Mind Over Chatter

Mind Over Chatter

By University of CambridgeSociety & CultureNewsSciencePolitics
Download on the App Store

Mind Over Chatter episodes

  • Cancer and artificial intelligence
    What’s cancer got to do with crabs, artist Jackson Pollock, and artificial intelligence? It’s not a riddle; these are some of the things we’ll explore with surgeon Grant Stuart, computer scientist Mateja Jamnik and radiologist Evis Sala. In this episode, we’ll discover how artificial intelligence is making it easier for doctors to diagnose and treat cancer and we’ll share some cancer facts that are both amazing and disturbing. We also learn about the WIRE clinical trial for kidney cancer. WIRE evaluates the effectiveness of giving a short course of drug treatment to patients in the one-month “window of opportunity” between diagnosis and surgery. Patients on the WIRE trial also undergo a suite of new imaging techniques that have been brought together for the first time globally in this clinical trial.
    1 hr 10 min
  • Antimicrobial resistance: the silent pandemic
    Is antimicrobial resistance (AMR) the greatest threat to human health? In this episode, we discuss how the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials in humans and agriculture have accelerated bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens’ ability to mutate and develop resistance against the treatments designed to curb and control them. We talked with molecular biologist Stephen Baker, virologist Ian Goodfellow and infectious disease epidemiologist Caroline Trotter about the magnitude of the problem and how it is not a problem of the future, but of the now. Along the way, we discuss whether post COVID19, are we in a better position now to deal with the next pandemic? Can we predict when it might happen? And if it does happen, will we deal with it any differently?
    1 hr 20 min
  • Dementia: risks, diagnosis and prevention
    What causes dementia? And how do we diagnose and treat it? Is there anything we can do to stop ourselves from developing dementia? These are the crucial questions we’ll be exploring with clinical neuropsychologist Barbara Sahakian, sociologist Richard Milne, and neurologist James Rowe. In this episode, we’ll find out more about what dementia actually is, some surprising factors that increase a person’s risk of developing dementia, and computer games that can actually help detect and diagnose dementia.
    57 min
  • Mental health and young people
    COVID-19 has disrupted the lives of everyone, including children and young people, beyond recognition. So much so, that the proportion of children aged six to 16 with probable mental health disorders has increased from one in nine in 2017 to one in six in both 2020 and 2021. In this episode, we talked with Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Tamsin Ford, Professor of Health Neuroscience Paul Fletcher and behavioural epidemiologist Dr Esther van Sluijs about growing concern over the recent and widespread deterioration of adolescent mental health and what can be done about it.
    We cover everything from the prevalence of mental health problems and eating disorders, sedentary behaviour and mentally passive activities, to how mental illness is represented in video games and how video games can be used to engage the public with mental illness in the right way. Along the way, we hear about mental health before and during the Covid-19 pandemic.
    This episode was produced by Nick Saffell, James Dolan, Naomi Clements-Brod and Annie Thwaite.
    1 hr 19 min
  • Obesity: the gene-environment debate
    What role do our genes play in influencing our body weight and what we like to eat? Why do some people gain weight more easily than others, and is it all down to genes or are there other factors at play? In this episode, we talked with a clinician and scientist Sadaf Farooqi, health psychologist Theresa Marteau, and geographer Thomas Burgoine about the multitude of factors that go into influencing our eating behaviours. Along the way, we hear about the crucial importance of the environment in influencing our eating behaviour, including “zoning” - the effort to keep fast food outlets no more than 400 yards from schools, and learn how our food has become more calorific over the past 20 to 30 years. Our guests discuss how ultimately, communicating information about obesity doesn’t necessarily change our behaviour towards food, as we are much more influenced by our genes and environment than what's inside our heads.
    This episode was produced by Nick Saffell, James Dolan, Naomi Clements-Brod and Annie Thwaite.
    1 hr 8 min
  • Welcome to Season 3!
    Season 3 is here, and we’re back discussing all things Health!
    Welcome (or welcome back) to Mind Over Chatter, the Cambridge University Podcast. One series at a time, we break down complex issues into simple questions. In this third series, we’re talking all about Health. We’ll be exploring both physical and mental health, and we’ll discuss causes, treatments and preventions for issues like dementia, cancer, infectious diseases and obesity.
    We’re going to be talking to interesting people from all over the University of Cambridge, including geographers, surgeons, computer scientists, molecular microbiologists, sociologists… and many more!
    We’ll cover everything from infectious diseases and how we can use vaccines to prevent them, to Tinder for bacteria; from artificial intelligence helping us tackle cancer, to Grandpa JPEG and all the Little Pixels, from adolescent mental health and eating disorders to Senua, the Pict warrior hero of the blockbuster video game Hellblade; from obesity and the gene-environment debate, to how a room full of Twixes is like a room full of Borg (resistance is futile); and from dementia and new approaches to its diagnosis and treatment, to “Tau Tangles” - the new brand of Greek noodle.
    3 min
  • Education’s moment of reckoning: access and inclusion in schools

    In April 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe, close to 1.6 billion children and youth were out of school due to temporary closures, representing more than 90% of students around the world, according to the United Nations. 

    In this episode, we take an international perspective with our guests Arif Naveed, Aya Waller-Bey, and Sara Allen. We discuss the double-edged sword of education systems around the world, for example, the US and Pakistan: how education both preserves inequality and how it can help us to overcome inequality. 

    Arif Naveed explores how the underlying social hierarchy that shapes day-to-day living also impacts the economic outcomes of schooling. Aya Waller-Bey talks about quality as opposed to simple access to education. Access depends on deep structural factors that mean opportunity is not equally distributed. Sara Allan gets us thinking about changing the way that institutions organise instruction and the role of the teacher. Would more of a student-centered approach improve access and inclusion in schools?

    This episode was produced by Nick Saffell, Lucy Allen, and Rachel Gardner Dalton. 

    Timestamps

    [00:00]- Introductions

    [02:50]- What does access to education actually mean? 

    [03:50]- Access depends on deep structural factors that mean opportunity is not equally distributed

    [04:50]- What are the long-standing, institutional barriers to equitable distribution of resources?

    [07.35]- What does access to education look like in the Global South?

    [08:20]- The economic outcomes of schooling

    [11:05]- Does access mean inclusion?  

    [13:15]- Access for who? Who has access to what? 

    [14:25]- The importance of social relationships between students and teachers at schools 

    [14:55]- Can we design schools to be student-centered?

    [17:10]- Where are we now..? Is it possible to improve learning at scale, but also learn from experience at the local level?  

    [22:05]- Are we at a moment of reckoning. Who is the education system set up to serve? 

    [25:10]- The justification for investment in education has predominantly been through its economic returns

    [27:05]- The return on investment and student loan debt

    [30:15]- How do we fund education going forward? 

    [38:45]- The value of social capital at the institutional level?

    [41:15]- Where does cultural capital fit into the puzzle? 

    [43:50]- How do you define success for yourself? How much do students value their own identities? 

    [45:00]- Can institutions become more student-centered?  

    [45:35]- Social hierarchies and critical race theory

    [47:50]- Outro

    Guest Bios: 

    Aya M. Waller-Bey (@Aya__Marie) is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the University of Michigan. Her current research examines the identity narration of Black students in college personal statements when applying to predominantly white institutions. In 2015, she was awarded the Gates Cambridge Scholarship to the University of Cambridge. Aya has shared her insights on postsecondary access, diversity, and inclusion in op-eds in the Huffington Post UK, University World News, the Hechinger Report, the 2016 White House Summit for Advancing Postsecondary Diversity and Inclusion, and as a...

    49 min
  • What is the future of reproduction?
    Our reproductive capabilities are changing in exciting ways, altering our fundamental understanding of fertility, reproduction, and even parenthood. In this episode, we asked our guests what the consequences of novel reproductive technologies are likely to be, and how they will impact the future of human reproduction. Alice Reid told us about how reproduction has changed over the last 200 years and the likely demographic impact of assisted reproduction, while Lucy Van de Wiel introduced the important ways in which reproductive technologies must be considered in the context of wide social and political issues. Thorsten Boroviak shared his exciting and cutting-edge research on developing new reproductive technologies. We cover topics ranging from egg-freezing, so-called ‘three-parent-babies, and the importance of studying the embryonic development of primates.
    This episode was produced by Nick Saffell, James Dolan and Naomi Clements-Brod. Annie Thwaite and Charlotte Zemmel provide crucial research and production support for Series 2.
    1 hr 16 min
  • What is the future of artificial intelligence?
    Artificial Intelligence can be found in every aspect of our lives. From A-level grade predicting algorithms to Netflix recommendations, AI is set to change the choices we make and how our personal information will be used. In this episode, we explore the future of AI - its potential benefits and harms - with our three guests. Beth Singler told us about the different cultural consequences of AI, and how the way we think about the future of AI reflects more about society today than the future itself. John Zerilli shared his views on the consequences of AI for democratic decision-making, and Richard Watson urged us to conceive of the future of AI in terms of ‘scenario planning’, rather than predicting the future directly. We cover topics ranging from how to make AI ‘ethical’, how the media representation of AI can colour the public’s perception of what the real issues are, and the importance of an international AI regulatory system.
    This episode was produced by Nick Saffell, James Dolan and Naomi Clements-Brod. Annie Thwaite and Charlotte Zemmel provide crucial research and production support for Series 2.
    1 hr 6 min
  • What would a more just future look like?
    Our society is more unequal than ever, as the top 1% control over 44% of the world’s wealth while 689 million people are living on less than $1.90 per day. In this episode, we asked our guests what the future of fairness, justice, and equality should look like, and how their research can help to bring about a fairer society. Alexa Hagerty and Natalie Jones shared how injustice can be thought of as an existential risk to humanity, while Esra Ozyurek introduced us to the importance of understanding that different people have different needs, making equality insufficient to bring about justice. We cover topics ranging from distributive justice, the virtues and vices of empathy, and the role AI will play in shaping equality in the years to come.
    This episode was produced by Nick Saffell, James Dolan and Naomi Clements-Brod. Annie Thwaite and Charlotte Zemmel provide crucial research and production support for Series 2.
    50 min

About Mind Over Chatter

From the publisher's feed

Welcome to Mind Over Chatter, the Cambridge University Podcast! One series at a time, we break down complex issues into simple questions. Join Nick, James, Naomi and Annie as they ask clever people…