Two new Big Idea Podcasts are now available for download via iTunes U. The Big Idea Every month this podcast assembles the University’s best and brightest academics to discuss their research, debate contemporary events, and bring their expertise to bear on topical issues. Episode 2: Telling Tales Experts from the University discuss new research that shows how exclusions from school can significantly increase a young person’s probability of imprisonment in later life. The podcast also talk about new and old ways of collecting stories about Scotland - from crowd sourcing hundreds of hours of video via the internet to scouring the indecipherable notes of a folklorist who travelled through the highlands and islands in the 1800s. Experts In this second podcast are: Professor Lesley McAra, head of the School of Law, who conducted the research into young people and crime Dr Nick Higgins, programme director for the MSc in Media, Culture and Practice, the director of a new film We Are Northern Lights Donald William Stewart, senior researcher in the Carmichael Watson Project, which is delving into the notebooks of Alexander Carmichael, the Scottish equivalent of the Brothers Grimm Episode 3: Mirror Mirror Experts from the University discuss issues around image, ranging from how fashion can change how we see ourselves and others, to a robust argument that Edinburgh’s urban landscape, far from being a glorious and prosperous architectural wonderland, actually says that this is a city in decline. The podcast will also look at the mysterious ways in which our brains construct our sense of reality, and why seeing is not always believing. Experts On this third podcast are: Mal Burkinshaw, programme leader in fashion at Edinburgh College of Art, who talks about the upcoming ECA Fashion Show (April 25-26) and the power of fashion Dr David Carmel, neuroscientist from Psychology, who discusses how our brains construct reality Richard Williams, professor of contemporary visual cultures, who talks about his recent article for Foreign Policy magazine about Edinburgh’s urban malaise. Related links The Big Idea Podcast on iTunesU Publication date 15 Oct, 2015
