Episodes
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In this wide ranging conversation we discuss the varying roots of contemporary computer language, from medieval Arabic phiosophy and divination machines, via the religious search for a universal language, to punch cards in 19th century industry. We talk about Babbage and Lovelace's work on mathematical and reasoning engines and their link to Turing's universal machine in the 1940s. Dennis describes little studied literary templates in the late 19th century before moving to Propp's 'morphology of folk tales' in the Soviet era and how that impacted aviation safety in later years. We conclude with a discussion of the impossibility of an 'ethical AI', drawing comparison to corporate ethics.
Dennis Yi Tenen, Associate Professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University, New York. https://dennistenen.com/
Ken Barrett visual artist, writer and former neuropsychiatrist.http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/
The book discussed: 'Literary Theory for Robots'
https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393882186
Opening and closing music: Prelude to Brainland the opera by Stephen Brown.
Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk
Follow us us on Instagram:#brainlandcollective
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In this podcast philosopher Perry Zurn discusses ‘Curious Minds’, the book he wrote with his twin Danni Bassett. We talk about their unusual upbinging, home schooled in a large family that encouraged curiosity, then negotiating the more restrictive world of academia. They view curiosity as ‘edgework’, an exploration of connections between ‘nodes’ of information. We discuss ‘busybodies’,’ hunters’ and ‘dancers’. three curious behaviours they identified, and research evidence that supports them. The effect of language on curiosity gets a mention (Eg differences between First Nation and modern languages), and how curiosity plays out in non-verbal domains (such a sport and visual art) with a diversion into the role of the hippocampus in remembering both physical and conceptual space (such as between related words). After an appreciation of Virginia Woolf, we touch on possible dangers of curiosity, such as supporting the idea of alternative realities and the fake news that builds them, before talking about curious animals.
Participants:
Perry Zane is Visiting Associate Professor of Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Cornell University and Provost Associate Professor of Philosophy at American University
https://www.perryzurn.com/projects
Ken Barrett visual artist, writer and former neuropsychiatrist.http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/
The book discussed:
https://www.amazon.com/Curious-Minds-Connection-Perry-Zurn/dp/0262047039
Opening and closing music: Prelude to Brainland the opera by Stephen Brown.
Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk
Follow us us on Instagram:#brainlandcollective
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Missing episodes?
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This is part 2 of the conversation with Russell Kilbourn on memory and movies. In part 1 we talked about the way memory is treated in literature and movies but we didn't have time to discuss memory in sci-fi movies so Russ agreed to return. In this podcast we discuss the varying treatment of memory in the genre. Eg: removing memories (Total Recall, Severance and particularly Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind); inserting false memories (Blade Runner); repurposing memories (Strange Days, and particularly Solaris and La Jetee). La Jetée led to an interesting discussion about the strange and interesting Canadian film My Winnipeg. We close by returning to literature, in the science fiction genre.
Participants:
Russell J Kilbourn is Professor of Literature and Film, Dept of English and Film Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario, Canada. http://rjakilbourn.com/
Ken Barrett, visual artist, writer and former neuropsychiatrist.http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/
Sci fi movies discussed (Russ's 'must sees' in bold):
Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982) and BR 2049 (Denis Villeneuve, 2017)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)
La Jetée (Chris Marker, 1962)
Solaris (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972)
Oblivion (Joseph Kosinski, 2013)
2046 (Kar-wai Wong, 2004) (lost memories)
After Life (Hirokazu Koreeda, 1998)
Minority Report (Steven Spielberg, 2002)
Source Code (Duncan Jones, 2011)
Strange Days (Kathryn Bigelow, 1995)
Total Recall (Paul Verhoeven, 1990)
Upstream Color (Shane Carruth, 2013)
Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk
Follow us us on Instagram: #brainlandcollective
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In this podcast Veronica O'Keane and Ken Barrett share cases and discuss some of the themes explored in Veronica's book 'A Sense of Self'. We explore the various structures in the brain essential for memory to function, talk about the importance of place to memory (we often remember where we where if not when) and recent findings on how our brain does that, the role of the frontal lobes and the hidden area of cortext called the insula, before with interesting detours into nostalgia and memory in the work of Irish writer Samuel Beckett.
Veronica O' Keane, Professor of Psychiatry, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, Tallaght Hospital, Dublin.
Ken Barrett, artist, writer and former neuropsychiatrist.http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/
Veronica's book 'A Sense of Self: Memory, the brain and who we are': https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324021834
Opening and closing music: Prelude to Brainland the opera by Stephen Brown.
Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk
Follow us us on Instagram: #brainlandcollective
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In this podcast puppeteer and academic Cariad Astles talks about how she got interested and trained in puppetry, before discussing her experience of puppetry in China and Africa. We explore why puppetry tends to be viewed as a practice for children in the UK (Cariad blames protestantism) before talking about a number of healthcare applications of puppetry including training medical students and nurses, in psychotherapy (citing an especially powerful project in Chile), health education including promoting empathy, in dementia and autism. Cariad concludes by speculating on how robotics and AI may impact puppetry and its applications in the future and shares her hope that its' value should be more widely recognised in the west, not least in ritual.
Participants:
Cariad Astles, Lecturer at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and at Exeter University. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Cariad-Astles
Ken Barrett, artist, writer and former neuropsychiatrist.http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/
Cariad's paper 'the Art of Puppetry Practice: Embodiment, Enchantment, Memory History' can be downloaded here: https://www.academia.edu/83808501/Puppetry_The_Art_of_Puppetry_Practice_Embodiment_Enchantment_Memory_History
Opening and closing music: Prelude to Brainland the opera by Stephen Brown
Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk
Follow us us on Instagram: @brainlandcollective
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In this conversation we talk about the earliest representations of memory in classical, latin, literature (the original 'art of memory') then move, via St Augustine, to Proust and his madeleine. Russell describes how the representaion of memory, the 'flash back', appeared in the first years of film-making but identifies the real innovations in Casablanca (1942) and Citizen Kane (1941). We move on to what made Fellini and Bergan masters in the use of memory before coming up to date with last year's excellent 'All of Us Strangers' . We end with an extended discussion of the ethics of memory in film, in particular the way the Holocaust has been depicted, and give the views of Goddard and Deleuze an airing.
Participants:
Russell J Kilbourn is Professor in the Dept of English and Film Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario, Canada. http://rjakilbourn.com/
Ken Barrett is an artist, writer and former neuropsychiatristhttp://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/
Some of the films discussed:
Curtiz - Casablanca: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034583/videogallery/
Wells - Citzen Kane: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033467/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_5_nm_3_in_0_q_citizen%2520
Bergman - Wild Strawberries: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050986/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_wild%2520strawberies
Fellini - 8 1/2: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056801/
Haigh - 'All of Us Strangers': https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21192142/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Opening and closing music: Prelude to Brainland the opera by Stephen Brown
Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk
Instagram: #brainlandcollective
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In this extended podcast Stephen Johnson shares his experience of the healing effects of Shostakovich’s music during dark periods in his life, both as a youth and later when coping with depression. He recalls his often solitary teenage years, when his passion for the music of Shostakovich took root, fueled by a prodigious ability to recall music, and text. He goes on to discuss the composer’s life, music and unlikely survival during the Stalin purges. Stephen also describes interviewing people who knew the composer, for a BBC documentary, including a member of the orchestra during the famous performance of his 7th symphony during the Leningrad siege. We conclude with an in depth discussion of the specific therapeutic effects of music.
Participants.
Stephen Johnson, Broadcaster, writer and composer https://www.stephen-johnson.co.uk/
Andy Platman, writer and former GP.
Ken Barrett, artist, writer and former neuropsychiatrist http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/
Stephen’s documentary on Shostakovitch: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b007g7hp
His book: https://www.stephen-johnson.co.uk/publications/how-shostakovich-changed-my-mind/
Opening and closing music: Prelude to Brainland the opera by Stephen Brown
Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk
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In this conversation we discuss Stephen's ideas about the evolution of imagination and improvisation. After defining terms Stephen's talks about his idea of the 'second universe', the link between dreams and storytelling and his view that drawing, dance and gesture preceded language in evolution. We talk about the difference between 'hot' and 'cold' cognition and explore the necessary conditions for improvisation then end with a discussion of cultural differences in the importance attached to improvisation, contrasting particularly the USA and China.
Participants:
Stephen Asma, Professor of Philosophy, Columbia College, Chicago, USA. www.stephenasma.com
Ken Barrett, artist, writer, retired neuropsychiatrist http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/
Stephen's Book, The Evol;ution of Imagination': https://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Imagination-Stephen-T-Asma-ebook/dp/B06WWJC8JX/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=p7r7l&content-id=amzn1.sym.f911c8db-3a2b-4b3e-952f-b80fdcee83f4&pf_rd_p=f911c8db-3a2b-4b3e-952f-b80fdcee83f4&pf_rd_r=131-8110503-3306616&pd_rd_wg=A284i&pd_rd_r=b4eef1a3-7076-4640-9f69-d105cfccb0e7&ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk
Stephen's podcast, “Chinwag”, cohosted with Paul Giamatti
https://www.treefort.fm/series/chinwag
Opening and closing music: 'Improvisation for Brainland' by Stephen Asma.
Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk
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In this wide ranging conversation Anna outlines the particular difficulties involved in researching the psychology and neuroscience of creativity. We talk about the popular idea that the right hemisphere is the creative brain (it isn't), links between mental health and psychedelics to creativity, and the possible contribution of the default mode network. We also discuss the special quality of creativity in the context of humour. In an afterword we talk about some of the problems involved in research that engages the popular press, bypassing peer review, but also the 'status bias' that can colour even peer review.
Participants:
Anna Abraham PhD, E. Paul Torrance Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, Director, Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent Development, Mary Frances Early College of Education, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA. http://www.anna-abraham.com/
Ken Barrett, artist, writer, retired neuropsychiatrist http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/
Anna's Books: The Creative Brain: Myths and Truths: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262548007/the-creative-brain/
The Neuroscience of Creativity: http://www.anna-abraham.com/book-the-neuroscience-of-creativity-2018.html
Opening music: Prelude to Brainland Act 1, composed by Stephen Brown.
Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk
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In this podcast Hayley talks us through the early history of puppets in opera, including the eighteenth century fashion for opera composed specifically for puppets. She goes on to describe the conclusions reached in her doctoral research, applying musicological thinking to marionette operas in our era, conclusions she considers applicable more widely to cinema and animation. These include her theory 'performance networks and poetic synchronicity. She talks about her experience of various performances and her conviction that the movement of puppets, expertly 'played', are inherently musical.
Participants:
Hayley Burton Richards, musicologist, musician, educator, Head of Music, Wilson's School.
Ken Barrett, artist, writer, retired neuropsychiatrist http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/
Hayley"s beautifully written Harvard PhD thesi. 'Breath, Gravity and Death' can be accessed here: https://dash.lib.harvard.edu/handle/1/37372118?show=full
Some of the performances discussed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWi-7aTW_po
https://www.kentridge.studio/projects/wozzeck/
Richard Teschner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY38P-6TYQM
Lotte Reiniger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-TJvNBO1fw
Opening music: extract from scene 2 of Brainland composed by Stephen Brown.
Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk
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In this podcast, after outlining some of the positive and negative of religious behaviour, Patrick discusses the key areas currently being studied in order to better understand the cognitive neuroscience of religion. These include REM sleep, the effects of psychedelic substances and the default mode network. ‘Decentering’, a key aspect of his team’s approach to the subject is explained along with the possible involvement of predictive processing. He discusses why he believes religion to be a ‘transformational technology’ and the impact of brain pathology on religiosity.
Participants:
Patrick McNamara, Professor, Department of Psychology, National University
Associate Professor of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, President Emeritus, Center for Mind and Culture, Boston MA. cognitiveneuroscienceofreligion.org
Ken Barrett, artist, writer and retired neuropsychiatrist http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/
Patrick's recent books mentioned in the podcast: The cognitive neurosciecne of religious experience: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cognitive-Neuroscience-Religious-Experience-Decentering/dp/1108977898/ref=sr_1_1?crid=27ANJMOV7L933&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.VfizW2OdtY7ieLd7pOKo2MsVsdjfAQTK6opPXGdf80lTCzNQKZ1ObrMeL7XUel1JRw0jAan9OeTAELpC2UFtOluJui4pquuCKfZfOVZzJdbmIW9rw4503Yy4XVGCwVSYUYBuEKezhtlXB3djLhCYMsp94nYlBSI9_1RU8pWveD7XD8qDRgTpGD6tgJVo1TmznLPDSne12UJuNWb3h19EVHe28tsSZTqw3vT-pvs33T8.eJK3qrKjpLs8mbY4-EtyCVqhO_rs6tG87YrQrNrd2mg&dib_tag=se&keywords=patrick+mcnamara&qid=1719523857&sprefix=patrick+mcnamara%2Caps%2C90&sr=8-1
Religion, neuroscience and the self: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Religion-Neuroscience-Self-Personalism-Neurotheology/dp/1032176008/ref=pd_sbs_d_sccl_1_1/262-6697966-8243913?pd_rd_w=5GUcv&content-id=amzn1.sym.ad51136c-8d04-4e54-9ec5-18cad2a65d61&pf_rd_p=ad51136c-8d04-4e54-9ec5-18cad2a65d61&pf_rd_r=T5QPQF9409B9KZ0G4YKF&pd_rd_wg=jlX6N&pd_rd_r=3b50c7d5-236d-4ad4-a876-3420dcd9d712&pd_rd_i=1032176008&psc=1
Opening music: extract from the prelude to Brainland by Stephen Brown.
Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk
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'A Matter of Life and Death' (AMOLAD) is a 1946 film by Michael Powell and Emerich Pressberger. Peter Carter, a bomber pilot is returning from the last raid of the war. His plane and parachute are shot up so he decides to 'jump rather than fry' and has a last conversation over the radio with June, an American radio operator before jumping, as he expects, to his death. He doesn't die but washes up on a beach and as a love story unfolds between him and June he is menaced by recurrent episodes (clinically, complex partial epileptic seizures though the words aren't mentioned in the film) during which a 'conductor' from the afterlife tries to persuade him to return with him as he shouldn't really have survived. The film culminates in a realistically staged neurosurgical operation on Peter whilst in the afterlife his case to go on living is put on trial trial. Ian explains why this is his favourite film of all time (as it is Ken's),their conversation ranging over origin and influences, forebears and progeny, design and music, the clincial neuroscience that underpins it and much more.
Participants:
Ian Christie, Professor of Film and Media History, Birckbeck, University of London. www.ianchristie.org
Ken Barrett, artist and writer, retired neuropsychiatrist http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/
For more about 'A Matter of Life and Death': https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038733/ (SEE IT!)
https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/b58b75d7-e9e2-5a1f-a448-afa92a35462d/a-matter-of-life-and-death
In the UK it is currently (on 21.6.24) On BBC Iplayer.
Ian's book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Matter-Life-Death-Film-Classics/dp/1839023899
The other book mentioned, on the neuroscientific background of the film, is by Diane Broadbent Friedman: https://www.amazon.com/Matter-Life-Death-Revealed-Michael/dp/1438909454/ref=sr_1_1?crid=44HWRLDHFBAD&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.OOo1Jr5zS9T5S66Qxafa0k1nEXlGBWJ8OtH_BdckQVxe0Adbh0U9UUXtsF-ikO6S470ZJafISz1fi5BjjOZt-K4rfe3RUVnVfT9z9-aIffzEet5ZKUBDQFbGEV1HSo4yU3JpZWvHWWe5uGzjy5AUH9iAiT5oKdx7a4wWP-x7lubaTLPDggjtJ2wGe_Lz08kwaBYDzg2E6_aKIPxfYYVvKk2vtaR4ghzBqTRUdFZ8-kE.RnIRY1ho2lgxZvWxZW4th9yrxYt89JrWLPj42mXYmKg&dib_tag=se&keywords=friedman.+a+matter+of+life+and+death&qid=1719513403&sprefix=friedman.+a+matter+of+life+and+death%2Caps%2C96&sr=8-1
This is a paper by the same author: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1344781/
This is the the book by Frigyes Karinthy which was part of the inspiration: https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/A_Journey_Round_My_Skull.html?id=trCxtdw5OHcC&redir_esc=y
Opening music, extract from the prelude to Brainland by Stephen Brown.
Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk
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Susan Tomes is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning pianist specialising in chamber music as well as solo repertoire. Here she talks to Stephen Brown about her musical origins in Edinburgh, what it was like being the first woman to read music at King’s College Cambridge, how she built her performing career starting from a single room in Crystal Palace, and the transformative influence of working with the violinist Sándor Végh at the Prussia Cove seminars in Cornwall. She talks about sensitivity and reciprocity in ensemble playing, about communicating with audiences and the mysteries of how a musical phrase sometimes sounds exactly right. She has written seven books to date. The latest, "Women and the Piano: A History in 50 Lives" was published in March 2024 by Yale University Press.
Participants:
Susan Tomes, pianist and writer https://www.susantomes.com/.
Stephen Brown, composer, cellist and former neuropsychiatrist http://www.cornwallcomposers.com/stephen.htm.
Amazon link for Women and the Piano
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Women-Piano-History-50-Lives/dp/030026657X
The recording of the Faure Piano Quartets has been reissued by Hyperion and is available here.
https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA30007
Music: Extract from Faure Piano Quartets, with permission, reissued by Hyperion and available here.
https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA30007.
Brainland the oepra website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk
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In this podcast academic and clinical music therapists, musicians and friends Helen Odell-Miller and Penny Rogers discuss their life work – music therapy. They define and outline the varieties of music therapy, discuss their journey from training as musicians to studying music therapy and cognitive psychology (Penny) and psychodynamic psychotherapy (Helen). Penny talks about her clinical work in various settings and Helen her career at the forefront of research into the positive effects of music therapy (ameliorating conditions as varied as agitation in dementia to PTSD). They also talk about how their continuing musical practice in group settings (Helen singing, Penny cello) enriches their day-to-day lives and improves their professional practice.
Participants:
Helen Odell-Miller OBE, Professor Emeritus, Anglia Ruskin University; Founding Director of Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research; Chair of The Music Therapy Charity; Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
https://www.aru.ac.uk/people/helen-odell-miller
Penny Rogers, music therapist; Deputy Director, Safeguarding & Public Protection at Devon Partnership NHS Trust; Trustee, British Association for Music Therapy; 'cellist.
https://www.bamt.org/bamt/people/penny-rogers
Stephen Brown, musician; composer; retired professor of neuropsychiatry
http://www.cornwallcomposers.com/stephen.htm
Resources and further reading:
Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy (CIMTR):
https://www.aru.ac.uk/cambridge-institute-for-music-therapy-research
British Association for Music Therapy
https://www.bamt.org/
Royal College of Psychiatrists Introductory Module at E-LEARNING hub:
https://elearninghub.rcpsych.ac.uk/products/Music_therapy-an_introduction
Some recent research papers:
Thompson, N et al.(2023). Investigating the impact of music therapy on two in-patient psychiatric wards for people living with dementia: retrospective observational study. BJPsych Open, 9(2), e42. doi:10.1192/bjo.2023.20
Odell-Miller, H et al.(2022). The HOMESIDE Music Intervention: A Training Protocol for Family Carers of People Living with Dementia. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 12(12), 1812-1832. Doi: 10.3390/ejihpe12120127
Odell-Miller, H., (2021) Embedding Music and Music Therapy in Care Pathways for People with Dementia in the 21st Century—a position paper. Music and Science. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F20592043211020424
Hsu MH et al.(2015). The impact of music therapy on managing neuropsychiatric symptoms for people with dementia and their carers: a randomised controlled feasibility study. BMC Geriatrics. 15:84 doi:10.1186/s12877-015-0082-4
Music: Opening and closing music to the opera 'Brainland', composed by Stephen Brown
Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk
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This is another in the Vital Spark series exploring facets of creativity with a range of artists and academics. In this conversation Italian director, actor and teacher Chiara D'Anna speaks about her work and creative process, beginning with images, physical and emotional atmosphere before involving words. We discuss her acting in film, particularly with Peter Strickland (Duke of Burgundy and Berberian Sound Studio) and her training and teaching in commedia dell’arte, an Italian tradition of theatre she outlines for us. We talk about her evolving one woman show and the differences in performing in Italian or English, particularly in relation to humour and comic timing. She also speaks about her major upcoming project. co-directing Strauss’ opera Ariadne auf Naxos in Budapest.
Participants:
Chiara D’Anna, director, actor, teacher and Commedia Dell’Arte specialist. https://www.chiaradanna.com/
Ken Barrett, artist and writer, retired neuropsychiatrist http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/
For more on commedia dell'Arte this is Chiara's YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@movementactortraining
Music: Prelude to the opera 'Brainland' composed by Stephen Brown.
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Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk
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The Vital Spark’ is an occasional series delving into aspects of creativity. For this podcast Stephen Brown travelled to the far west of Cornwall for a conversation with novelist, screen writer and fellow cellist Patrick Gale. Patrick talks about his unusual childhood, his journey from musician and singer to becoming a successful writer, the life events that help enliven his novels and the research that underpins them. He speaks about his writing process, including the need to leave self behind and inhabit characters. Other aspects of the creative process are also touched upon and good editors get a mention. They discuss the similarity between composing music and writing to commission and, as a case in point, Patrick talks about his recent stage adaptation of his novel ‘Take Nothing With You’ and his hopes for a multipart screen adaptation of ‘A Town Called Winter’.
Participants:
Patrick Gale, novelist, screenwriter, playwright and musician https://galewarning.org/
Stephen Brown, musician, composer and retired neuropsychiatrist. http://cornwallcomposers.com/stephen.htm
Music: Prelude to the opera 'Brainland' composed by Stephen Brown.
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Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk
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In this special extended edition of the podcast, we take a deep dive into the life and work of Hans Berger, the German psychiatrist who discovered the EEG a century ago this year, the inspiration for a major character in the opera Brainland. Cornelius Borck is a leading German historian of medicine and science and an expert on Berger and his work. In a wide ranging conversation he describes the scientific backdrop to Berger’s discovery, his early career and personality, how the discovery came about, why it took him 5 years to report his findings and why he was denied the Nobel Prize. We also discuss his eugenic sympathies and relationship with the Nazis, his decline into depression and the post-war mythology that grew up around him.
Participants:
Cornelius Borck, Professor and Director of the Institute for History of Medicine and Science Studies, Lübeck University, Germany. https://www.imgwf.uni-luebeck.de/
Ken Barrett, artist, writer and retired neuropsychiatrist. .http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/
Cornelius’s book on this subject: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-mono/10.4324/9781315569840/brainwaves-cultural-history-electroencephalography-cornelius-borck-ann-hentschel
Music: Stephen Brown’s depiction of the alpha rhythm of the EEG, from Brainland Act 1, scene 2.
Sketch by KB.
Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk
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Why do we respond to puppets? That's what this episode explores, with the help of Pia and Ana, academics who approach the question from different perspectives. We discover what is meant by the 'uncanny valley' and how it links puppetry to robots (and zombies!) and discuss if 'conceptual blending' might be useful. Does the old notion of 'suspending disbelief' hold water? Ana talks about her project using a viewer's direction of gaze to explore this question in relation to puppetry.
Participants:
Pia Banzhaf, Assistant Professor, Michigan State University, Department of Linguistics , Lanuages and Culture; Center for Integrrative Studies in the Arts and Humanities; Collaborations for Applied puppetry Research. Website: Kaleidoscopia
Ana Diaz Barriga, Doctoral Candidate, Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Theatre & Drama, Northwestern University. https://www.anadiazbarriga.com/
Ken Barrett, artist, writer and retired neuropsychiatrist.http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/
Pia's chapter, 'The Ontology of puppets' is here: http://otworzksiazke.pl/images/ksiazki/dolls_and_puppets/dolls_and_puppets.pdf#page=9
More about the show Ana has been studying is here
More about the 'uncanny valley is here: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/ai-uncanny-valley
and this image illustrates it: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/6f/d2/2c/6fd22c3c6e5cc72c1e7f4f840c594c56.jpg
Music: Prelude to Brainland, Act 1, composed by Stephen Brown
Sketch by KB.
Brainland the opera: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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In this conversation poet and visual artist Andrea Mbarushimana and neurologist/poet Heather Angus-Leppan talk about their project exploring the value of chatbots to help people cope with and better understand their epilepsy. The project began by collecting over 1700 questions about the condition posted by people living with epilepsy. Heather describes how Andrea was integral to the project, facilitating workshops with people living epilepsy. Andrea shares poems written during the project, including two from the perspective of those chatbots! Heather also shares a moving poem about one of her patients.
Participants:
Andrea Mbarushimana, poet, visual artist.
www.andrea-mbarushimana.com
Heather Angus-Leppan, Neurologist, Royal Free Hospital, Professor of Medical Education, University of East London.
https://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/services/consultants/dr-heather-angus-leppan
Ken Barrett, visual artist, writer, former neuropsychiatrist.
http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk
Music composed by Stephen Brown: Extract from Act 1 Scene 2 of Brainland.
Portrait sketch by KB.
Brainland the opera website: https://www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Peter Vuust is that rare combintion - a professional musician and composer, and a professor of neuroscience investigating how our brain responds to music. This wide ranging conversation includes why we humans are so attracted and responsive to music, the link between groove and predictive cognition, the Mozart effect, the tingle/chill factor in music, and how to get more out of atonal music. As if that weren’t enough, Peter shares a track of his upcoming album (he can be seen and heard in several bands at the Aarhus Jazz Festival in July).
Participants:
Peter Vuust, musician, composer, professor of neuroscience and Head of the Department of Music and the Brain at Aarhus University, Denmark. http://www.petervuust.dk http://www.musicinthebrain.dk/peter-vuust/
Andrew Platman, writer and retired physican.
Ken Barrett, artist, writer and retired neuropsychiatrist/psychophysiologist.
http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk
Music : 'Homage to Keith', composed by Peter Vuust, played by the Peter Vuust Quartet (2024, with permission).
Portrait sketch by KB.
Brainland the opera website:
https://www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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