Episodes
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Who did Plato (not) love?
Platonic love? Plato's main text on love, the Symposium, takes a broad look at what love means, offering a serious yet humorous, poignant and flippant, literary philosophical discussion of the topic, with some famous but also surprising outcomes.
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If marriage is a trade, then what price romance?
Theatre was a forum for early twentieth-century feminists to challenge romantic ideals of marriage, arguing against society blocking women's access to alternative professions. Did one playwright solve the problem of selling seats without selling out?
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Not only the lonely: the social implications of the rise of online dating
Dr Hogan explores values towards online dating, relating them to whether one's friends have dated online and whether social network software or online personals are responsible for the continued rise in popularity of online dating. This presentation will explore the many facets of online dating...
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Swirls and secrets: the mysteries of Jonathan Swift's love letters
In Swift's letters to his adored Stella, we see an elaborate combination of language and code to tease his reader but still communicate intimacy. The denial of full disclosure and the refusal to reveal all is part of the game of seduction.
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An advert for the lecture series "Love and other things"
This advert introduces a series of 4 talks on the subject of love and romance. The 10 minute talks took place at Oxford University on Valentine's day 2011.
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Darwin and Friends
Professor Robin Dunbar explores if there is a limit to the number of friends we can keep track of and explains the origin of "Dunbar's Number".
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Blood Disorders and Human Malaria
Professor Sunetra Gupta explains the surprising relationship between blood disorders and malaria in humans. Could two blood disorders ever be better than one? Part of the Oxford Abridged series of short talks.
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Slime Moulds to run the railways?
Should we let slime moulds run our railways? Slime moulds can produce networks as efficient, cost-effective and resilient as railway networks designed by people, despite having no central control over what they build.
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Success of the Smelliest - Sexual attraction and pheromones
Sexual attraction and pheromones? Dr. Tristram Wyatt talks about pheromones and evolution in a short talk about the "Success of the smelliest". Recorded as part of an ongoing series of short lectures.
About this show
Short interesting lectures from top Oxford academics. Includes a series of short lectures about love, held on Valentines Day 2011.
Hosted by
Oxford University
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