Category Archives: The Oxford Comment

The Power of Words – Episode 64 – The Oxford Comment

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We’re all familiar with the phrase “words have power”—but in a political and cultural climate where we become more aware of the power that money, influence, and privilege have every day—how do people wield the power of words?

On this episode of The Oxford Comment, we spoke with philosopher Myisha Cherry and poet Carmen Bugan to talk about how they see their disciplines addressing the questions of language, oppression, and resistance, and exactly what tools the arts and humanities provide to address injustice.

Learn more about The Case for Rage: Why Anger is Essential to Anti-Racist Struggle by Myisha Cherry here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-case-for-rage-9780197557341
Learn more about Poetry and the Language of Oppression: Essays on Politics and Poetics by Carmen Bugan here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/poetry-and-the-language-of-oppression-9780198868323

Please check out Episode 64 of The Oxford Comment and subscribe to The Oxford Comment through your favourite podcast app to listen to the latest insights from our expert authors:
– Apple Podcasts: oxford.ly/2RuYMPa
– Google Podcasts: oxford.ly/38UpF5h
– Spotify: oxford.ly/2JLNTTO
– Stitcher: oxford.ly/2R0fVNZ
– Youtube: oxford.ly/2YY4iMT

The Oxford Comment Crew:
Executive Producer: Steven Filippi
Associate Producer: Sarah Butcher
Host: Tom Woollard

Music: Filaments by Podington Bear is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.

© Oxford University Press

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The Neuroscience of Human Consciousness – Episode 63 – The Oxford Comment

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On today’s episode of The Oxford Comment, we focused on human consciousness and how studying the neurological basis for human cognition can lead not only to better health but a better understanding of human culture, language, and society as well.

We are joined today by Dr. John Parrington, author of the newly published book Mind Shift: How Culture Transformed the Human Brain, and Professor Anil Seth, Editor-in-Chief of the Open Access journal Neuroscience of Consciousness­, to learn more about the study of human consciousness and how it can help us to understand autism spectrum disorders, mental illnesses, and neurological diseases like multiple sclerosis, the focus of this year’s World Brain Day (July 22).

Learn more about Mind Shift: How Culture Transformed the Human Brain and John Parrington here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/mind-shift-9780198801634
Learn more about Neuroscience of Consciousness and Anil Seth here: https://academic.oup.com/nc

Please check out Episode 63 of The Oxford Comment and subscribe to The Oxford Comment through your favourite podcast app to listen to the latest insights from our expert authors:
– Apple Podcasts: oxford.ly/2RuYMPa
– Google Podcasts: oxford.ly/38UpF5h
– Spotify: oxford.ly/2JLNTTO
– Stitcher: oxford.ly/2R0fVNZ
– Youtube: oxford.ly/2YY4iMT

The Oxford Comment Crew:
Executive Producer: Steven Filippi
Associate Producer: Victoria Sparkman
Host: Julia Baker
Science Correspondant: Victoria Sparkman

Music: Filaments by Podington Bear is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.

© Oxford University Press

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Ocean Health: Life and Livelihoods – Episode 62 – The Oxford Comment

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June is National Ocean Month in the United States, and earlier this month, the whole world observed World Oceans Day, a day that has been celebrated since 2008 with a different theme each year. The theme for 2021 was “Life and Livelihoods.”

Covering 71% of the earth’s surface, the ocean is home to a vast array of life—an estimated 2.2 million species—and provides livelihoods for 40 million people in the fishing industry. But many scientists warn that the health of our oceans is in decline, threatening these species and the humans who depend on them.

The threats to our oceans’ health are multifold, and include deep-sea mining, offshore drilling, and ocean acidification. On today’s episode of The Oxford Comment, we are joined by biological oceanographer Lisa Levin of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and contributor to Natural Capital and Exploitation of the Deep Ocean, and Ray Hilborn, a professor at the University of Washington and co-author of Ocean Recovery: A Sustainable Future for Global Fisheries? We tapped into their expertise to better understand the threats posed by overfishing, climate change, and biodiversity loss.

Learn more about Natural Capital and Exploitation of the Deep Ocean and Lisa Levin here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/natural-capital-and-exploitation-of-the-deep-ocean-9780198841661
Learn more about Ocean Recovery: A Sustainable Future for Global Fisheries? and Ray Hilborn here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/ocean-recovery-9780198839767

Please check out Episode 62 of The Oxford Comment and subscribe to The Oxford Comment through your favourite podcast app to listen to the latest insights from our expert authors:
– Apple Podcasts: oxford.ly/2RuYMPa
– Google Podcasts: oxford.ly/38UpF5h
– Spotify: oxford.ly/2JLNTTO
– Stitcher: oxford.ly/2R0fVNZ
– Youtube: oxford.ly/2YY4iMT

The Oxford Comment Crew:
Executive Producer: Steven Filippi
Associate Producer: Christina Fleischer
Host: Julia Baker
Science Correspondant: Victoria Sparkman

Music: Filaments by Podington Bear is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.

© Oxford University Press

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The SHAPE of Things – Episode 61 – The Oxford Comment

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In January, Oxford University Press announced its support for SHAPE, a new collective name for the humanities, arts, and social sciences and an equivalent term to STEM. SHAPE stands for Social Sciences, Humanities, and the Arts for People and the Economy and aims to underline the value that these disciplines bring to society. Over the last year or so, huge attention has—rightly—been placed on scientific and technological advancement but does that mean we’re overlooking the contribution of SHAPE in finding solutions to global issues?

Today’s episode of The Oxford Comment brings together two leading voices from SHAPE and STEM disciplines to discuss how we might achieve greater balance between sciences and the arts. In the episode, Dr Kathryn Murphy, a Fellow in English Literature at Oriel College at the University of Oxford and the co-editor of On Essays, and Professor Tom McLeish, inaugural Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Department of Physics at the University of York and the author of The Poetry and Music of Science, discuss the origins of the SHAPE/STEM divide and what might be done to address it.

Learn more about On Essays and Kathryn Murphy here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/on-essays-9780198707868
Learn more about The Poetry and Music of Science and Tom McLeish here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-poetry-and-music-of-science-9780198797999

Please check out Episode 61 of The Oxford Comment and subscribe to The Oxford Comment through your favourite podcast app to listen to the latest insights from our expert authors:
– Apple Podcasts: oxford.ly/2RuYMPa
– Google Podcasts: oxford.ly/38UpF5h
– Spotify: oxford.ly/2JLNTTO
– Stitcher: oxford.ly/2R0fVNZ
– Youtube: oxford.ly/2YY4iMT

The Oxford Comment Crew:
Executive Producer: Steven Filippi
Associate Producers: Ella Percival and Bethany Drew
Host: Julia Baker
Humanities Correspondant: Thomas Woollard

Music: Filaments by Podington Bear is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.

© Oxford University Press

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Environmental Histories and Potential Futures – Episode 60 – The Oxford Comment

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The academic fields of both environmental history and future studies originated in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s during the rise of the mainstream environmental movement. On today’s episode of The Oxford Comment, we are joined by environmental historian Erin Stewart Mauldin, author Unredeemed Land: An Environmental History of Civil War and Emancipation in the Cotton South, and Jennifer Gidley, the past president of the World Futures Studies and author of The Future: A Very Short Introduction, to learn more about how these two areas of study look at our relationship with the environment and how these valuable perspectives can engage, and inform, our environmental understanding.

Learn more about Unredeemed Land: An Environmental History of Civil War and Emancipation in the Cotton South and Erin Stewart Mauldin here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/unredeemed-land-9780190865177
Learn more about The Future: A Very Short Introduction and Jennifer Gidley here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-future-a-very-short-introduction-9780198735281

Please check out Episode 60 of The Oxford Comment and subscribe to The Oxford Comment through your favourite podcast app to listen to the latest insights from our expert authors:
– Apple Podcasts: oxford.ly/2RuYMPa
– Google Podcasts: oxford.ly/38UpF5h
– Spotify: oxford.ly/2JLNTTO
– Stitcher: oxford.ly/2R0fVNZ
– Youtube: oxford.ly/2YY4iMT

The Oxford Comment Crew:
Executive Producer: Steven Filippi
Associate Producer: Sarah Butcher
Host: Julia Baker
Humanities Correspondant: Thomas Woollard
Social Sciences Correspondant: Christine Scalora

Music: Filaments by Podington Bear is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License.

© Oxford University Press

Podcast: Play in new window | Download