Gresham College Lectures

• Becoming AI – Your Journey to Assimilation? - Matt Jones

  Wittgenstein wrote: “If a lion could talk, we would not understand it”. That is, as lions and humans are not of the same material, they could not say anything meaningful to each other. AI is not like us; the only way we can have a relationship with it is for us to become like it. We will look at how digital services are already making us machine-like; and, we explore how advanced AI-human fusions may undo our essential “humanness”.This lecture was recorded by Matt Jones on the 25rd of November 2025 at Barnard’s Inn Hall, London.Matt Jones is a computer scientist at Swansea University - and a Fellow of the British Computer Society - who works alongside colleagues from many other disciplines and directly with everyday folk across the world to explore the future of digital technologies. Over the last 30-plus years, this human-centred approach has led to novel approaches for, amongst other things,  mobile phone-based information searching and browsing, pedestrian navigation, voice assistants and deformable displays.  The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/ai-assimilationGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

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• Limitarianism and Capitalism - Ingrid Robeyns

  Limitarianism holds that it is immoral to have personal wealth above a certain level. Is this idea compatible with capitalism? Defenders of capitalism have argued that it is not, whereas those who want to move beyond capitalism have urged defenders of limitarianism to clear up this issue. This lecture argues that limitarianism is compatible with some forms of capitalism, and that it would help the debate about the most desirable socio-economic system if we provide more clarity on how these concepts are used.This lecture was recorded by Professor Ingrid Robeyns on the 5th of November 2025 at Bernard’s Inn Hall, LondonProfessor Ingrid Robeyns works on issues in contemporary political philosophy and applied ethics, and holds the Chair in Ethics of Institutions at the Ethics Institute of Utrecht University. She specialises in applied and "non-ideal" ethics, interdisciplinary research, and developing normative frameworks and methods. Additionally, she is affiliated as a visiting professor at the Center for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) at LSE.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/limitarianismGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukX: https://x.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

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• Do Not Resuscitate Forms - Who’d Have One? - Mark Taubert

  In this lecture, Mark Taubert, who chairs the national DNACPR policy for Wales, and is a palliative care clinician, reviews current practices. He will encourage you to consider your own end of life care advance care plan, and attempt to write down your prior wishes. He reviews recent concerns, scandals and media outputs and looks at current resuscitation policies, guidelines and resources. He also discusses, from a clinician’s point of view, how the prospect of a natural, anticipated and accepted death in the near future can be a trigger to better advance care planning. Furthermore, he looks at online conspiracy theories, and poor Covid-19 clinical practice, and outlines resources such as the Welsh TalkCPR videos, that can help improve communication in an area rife with misconceptions and misunderstanding.This lecture was recorded by Mark Taubert on the 5th of November 2025 at Bernard’s Inn Hall, LondonProfessor Mark Taubert is a UK hospital consultant and clinical director at Velindre University NHS Trust in Cardiff. He is Vice-President of the Brussels-based European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC), a non-governmental organisation dedicated to worldwide improvement in palliative care. His Cardiff University academic activities include advance care planning and new media in medical settings. He is the founder of TalkCPR.com and chairs the national Future Care Planning strategy group for NHS Wales. He has advised UK government on matters relating to palliative care, treatment escalation decisions, and the last years of life. Public engagement efforts include numerous BBC programmes and a Ted Talk on how we use and misuse language in healthcare settings. He also writes for international news outlets like the Washington Post, Newsweek, the Spectator and the Guardian. The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/dnr-formsGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukX: https://x.com/GreshamCollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/greshamcollege.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

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• The Great God Pan: Lord of the Wild - Ronald Hutton

  Pan started as a shepherds’ god in a wild and backward area of Greece, but became one of the best-known in the Greek and Roman world. This was partly because the leading city of Athens imported him as a saviour, and partly because he came to represent the freedom, peace and simplicity of the countryside to urban people. He was the most earthy of Greek deities, summing up wild nature in its beauty but also its danger. He was a god of both liberation and menace, and this lecture faces up to him as both.This lecture was recorded by Professor Ronald Hutton on the 17th of September 2025 at Barnard’s Inn Hall, London.Professor Hutton is Professor of History at the University of Bristol. He took degrees at Cambridge and then Oxford Universities, and was a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. He is now a Fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Historical Society, the Society of Antiquaries and the Learned Society of Wales, and has won awards for teaching and research.He has lectured all over the world, authored twenty books and ninety-six essays, appeared in or presented scores of television and radio programmes, and sits on the editorial boards of six journals concerned with the history of religion and magic.He is currently working on the third volume of his biography of Oliver Cromwell. The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/god-panGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

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• Minor Criminal: The Trial of the Man Who Murdered My Grandmother - Lord Daniel Finkelstein

  Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/oQeUePfTrEQThe Royal Historical Society Colin Matthew Memorial Lecture.In April 1945, British forces liberated the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and arrested its commandant, Josef Kramer. What followed was the first post-war trial for war crimes - a landmark event that captured the world’s attention. Although later eclipsed by the Nuremberg Trials, the Belsen Trial marked a pivotal moment in confronting Nazi atrocities and establishing a framework for justice after the Holocaust.For Lord Daniel Finkelstein, the story of Belsen is deeply personal. Among those imprisoned and starved in the camp were his mother and grandmother - his grandmother did not survive. In this lecture, Lord Finkelstein will recount the story of the Belsen Trial, exploring how it brought the horrors of the concentration camps to light and how it continues to shape his understanding of law, justice, and moral responsibility.This lecture was recorded by Lord Daniel Finkelstein on the 4th of November 2025 at Barnard’s Inn Hall, London.Daniel William Finkelstein, Baron Finkelstein, OBE (born 30 August 1962) is a British journalist, author, political advisor and politician. He is a former executive editor of The Times, where he remains a weekly political columnist, and has been a regular columnist at The Jewish Chronicle since 2010. Finkelstein was formerly an advisor to Prime Minister John Major and leader of the Conservative Party William Hague. Since 2013 he has sat as a Conservative Peer of the House of Lords.The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/minor-criminalGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

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