Category Archives: UCL Press Play

Have you heard about A Cup of Tea With…, the latest season of UCL Press Play: our podcast and documentary series featuring groundbreaking voices and cutting-edge ideas?

Each episode of the new season offers the opportunity to learn more about a diverse range of professors, such as how they got into their field, key insights from their research and how they like their tea. Read on to learn more about the inspiring academics from across UCL who join Professor Judy Stephenson, Professor of Economic History of the Built Environment, for a tea break.

Episode 1: The Human Consequences of AI: A Cup of Tea with Professor Daniel Miller
Professor Daniel Miller is Professor of Anthropology at UCL. He is director of the Centre for Digital Anthropology at UCL, and for over ten years, he directed the Why We Post project on the use and consequences of social media. In this episode, he discusses the different meanings and values that people assign to AI, and why he entered the field of anthropology.

Episode 2: Researching Networks of Human Trafficking: A Cup of Tea with Professor Ella Cockbain
Professor Ella Cockbain is Professor of Human Trafficking and Exploitation at UCL, and Research Director for UCL Department of Security and Crime Science. She also leads the UCL Research Group on Human Trafficking, Smuggling and Exploitation. In this episode, she discusses the limits of anti-trafficking approaches and criminal justice responses to exploitation, and shares her journey from advertising to security and crime science.

Episode 3: The Economics of Life in the Messy Middle: A Cup of Tea with Professor Dame Henrietta Moore
Professor Dame Henrietta Moore is Professor of Culture, Philosophy and Design at UCL, and is also the Founder and Director of the UCL Institute for Global Prosperity. Her recent policy work focuses on economic models, Artificial Intelligence and displaced people, and other vital topics. In this episode, she shares her unconventional analogy for the economy, and makes impassioned arguments both for keeping our focus on how people actually live, and for cross-discipline collaboration.

Episode 4: The Pulses of Caribbean History: A Cup of Tea with Professor Matthew J. Smith
Professor Matthew J. Smith is Professor of History at UCL, and Director of the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery. This year, he will be the Principal Investigator on Valuable Lives (VL): the core research project of the UCL Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery (CSLBS). In this episode, he discusses the field of Caribbean history, and the complex history of the Caribbean as a nexus of interatlantic imperial trade.

Episode 5: Inside The Head of Jeremy Bentham: A Cup of Tea with Professor Philip Schofield
Professor Philip Schofield is Professor of the History of Legal and Political Thought, the Director of the Bentham Project and General Editor of the Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham. In this episode, Prof Schofield discusses Bentham’s political views, as revealed in the over 100,000 manuscript pages Bentham bequeathed to UCL upon his death, and why AI offers no help to the project.

Episode 6: Excluded Workers and Human Rights: A Cup of Tea with Professor Virginia Mantouvalou
Professor Virginia Mantouvalou is Professor of Human Rights and Labour Law at UCL, and Co-Director of the UCL Institute for Human Rights. In this episode, she discusses the challenges that migrant workers face in knowing and upholding their rights, as well as the struggles that offenders have to overcome to find work on release. Prof Mantouvalou also speaks about her journey into human rights and labour law, and the writers who inspire her.

Episode 7: Rethinking Britain in India: A Cup of Tea with Professor Margot Finn
Professor Margot Finn, FBA is Professor of Modern British History at UCL. She researches, teaches and supervises predominantly in topics relating to British colonial and imperial history, with particular emphasis on the family, gender, material culture and transnational encounters. In this episode, she discusses the importance of re-examining evidence, and how students’ use of AI can limit their critical engagement.

Episode 8: How to Prevent Disasters: A Cup of Tea with Professor Ilan Kelman
Professor Ilan Kelman is Professor of Disasters and Health in UCL’s Department of Risk and Disaster Reduction. His overall research interest is in the deeply interlinked nature of disasters, health and climate. In this episode, he discusses the dangers of complacency, and why ‘natural disasters’ are a misnomer.

Watch the whole series now.

Ever wondered how professors end up in their field, or whose writing inspires them? Tune into A Cup of Tea With… to find out.

This new season of UCL Press Play sees Professor Judy Stephenson, Professor of Economic History of the Built Environment, in conversation with inspiring academics from across UCL. Each episode offers the opportunity to learn more about a diverse range of professors, such as how they got into their field, key insights from their research and how they like their tea.

For the first time, you will be able to choose whether to listen to or watch the new episodes. They will be released every Wednesday for the next two months. Here is a sneak preview of who you will be able to hear from:

1. The Human Consequences of AI: A Cup of Tea with Professor Daniel Miller
2. Researching Networks of Human Trafficking: A Cup of Tea with Professor Ella Cockbain
3. The Economics of Life in the Messy Middle: A Cup of Tea with Professor Dame Henrietta Moore
4. The Pulses of Caribbean History: A Cup of Tea with Professor Matthew J. Smith
5. Inside the Head of Jeremy Bentham: A Cup of Tea with Professor Philip Schofield
6. Excluded Workers and Human Rights: A Cup of Tea with Professor Virginia Mantouvalou
7. Rethinking Britain in India: A Cup of Tea with Professor Margot Finn
8. How to Prevent Disasters: A Cup of Tea with Professor Ilan Kelman

Register to be the first to hear when the new episodes drop.

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.

The climate crisis affects every part of society, but those least responsible for climate change often suffer its worst impacts. This disparity is the focus of Climate Extinction Politics – The Greatest Good; the latest season of our podcast and documentary series UCL Press Play. 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: The Ends of Coal, featuring Dr Andrew Seaton

Dr Andrew Seaton is a historian of politics, social history, medicine and environment, who has been recently shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize, and won the American Historical Association’s Morris D. Forkosch Prize for the best book on British history. He is currently writing a book on the history of coal, and draws exclusive insights from that research in his episode.

Episode 2: Climate Politics, featuring Dr Fergus Green

Dr Fergus Green is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and School of Public Policy at UCL. In this episode, he draws on his research exploring the drivers of and responses to climate change, and examines the fossil fuel industry’s influence on policy and public perception.

Episode 3: No Natural Disasters, featuring Professor Ilan Kelman

Professor Ilan Kelman is Professor of Disasters and Health at UCL, and a Professor II at the University of Agder. His overall research interest is linking disasters and health, integrating climate change into both. In this episode, he argues that disasters result from human choices, not natural events alone, and suggests what can be done to prevent future crises.

Episode 4: Biodiversity Loss, featuring Professor Jon Bridle

Professor Jon Bridle is Professor of Evolutionary Biology at UCL, and Director of the Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research (CBER) within the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment (GEE). In this episode, he discusses the biodiversity crisis driven by human overconsumption, habitat destruction, and climate change, and outlines steps for conscious consumption and community action.

Episode 5: Ecosystems and Disease, featuring Dr Rory Gibb

Dr Rory Gibb is Wolfson UCL Excellence Fellow in UCL’s Genetics, Evolution & Environment Department. He is an ecologist and epidemiologist whose research explores how changes in climate, ecological and social systems combine to drive infectious disease in people and animals. In this episode, he discusses how climate change and social inequality are fuelling increases in mosquito-borne illnesses like dengue fever and West Nile virus.

Episode 6: Why We Should Love Wasps, featuring Professor Seirian Sumner

Professor Seirian Sumner is Professor of Behavioural Ecology in UCL’s Genetics, Evolution & Environment Department. A behavioural ecologist, she is especially interested in social wasps, and is working hard to raise the profile of these ecologically important insects, among both scientific and lay communities. In this episode, she makes the case for embracing wasps as allies in biodiversity and science.

Episode 7: Universities and Climate Change, featuring Professor Tristan McCowan

Professor Tristan McCowan is Professor of International Education at the Institute of Education. His work focuses on higher education in the international context, including issues of access, curriculum, alternative models and sustainability. In this episode, he argues that from resisting climate denial to modelling sustainable communities, universities have both the responsibility and the potential to help shape a just climate future.

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The climate crisis affects every part of society, but those least responsible for climate change often suffer its worst impacts. This disparity is the focus of Climate Extinction Politics – The Greatest Good; the latest season of our podcast and documentary series UCL Press Play.

Hosted by Professor Philip Schofield, Director of the Bentham Project, the series brings together leading voices from across UCL to break down the key climate issues we are facing.

New episodes will be released every week from the beginning of January until the end of February. Here’s a preview of what’s coming:

1. Leverhulme Early Career Fellow Dr Andrew Seaton on the end of coal
2. Dr Fergus Green from the Department of Political Science and School of Public Policy on climate politics
3. Professor Ilan Kelman from the Department of Risk and Disaster Reduction on natural disasters
4. Professor Jon Bridle from the Department of Genetics, Evolution & Environment on biodiversity loss
5. Wolfson UCL Excellence Fellow Dr Rory Gibb on ecosystems and disease
6. Professor Seirian Sumner from the Department of Genetics, Evolution & Environment on why we should love wasps
7. Professor Tristan McCowan from the Institute of Education on universities and climate action

Sign up to be the first to hear when new episodes drop.

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.

How well do we really understand the human mind? This question is at the heart of Beautiful Minds – The Greatest Good: a brand new eight-part season of podcasts and documentaries that dives deep into the complexities of human cognition and neurodiversity.

Hosted by Professor Philip Schofield, Director of the Bentham Project, the series brings together leading voices from across UCL to uncover fascinating facts, challenge misconceptions, and share strategies for building a more inclusive society. From autism and dyslexia to dementia and Tourette’s Syndrome; each episode offers fresh perspectives and practical insights.

New episodes drop every Wednesday between now and Christmas. Here’s a glimpse of what’s coming:

1. Dr Sarah White from the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience on the autistic mind
2. Dr Michael Woodrow from the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering on why people with dyslexia make great engineers
3. Professor Dagmara Dimitriou from IOE’s Department of Psychology & Human Development on why sleep hygiene doesn’t always work
4. Dr Jess Jiang from the Dementia Research Centre at the Queen Square Institute of Neurology on music and memory
5. Dr Emily Midouhas from IOE’s Department of Psychology and Human Development on supporting neurodiverse children
6. Dr Jane Gilmour, Clinical Lecturer at the Population, Policy & Practice Department and Honorary Consultant Clinical Psychologist at GOSH, offers a fresh perspective on Tourette’s
7. Dr Michael Crossland, Senior Research Fellow in the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and Principal Optometrist in Low Vision at the Moorfields Eye Hospital, on how art can creatively express the unique challenges and strengths of living with low vision (video)
8. Professor Philip Schofield, Director of The Bentham Project, on the life, legacy and working mind of Jeremy Bentham (video)

Register to be the first to hear when new episodes drop.

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.

Jeremy Bentham’s influence can be felt across the UCL community, but the impact of his radical progressivism can be felt worldwide. In the first season of UCL Press Play, world-renowned academics discuss how Bentham’s ideas were once considered radical but now shape the world we live in. Read on to hear more about the academics who join Professor Philip Schofield, Director of the Bentham Project, to discuss their work. Want to listen to an episode? Just click its name below.

Documentary: Bentham’s Defence of Sexual Liberty, featuring Professor Philip Schofield, Professor Judy Stephenson and Dr Xine Yao

This short documentary uncovers Jeremy Bentham’s radical defence of queer lives against the backdrop of 18th- and 19th-century repression. Hear from Professor Judy Stephenson: an economic historian with a specialism in researching labour markets, institutions, firms, finance and industries in England and NW Europe between 1600 and 1850. Also in this documentary is Dr Xine Yao, Associate Professor in English and co-director of UCL’s Queer Studies network; qUCL. 

Bentham, Romanticism and the ‘Cockney College’, featuring Professor Gregory Dart

Professor Gregory Dart is Professor of English at UCL. His first book was on the influence of the French Revolution upon English Romanticism, as mediated through Rousseau and the writings and speeches of Maximilien Robespierre. Professor Dart is also Chair of the Hazlitt Society and a member of the Lamb Society. In this episode, Professor Dart brings rich insights as he explores how ideas of Romanticism and Utilitarianism shaped the founding of UCL, or the ‘Cockney College’ as it was known at the time.

Queerness, Islam and the Left, featuring Dr Jonathan Galton

Dr Jonathan Galton recently completed a three-year postdoctoral research project at the IOE Social Research Institute, funded through a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship, examining narratives of ‘Islamo-Leftism’, or the alliances between socialist politics and political Islam. In this episode, he shares his original research about the relationship between the British Left and Muslim communities, and discusses historical and contemporary relationships to homosexuality within Islam.

Queer Aesthetics and the Panoptic Gaze, featuring Dr Xine Yao

Dr Xine Yao is an Associate Professor in English and co-director of UCL’s Queer Studies network (qUCL). Her primary research focuses on early and nineteenth-century American literature through affect theory, critical race and ethnic studies, critical disability studies, and trans, feminist, and queer of colour theory. In this episode, Dr Yao draws on her extensive research into the radical politics of ‘unfeeling’ to investigate how not-feeling can be politically subversive.

The UK’s First Gaysoc, featuring Dr Luciano Rila

Dr Luciano Rila is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics. He sits on UCL’s LGBTQ+ Equality Steering Group, and founded the LGBTQ+ STEM @UCL network. In this episode, Dr Rila recounts the unique story of the establishment of the first gaysoc affiliated to a student union in the UK, as well as the resulting backlash.

Nonbinary Gender in the Middle Ages: Recognising Wilgefortis, featuring Professor Bob Mills

Professor Bob Mills is Professor of Medieval Studies in the History of Art Department at UCL. Between 2015 and 2018 he directed qUCL, UCL’s LGBTQ+ research network. He has published articles on topics ranging from queer and trans approaches to the Middle Ages to queering museums and heritage. In this documentary, Professor Mills challenges the myth of a strictly binary Middle Ages, and the idea that gender diversity is a modern phenomenon.

Want to find out more? Season 2 of UCL Press Play is coming soon. Register below to be the first to hear when new episodes drop.

UCL Press Play is delighted to announce the release of the fifth – and final – episode of the podcast series The Greatest Good, which explores the lasting influence of the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, whose radical progressivism was the intellectual inspiration for UCL.

In the final episode, a video podcast, Professor Philip Schofield engages with art historian and co-director of qUCL (UCL’s Queer Studies network), Professor Bob Mills, to explore the legend and cult of St. Wilgefortis in medieval Europe. Professor Mills highlights Wilgefortis as a non-binary figure, challenging both the popular belief that the Middle Ages adhered to strictly binary gender norms, and the notion that gender diversity is a modern phenomenon.

Episodes 1 to 4 are available to download now, and the documentary ‘Bentham’s Defence of Sexual Liberty’ is available to stream now via YouTube.

About The Greatest Good

The inaugural series from UCL Press Play, The Greatest Good, explores the lasting influence of the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, whose radical progressivism was the intellectual inspiration for UCL. As the first entirely secular university to admit students regardless of religion, UCL was inspired by Bentham’s principles of equality and intellectual freedom.

About UCL Press Play

UCL Press Play is a new initiative presenting documentary videos and podcasts featuring aspects of UCL’s sector-leading research, and casting light on the contribution UCL makes to society.

Just as UCL Press makes its work accessible through Open Access, UCL Press Play brings the ground-breaking research of London’s global university to audiences worldwide.

UCL Press Play is delighted to announce the release of the fourth episode of the podcast series The Greatest Good, which explores the lasting influence of the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, whose radical progressivism was the intellectual inspiration for UCL.

In the fourth episode, Philip Schofield sits down with Dr Luciano Rila, from UCL’s Department of Mathematics, to delve into the history of the UK’s first university-affiliated Gaysoc, founded at UCL by Jamie Gardiner in 1972. Dr Rila discovered archival materials in UCL’s Special Collections revealing that though the society was initially met with backlash, UCL’s liberal tradition prevailed, and the movement gained momentum, slowly leading to nationwide improvements in the lives of queer students.

The final episode, a video podcast, will be available next week. Episodes 1 to 3 are also available to download now, and the documentary ‘Bentham’s Defence of Sexual Liberty’ is available to stream now via YouTube.

About The Greatest Good

The inaugural series from UCL Press Play, The Greatest Good, explores the lasting influence of the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, whose radical progressivism was the intellectual inspiration for UCL. As the first entirely secular university to admit students regardless of religion, UCL was inspired by Bentham’s principles of equality and intellectual freedom.

About UCL Press Play

UCL Press Play is a new initiative presenting documentary videos and podcasts featuring aspects of UCL’s sector-leading research, and casting light on the contribution UCL makes to society.

Just as UCL Press makes its work accessible through Open Access, UCL Press Play brings the ground-breaking research of London’s global university to audiences worldwide.

UCL Press Play is delighted to announce the release of a brand new episode of the podcast series The Greatest Good, which explores the lasting influence of the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, whose radical progressivism was the intellectual inspiration for UCL.

In the third episode, Philip Schofield discusses queer aesthetics and the idea of a racialised panoptic gaze with Dr Xine Yao, co-director of qUCL (UCL’s Queer Studies network) and an expert on American literature in the Department of English. They dig into the archive of bestselling, but now forgotten, American novels, and tease out the ways in which the biggest issues of the 19th century still resonate in everyday life today.

The full series will be made available in coming weeks, featuring The UK’s First Gaysoc and exploring Nonbinary Gender in the Middle Age. Episodes 1 and 2 are available to download now, and the documentary ‘Bentham’s Defence of Sexual Liberty’ is available to stream now via YouTube.

About The Greatest Good

The inaugural series from UCL Press Play, The Greatest Good, explores the lasting influence of the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, whose radical progressivism was the intellectual inspiration for UCL. As the first entirely secular university to admit students regardless of religion, UCL was inspired by Bentham’s principles of equality and intellectual freedom.

About UCL Press Play

UCL Press Play is a new initiative presenting documentary videos and podcasts featuring aspects of UCL’s sector-leading research, and casting light on the contribution UCL makes to society.

Just as UCL Press makes its work accessible through Open Access, UCL Press Play brings the ground-breaking research of London’s global university to audiences worldwide.