Math-Life Balance

Let's talk about "Women in math"! with Olga Paris-Romaskevich

This episode is about women in math, from the perspective of sociology! Many thanks to Olga Paris-Romaskevich for the conversation. Olga's webpage: https://olga.pa-ro.net/The book "Matheuses": https://www.insmi.cnrs.fr/fr/matheusesHere is a link for Olga's talk on gender and mathematics: https://amubox.univ-amu.fr/s/SBRqbTLHSG5PFMFHere is a list of references Olga used when spoke about social psychology:1) Definition of social stereotype : (Leyens, Yzerbut, Schadron, 1994), slide 72) Stereotype threat result : Spencer, Steele, & Quinn (1999). Stereotype Threat and Women’s Math Performance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 35Social psychology : stereotype threat, slides 9 and 10 3) Aronson, J., Lustina, M. J., Good, C., Keough, K., Steele, C. M., & Brown, J. (1999). When White men can't do math: Necessary and sufficient factors in stereotype threat. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 35(1), 29–46.4) pp.12-13 : John VS Jennifer study Moss-Racusin, Dovidio, Brescoll, Graham, & Handelsman (2012). PNAS, 109, 16474-164795) Begeny, C. T., Ryan, M. K., Moss-Racusin, C. A., & Ravetz, G. (2020). In some professions, women have become well represented, yet gender bias persists- Perpetuated by those who think it is not happening. Science advances, 6(26), eaba7810:00 teaser1:03 Olya's book about "math girls"5:38 why there are so few women in math9:01 brilliance as social construct14:11 russian tease of women in math18:05 math in the sociology book22:35 why to make women only math events 30:33 and why we definitely need them34:19 how to make a good outreach event38:33 cool gender equity initiatives41:12 Mura's experience in math as a girl46:55 female role models in math51:18 homage to Sophia Kovalevskaya53:34 fun facts everyone should know!58:56 moral support for women in math

Interview with Richard Schwartz

Richard is a math professor at Brown University as well as an author of very funny books about math for kids! Enjoy learning about Richard and his adventures in the world of math and art :)Richard's webpage: https://www.math.brown.edu/reschwar/Chapters:0:00 teaser0:33 why math books for kids5:22 crazy cool visualizations vs obsessions8:50 most of math is failure13:23 accessibility vs precision in papers17:55 what about abstract more math23:25 being Thurston's student29:32 advice for those who feel not good enough at math32:42 how Richard almost quit math34:41 story from Mura about Berkeley woods35:45 Richard's famous April 1st prank43:16 and other pranks44:43 and the mask! oh my god the mask

Interview with Jordan Ellenberg

Jordan is a mathematician as well as an author of popular books about mathematics, with great sense of humour. And this interview goes as wild as the picture of the interviewee on his webpage! Jordan's webpage: https://people.math.wisc.edu/~ellenberg/Chapters:0:00 intro0:28 a year of writing fiction4:12 what's hard about writing11:31 finding math everywhere15:19 cool thoughts on writing 22:58 teaching writing to math folks24:55 pain & joy of bad writing 29:15 Jordan's workshop where we met34:30 how to know when the article is ready38:34 how to make interviews?45:51 Mura complaining about interviewees :)51:26 how people really feel about math54:55 how to survive the lack of feedback1:03:32 bringing standup tricks into writing1:09:08 sentimental approach to finishing books1:12:00 Jordan's book recommendation for us

Interview with Steven Strogatz

Steven Strogatz, who works at Cornell University, is a well-known math popularizer and the first applied mathematician on Mura's channel. Enjoy their chat about unexpected applications of math, befogged communication amongst mathematicians and what not :)Steven's homepage: https://www.stevenstrogatz.com/Chapters:0:00 teaser0:37 when catholic priests become useful6:35 math, philosophy & couples therapy13:23 Steven's studies on sleep21:27 Steven's insecurities in math24:21 what's wrong with math talks34:13 no carrot, no stick...38:24 opinion on strong opinions41:34 advice about giving up49:24 different approaches to graduate advising52:27 chat about Mura's advisor57:11 Steven Strogatz Prize for Math Communication1:01:40 how to write friendly math outreach

Interview with Dennis Gaitsgory

Enjoy the interview with Dennis Gaitsgory, who thinks about questions deeply yet answers lightly! Jokes included :)Dennis webpage: https://people.mpim-bonn.mpg.de/gaitsgde/0:00 teaser0:30 attending a class by Witten5:15 math vs physics: difference?9:20 doing math: happiness and frustration13:10 what changes with age17:10 non-math problems: oh no! ;)23:23 advice for getting back into math26:45 how to prove Langlands correspondence...31:49 when math doesn't work33:25 raising kids: thoughts36:00 book recommendation from Dennis37:38 stories about India40:36 beautiful non-math hobby42:40 hot take on grant system45:06 guess Dennis' favourite animal!47:12 advice to young mathematicians