PODCAST · science
Maths at:
by Thomas E. Woolley, Ben M. Parker, The Wonderful Liz
Maths at: the Movies is a twice-monthly podcast that celebrates, critiques and laughs at all the movies that have ever tried to portray the beauty of logical thought on the silver screen.Helping to untangle the presented numerical mysteries are the scatter-brained mathematicians, Dr Thomas E. Woolley (Cardiff University) and Dr Ben M. Parker (University of Southampton), whilst the voice of the interested observer is ably supplied by The Wonderful Liz. The general knowledge of the hosts will also be supported by special guests with specific expertise.
Episodes
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Maths at: The FUTURE!
Back to the future. There's no maths in it. We just wanted to watch a good film. I suppose we should talk about it too. In today's programme: we travel through time at a rate of 1 second/second. is Harry Potter better than Back to the Future? how do the laws of physics change when we're moving?…
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Maths at: Easter
When is Easter? I literally have no clue. Today's Maths at: justifies this ignorance! In today's programme: we fail to do basic arithmetic; should you use Salad Cream at Easter? Thomas loses his mind. Further reading: So... when is Easter? Check your ethical compass. Subscribe via iTunes. Follow…
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Maths at: Wordle
It's like the last day of school, because we are playing games! Wordle, Guess who, Hangman. Never has maths been so much fun. Further reading: Guess who fanfic What is the best Guess Who strategy? Three blue One Brown’s strategy for Wordle. Can you solve the longest word ladder? Subscribe via...
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Maths at: The Number 23
Did you know that: the Earth tilts at 23 degrees on its axis? (Well it's actually closer to 23.5 and degrees are an arbitrary unit of measurement); 2 divided by 3 is 0.666 recurring? (Although if you round it properly it would be 0.667, which is the Devil's next door neighbour); if you rearrange...
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Maths at: Bitcoin
It is with a heavy heart that we have to inform all of our viewers and listeners that The Wonderful Liz, otherwise known as Lydia Menzies passed away in late 2020. Lydia, by her own choice, wanted to be enigmatic. So although you gained glimpses into her past career as a school teacher you rarely...
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Maths at: Long-tailed tits & Lovelace
TITS! Tits. TiTs... TIIIIIIITS, (tits) t...i...t...s Yup, we we've found our level. This week we're joined by the wonderful (soon to be doctor) Natasha Ellison (good luck, Natasha!), from the Unviersity of Sheffield and she takes us on a whirlwind tour of her thesis results of where you should…
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Maths at: Tidying & toilets
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that noone likes tidying up. So, if you want a reason to not bother then give us a listen. Once again your regulars, Ben, Liz and Thomas, seek answers to such questions as: Why are people in London Freezing? Do butterflies fart? How many toilets do you need...
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Maths at: Fantasy Football (Part 2)
The first episode got us all up to speed as to what on earth Fantasy Football was all about. The Maths at: team is now ready to plunder the depths of Josh's strategies and Thomas has been editing in haste. We can 100% guarantee that if you follow the strategy as specifed by Josh you will be in…
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Maths at: Fantasy Football (Part 1)
WELCOME TO A NEW DIMENSION OF MATHS AT: We recorded our first ever video, so that we may delight your eyes, as well as your ear canals. However, for those of you still living in the 20th century we've stripped the video off. Of course, you'll miss the visual tom foolery, but we're sure that your...
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Maths at: The Election
WE'RE BACK FOR A ONE OFF SPECIAL! What could be special enough to bring us back? Well nothing more than a bloomin' election! That's right we're going to look at how maths infuses even our democratic duties. Today's discussion points: How are Thomas and Liz now that they're parents? How do we deal...
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Maths at: Season 2 Bloopers
We can't be perfect all the time. From everyone at maths at have a good year and we hope to be back at some point in the future.
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Maths at: Magictown
WE DID IT! Another series done! Marriages, prenancies, black holes, none of these stopped us getting the best quality maths film chat from our mouths to your ears. The question is: after all that will there be a third series? Today's discussion points: Are opinion polls pointless? Which way does...
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Maths at: Travelling Salesman
The government didn't want you to hear this podcast. They tried to pay us off! Just remember as you listen to it: we are not responsible for any repercussions if you decide to watch Travelling Salesman. Today's discussion points: How many tickets do you have to buy to win the lottery? Squashed...
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Maths at: Contact
Maths at... proudly* sponsored by Prof. Elizabeth Baldwin! *we have no idea of how proud she is. Care to sponsor an episode? It'll cost you 77p! Sorry about the quality of Thomas' microphone, he had trouble recording. Won't happen again (until the next). This week we watched Contact and are…
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Maths at the Movies: The Martian
Another sexy, sexy episode this week as we are joined by the NAKED MATHEMATICIAN Dr Thomas Crawford Get ready to feel dull by comparison! Today's discussion points include: Everyone's links to Countdown; Thomas tells us about the Greeks; Can you tell the difference between Jeff Daniels and Jeff...
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Math at the Movies: x+y
Well, this was a pain in the backside to edit. The film is so tawdry and dull that we kept getting lost on tangents. Fear not though faithful listener, Thomas has edited the two hours of guff down to a single hour of solid... bronze. Today's discussion points include: How should you flip a...
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Maths at the Movies: CUBE
This week is a little different, and I've got to say perhaps one of the most interesting episodes we've ever done! We are joined by the multi-talented Dr Lyle Skains who uses her research knowledge of evolutionary biology and digital literature to show us how to really write a good movie!...
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Maths at the Movies: Fermat's Room
Welcome to the strangely erotic episode of Maths at, where we watch the tense, psychological thriller, Fermat's Room (or La Habitación de Fermat, for you Spanish speakers) and we ask the real questions of... WHAT HAPPENED ON THE BOAT? As per usual, the time line is all wonky. This episode does...
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Maths at the Movies: Good Will Hunting
Last week we did A Beautiful Mind and now Good Will Hunting. We are really hitting all the well-known maths films at the moment aren't we? More importantly joining us this week we have the wonderful Dr James Grime Philanthropist, playboy, billionaire... he is none of this things, but he may have...
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Maths at the Movies: A Beautiful Mind
Ok, so the "Maths at" timeline is a mess. The Christmas episode was recorded in November. The Christmas episode reveals secrets from later on in the series. We tried to hide these secrets in the Mean Girls episode, which was recorded around seventh, but released first. When we I say that we've…
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Maths at the Movies: Mean Girls
Mean girls... Mean girls? MEAN GIRLS! There is no font, size or punctuation mark that does full justice to Thomas' anger. This week, for some inexplicable reason, we watched the movie: Mean Girls. Join us as: Liz tries to convince Thomas that "Do you even go here?" is a funny line; Thomas' blood...
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Maths at: Christmas 2018
Nadolig Llawen to all our Listeners We hope Sion Corn has visited you on this fine festive day. For indeed we are BACK! And this episode went a bit Welsh! Much to Ben's chagrin. In this episode we find out: the female version of phallic; what eggnog actually is; how NORAD tracks santa; and how...
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Maths at: pi day
Happy pi day everyone. We figure that pi day is the like Hallowe'en for mathematicians. It's a day they get to cut loose and throw away their inhibitions. As such Lorraine's intro pertaining to strong language is particularly pertinent for today's podcast. It starts out quite coarse. So sit back,...
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Maths at: Valentine's day
Although we've finished our first series, we couldn't miss St Valentine's day. What could be more romantic than scientifically analysing love and romance using mathematics? Amongst other things we discuss: Why should you dump the first 37% of your partners? How many snogs away from Prince Charles...
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Maths at the Movies: Interstellar plus SPECIAL GUEST
This week we watch Interstellar. We are very excited to be joined by the expertise of Cat Harris Whereas Thomas and Ben are just about good enough understand their own mathematical fields Cat has a wide range of disciplines under her belt spanning both physics and movie effects. We couldn't ask…
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Maths at the Movies: The Oxford Murders
This week we discuss we discuss The Oxford Murders: Thomas laughs at the word bra; Liz wants a prime number named after her; Ben just wants his coffee bringing to him; And we all think about mathematically defining pasta shapes. Yup, it's a case of a bad movie, with very little to talk about. At...
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Maths at the Movies: Flatland
This week we take a walk in the lower dimensions as we talk about Flatland: The Movie. How much is your life worth? Could 2D animals exist? Did George Orwell rip this story off by adding a third dimension? All of these questions and more are interrupted in our Flatland: The Movie podcast. Join us...
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Maths at: Christmas
It's the most wonderful time... of the year. Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all of our listeners. Join us as we discuss (amongst other things): our favourite Christmas films (not really mathematical); the differences between a mathematicians office Christmas party and an actual Christmas...
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MATM Appendix: Boy born on a Tuesday
During Maths at the Movies: The Imitation Game Ben introduced the following puzzle: I have two children. One of them is a boy. What is the probability that both children are boys? Although counter-intuitive, it can be shown that the solution is 1/3. He also posed a similar, but different…
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Maths at the Movies: Moneyball
In this (Hallowe'en themed?) episode we watch the movie Moneyball. The story of a young mathematician, played by Jonah Hill, struggling to be heard amongst the angry men that make up baseball. And I think Brad Pitt was in there somewhere as well. Can Jonah produce a winning team by redefining how...
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Maths at the Movies: pi
This week we watched pi. Sadly there were no tigers, boats or Dev Patel in this movie. Nope, this film was an avant garde, mood piece, seething with questioning the meaning of truth and its place in the lives of humans and the universe. In other words pretentious. However, none Darren Aronofsky's...
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Maths at the Movies: The Imitation Game plus SPECIAL GUEST
In this episode we watch the movie The Imitation Game. Alongside your regular team of Thomas, Ben and Liz there was only one mathematician with the expertise who could take us through this movie with grace, wit and wisdom. And that mathematician wasn't available so we got Dr James Grimes instead....
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Maths at the Movies: The Man Who Knew Infinity
In this episode we watch the movie The Man Who Knew Infinity. And in this episode we learn that we shouldn't be mean to Dev Patel. You can admire Jeremy Iron's subtle performance of introversion; You can wonder if maths is like Jazz; You can even question whether Ramanujan really was as brilliant...
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Maths at the Movies: Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land
In this episode we watch the movie Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land. Well, this was just weird. Although the animation is beautiful, can you trust the company that told you that lemmings were suicidal to teach you mathematics? Also we cover Donald Duck's terrible gun control and the billiards game...
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Maths at the Movies: Proof
In this episode we watch the movie Proof. Did Gwyneth Paltrow really prove the theorem? What theorem was she trying to prove? How many vaginas does a Time Lord have? All these questions and more are discussed in this weeks Maths at the Movies. If you're interested in watching Proof you can follow...
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MATM Appendix: Who the hell are we?
You've listened to us talk, but what are our credentials? What do we know? What are our backgrounds? When should you take our "facts" at face value and when should you call bullshit? Join us in this appendix to better understand your hosts. Further reading links: you can see this earlier blog…
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Maths at the Movies: 21
In our first ever episode we watch the movie 21. This film has it all: racism, sexism, disableism... and a smattering of mathematics. Join us as we peel back the layers of gambling and card counting to reveal why you should never keep your money in your ceiling and why you'll never be as good a...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Maths at: the Movies is a twice-monthly podcast that celebrates, critiques and laughs at all the movies that have ever tried to portray the beauty of logical thought on the silver screen.Helping to untangle the presented numerical mysteries are the scatter-brained mathematicians, Dr Thomas E. Woolley (Cardiff University) and Dr Ben M. Parker (University of Southampton), whilst the voice of the interested observer is ably supplied by The Wonderful Liz. The general knowledge of the hosts will also be supported by special guests with specific expertise.
HOSTED BY
Thomas E. Woolley, Ben M. Parker, The Wonderful Liz
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Maths at: have?
Maths at: currently has 81 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Maths at: about?
Maths at: the Movies is a twice-monthly podcast that celebrates, critiques and laughs at all the movies that have ever tried to portray the beauty of logical thought on the silver screen.Helping to untangle the presented numerical mysteries are the scatter-brained mathematicians, Dr Thomas E....
How often does Maths at: release new episodes?
Maths at: has 81 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Maths at:?
You can listen to Maths at: on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Maths at:?
Maths at: is created and hosted by Thomas E. Woolley, Ben M. Parker, The Wonderful Liz.
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