Relatively Prime: Stories from the Mathematical Domain

Latest Episodes:

A Beauty Cold and Austere Aug 31, 2019

Show notes

On this month's episode of Relatively Prime Samuel Hansen speaks with Professor Mike Spivey from University of Puget Sound about his interactive fiction game A Beauty Cold and Austere. They discuss how interactive fiction and mathematics work together, some of the mathematical puzzles in the game, and just what easter eggs might be hiding within the game. Music: Sepgil Broke for Free A Beauty Cold and Austere Voiceover: Bree Prehn KT Howard

Robert Schneider Jul 31, 2019

Show notes

This episode is a bit of a blast from the past. Samuel has recently been going back through some of the old episodes from season 1 and while there were listening to The Score they realized that while the story about Robert Schneider and the non-Pythagorean scale was great it barely scratched the surface of amazing things Robert talked about in the interview. Upon registering to the original conversation, 7 years after it was recorded, Samuel realized not only did the story barely scratch the surface, the rest of the interview was absolutely fascinating. Robert’s mind works in amazing ways and the connections it draws between mathematics and music and art and life need to be heard. There is a reason Samuel considers Robert to be one of their favorite people in the world to talk to. So, sit back, listen, and enjoy Robert Schneider from Apples in Stereo, The Elephant 6 Record Co., and freshly minted mathematics PhD (a degree which had just been begun when this interview was conducted).

Mathematical Objects Jun 29, 2019

Show notes

On this episode of Relatively Prime Samuel Hansen is joined by fellow podcasters and friends Katie Steckles and Peter Rowlett of the Aperiodical to talk about their new mathematical podcast Mathematical Objects. They discuss about where the idea for the podcast came from, how talking about objects can lead to conversations which range from research mathematics to history and back again, and it even features two episodes of their show, one about a shirt and other about a piece of citrus.

EDGE May 01, 2019

Show notes

On this episode of Relatively Prime Samuel speaks with the founders, Sylvia Bozeman of Spellman College and Rhonda Hughes of Bryn Mawr, a current director, Ami Randunskaya of Pomona College, and a former director, Ulrica Wilson of Morehouse College, of the Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education (EDGE) program. They discuss why EDGE was started, how it transformed from a program to help young women entering graduate school into a multi-academic generation mentoring community, and its impact on mathematics. If you want to support the amazing work EDGE does you can donate at edgeforwome.org

Mathematically Gifted & Black Mar 31, 2019

Show notes

If a person is going to become a mathematician it is important for them to be able to see examples of people like themselves who have already made that journey. All too often this type of representation is few and far between for many mathematically inclined black and brown young people. On this episode of Relative Prime Samuel Hansen is joined by the four co-creators of Mathematically Gifted & Black: Candice Price, Erica Graham, Raegan Higgins, and Shelby Wilson. Together they talk about why they wanted to tell the stories of a wide breadth of black mathematicians lives, the importance of representation, how some of the stories they are still having to tell in 2019 show how much mathematics has to grow, and potentials paths for that growth. Music: Locoflop Nina Simone

3 2 1…Action Feb 28, 2019

Show notes

Here on Relatively Prime we have discussed mathematical novels and poetry and music and even featured mathematics sketches, but we have yet to talk movies. That oversight is going to rectified on this episode by featuring two interviews Samuel had done with people who have made movies where mathematics is the star. First up is Samuel's conversation with the creators of the Flatland and Flatland² Sphereland animated movies writer and director Dano Johnson and the producer Seth Caplan Then you will here Samuel's interview of Christopher Boone, the creator of the Kickstarter funded mathematics movie Cents. Quick disclaimer, Samuel was one of the funders of the Kickstarter

Jem’s Gems Jan 31, 2019

Show notes

On Relatively Prime we talk a lot about mathematicians and their research, but it has been a long time since we have talked about an absolutely integral part of how people end up becoming mathematicians and doing research...Math Teachers. After all if there were no math teachers then who would first tempt us into the world of mathematics with wondrous things like factoring, which is totally what got Samuel hooked. Hey don’t look at them that way, they just love a good difference of two squares quadratic. On this episode of Relatively Prime Samuel speaks with mathematics teacher Jo Morgan. They discuss how Jo went from banking to teaching, how twitter totally changed Jo's teaching practice, and the work Jo does helping teacher to find resources to use in their teaching. To learn more about Jo follow her on twitter and check out her blog Resourceaholic.com.

A Year (1811) In Review Dec 31, 2018

Show notes

In a traditional move for the start of January we attempt a review of the year. In an untraditional move, we choose the year 1811. Samuel and Peter weren't able to speak directly because of the ongoing tension following American independence and the brewing Anglo-American war of 1812, but they cover some mathematical hot topics and the work of several contemporary mathematicians, including Carl Friedrich Gauss, Joseph Fourier, Mary Sommerville, Joseph-Louis Lagrange, Pierre-Simon Laplace, Siméon Denis Poisson and Marie-Sophie Germain, plus the tale of a mathematician born this year: Évariste Galois. Links: Mathematics Chronology for 1800 to 1810 Mathematics Chronology for 1810 to 1820 Math/Maths History Tour of Nottingham - George Green: Miller, Mathematician, and Physicist Carl Friederich Gauss Joseph Fourier Mary Sommerville Joseph-Louis Lagrange Pierre-Simon Laplace Siméon Denis Poisson 200 years of Poisson's ratio Marie-Sophie Germain Evariste Galois Music by Lucas Gonze

All the Math Podcasts-Bonus Dec 20, 2018

Show notes

This bonus episode of Relatively Prime features a live podcast recording from 2018's Annual MathsJam Gathering. This live podcast featured segments from Math/Maths, Wrong But Useful, Talkdust, Strongly Connected Components/Travels in a Mathematical World/All Squared, The Aperiodcast, Relatively Prime, Taking Maths Further, and a surprise bonus show. It was a blast to record and hopefully also a blast to listen to. The Aperiodical did a more complete round-up of the live podcast which you can read here.

Cycle of Mathematics: Around 20 Papers Nov 30, 2018

Show notes

Welcome to the fourth and final episode of the Cycle of Mathematics mini-series from Relatively Prime. In this mini-series we are covering mathematics from its start as an idea to its publication to it inspiring the cycle to start anew. In this this episode we arrive at the inspiration step of the cycle. Specifically we hear from Michelle Girvan from the University of Maryland on how the Watt-Strogatz paper on small world networks discussed in the first episode of this mini-series helped motivate a definitely not insignificant amount of Michelle's research. Stayed tuned for to this feed for a special bonus live mathematics podcast recorded at MathsJam 2018 which will be dropping in a couple of weeks. It is a weird one and I think y'all will enjoy it.