 - 56 minutes - 129 MBMaria Chudnovsky is a professor at Princeton University, working in graph theory and combinatorics. In this interview, Maria shares her personal experiences: learning Hebrew from math lessons, giving a talk at NASA, using math at her own wedding, and many more! Maria's homepage: http://web.math.princeton.edu/~mchudnov/ Photo: from Maria's homepage The essay we mentioned: W.T. Gowers "The two cultures of mathematics" https://www.dpmms.cam.ac.uk/~wtg10/2cultures.pdf 0:00 teaser 0:29 res...
Interview with Tomer Schlank
July 16, 2021 19:39 - 53 minutes - 123 MBTomer Schlank is a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, working in homotopy theory and arithmetic geometry. In this interview, Tomer shares his experience of advising a big group of students, speaks about the importance of embracing the struggle, and explains how to get unstuck in a math problem. Tomer's homepage: https://mathematics.huji.ac.il/people/tomer-schlank Photo: from Tomer's homepage 0:00 teaser 0:31 astronaut’s dreams 4:06 enjoying the struggle 8:27 top-down thin...
Interview with Saul Glasman
July 10, 2021 23:01 - 1 hour - 139 MBSaul Glasman worked in homotopy theory and K-theory, and now works as a software engineer. In this interview, we discuss the hardships of academic jobmarket, fears around leaving math, and the fundamental problems in academia. Saul's homepage: http://www-users.math.umn.edu/~sglasman/ Photo: from his website #mathematician #mathlife #interview #academiavsindustry #leavingacademia #jobmarketacademia 0:00 teaser 0:44 always loved math 2:04 why left academia 8:55 the ...
Interview with Giulia Saccà
June 29, 2021 06:59 - 1 hour - 140 MBGiulia Saccà is an assistant professor at Columbia University, working in algebraic geometry. In this interview, Giulia gives jobmarket advice for mathematicians, contemplates some of the struggles that minorities in math get to deal with, and tells about books that resemble math research. Giulia's homepage: http://math.columbia.edu/~giulia/ Photo: Allegra Boverman Women in Math program at IAS: https://www.ias.edu/math/wam 0:00 teaser 0:27 interests in history in philosophy 6:51 jobm...
William Thurston "On proof and progress in mathematics"
June 22, 2021 09:32 - 5 minutes - 12.3 MBIn this [episode], I read a piece from Thurston's essay "On proof and progress in mathematics", where he reflects on the importance of seeing mathematicians' progress and contributions much broader than just in proving new theorems. William Thurston on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Thurston Cover photo: from this Wikipedia page The full essay: https://arxiv.org/pdf/math/9404236.pdf Thurston's lecture "Knots to Narnia": https://youtu.be/IKSrBt2kFD4 Thurston's answer on...
How to become the worst researcher in the world
June 22, 2021 09:26 - 10 minutes - 23.2 MBThis sarcastic [episode] is dedicated to my family and all my friends of the last 10 years. They will see why. A special thanks to Nicole R. for the help with the video(s)! And to my brother for the T-shirt: there’s a tiny cute bug that says "I have giant problems". 0:00 Prologue 0:53 Inclusivity statement 1:24 How to build an abusive relationship with your research 3:00 How to suffer from doing research 5:10 How to be unproductive 7:01 How to compare yourself with others 8:38 How ...
Interview with Irakli Patchkoria
May 30, 2021 10:37 - 51 minutes - 119 MBIrakli Patchkoria is a lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, working in homotopy theory. In this interview, he speaks about math-tennis balance, shares his experience of moving from Georgia to Western Europe and admits taking part in illegal actions on university exams. Irakli's homepage: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/people/irakli.patchkoria Photo: Irakli's private photo collection 0:00 teaser 1:13 epic story of family math 6:21 father’s advice 10:25 don’t work too much 14:41 experience i...
Interview with Peter Scholze
May 22, 2021 09:47 - 56 minutes - 130 MBPeter Scholze is a professor in Bonn University, working in number theory and arithmetic geometry. In this interview, we chat about the pressure of the Fields medal, discuss the pain of writing math papers and argue about math. Peter's homepage: http://www.math.uni-bonn.de/people/scholze/ Photo: Hausdorff Center for Mathematics / Barbara Frommann Merkurjev's lecture on the proof of Bloch-Kato conjecture: https://youtu.be/bUaWCOtBUHs 0:00 proof or relatability 0:58 influence of the back...
Interview with Ravi Vakil
May 08, 2021 11:44 - 1 hour - 56.1 MBRavi Vakil is a professor at Stanford University, working in algebraic geometry. In this interview, Ravi talks about the importance of a community for learning math, discusses the ways of learning to be creative at math and shares how considering other career options helped him to be happier as a mathematician. A clarification for Ravi's comment on the situation with math in USSR: Due to deep-rooted antisemitism in the Soviet Union, the admission of ethnically Jewish mathematicians into ...
Interview with Max Karoubi
May 05, 2021 15:21 - 56 minutes - 52 MBMax Karoubi is a Professor Emmeritus at the University of Paris 7, working in K-theory and algebraic topology. In this interview, Max shares warm memories about Grothendieck and the Bourbaki group, discusses math studies in Northern Africa and highly recommends doing research in collaborations. Max' webpage: https://webusers.imj-prg.fr/~max.karoubi/ Photo: from Max' webpage 0:00 teaser 0:43 getting into math in Northern Africa 5:33 getting a family helped to do math 9:12 PhD under...
Interview with Mariana Smit Vega Garcia
April 17, 2021 10:14 - 1 hour - 57.2 MBMariana Smit Vega Garcia is an Assistant Professor at Western Washington University, working in geometric analysis and partial differential equations. In this interview, Mariana speaks, among other things, about her math-life balance, the experience of representing different minorities and the joy of teaching mathematics. In addition: lots of friendly advice for undergrads! Mariana's webpage: http://faculty.wwu.edu/smitvem/ Photo: from Mariana's webpage 0:00 teaser 0:44 didn’t want to...
Interview with Richard Thomas
April 10, 2021 10:13 - 1 hour - 57.5 MBRichard Thomas is a professor at Imperial College London, working in algebraic geometry and mirror symmetry. In this interview, Richard speaks about math education for kids, contemplates the process of doing research and gives plenty of good advice for PhD students. Richard's webpage: http://wwwf.imperial.ac.uk/~rpwt/ Photo: Richard's wikipedia page Interview with Richard Thomas 0:00 teaser 0:30 non-linear way in math 3:14 the mystery of mathematicians 6:55 kids' attitude to mat...
What brought me into math
March 26, 2021 17:56 - 10 minutes - 9.93 MBThis video is dedicated to my teacher of mathematics in the middle school, Andrey Yurjevich Alexeev. Time for stories about my first encounter with "abstract math" and my first math talk! My school: https://610.ru/en/ Photo of A. Yu. Alexeev: from Vasily Baev's private collection
Interview with Marc Levine
March 21, 2021 14:53 - 59 minutes - 54.5 MBMarc Levine is a professor at Duisburg-Essen University, working in algebraic geometry and motivic homotopy theory, and my PhD advisor! In this interview, Marc contemplates how to look for research problems, learn new research areas and move from USA to Germany with your family. Marc's webpage: https://www.esaga.uni-due.de/marc.levine/ Photo: Marc's private photo collection 0:00 teaser 0:48 becoming a mathematician 2:51 family’s reaction 4:48 moving from USA to Germany 6:55 bilin...
Interview with Dustin Clausen
March 13, 2021 13:13 - 1 hour - 60.6 MBDustin Clausen is an associate professor in Copenhagen university, working in algebraic K-theory, homotopy theory and number theory. In this interview, Dustin shares controversial opinions on publishing and grant system, tells about his view on leaving academia, and reproduces very vividly a Tarantino style plot of an interrogation in Moscow, for stealing cookies! P.S. Dustin would like to assure the viewers that he did not steal any cookies. Dustin's homepage: https://www.math.ku.dk/engli...
Interviews with mathematicians: how & why
March 08, 2021 07:36 - 20 minutes - 18.4 MBIn this episode I’m telling about my reasons for making interviews with mathematicians and about the process of doing it. Please leave your feedback for the project in the comments on the Youtube channel! I really appreciate it :) My personal webpage: https://www.muramatik.com 0:00 Comments and feedback are welcome! 0:40 How to help the channel? 01:09 Why I am making the interviews? 02:50 Was I afraid to start the channel? 05:18 Did I have experience with interviews before? 06:1...
Interview with Olga Paris-Romaskevich
February 26, 2021 20:32 - 57 minutes - 53.6 MBOlga Paris-Romaskevich is a CNRS researcher at Marseille Institute of Mathematics, working in dynamical systems. In this interview Olga talks about the joy of popularizing mathematics and shares a truly inspiring story of how she (almost) quit math! Olga's webpage: https://romaskevich.carrd.co https://marielhuissier.carrd.co (Marie Lhuissier, mathematical storyteller) https://www.mathematiquesvagabondes.fr (French association Mathématiques Vagabondes created by Olga Paris-Romaskevich a...
Interview with Rahul Pandharipande
February 26, 2021 20:25 - 56 minutes - 52.3 MBRahul Pandharipande is a professor in ETH Zurich, working in algebraic geometry. In this interview, Rahul talks about advising PhD students and maintaining a big research group, the role of mathematics in the world and the intuition behind mathematical problems. Rahul's webpage: https://people.math.ethz.ch/~rahul/ 0:00 teaser 0:25 math vs physics 4:38 proof is the last thing 6:55 misconceptions about math research among students 9:46 PhD students teach Rahul 12:32 personal feel...
Interview with Adebisi Agboola
February 26, 2021 20:22 - 1 hour - 56.5 MBAdebisi Agboola is a professor in UCSB, working in number theory and arithmetic geometry. In this interview you get to hear non-standard opinions on many questions, such as encouragement to do math among minorities, working on a Millenium problem and the rules of doing mathematics. Bisi's homepage: https://web.math.ucsb.edu/~agboola/ 0:00 teaser 0:43 hating math 5:45 teaching math to small kids 9:38 explaining your research to non-mathematicians 13:11 following math talks 15:2...
Interview with Thomas Nikolaus
February 26, 2021 20:10 - 40 minutes - 36.9 MBThomas Nikolaus is a professor in the University of Münster, working in algebraic K-theory and homotopy theory. In this interview Thomas talks, among other things, about non-standard approaches to math seminars, the importance of branching out and asking questions, and the lack of feedback in the mathematical community. Thomas' homepage. 0:00 teaser 0:50 changing research areas 3:22 learning vs working 5:44 teaching advice 6:53 branching out 8:15 advising PhD students 10:09 wr...
Interview with Hélène Esnault
February 25, 2021 21:28 - 1 hour - 58.8 MBHélène Esnault is an Einstein Professor in Freie Universitaet Berlin, working in algebraic geometry. In this interview Hélène talks, among other things, about social discrimination, her passions to poetry and philosophy, and her work at the Fields Medal Committee. Hélène's homepage: http://page.mi.fu-berlin.de/esnault/ 0:00 Social discrimination 6:57 Passionate about humanities 12:00 Struggle of solving math problems, being different 17:44 Focusing on math and intuition 21:25 Mom...
Interview with Inna Zakharevich
February 25, 2021 21:04 - 49 minutes - 45.3 MBInna Zakharevich is an assistant professor in Cornell University, working in algebraic topology and K-theory. In this interview Inna talks, among other things, about the psychological struggles of doing research, about insecurity and possible ways of dealing with it, and about her approach to a math-life balance. Inna's book recommendations from the interview: 1) Paul Zeitz "The Art and Craft of Problem Solving" 2) J. Littlewood, B. Bollobas "Littlewood's Miscellany" Inna's homepage: h...