Introduction to Beautiful Minds: Season 2 of UCL Press Play
Posted on 17th December, 2025
Have you heard about UCL Press Play: our podcast and documentary series featuring groundbreaking voices and cutting-edge ideas? Join leading academics as they uncover fresh insights on diverse topics such as queer histories, neurodiversity and climate justice.
How much do we understand the human mind? This question is at the heart of Beautiful Minds. Uncover facts about the mind as our expert speakers challenge misconceptions of autism, clear up common myths about Tourette’s Syndrome and propose strategies for making our society more inclusive. Read on to hear more about the academics who join Professor Philip Schofield, Director of the Bentham Project, to discuss their work in the second series.
Episode 1: Exploring the Autistic Mind, featuring Dr Sarah White
Dr Sarah White is an Associate Professor in the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL. She is a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellow and a Chartered Psychologist. In this episode, she takes a forensic look at the brain, and challenges outdated medical models and stereotypes of autism. This is essential listening for anyone interested in the intersections of philosophy, psychology and disability rights.
Episode 2: Why People with Dyslexia Make Great Engineers, featuring Dr Michael Woodrow
Dr Michael Woodrow is a Lecturer in Engineering Education, with experience in both research and industry. In this episode, he shares his personal experience with dyslexia, highlighting the importance of the social model of disability, and explains how neurodivergent traits can offer unique advantages in the field of engineering. This conversation offers valuable insights for anyone interested in creating more inclusive environments in education, engineering and beyond.
Episode 3: Why Sleep Hygiene Doesn’t Always Work, featuring Professor Dagmara Dimitriou
Professor Dagmara Dimitriou is Professor of Sleep Education and Research in the Institute of Education at UCL. She specialises in sleep disorders, mental health and how these relate to learning and behaviour in the general population and in individuals with developmental disorders and neurodivergent profiles. This episode dives into why standard sleep advice often falls short for neurodiverse individuals.
Episode 4: Music and Memory, featuring Dr Jess Jiang
Dr Jess Jiang is a Research Fellow in Neurodegenerative Diseases. Her work focuses on measures of real-world communication functionality, and brain-to-person measures of well-being. In this episode, she explores how new scientific approaches and inclusive research are shaping the future of dementia care, and explains how music can be used for treatment and disease tracking.
Episode 5: Supporting Neurodiverse Children, featuring Dr Emily Midouhas
Dr Emily Midouhas is an Associate Professor in Psychology in the Department of Psychology and Human Development. In this episode, Dr Midouhas discusses ADHD and autism, and the challenges shared by and unique to both conditions. She focuses on the dynamics of family: examining its impact on neurodiverse individuals.
Episode 6: Tourette’s Mythbusting, featuring Dr Jane Gilmour
Dr Jane Gilmour is an Honorary Consultant Clinical Psychologist, a Clinical Lecturer, and the Programme Co-Director of a Child Development MSc at Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health. This episode of UCL Press Play is an accessible and innovative exploration of the intersection between neurodiversity and philosophy, as Dr Gilmour discusses the natural history of Tourette’s alongside its social, global and historical context.
Documentary 1: Vision Impairment: Science, Art and Lived Experience by Dr Michael Crossland
Dr Michael Crossland is a Senior Research Fellow in the Lifelong Vision Lab at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, and a Principal Optometrist in the Low Vision Clinic at Moorfields Eye Hospital. He joins Professor Philip Schofield to discuss his research on how cutting-edge AI technologies can offer immediate support for those with low vision. They also explore how art, such as the work of visually impaired artist Luka Kille, provides a powerful way to express the lived experience of vision loss.
Documentary 2: Bentham’s Beautiful Mind
In this documentary, Professor Philip Schofield, the Director of the Bentham Project at UCL and General Editor of the Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham, explains why Bentham matters and how researchers at the Bentham Project are bringing his works to light today.
Want to find out more? Season 3 of UCL Press Play is coming soon. Register below to be the first to hear when new episodes drop.