PODCAST · education
OxPods
by OxPods
The podcast by Oxford students and their professors. OxPods aims to create thought-provoking and easily digestible podcast episodes, made for anyone with an interest in the world around them. Each episode entails an Oxford student interviewing one of their world-leading professors on the niche, weird, and wonderful of their subjects. With episodes exploring the nooks and crannies of the Natural Sciences, English, History, Human Sciences, and PPE, OxPods has something for everyone.If you would like the transcript of an episode, please get in touch with us via email - [email protected]
Episodes
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Ashrams and the War on Non-Violence
How do religious communities engage with questions of empire, power, peace, and political action? And what can these debates tell us about global histories of non-violence? I’m Robert Taylor, a History DPhil student at New College, researching the post-1945 British counterculture’s interest in...
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Sufi Islam and Western Followers
What is Sufism? How do we investigate its global history? And through what processes did it come to influence those in the West? I’m Robert Taylor, a History DPhil student at New College, researching the post-1945 British counterculture’s interest in India. Today I’m joined by Nile Green, a...
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Hinduism and Comparative Religion
What is Hinduism? Where does it come from? How do we look at it comparatively? And which ideas have made it so influential outside of South Asia? I’m Robert Taylor, a History DPhil student at New College, researching the post-1945 British counterculture’s interest in India. Today I’m joined by...
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Soviet Hippiedom
How did hippiedom manifest in the Soviet Union? What were the differences between Western and Russian hippies? What are the problems and possibilities of using oral history to tell these sometimes-controversial stories? And how did the political views of some hippies change after the 60s and 70s?...
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Gulag Fiction: Narratives of Soviet Imprisonment
Formally emerging in 1929, the Gulag was a vast system of incarceration that came to reach every corner of the USSR. At its peak, in the early 1950s, 2.5 million citizens were interned in its camps and settlements; over its lifetime, an estimated 20 million people were forcibly imprisoned. In…
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The Evolution of Autosexual Behaviour
Across the animal kingdom sexual behaviours have evolved which increase the chances of individuals finding a mate and successfully reproducing. However, some are more of a challenge to explain than others. Masturbation has historically been considered a behaviour which hasn’t evolved to directly...
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The History of Yoga
What is the history of Yoga? And how can something apparently Indian have become such an everyday activity for people across the world? I’m Robert Taylor, a History DPhil student at New College, researching the post-1945 British counterculture’s interest in India. Today I’m joined by Dr Suzanne...
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Witchcraft in the English Imagination
The witch craze that gripped early modern Europe has been the subject of many studies. What can we learn about English society in this period through the lens of belief in and persecution of witches? To begin to answer these questions, Charlie Bowden, a History student at Jesus College, speaks to...
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British 'Hippiedom' and the Idea of India
The British hippie movement of the 1960s left an indelible mark on popular culture and woven into this counterculture was a fascination with Indian spiritual practices. When the Beatles went to India, for instance, what did they hope to find and to what extent were their hopes wrapped up in...
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A History of Western Fascination with the East
The ‘East’ has held a special place in the British cultural imagination. But how can we chart this historically? And how useful are frameworks of ‘East’ and ‘West’ within a modern world connected by technology? I’m Robert Taylor, a first-year History DPhil student at New College, researching the...
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Giant Otters
To most, otters are those small fluffy creatures that lie back, hold hands and drift off into the sunset. In this episode, PhD student Claire Marr shakes up that expectation in conversation with 4th-year Biology student, Emily Jones, and introduces us to the giant otter: the 2-metre-long…
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The Five Senses in Medieval Thought
Understanding the five senses is a foundational element of modern education, but how long has this been the case throughout history? Where did the idea originate and how did it survive when so many other conceptions of human biology from the past have been disproven? To find out more about this...
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Decolonisation in Lusophone Africa
This episode explores the diplomatic strategies of Lusophone African liberation movements at the United Nations. We speak with Maria de Costa to discuss how movements in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau built international alliances and shaped their political identities to push for...
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Writing Queer History
Queer history is a relatively new addition to the lexicon of historical analysis, and questions remain about how best to approach the study of queerness in the past. To what extent can we 'find' queer identity in the past? In this episode, Charlie Bowden, a History student at Jesus College…
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The First Thousand Years of Christianity
The development of Christianity in the centuries following the death of Jesus was far from plain sailing. Which ideas and authors played the most significant roles in the shape of the religion as it entered the second millennium? To query this, Charlie Bowden, a History student at Jesus College,...
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Decoding Climate Misinformation: Strategies for Navigating the Climate Conversation
Climate change is understandably a current hot topic (no pun intended) that many of us care a lot about. But how good is our climate literacy, really? Three panellists from Oxford take on this topic, bringing in their expertise - from law to sustainable development. This is the perfect episode…
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What is History Now?
Host: Charlie Bowden Editor: Charlie Bowden In celebration of the 300th anniversary of the establishment of the Regius Professorship of History at Oxford, the History Faculty organised a research event entitled ‘What is History now?’ at Trinity College. Charlie Bowden, a History student at Jesus...
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Creolization in Medieval Latin Europe
Description: The process of creolization, in which various languages and cultures mix into diverse new forms, has been an underutilised tool in historical analysis for some time. In the context of medieval Latin Europe and the development of myriad successor states after the collapse of the…
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The Normalization of the Radical Right
Our final episode of the academic year! An interview with Nuffield College postdoctoral prize research fellow Vicente Valentim on the theory put forward in his upcoming book “The Normalization of the Radical Right: A Norms Theory of Political Supply and Demand.” Dr Valentim discusses how far…
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Post-War Education and Youth Politics
British society was fundamentally shifted by the Second World War, and among the many transformations that took place in the post-war years, those experienced by young people in respect to their education and political engagement were among the most significant. To explore this topic further, in...
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OxSci x OxPods: Post-COVID-19 Era
Pandemics of the past highlight the persistent threat of disease throughout human history. It might seem that our repeated encounters with infectious diseases should have better prepared us for such cases. Yet, the COVID-19 pandemic was not without its own challenges. In this episode of Oxpods,...
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Week 5 Blues? Depression, Depressive Symtoms, and Resiliance.
Depression has developed from a taboo topic to one that is widely spoken about and investigated in recent years. There are several debates surrounding its heritability, symptoms whether diagnosis can have a positive or negative impact on an individual. In this episode, Aylin Gurleyen, a 2nd-year...
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OxSci x OxPods: Re-imagining Justice for Humans and More-than-humans
When we read anthropological accounts, it is easy to overlook the extensive fieldwork and lived experiences that inform them. How can anthropologists interrogate the ethics of their discipline, and fundamentally, what does anthropology offer? In this episode of Oxpods, Ushika Kidd, a second-year...
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From Hercules to the Hulk: Examining the Superhero
Starting in comic books and more recently appearing in movies and television shows, characters like Captain America and Superman have become household names. But where did these superheroes come from? And what do they reveal about our modern era? Examining the evolution of the superhero from its...
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Pot-Banging and Protest in Twentieth-Century Spain
Traditions of political protest in Spain, particularly the practices of caceroladas and cencerradas, have frequently been conflated by modern scholars as they are both actions rooted in the production of sound. In this episode Charlie Bowden, a History student at Jesus College, speaks to Dr…
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Shark on the Menu: Balancing Consumption and Conservation in Fisheries Management
Over 3.3 billion people get almost 20% of their protein from seafood. The consumption of species from wild populations is pivotal in preventing malnutrition and improving food security, especially in developing nations. But this can leave marine populations vulnerable. One group of marine taxa...
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The Sound Worlds of Grime
For such a popular genre of music, Grime is too often ignored in academic musicology. When it is studied, it is often the words rather than the music itself that receives the most attention, ignoring the wealth of sound worlds and production styles that have a crucial role in defining the world's...
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Echo Chambers: Dissecting Media's Role in Cultivating Extremism
Media and extremism have a complex relationship, from the evolution of fringe beliefs into mainstream discourse to the strategies extremists employ to influence public opinion. In the modern context, these issues have manifested themselves throughout the globe and across the political spectrum....
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Conservation Optimism: Shifting Perspectives in Action for Nature
Dire effects of climate change and biodiversity loss seem to encompass almost everything, from the news stories, documentaries, and many forms of literature. Climate pessimism highlights the narrative of planet ‘collapse’ with its natural processes and species. Even with such unprecedented...
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‘Discomfortable Bodies’ in Renaissance Literature.
The literature of the Renaissance is full of fascinating undercurrents, and using different approaches to these works opens conversations around some difficult themes, indeed certain works of literature from the 16th and 17th centuries create feelings of ‘discomfort’. This term can be used to...
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Late Medieval Nostalgia
Nostalgia is often framed as a uniquely modern phenomenon, but scholars have increasingly noticed that a longing for ‘the good old days’ stretches much farther back in history than you might think. Some time periods are perceived as hotbeds of nostalgia due to fast-paced social change, and the…
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The Depression Question
Depression has developed from a taboo topic to one that is highly spoken about and investigated. There are a number of debates surrounding the theme: its heritability, its symptoms, and whether diagnoses can have a positive or negative impact. Aylin Gurleyen, a second-year psychologist at…
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Superconductors
Superconductors are fascinating. When sufficiently cooled, they lose all their electrical resistance, becoming an effective perfect conductor of electricity. This intriguing property already sees use in MRI machines and particle colliders (like CERN’s particle collider). However, currently known...
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The Afterlife of Classical Literature
The Literature of the Classical world can seem distant to us, separated by 2000 years and all the changes that came during those years. But throughout that time, Classics has been understood and used in ways which enrich our understanding of these original texts as well as our understanding of…
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Postmodern Historiography
Postmodernism - the idea that human language can never fully capture reality - has been a buzzword since the second half of the 20th century. But how have postmodern ideas influenced historiography - the writing of history? In this episode, Minh Nguyen, a 2nd-year history undergraduate at New...
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When We Weren't Human: Discussing the Last Common Ancestor of the Pan and Homo Genera
Within evolutionary anthropology, a persistent yet pervasive question is that of the traits of the LCA. The LCA is the last common ancestor shared by the humans, or the Homo genus, and chimpanzees and bonobos, otherwise known as the Pan genus. Learning about the LCA can inform us of what it…
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Making International Institutions Work
In a time of great global challenges and injustices, international institutions are vital in tackling these shared problems. Yet, while positive in intention, many international institutions have been worryingly ineffective in practice. So why is this the case? Why do some international...
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The Island Syndrome
The trajectory of evolving species is strongly affected by the environment in which they exist, and one particularly interesting example of this is when organisms evolving on islands differ predictably from their continental counterparts through a suite of morphological and behavioural traits,...
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Shakespeare Today
The works of William Shakespeare are synonymous with English identity, but why is this? Why is a 16th-century playwright still considered relevant today? And why are some of our favourite rom-coms based on his plays? In this episode of OxPods, English Language and Literature undergraduate Freya...
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The Evolution of Intelligent Life on Earth
Intelligent life on our planet arrived relatively late on a geological timescale, but why did life take so long to evolve and how have major catastrophic events, such as meteorite impacts, shaped the evolution of complex life? In this episode, Elyse Airey, a biology undergraduate at Queen's...
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The Church in Tudor England
England was mired in the political and theological pressures of the Reformation under the Tudor dynasty, but popular perception of its monarchy and people have often obscured the true nature of religious change in the sixteenth century. In this episode, Charlie Bowden, a History student at Jesus...
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The Power and Pitfalls of Expertise in Politics
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, medical experts ranging from statisticians and demographers to virologists and consultants were depended upon by politicians. Their advice had serious implications for the country: but what is and ought to be the role of experts in governance, national and...
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The Enigma of Sex
Sex is so widespread that you could assume it’s essential for life as we know it, playing a central role in the evolution and development of animal and human societies. However, it’s not the only way of producing offspring, and compared to asexual reproduction, sex actually entails a number of...
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A Barbie Girl in a Barbie Sound World
The 2023 Barbie movie was a massive box office hit, with an incredible construction of 'Barbie World'. The soundtrack played a huge role in this world-building, with its heavy use of synthesised instruments and hyperpop creating what can only be described as a sense of 'plasticity'. In this...
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Machiavelli's Political Legacy
Niccolò Machiavelli was one of the foremost political theorists of the Renaissance. His treatise ‘The Prince’ has enjoyed immense notoriety as an instruction manual for good leadership of a state, even being required reading for civil servants when Alastair Campbell oversaw Downing Street...
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Animals in Literature
Literature is full of talking animals, from modern works like Paddington to Middle English works like The Owl and The Nightingale. But why do writers create non-speaking animals that speak? And why employ animals in literature at all? In this episode of OxPods, English Language and Literature...
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Popular Politics in Early Modern England
The common people have had representation in English political life since the establishment of Parliament, but it wasn’t until the sixteenth century that a ‘public sphere’ truly emerged outside of the halls of Westminster. The rise of the mercantile classes, particularly in London, gave the…
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Forensic Anthropology Now
In life and in death, our bodies have stories to tell. Isabelle Rycroft, third-year Human Scientist at St Hugh's College, is joined by Professor Sue Black to discuss the ever-advancing field of Forensic Anthropology. Sue Black is one of the world-leading forensic anthropologists and anatomists....
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Turning Back the Tide of Butterfly Extinction
Forty years ago, the large blue butterfly was extinct in Britain. The intensification of farming has pushed half of the butterfly species in the UK to the brink of extinction. However, at Daneway Banks Nature Reserve in Gloucestershire, the large blue butterfly has made a comeback. In this…
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Halloween Special: Witchcraft and Witch-Hunting
While now a favourite Halloween costume, being a witch in the early modern period was a serious matter. Between the years 1400 and 1782, around 40,000-60,000 people, primarily women, were executed in Europe for being "witches." Who were these witches and why were they so feared? In this episode,...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The podcast by Oxford students and their professors. OxPods aims to create thought-provoking and easily digestible podcast episodes, made for anyone with an interest in the world around them. Each episode entails an Oxford student interviewing one of their world-leading professors on the niche, weird, and wonderful of their subjects. With episodes exploring the nooks and crannies of the Natural Sciences, English, History, Human Sciences, and PPE, OxPods has something for everyone.If you would like the transcript of an episode, please get in touch with us via email - [email protected]
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OxPods
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does OxPods have?
OxPods currently has 86 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is OxPods about?
The podcast by Oxford students and their professors. OxPods aims to create thought-provoking and easily digestible podcast episodes, made for anyone with an interest in the world around them. Each episode entails an Oxford student interviewing one of their world-leading professors on the niche,...
How often does OxPods release new episodes?
OxPods has 86 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to OxPods?
You can listen to OxPods 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 OxPods?
OxPods is created and hosted by OxPods.
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