ACMEScience

Show notes: https://relprime.com/rpsf/ Transcript: http://relprime.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/funding_transcript.txt

Sorry for the unannounced hiatus that has now lasted for four years, but our host and producer Sam Hansen has had a lot of life events and changes that led them to not be able to devote the time they needed to making the show. We are planning on coming back very soon, but until then please enjoy this episode about the Mathematics of Voting from the podcast Carry the Two made by the Institute for Mathematical and Statistical Innovation where Sam is the new Director of Communications and Engagement. Transcript Link: http://relprime.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/rp_carry_the_two_voting.txt ——————– IMSI is very proud to announce that Carry the Two is back and with a new co-host, IMSI’s new Director of Communications and Engagement Sam Hansen! Subscribe: Apple Podcasts • Spotify • RSS We in the United States are deep in the middle of a major national election, and over half of the world’s population also have elections in 2024. This is why Carry the Two is going to focus on the intersection of mathematics and democracy for our new season. In this episode, the first episode of our mathematics and democracy season, we speak with mathematician Ismar Volić of Wellesley College and Director of the Institute for Mathematics and Democracy and Victoria Mooers, an economics PhD student at Columbia University. We discuss what mathematics has to say about our current plurality voting system, how switching to preference ranking votings systems could limit polarization and negative campaigning, and why too much delegation causes problems for those pushing for Liquid Democracy. Find our transcript here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AyOFx1hRAzf9a8CZX5cQVCZlklmdRiRE/view?usp=sharing Ismar Volić's book: Making Democracy Count: How Mathematics Improves Voting, Electoral Maps, and Representation Institute for Mathematics and Democracy Victoria Mooers article: Liquid Democracy. Two Experiments on Delegation in Voting Follow more of IMSI’s work: www.IMSI.institute, (twitter) @IMSI_institute, (mastodon) https://sciencemastodon.com/@IMSI, (instagram) IMSI.institute Music by Blue Dot Sessions and lowercase n The Institute for Mathematical and Statistical Innovation (IMSI) is funded by NSF grant DMS-1929348

Welcome to episode 6 of Library Failure Confessions from the League of Awesome Librarians. Our confessor in this episode is: Jennifer Stubbs. Jennifer is the Instruction and Outreach Librarian at Bradley University. Library Failure Confessions is edited and produced by Sam Hansen. You can find more about the show at libfails.com/podcast and you can submit your own confession story at libfails.com/podsub. Links to the music and sounds below at: https://libfails.com/2023/10/31/136/ Di Breun by Blue Dot Sessions Soothe by Blue Dot Sessions Plum Blossom by Blue Dot Sessions Jeopardy Theme Law and Order Theme Benboncan Sad Trombone Sorting Through Clothes Window Glass Breaking Man Snoring Paolo Snores Woman Snoring Wakeup Wake Up Scared Vault Door

Welcome to episode 4 of Library Failure Confessions from the League of Awesome Librarians. Our confessor in this episode is: Shelley Carr. Shelley is the Student Engagement Librarian at Seattle University. Library Failure Confessions is edited and produced by Sam Hansen. You can find more about the show at libfails.com/podcast and you can submit your own confession story at libfails.com/podsub. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts Subscribe via Google Play Subscribe via RSS Four Count by Blue Dot Sessions Great Great Lengths by Blue Dot Sessions Cash Register from Freesound Pencil Writing from Freesound

Welcome to episode 4 of Library Failure Confessions from the League of Awesome Librarians. Our confessor in this episode is: Charlie Bennet. Charlie is the Public Engagement Librarian at Georgia Tech. Library Failure Confessions is edited and produced by Sam Hansen and executive produced by Ashley Maynor. You can find more about the show at libfails.com/podcast and you can submit your own confession story at libfails.com/podsub. You can find links to the music and sound effects at: https://libfails.com/2022/11/30/episode-4-charlie/

Welcome to episode 3 of Library Failure Confessions from the League of Awesome Librarians. Our confessor in this episode is: Chanté Hope. Chanté currently serves as the Resource Sharing Librarian at SUNY Old Westbury.  Library Failure Confessions is edited and produced by Sam Hansen and executive produced by Ashley Maynor. You can find more about the show at libfails.com/podcast and you can submit your own confession story at libfails.com/podsub. Music and Sound Effects: Eagles Hotel California Blue Dot Session Heliotrope Broke For Free Wash Out Soft and Furious Superconnected Sleep Zagi2 Military March Veridansunrise Tenhut WebbFilmsUK Marching bpayri chattering Students Avant Debris Women Cheer Inspectorj Party Horn dmjames Sad Party Blower Soundsexciting Crowd Cheering Tim.Khan boo 01 CipoTCX Trauermarsch frei nach Chopin  Sciencectn The Ants Go Jumping Blue Dot Sessions Planting Flags

Welcome to episode 2 of Library Failure Confessions from the League of Awesome Librarians. Our confessor in our debut episode is: Amanda (Mandi) M. Shepp. Mandi currently serves as the Coordinator of Special Collections & Archives in The State University of New York at Fredonia’s Daniel A. Reed Library Special Collections & Archives Division. She presents and writes on topics related to digitization and historical subjects within the realms of Spiritualism, Victoriana, and the Occult. When she’s not elbow-deep in materials from a bygone era, Mandi can be found homebrewing, experimenting in the kitchen, and enjoying life with her happy-go-lucky husband, Chris, and enormous Norwegian Forest Cat, Kujira. Library Failure Confessions is edited and produced by Sam Hansen and executive produced by Ashley Maynor. You can find more about the show at libfails.com/podcast and you can submit your own confession story at libfails.com/podsub. Music and Sound Effects: Dawn Line Approaching by Blue Dot Sessions Brimevil by Blue Dot Sessions Gentle Son by Blue Dot Sessions Trois Gnossiennes 3 by Blue Dot Sessions Bauxite by Blue Dot Sessions Capering by Blue Dot Sessions Chrome and Wax by Blue Dot Sessions Chicken Clucking Record Scratch Who are you! 1 KHz Gasp Planting Flags by Blue Dot Sessions

Welcome to episode 1 of Library Failure Confessions from the League of Awesome Librarians. Our confessor in our debut episode is: Annette M Vadnais (she/her). She is the Student Success and Outreach Librarian at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst which serves 22,000 undergraduates. In this role, she promotes the libraries’ services and resources to the undergraduate population, focusing on first-year students, first-generation students, and transfer students. In her attempt to be approachable she is also known as the Purple Haired Librarian at UMass, Amherst. She even has an alias e-mail of [email protected]. Library Failure Confessions is edited and produced by Sam Hansen and executive produced by Ashley Maynor. You can find more about the show at libfails.com/podcast and you can submit your own confession story at libfails.com/podsub. Music and Sound Effects: https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/26596 https://freesound.org/people/JohnsonBrandEditing/sounds/173932/ https://freesound.org/people/phmiller42/sounds/124996/ https://freesound.org/people/laserlife/sounds/361400/ https://freesound.org/people/taure/sounds/362779/ https://freesound.org/people/xavimuse/sounds/233258/ https://freesound.org/people/lonce/sounds/200995/ https://freesound.org/people/relwin/sounds/250853/ https://freesound.org/people/nickrave/sounds/178068/ https://freesound.org/people/SamsterBirdies/sounds/398979/ https://freesound.org/people/DJ%20Burnham/sounds/67423/ Rebecca Black: Friday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfVsfOSbJY0

Thank you to Bridget Rowan Wipf, Kevin Yanowski, April Cipo, Emily Krug, Keri-Lynn Paulson, Ashley Maynor, & Amanda Belantara for the library sounds. 00:00-00:04 Zoom Voice - ‘This meeting is being recorded’ 00:04-00:28 Computer Start Up Sounds in order: Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows XP, Mac OS X Leopard, Windows 95, Windows Vista, Mac OS X Mountain Lion, Windows 8, Windows 10, Mac OS X Mojave 00:28-00:52 Sound of a dial up modem dialing and connection 00:52-01:20 Sound a chair wheeling around, computer notifications, typing, mouse clicks 01:20-02:12 Sound of the outside with wind chimes, a train whistle, ambient wind, trackpad clicks 02:12-03:00 Chair creeks, mouse clicks, mouses moving around, cat meows and purrs 03:00-03:36 Sound of a large number of people in an echo place speaking indistinct Chinese, milling around, walking on a hard surface 03:36-04:40 Soft piano music, bird chirps, track pad clicks, breathing 04:40-04:47 Mac system noise in order: delete, error, delete, delete, error, error, error, error, error, error, error, delete, delete, delete, empty trash, undo 04:47-05:41 Mouse clicks, a child in the other room saying the alphabet 05:41-06:11 Sound of a large number of people in an echo place speaking indistinct Chinese, laughter, milling around, walking on a hard surface, squeaky door opening 06:11-06:42 Dog breathing, running up and down stair, dog walking on a hard surface, door closing 06:11-07:08 Sound of outside, train whistle far away, door opening, general moving around noises 07:08-07:10 Zoom Voice - “Recording in progress” 07:10-07:50 Sound of a large number of people in an echo place speaking indistinct Chinese, milling around, walking on a hard surface, elevator ding 07:50-08:12 Door opening, dog breathing heavily, dog sneeze, dog walking on hard floor 08:12-08:39 Sound of outside, airplane passing overhead, trackpad clicks, car driving past 08:39-09:27 Piano music, mouse clicks, typing 09:27-09:46 Notification Noises, in order - Phone vibration, email sent, Slack, Discord, Phone Chime, Slack, Discord, Slack, Email Sent, Calendar Notification, Phone Chime, Email Received, Email Received, Email Received, Email Received, Email Received, Email Received, Discord, Slack, Slack, Phone Vibration, Email Sent, Phone Vibration, Calendar Notification, Phone Vibration 09:46-10:09 Sound of a large number of people in an echo place speaking indistinct Chinese, milling around, walking on a hard surface, electronic beep, Heavy door closing 10:09-10:51 Mouse clicks, woodwind music, bird chirps 10:51-11:18 Typing, outdoor noise, car passing, 11:18-11:43 Banjo music, announcement, “May I have your attention please, the library will be closing in 30 minutes. If you need to apply for a library card please do so now”, mouse clicks 11:43-12:24 Mouse clicks, child in other room counting up from 1, mouse moving, indistinct child voice, typing, child shouting “OH YEAH” 12:24-12:33 Windows Shut Down Noises, in order: 3.1, XP, Vista, 8 12:33-12:36 Zoom Voice - “The Recording has Stopped”

On this episode of Relatively Prime, Michole Enjoli and Noelle Sawyer take over for Black in Math Week. They talk to Brea Ratliff and José Vilson, two Black math educators, and discuss what it’s like to be Black in math, what they would say to people making common false statements about Black students in math, and better hopes and dreams for Black students. Black in Math week is November 8th – 13th, 2020! It’s a week on Twitter to celebrate community among and uplift Black mathematicians. Check us out @BlackInMath for updates! Brea is currently pursuing a PhD at Auburn University in Math Education. She is the founder of and CEO Me to the Power of Three and is a past president of the Benjamin Banneker association. José is located in New York City and is the founder and executive director of EDUcolor. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at Teachers College at Columbia University in Sociology and Education. We talk a bit about Afrofuturism in this episode. If you’re interested in checking out more on Afrofuturism, try SpaceBox, a STEM escape room to save astronauts from a virus, and this special minizine from Bitten Magazine! Music: Kirshmusic Transcript available at https://relprime.com/bimw

On this episode of Relatively Prime Samuel is joined by Brittany Rhodes the creator of the amazing monthly mathematics subscription box Black Girl Mathgic. They discuss where the idea of the box came from, what comes in the boxes each month, and why everyone benefits when young Black women are centered in mathematics. If you want to help Brittany and Black Girl Mathgic reach more people you can help out by donating a box. Music: Broke For Free (Night Owl) (Only Instrumental)

On this episode of Relatively Prime Samuel is joined by Brigitte Stenhouse of the Open University to talk about the life and times of Mary, and William, Somerville. Music: Lowercase n

On this month’s Relatively Prime Samuel shares three scenes from the life of Benjamin Banneker. One about a clock, one about a solar eclipse projectsion, and one about a puzzle. You can learn more about the life of Benjamin Banneker by checking out the book The Life of Benjamin Banneker by Silvio Bendini which was essential in the production of this episode and it is available to borrow for free on the Internet Archive or if you prefer a physical copy your library may have it on hand and if they do not the amazing system that is Interlibrary Loan should be able to provide for you. Music: Chris Zabriske Rodrigonzález Griffin Lundin ᕲi̾r̾੮ Porcelai̾n

In this live episode recorded at the 2020 Joint Mathematics Meetings in Denver Samuel Hansen talks about the truth behind the stories we all tell in mathematics. In order to do this they will investigate the actual facts of the Galois narrative, have a conversation about where and when the decimal point appeared with Glen Van Brummelen of Quest University, and play a game of 2 lies and a truth with some people in the audience. The podcast was recorded live on the occupied land of the Arapaho and Cheyenne Nations. Taken finally through violence in the Sand Creek Massacre. Colorado is also the current headquarters of the Southern Ute and Mountain Ute Tribes. There was also parts recorded on the occupied lands of the Anishinaabeg (including Odawa, Ojibwe, and Boodewadomi) and Wyandot tribes.

To wrap up the year 2019 Samuel Hansen is joined by Katie Steckles and Christian Lawson-Perfect of Aperiodical.com to discuss some of the big stories from the world of mathematics this year. The stories they discuss include Hannah Fry's Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, Karen Uhlenbeck's Abel Prize, year two of the Big Internet Math Off, a new multiplication algorithm, a new pi digits record, 33 and 42 as the sum of three cubes, and advances toward solutions for Collatz and Riemann. Music: lowercase n

On this episode of Relatively Prime we explore the thoughts of authors of general audience mathematics books. It features clips from interviews Samuel Hansen conducted with Colin Adams, Ivars Peterson, John Allen Paulos, Jordan Ellenberg, Dave Richeson, Matt Parker, Steve Strogatz, and Alex Bellos. Music: Lowercase n Zombie Horde Sound by Mike Koenig

For this episode of Relatively Prime Samuel decided that instead of speaking to a guest they would instead talk about the research they are conducting now that they are the Mathematics & Statistics Librarian at the University of Michigan. This research looks into how the citations of mathematical publications age over time, and its discussion includes a first for Relatively Prime - Data Sonification! These sonifications were created using Jonathon Middleton's website Musical Algorithms (you hear more about Jonathan and this site on the Relatively Prime Season 1 episode The Score) Music: Lowercase n

On this month's episode of Relatively Prime Samuel Hansen speaks with Professor Mike Spivey from University of Puget Sound about his interactive fiction game A Beauty Cold and Austere. They discuss how interactive fiction and mathematics work together, some of the mathematical puzzles in the game, and just what easter eggs might be hiding within the game. Music: Sepgil Broke for Free A Beauty Cold and Austere Voiceover: Bree Prehn KT Howard

This episode is a bit of a blast from the past. Samuel has recently been going back through some of the old episodes from season 1 and while there were listening to The Score they realized that while the story about Robert Schneider and the non-Pythagorean scale was great it barely scratched the surface of amazing things Robert talked about in the interview. Upon registering to the original conversation, 7 years after it was recorded, Samuel realized not only did the story barely scratch the surface, the rest of the interview was absolutely fascinating. Robert’s mind works in amazing ways and the connections it draws between mathematics and music and art and life need to be heard. There is a reason Samuel considers Robert to be one of their favorite people in the world to talk to. So, sit back, listen, and enjoy Robert Schneider from Apples in Stereo, The Elephant 6 Record Co., and freshly minted mathematics PhD (a degree which had just been begun when this interview was conducted).

On this episode of Relatively Prime Samuel Hansen is joined by fellow podcasters and friends Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett of the Aperiodical to talk about their new mathematical podcast Mathematical Objects. They discuss about where the idea for the podcast came from, how talking about objects can lead to conversations which range from research mathematics to history and back again, and it even features two episodes of their show, one about a shirt and other about a piece of citrus.

On this episode of Relatively Prime Samuel speaks with the founders, Sylvia Bozeman of Spellman College and Rhonda Hughes of Bryn Mawr, a current director, Ami Randunskaya of Pomona College, and a former director, Ulrica Wilson of Morehouse College, of the Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education (EDGE) program. They discuss why EDGE was started, how it transformed from a program to help young women entering graduate school into a multi-academic generation mentoring community, and its impact on mathematics. If you want to support the amazing work EDGE does you can donate at edgeforwome.org

If a person is going to become a mathematician it is important for them to be able to see examples of people like themselves who have already made that journey. All too often this type of representation is few and far between for many mathematically inclined black and brown young people. On this episode of Relative Prime Samuel Hansen is joined by the four co-creators of Mathematically Gifted & Black: Candice Price, Erica Graham, Raegan Higgins, and Shelby Wilson. Together they talk about why they wanted to tell the stories of a wide breadth of black mathematicians lives, the importance of representation, how some of the stories they are still having to tell in 2019 show how much mathematics has to grow, and potentials paths for that growth. Music: Locoflop Nina Simone

Here on Relatively Prime we have discussed mathematical novels and poetry and music and even featured mathematics sketches, but we have yet to talk movies. That oversight is going to rectified on this episode by featuring two interviews Samuel had done with people who have made movies where mathematics is the star.First up is Samuel's conversation with the creators of the Flatland and Flatland² Sphereland animated movies writer and director Dano Johnson and the producer Seth Caplan Then you will here Samuel's interview of Christopher Boone, the creator of the Kickstarter funded mathematics movie Cents. Quick disclaimer, Samuel was one of the funders of the Kickstarter.

On Relatively Prime we talk a lot about mathematicians and their research, but it has been a long time since we have talked about an absolutely integral part of how people end up becoming mathematicians and doing research...Math Teachers. After all if there were no math teachers then who would first tempt us into the world of mathematics with wondrous things like factoring, which is totally what got Samuel hooked. Hey don’t look at them that way, they just love a good difference of two squares quadratic. On this episode of Relatively Prime Samuel speaks with mathematics teacher Jo Morgan. They discuss how Jo went from banking to teaching, how twitter totally changed Jo's teaching practice, and the work Jo does helping teacher to find resources to use in their teaching. To learn more about Jo follow her on twitter and check out her blog Resourceaholic.com.

Samuel has been in the middle of a big move this month, more on this in upcoming episodes, but they did not want you to be without a mathematical podcast to end the old and start the new year so here is a year in review episode (with a special twist)x from Samuel and Peter Rowlett's old podcast Math/Maths. From the original Math/Maths description: In a traditional move for the start of January we attempt a review of the year. In an untraditional move, we choose the year 1811. Samuel and Peter weren't able to speak directly because of the ongoing tension following American independence and the brewing Anglo-American war of 1812, but they cover some mathematical hot topics and the work of several contemporary mathematicians, including Carl Friedrich Gauss, Joseph Fourier, Mary Sommerville, Joseph-Louis Lagrange, Pierre-Simon Laplace, Siméon Denis Poisson and Marie-Sophie Germain, plus the tale of a mathematician born this year: Évariste Galois. Links: Mathematics Chronology for 1800 to 1810 Mathematics Chronology for 1810 to 1820 Math/Maths History Tour of Nottingham - George Green: Miller, Mathematician, and Physicist Carl Friederich Gauss Joseph Fourier Mary Sommerville Joseph-Louis Lagrange Pierre-Simon Laplace Siméon Denis Poisson 200 years of Poisson's ratio Marie-Sophie Germain Evariste Galois Music by Lucas Gonze

This bonus episode of Relatively Prime features a live podcast recording from 2018's Annual MathsJam Gathering. This live podcast featured segments from Math/Maths, Wrong But Useful, Talkdust, Strongly Connected Components/Travels in a Mathematical World/All Squared, The Aperiodcast, Relatively Prime, Taking Maths Further, and a surprise bonus show. It was a blast to record and hopefully also a blast to listen to.

Welcome to the fourth and final episode of the Cycle of Mathematics mini-series from Relatively Prime. In this mini-series we are covering mathematics from its start as an idea to its publication to it inspiring the cycle to start anew. In this this episode we arrive at the inspiration step of the cycle. Specifically we hear from Michelle Girvan from the University of Maryland on how the Watt-Strogatz paper on small world networks discussed in the first episode of this mini-series helped motivate a definitely not insignificant amount of Michelle's research. Stayed tuned for to this feed for a special bonus live mathematics podcast recorded at MathsJam 2018 which will be dropping in a couple of weeks. It is a weird one and I think y'all will enjoy it. Music: ARSY LOCOFLOP

Live from MathsJam 2018 come the weirdest mathematical podcast ever recorded. This meta-podcast is also an episode of All Squared, Math/Maths, Wrong but Useful, Talk Dust, Strongly Connected Components, The Aperiodcast, Relatively Prime, and Taking Maths Further, with a special super secret bonus podcast. Thank you to all the shows which agreed to take part.

Welcome to the third episode of the Cycle of Mathematics mini-series from Relatively Prime. In this mini-series we are covering mathematics from its start as an idea to its publication to it inspiring the cycle to start anew. In this this episode we bring to you a tour of where mathematics articles go after they are published so that they may be found, Mathematical Reviews/MathSciNet. Samuel is shown the path a paper follows through the Mathematical Reviews by Managing Editor Norm Richert, with stops to talk to many department heads along the way. Stayed tuned for next month's final entry in the Cycle of Mathematics mini-series which will feature mathematics which was directly inspired by the work featured in the first episode of the mini-series.

Welcome to the second episode of the Cycle of Mathematics mini-series from Relatively Prime. In this mini-series we are covering mathematics from its start as an idea to its publication to it inspiring the cycle to start anew. In this this episode we bring to you the story of the hidden labor of mathematical research, that of the editors and the peer review referees. In order to do this Samuel spoke with Rachel Kuske, then of the University of British Columbia and now the Chair of Mathematics at Georgia Tech, and W. Ted Mahavier of Lamar University. They spoke about how an editor manages a peer review process, the three things a peer review referee needs to check, and why there is so little time for peer reviewing. Stayed tuned for next month's entry in the Cycle of Mathematics mini-series which will feature a behind the scenes tour of one of the most important buildings in mathematics. Music: Lowercase n

Welcome to the new Cycle of Mathematics mini-series from Relatively Prime. In this mini-series we will be covering mathematics from its start as an idea to its publication to it inspiring the cycle to start anew. In this first episode we bring to you the story of the ground breaking small-world network research of Duncan Watts and Steven Strogatz which spawned the mathematical discipline of network theory. This work was published in Nature in 1998 in a paper title Collective dynamics of 'small-world' networks. In order to tell this tale Samuel spoke with Duncan themself to get the inside story on where the idea came from, the process of the research, and why Duncan had to bring extra calling cards on a trip to Catalonia. Stayed tuned for next month's entry in the Cycle of Mathematics mini-series which will be all about the behind the scenes of mathematical publication. Music: P C III Jahzzar

As this is being written there is around 18 hours left in the final match of the Aperiodical's Big Internet Math Off between Matt Parker and Dr. Nira Chamberlin. In honor of the final Samuel got on the phone and talked with the creator of the Math Off Christian Lawson-Perfect about where the idea came from and what it has been like to run. Samuel also got a hold of Dr. Nira Chamberlin who was kind enough to take carve out some time from a busy schedule at a new job to take a call from Samuel to discuss what it has been like to take part and make it to the final of the Math Off. UPDATE! After the episode originally went out Samuel was able to get in touch with Matt Parker for a discussion of Matt's unique strategy in the competition and why breaking voting systems can be fun. Please enjoy this episode, and make sure to hurry up and vote in the final match of the Big Internet Math Off. Music: lowercase n

As this is being written there is around 18 hours left in the final match of the Aperiodical's Big Internet Math Off between Matt Parker and Dr. Nira Chamberlin. In honor of the final Samuel got on the phone and talked with the creator of the Math Off Christian Lawson-Perfect about where the idea came from and what it has been like to run. Samuel also got a hold of Dr. Nira Chamberlin who was kind enough to take carve out some time from a busy schedule at a new job to take a call from Samuel to discuss what it has been like to take part and make it to the final of the Math Off. Many attempts were made to include Matt Parker, but travel and time zones got in the way. Please enjoy this episode, and make sure to hurry up and vote in the final match of the Big Internet Math Off. Music: lowercase n

Sadly Samuel did not make it to the final round of The Aperiodical's Big Internet Math Off, but lucky for y'all in a fit of profound arrogance, as well as trying to deal with some potential scheduling issues which could have accompanied victory, they had already made all of their entries. Instead of letting them languish in the dust bin of mathematical communication history Samuel has decided to release them anyway. This would-be semi-final entry is all about checkers, well checkers and AI and hubris and death and rivalry and the devil's work. In fact this is really a re-airing of the Series 1 episode Chinook which Samuel will happily tell you is the greatest story they have ever had the story to tell. Music and Effects: Ken MacLeod tim.kahn dr_skitz DickBlox misjoc Here is the description from the originally episode's post: You may not think of checkers as an important game intellectually. It certainly has never had the cachet of chess. That did not stop it from becoming the obsession of the University of Alberta computer science professor for nearly two decades and the center of one of the most ambitious Artificial Intelligence projects ever undertaken. This is their story. Jonathan Schaeffer is a Computer Science Professor at the University of Alberta where he is also the current Dean of the Faculty of Science. Download the Uncut Jonathan Schaeffer Interview Chinook is the greatest checkers player in the world, in fact it is impossible to beat. The product of an 18 year project in computer artificial intelligence, Chinook represents one of the greatest breakthroughs in computer game playing and was the first machine to ever hold a human world championship. Music: sr_cafe Mgen Joe Nathan 007 sciencectn (2) (3) xlcntr marcalexandre thedeadsoul amethystdeceiver _Oce_

Sadly Samuel did not make it to the semi-final round of The Aperiodical's Big Internet Math Off, but lucky for y'all in a fit of profound arrogance, as well as trying to deal with some potential scheduling issues which could have accompanied victory, they had already made all of their entries. Instead of letting them languish in the dust bin of mathematical communication history Samuel has decided to release them anyway. This would-be semi-final entry is all about Gerrymandering. It features interviews taken from two different episodes, Mathematistan from the second season and Re District from the third. Check out those episodes to find out more about the guests and their work. Music and Effects: Ken MacLeod tim.kahn dr_skitz DickBlox misjoc

Sadly Samuel did not make it to the second round of The Aperiodical's Big Internet Math Off, but lucky for y'all in a fit of profound arrogance, as well as trying to deal with some potential scheduling issues which could have accompanied victory, they had already made all of their entries. Instead of letting them languish in the dust bin of mathematical communication history Samuel has decided to release them anyway. This would-be second round entry is all about William Rowan Hamilton, quaternions, and the walk in their honor. It includes a beautiful song by Jess Charlton.You can hear the PRX STEM Story Project funded piece some of the tape was originally gathered for here. Don't forget to vote in the second round of The Big Internet Math Off even though Samuel is not in it. All the apologies to Lin-Manuel. Music and Effects: Ken MacLeod tim.kahn dr_skitz DickBlox misjoc Hamilton Jess Charlton

It is time for the first round of the 1st ever Aperiodical.com Big Internet Math Off! In the first round Samuel is facing off against Paul Taylor, and they need y'all's help to win. Head over to the match page and vote for Samuel so they can tell y'all about what an Irish bridge, graffiti, and the letters i, j, and k have to do with getting to the moon in the second round. For their first round entry Samuel shares with you the story of why your, well not you wise, beautiful listener but definitely for everyone you know, their friends have more friends than they do and how this paradox can help fight epidemics. If after listening you want to find out more about why your friends have more friends than you do you can read Scott's paper and check out Nicholas's work or you can listen below to the season one RelPrime episode a longer version of this story was in. Samuel also wrote an expository piece about the friendship paradox for Second-Rate minds you might want to check out. Music and Effects: Ken MacLeod tim.kahn dr_skitz DickBlox misjoc

Hear the whole episode at https://relprime.com/theunexpected Scott Feld is a Professor of Sociology at Purdue University and is the author of the best titled research paper in the history of science: “Why Your Friends Have More Friends Than You Do” Nicholas Christakis is a physician and social scientist who works as a Professor at Harvard University in the Departments of Health Care Policy, Medicine, and Sociology. He has done extensive work into the relationship between social networks and health with his collaborator James Fowler.

Script transcript: Yes, yes, yes I finally did it, I finally found a password that works. Let’s log in, get to hacking Let’s see what is in here, Ohh userlist.txt, let’s see if I can read that user list dot t x t : Permission denied Damn! Maybe I can copy it from the server to my machine. Just open up a new terminal and scp and … sscp: forward slash user list dot t x t Permission denied Come on, all that time finding web user’s password and they have the right privileges. What a waste… Guess I’ll just gonna have to find a way to escalate my privileges That incredibly realistic reenactment of a hack in progress gives us a good starting point to discuss just why privilege escalation vulnerabilities are so dangerous. When a machine or network is initially set up all of the users are typically given only the access to the files and read, write, execute permissions they need. Take for example the webuser account on the Wisc.edu server. It seems they did not need to be able to read or to copy the user list file, much to the chagrin of our hacker. Which is why they wanted to escalate their privileges. By doing this escalation our hacker will be trying gain more access to files and read write execute permissions on the server, but really our hacker will not be satisfied until they gain the ultimate privileges, those of the root, or administrator, account. Once the hacker has root there is very little they are unable to do. They can read, write, and execute all files and change any settings they want. There is no one vector for privilege escalation vulnerabilities. They can come from anywhere including in the form of buggy operating systems, incorrect configuration set ups, poor software design, or really smart hackers. For example on Windows XP there was a bug where attacker who had access to a user account that was able to modify a screen saver, which was essentially any user, could exploit that the screen saver ran with SYSTEM administrator level privileges to attain those same privileges. A screen saver allowing a hacker to root a system, as was said before these can come from anywhere. This also means there is no sure way to protect against privilege escalation attacks, but there are some steps which can be taken to minimize there likelihood. First make sure all accounts use good passwords, and that those passwords are unique. If the hacker can not get into any of the accounts, including low level ones then they can not escalate in the first place. Second make sure your software is patched, your anti-virus is up to date, and you’re system is malware free. Most escalations are obtained using known vulnerabilities or existing malware so making sure you stay on top of security update and patches and viruses definitions and system scans can really help lower the chances that a hacked account will be able to be successfully escalated. Third, maintain segmentation. I.E. make sure that getting root access to one system does not translate to other systems. This way a hacker would have to hack all of them separately which makes a catastrophic even much less likely. Fourth make sure your system is maintaining good logs. This way if something does happen you will be able to determine the what, the how, the why, and even potentially the who. Finally good luck, and may your systems stay secure and your privileges properly-vated And that didn’t work either. Damn you wisc.edu sysadmin, why did you have to patch that cron.d exploit. Guess there is nothing for me to do here logout Connection to wisc.edu closed.

On this month's episode of Relatively Prime we are excited to bring to you the story of Girls Talk Math. Girls Talk Math is a 2 week mathematics camp for high school women, as well as a podcast made by the campers about women from the history of mathematics. Samuel spoke with the founders Francesca Bernardi and Katrina Morgan about where the idea came from, why they decided to include podcasting as part of the camp, and the ways they reached out beyond the typical women you would expect to want to attend a summer mathematics camp. You can see how you can get involved here. Don't forget to support Relatively Prime on Patreon and help Samuel survive the month! Girls Talk Math Episodes Featured: Grace Hopper Suchitra Sebastian Joan Birman Music: The Ants Go Jumping by ScienceCTN

This month's Relatively Prime is all about classification. Samuel is joined by Fabian Müller of zbMath for a discussion of the Mathematics Subject Classification, the benefit of using a hierarchical scheme to organize mathematics, and the work Fabian is doing to help revise MSC as a part of MSC 2020. This is a really important work which effects your ability to search and find the mathematical work you are need, so please think about taking part. Don't forget to support Relatively Prime on Patreon and help Samuel survive the month!

In this chapter of Diegetic Plots on Relatively Prime Larry Lesser shares the poem "The M Word" and there is a very unfortunate customer service call at Kroneckea. Many thanks must go to Bree Prehn for no particular reason for this episode. Don't forget to support Relatively Prime on Patreon and help Samuel survive the month! Music Jahzzar Alive Encedalus Freaks

On this episode so Relatively Prime Samuel talks with former office mate at UNLV Cody Palmer. When this conversation was recored Cody was a PhD student at the University of Montana and has since moved on to become a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at the Institute for Disease Modeling. Samuel and Cody talk about the research Cody did into Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever and how the number of relapses effect its dynamics, plus some advice on burger toppings and the worst(or the best) research strategy to use when studying an infectious disease spread by biting insects.

Samuel has been feeling a bit nostalgic recently and was thinking about an old show we can almost guarantee you have never heard of, called Science Sparring Society. It was all based around this idea that from a Frank Swain tweet to make a podcast that told the stories of fights from the history of science. It was so much fun making this show, and Samuel was always sad that more people did not get the chance to hear it. Which is exactly why this episode features the two mathematical fights from the 2012 podcast Science Sparring Society. Thankfully the topics were history already when the show first came out. Episode 1: The first fight to be featured in the Science Sparring Society is between the two biggest intellectual heavyweights of the late 17th Century, Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz. Their battle over the Calculus was so epic they call it a war! Episode 7: For the seventh bout we bring to you the fight of infinity. Pitting two of the greatest mathematical minds of their generation against one another, the fight over infinity changed the face of mathematics itself. In the corner of multiple infinities was Georg Cantor and fight for the finite was Leopold Kronecker. You will have to listen to find out who won, and who hits below the belt. Don't forget to support Relatively Prime on Patreon and give Samuel the best present ever! Music: Liverpool Guitar Society DJlo CameronMusic folkcello Rob Simpson T.C. Randolph ejlflop Bleerix

We are happy to bring to you a special holiday episode of Relatively Prime during this festive period. Samuel is joined by old pals Katie, Peter, and Christian from the Aperiodical for an often funny, sometimes serious, and always entertaining conversation about the phenomenon of formulas for "The Perfect X" which are often seen in newspapers, especially around the holidays. Some of the examples discussed were the perfect Christmas song, perfect Christmas tree, perfect penalty kick, perfect scone cream ratio, perfect Christmas day, and here are plenty of other ones too that the Aperiodical has gathered. Happy Holidays!!! Don't forget to support Relatively Prime on Patreon and give Samuel the best present ever! Music Weihnachtsorama3000

It is that time of year where you, and everyone else, is coughing and sniffling and sneezing and generally getting gross germs all over the place. That is why for this episode of Relatively Prime Samuel Hansen speaks with Benjamin Morin about infectious disease modeling and the best mitigation strategies those models indicate to deal with disease while minimizing cost, both for individuals and for societies. Fair warning, those best strategies may be depressing and definitely not what Samuel was hoping for. Don't forget to support Relatively Prime on Patreon and make sure Samuel can afford to make rent next month. Download the Episode Subscribe: Apple Podcasts or RSS Music Supermilk

Sure DNA is important, some might even claim it is absolutely integral to life itself, but does it contain any interesting math? Samuel is joined by UC-Davis Professor of Mathematics, Microbiology, and Molecular Genetics Mariel Vasquez for a discussion proves conclusively that mathematically DNA is fascinating. They talk about the topology of DNA, how knot theory can help us understand the problems which occur during DNA replication, and how some antibiotics are really pills of weaponized mathematics. Don't forget to support Relatively Prime on Patreon and make sure Samuel can afford to make rent next month. Download the Episode Subscribe: Apple Podcasts or RSS Music Jahzarr

Have you ever wondered what mathematicans' favorite theorems were? How about what food or music pairs perfectly with those theorems? Well whether your answer to those questions was yes or no or what are you talking about there is a new mathematics podcast on the scene you need to check out called My Favorite Theorem. My Favorite Theorem is the brain child of Kevin Knudson and Evelyn Lamb. You may recognize those names as a writer who contributes to The Conversation, Forbes, and is a mathematics professor at the University of Florida and as freelance mathematics journalist who runs the Scientific American blog Roots of Unity. They were kind enough to talk to me early in the morning about where the idea for the show came from, why the pairings are so cool, and how mathematical audio can help humanize mathematicians. Oh, and I make them come up with a pairing for our conversation. Plus, as a super special bonus they were kind enough to let me share episode 3 of My Favorite Theorem with Emille Davie Lawrence as part of the episode. I know you will soon have another podcast added to you subscription list. Don't forget to support Relatively Prime on Patreon and make sure Samuel can afford to make rent next month. Download the Episode Subscribe: Apple Podcasts or RSS Music SUPERMILK

Mathematics has been showing up in the news a lot more than usual lately. It has shown up in Slate, The New York Times, and The New Yorker and each time]it has been accompanied by one other word, gerrymandering. While Relatively Prime has covered gerrymandering once before in the season 2 episode Mathematistan(a story we just rereleased as an encore presentation in the feed so y'all can get a refresher on the mathematics of gerrymandering) so much important new things have been happening recently it seemed very important to talk about it again. The first interview in this episode is with Eric McGhee, a research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, who developed a new test for gerrymandering called the Efficiency Gap which takes into account wasted votes. Eric's work on the Efficiency Gap with his research partner Nicholas Stephanopoulos was integral to the argument in Gail v. Whitford the Wisconsin gerrymandering case going before the Supreme Court this October. Samuel is then joined by Moon Duchin, a mathematics professor at Tufts University. Moon is the head of the new Metric Geometry and Gerrymandering Group. They are all about intersection of mathematics, technology, and redistricting. One of their big focuses is a series of conferences, the first one in Boston just recently took place, where they have a couple of days of public lectures and panels and then private workshops where they train PhDs to be expert redistricting witnesses and consultants, provide mathematical educators with tools to integrate gerrymandering into their curriculums, and hold a hackathon to develop tools for analyzing redistricting plans. Future conferences are coming up in WIsconsin, North Carolina, and Texas. Don't forget to support Relatively Prime on Patreon and make sure Samuel can afford to make rent next month. Music Broke for Free

Gerrymandering - the dividing of a state, county, etc., into election districts so as to give one political party a majority in many districts while concentrating the voting strength of the other party into as few districts as possible. Few aspects of politics are as clearly open to mathematical analysis as gerrymandering. Just looking at district maps seems to scream for geometric analysis, and there really are a lot of different tests out there. Samuel spoke to David Austin about some potential gerrymandered districts and ways to test for them, then things got a bit bizarre. Samuel also sat down with Jonathan Hodge to talk about a technique Hodge helped develop to test for gerrymandering called the Convexity Coefficient. Not all of the ways to test for possible gerrymandering rely on geometry. Duke University Professor Jonathan Mattingly and his former student Christy Vaughn, she is currently a graduate student at Princeton, decided to use probability theory to check to see if the districts used in North Carolina’s 2012 elections had been drawn fairly. The results were eye opening. Don't forget to support Relatively Prime on Patreon and make sure Samuel can afford to make rent next month. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts or RSS Music lowercase n