Happy Mathematical and Statistical Awareness Month! To celebrate, hosts Sadie and Ian decided to take a peek behind the curtain and see what it is that pure mathematicians do all day. This episode follows a conversation with University of Chicago Math Professor Benson Farb as he explains how he approaches mentoring future mathematicians and what got him into his field in the first place. Spoiler alert: it’s a lot more about luck and timing than you’d expect!

Find our transcript here: LINK

Curious to learn more? Check out these additional links:

UChicago Math Pizza Seminar: https://math.uchicago.edu/~pizzaseminar/

Math Genealogy Tree: https://www.mathgenealogy.org/index.php

Stereotype Threat Research: https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-psych-073115-103235

More on Benson: https://news.uchicago.edu/profile/benson-farb

Follow more of IMSI’s work: www.IMSI.institute, (twitter) @IMSI_institute, (mastodon) https://sciencemastodon.com/@IMSI, (instagram) IMSI.institute

Follow Benson Farb: https://mathematics.uchicago.edu/people/profile/benson-farb/

This episode was audio engineered by Tyler Damme.

Music by Blue Dot Sessions.

The Institute for Mathematical and Statistical Innovation (IMSI) is funded by NSF grant DMS-1929348.