Grieving is a uniquely human emotion – or is it? Is the apparent attachment of elephants or orcas to the bodies of dead relatives a sign of grief, or simply an instinctive behaviour without emotional implications? Why do some people seem able to handle grief so much better than others? And how close are we to finding a pharmaceutical ‘cure’ for grief…and if we find it, should we use it?

This lecture was recorded by Professor Robin May on the 21st of January 2026 at Barnard’s Inn Hall, London

Professor of Infectious Disease at the University of Birmingham, and (interim) Chief Scientist at the UK Health Security Agency, Robin May was appointed Gresham Professor of Physic in May 2022. Between July 2020 and September 2025 he served as Chief Scientific Adviser at the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

Professor May’s early training was in Plant Sciences at the University of Oxford, followed by a PhD on mammalian cell biology at University College London and the University of Birmingham. After postdoctoral research on gene silencing at the Hubrecht Laboratory, The Netherlands, he returned to the UK in 2005 to establish a research program on human infectious diseases. He was Director of the Institute of Microbiology and Infection at the University of Birmingham from 2017-2020.

Professor May continues his work on Infectious Disease at the University of Birmingham. A Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, Wolfson Royal Society Research Merit Fellow and Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, Professor May specialises in research into human infectious diseases, with a particular focus on how pathogens survive and replicate within host organisms.

As the FSA’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor May provides expert scientific advice to the UK government and plays a critical role in helping to understand how scientific developments will shape the work of the FSA, as well as the strategic implications of any possible changes.

The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/why-grieve

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today

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Constable’s painting The Cornfield celebrates its bicentenary in 2026. How has it aged? This is a landscape that has acquired iconic status – a marker of national identity -- as a representation of typically English countryside. How has that Englishness been constituted in the painting? And how does The Cornfield (a view of a partly working landscape) speak to current ideas about relationships and tensions between the natural world and the human presence, especially in our age of environmental anxieties?

This lecture was recorded by Malcolm Andrews on 20th January 2026 at Barnard’s Inn Hall, London.

Malcolm Andrews is Professor (Emeritus) of Victorian and Visual Studies, University of Kent. He was the Editor of The Dickensian, the journal of the Dickens Fellowship, and a past President of the Dickens Society of America.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/constable-200

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/

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Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/3B58-fA2b-4

"Colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings." — Kandinsky

How do we ‘see’ music, or ‘hear’ images? From Newton’s colour scales assigning tones to the rainbow, artists and composers have long explored the deep connections between sound and vision.

Kandinsky’s Compositions and Improvisations; Klee’s polyphonic paintings, and Scriabin’s synaesthetic craft all reveal the scintillating interplay of visual and sonic art. This lecture traces their co-evolution and shared language, from spectral composers to technological translations of light into rhythm and melody, uncovering the hidden spectrum where music and colour intertwine.

This lecture was recorded by Milton Mermikides on the 14th of January 2026 at LSO St Luke’s, London

Milton Mermikides is a composer, guitarist, technologist, academic and educator in a wide range of musical styles and has collaborated with artists and scientists as diverse as Evelyn Glennie, Tim Minchin, Pat Martino, Peter Zinovieff, John Williams and Brian Eno. Son of a CERN nuclear physicist, he was raised with an enthusiasm for both the arts and sciences, an eclecticism which has been maintained throughout his teaching, research and creative career.
He is a graduate of the London School of Economics (BSc), Berklee College of Music (BMus) and the University of Surrey (PhD). He has lectured, exhibited and given keynote presentations at organisations like the Royal Academy of Music, TEDx, Royal Musical Association, British Library, Smithsonian Institute and The Science Museum and his work has been featured extensively in the press. His music, research and graphic art are published and featured by Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Deutsche Grammophon, Sony and more, and he has won awards, scholarships and commendations for writing, teaching, research and his charity work.
Milton is Professor of Music at the University of Surrey, Professor of Guitar at the Royal College of Music, Deputy Director of the International Guitar Research Centre, an Ableton Certified Trainer, and lives in London with his wife, the guitarist Bridget Mermikides and their daughter Chloe. He is also a Vice-Chair of Governors at Addison Primary School, a state school which foregrounds music education, offering free instrumental lessons for all on Pupil Premium.


The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/music-light-colour

Gresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham College's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-today

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