South Mimms U
The university where the subjects other educational institutions won't touch are taught, debated, and laughed at. You'll laugh and learn at the same time. We're real but we're not real. We take thought to its logical limits in the service of stretching your mind and opening new ways of thinking. No subject is taboo, no conclusion too weird. Join us and 'think different'. Email: southmimmsu@gmail.com
Episodes
160 episodes
Smoking Seagulls and the Law of Unintended Consequences
The law of unintended consequences applies in some surprising ways, like when you study the behaviour of the super-rich and it leads to getting seagulls hooked on tobacco. It's strange, but true. And quite amusing.
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Season 9
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Episode 9
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16:31
Why Bad Ideas Can Be Good For You
When everyone is telling you that your idea is a bad one, should you keep pursuing it? Most people would think not, but as this short drama shows, sometimes it can be good for you and lead to a better idea. It's counter-intuitive but worth thin...
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Season 9
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Episode 8
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23:50
If Trump isn't Jesus, is he Santa Claus?
Some people believe that Donald Trump is either the Second Coming of Jesus or a Jesus-like figure worthy of worship. What if he's actually Santa Claus? There's research that shows how some children, when they stop believing in Santa, experience...
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Season 9
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Episode 7
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21:35
Petrol, Diesel, Electric - What's Next for Cars?
Cars are a conundrum. They're vital but polluting. Even electric cars aren't that great for the environment. Is there another way? At South Mimms we're experimenting with a new kind of power source - and it's as old as time. Don't worry, it's n...
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Season 9
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Episode 6
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19:41
Everybody Loves Cats
When an ailing art museum needs to refresh its image to try and attract more visitors, a German industrialist comes up with an interesting way to get global attention – and it’s all about cats! Which puts the cats amongst the intellectual pigeo...
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Season 9
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Episode 5
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20:41
Close Encounters of the South Mimms Kind
It's happened! First Contact! And in South Mimms! Only, the aliens haven't done their research very well and emerge speaking a language only a select few understand. It could have been a 'War of the Worlds' scenario, but it turned out to be a s...
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Season 9
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Episode 4
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22:56
The Truth about Roswell
Strange sightings of possible extraterrestrial craft at Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947 kicked off the whole UFO craze not just in the United States, but the entire world. And it's STILL going on. Was it hysteria or evidence that our planet is bei...
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Season 9
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Episode 3
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24:10
The AI Frankenstein Made of Lego!
Everyone is trying to get on the Artificial Intelligence bandwagon. But creating a Frankenstein monster out of Lego, giving it an AI powered brain, and then bringing it to life in a storm is probably going too far. Especially when the 'monster'...
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Season 9
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Episode 2
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20:48
When the Gods Gave Sisyphus a Leaf Blower
The Myth of Sisyphus is the ultimate description of futility. Endlessly rolling a rock up a mountain, only for it to roll back down again. One scholar believes that the modern equivalent is the humble - and annoyingly ubiquitous - leaf blower. ...
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Season 9
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Episode 1
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18:45
Interview with a Werewolf
There are lycanthropes living amongst us, quietly, carefully, controlling their reactions to the movements of the moon. And there's one in the South Mimms Zoo who just wants a quiet life. But the Zoo is thinking about highlighting its collectio...
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Season 8
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Episode 9
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21:27
How Ron DeSantis Sparked a Fig Leaf Revival
The Florida teacher who got fired for showing her class a picture of Michelangelo's David was the first sign of a revival in 'fig leaves'. Not since the Victorian era has the demand for fig leaves - actual and virtual - been so strong, and one ...
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Season 8
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Episode 8
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19:45
Avant Garde or Deliberately Bad? Music Beyond the Limits of Taste
Avant Garde music is notoriously difficult to like. But some people say they do. What if we made music that was so bad that it turned out to be amazingly popular amongst the chattering classes? It worked for Stravinsky and The Rite of Spring' (...
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Season 8
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Episode 7
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18:14
What Happens When You Teach an Animal About Death
Animals understand death, but they don't KNOW that they're going to die. Only humans really understand that they are mortal. But what would happen if you managed to teach an animal about the true nature of their mortality? The consequences migh...
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Season 8
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Episode 8
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16:55
Why You Should Look at Queues and Queuing in a Totally New Way
Queues are a part of all our lives. We hate them. We try and avoid them. But there's no escape. So, why not understand how they work and how, every so often, they can lead to an encounter that can change your life. Our Queuing Studies Course, a...
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Season 8
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Episode 6
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20:22
Why Studying Probability Will Get You into Trouble, Probably
When our Mathematics department got together with our Astronomy department and got funding from a new Las Vegas based 'college' - the results were... troubling. The odds on compromising our intellectual credentials were high.
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Season 8
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Episode 5
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20:29
Would Putin use a killer care-home robot to eliminate an old opponent?
He might. And it's possible. More and more robots are being used to care for old people. They use AI to act as companions as well as remind old people to take their medications. So, it's perfectly possible that Putin - notorious for poisoning o...
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Season 8
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Episode 4
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20:27
What are the Two Most Important Football Matches Ever Played?
Depending on your team or nationalilty, you might pick any number of vital and exciting matches from the past. But there are two which define how football evolved to become the world's most popular - and probably richest - sport. And they took ...
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Season 8
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Episode 3
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16:35
Can Chat GPT Defend Itself Against Charges of Being a Plagiarism Engine?
Why bother writing our own introduction: we’ll get Chat GPT to do it. It’s almost right. “In this podcast, the host defends ChatGPT against accusations of being a plagiarism tool. The host explains that ChatGPT is a language model developed by ...
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Season 8
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Episode 2
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15:13
When a man believes he's made of glass, life gets fragile
Our latest offering from the SMU Playhouse is a short play about a man who believes he's made of glass. And it's not so strange an obsession. Since the advent of domestic glass in the late Middle Ages, many men (and they're usually men) have co...
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Season 8
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Episode 1
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21:01
Malta 1919: The Longest Breath
A family story that evolved into a chilling myth and an empty old house, that's the start of an investigation into how the Spanish Flu pandemic made its mark on both Malta and one man's imagination.
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Season 7
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Episode 15
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23:25
This is why today's politicians are so dumb!
The media keeps telling us that politicians are getting dumb and dumber all the time. But perhaps there's a strategy behind that stupidity and ignorance. Maybe it's fake. Maybe it's a clever tactic to get brainy people into power using the vote...
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Season 7
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Episode 14
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17:33
Are Two Minds better Than None?
Produced by the SMU Playhouse team, 'Are Two Minds Better Than None' is a short, powerful play about mind-uploading. It's the ambition of various tech billionaires (like Elon Musk) to upload their minds to a computer in a bid to achieve immorta...
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Season 7
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Episode 13
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19:32
A Short Walk with a Modern Knocker-Upper
Having trouble getting up in the mornings even though you have an alarm clock, a phone, and maybe even a dawn simulator? All you need is a Knocker-Upper. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Knocker-Uppers walked the streets tapping on clients...
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Season 7
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Episode 12
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14:19
A short but amusing visit to The Hair Shirt Shop
We visit a small but significant business in South Mimms, a shop that makes and sells hair shirts for people seeking to do penance for their sins with some discreet mortification. It's a strange place but the logic of the service - especially i...
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Season 7
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Episode 11
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13:11
I DID Get to Where I Am Today by Watching Reginald Perrin!
Classic 70's sitcom, The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, lampooned the world of work and corporate culture. It had a BIG effect on one teenager who resolved to fight against the all-pervading work culture of the modern world. The latest trend...
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Season 7
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Episode 10
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18:54