VIRTUAL
Academic Extension
Guide for boys It is really important that you enjoy Virtual Radley. It is not just a case of there being no alternative. The exciting thing is that this allows us to find out about all sorts of things that we would not have considered in a normal time. You have an amazing opportunity, even if you wouldn’t have chosen it, to: • • • • • • •
Go a lot deeper into topics which you find interesting Take time to explore topics you might find a little bit problematic Consider how other people – perhaps in other countries and cultures - think Develop a more global outlook: connect with resources from other countries / cultures Explore subjects and issues about which you knew very little before See the links between issues and subjects - what we call interdisciplinarity Be able to put the current international crisis in context
. . . And you can explore exciting ways of learning, which you can retain. Three things to do 1. Read a book (or two) ((or three)) For those thinking of Oxbridge (and not just the 6.1 year-group . . . ) the following link will be helpful. This is the time to read. Voraciously. https://radley.fireflycloud.net/oxbridge/reading-lists https://radley.fireflycloud.net/library-1/academic-reading-lists Read. READ. Not on-screen if you can help it . . . there’ll be plenty of that but one of those oldfashioned things. With pages. Challenge your parents to read a book with you (and read it quicker than them . . . ). Find whatever there is in the house. And if you can’t find something, Kindles are screens that are better than other screens. If you find sustained reading hard, why not look at those old encyclopaedias which no one reads anymore? Pick a letter of the alphabet and just keep reading the entries one after another. You will be surprised at what you can pick up, in terms of general knowledge. Why not look at those coffee table books on famous artists, or architects or gardening, or ballet? Why not leaf through what is probably your father’s military book collection? Why not read some poems or novels? The latter will help you to decompress by going into an alternative world for a while. We are all going to need some kind of escapism in the weeks ahead. In the literature section below, I have included lists of books - and they obviously differ according to who is compiling them - on books which “you should read before you die“. If you haven’t read any of these yet, now is the time to get going. Some of them are very short. Why not have competitions with each other on who can get through them? Don’t forget, by the way, that many of these classics are available free on Kindle.
2. Conversation One of the silver linings to the cloud of the crisis is that there is a little more time to talk. The Warden will introduce a topic for debate each week for a few minutes and why not take that, think about it and debate it (politely) with your family. Or decide one for yourself.
3. Podcasts You’ll be spending quite a lot of time in front of a screen in the online school. We have built breaks into the school day. But being confined at home for the time being, there are obvious dangers of boredom and frustration. But when you go for your run, or are relaxing in the garden, it would be a great thing if you could listen to a podcast. As with radio programmes in general, the great advantage of podcasts if that you can do other things at the same time. You might be doing some decorating for your parents, or digging the garden, or whatever, whilst listening to a fascinating podcast series on a particular issue, event or individual. Once you have chosen the right one - and it may be on something you knew nothing about before - you start to become quite fond of the presenters and fascinated by the topics they discuss. In the best case scenario, you can’t wait to finish the rest of the series. You can lose yourself in a good podcast. Whilst I was researching this document, I realised just how little I know about so many things. Instead of being depressed about this, it is best just to say: well, I will go and see what there is out there. Just try and do one podcast episode a day. In a few weeks’ time, you will have come a long way. I have arranged the podcasts and lists of podcasts in broad themes. Do not see them as specific recommendations by the departments which teach you. I’ve tried very hard to provide variety. I’ve tried to check through them. Most look very good, but there may be the old one which isn’t very good. Simple. Choose another one. Some of them are very unlike school. This is deliberate. I had hoped that that would appeal to you. Some of the podcast subject areas bear no obvious relation to normal lessons. This is again quite deliberate. Knowledge and understanding are not limited to subject ‘boxes’. If anything, schools - and in particular British ones – are too obsessed with narrow definitions of what constitutes ‘the subject’. This is another great opportunity to get away from what we call ‘silo thinking’ - the over compartmentalising of issues and topics. You will notice, for example, that in the music section, I have not divided things up into ‘classical’, ‘contemporary’ or’ jazz’ etc. It’s all music, and it’s more connected than you might think. If you make the best of this opportunity, you could end up being far better informed than before. And related to that, you might end up being a much broader person. It might be that you listen to a podcast made in California, or Delhi or Cape Town. It doesn’t matter to me which topics you pursue. But it will be a real pity if you waste this opportunity. By all means dig out
your own resources, if you don’t like mine. The Internet is your oyster. Go and explore. For what it is worth, I am following podcasts on artificial intelligence, international affairs and drama. What we should all be able to say, at the end of all this, is that we learnt more about the world around us and about ourselves. And that in some key ways – hopefully positive - we changed. Therefore I warmly encourage you to dive into this Academic Extension programme to supplement your online regular lessons. Stephen Rathbone, Academic Director List of Podcasts – dip in and around
General/current https://everwideningcircles.com/circles/our-top-10-ted-talks/ https://www.theatlantic.com/world/ https://unherd.com/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/598SVYJ2smP8qJlpH29y7Vj/podcasts
What if? https://www.flashforwardpod.com/
Fairness https://atrpodcast.com/about
Innovation and ideas http://agentsofinnovation.org/
The future and tech https://futureoflife.org/background/benefits-risks-of-artificial-intelligence/ https://www.wired.com/ https://www.techworld.com/picture-gallery/apps-wearables/best-tech-podcasts-3684019/ https://www.wired.co.uk/article/best-podcasts https://www.computersciencedegreehub.com/lists/5-great-podcasts-about-computer-science/
Learn on free courses for older boys https://www.futurelearn.com/courses
AI in business https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/ai-in-business-daniel-faggella-qfQ5EPYKyvk/
Business and innovation https://innovate.unc.edu/podcast-series/ https://ecorner.stanford.edu/series/etl/ https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this https://hbr.org/2018/01/podcast-ideacast
Business and entrepreneurship http://www.1simplethingonline.com/archive/ https://www.shopify.co.uk/blog/business-podcasts https://sidehustleschool.com/podcasts/# https://www.blogtalkradio.com/smallbusinessunstuck https://michaelhyatt.com/leadtowin/
Economics podcasts https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510289/planet-money/ https://www.intelligenteconomist.com/economics-podcasts/ https://www.brookings.edu/series/dollar-and-sense-podcast/ https://www.brookings.edu/series/the-current-podcast/
Design https://www.invisionapp.com/inside-design/our-15-favorite-design-podcasts/ https://www.designmattersmedia.com/designmatters https://www.obsessedshow.com/best-design-podcasts https://medium.com/@popart.studio/the-best-design-podcasts-to-boost-your-cerativity99ab43a02639 https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/best-design-podcasts/ https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/fun-at-home/g30274545/best-design-podcasts/ https://www.toptal.com/designers/creative-direction/13-design-podcasts-for-designers https://www.designcuts.com/learning-hub/articles/best-graphic-design-podcasts-to-listent-toin-2019/
Languages https://blog.feedspot.com/language_learning_podcasts/ https://player.fm/podcasts/Foreign%2520Languages https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/10678-best-podcasts-for-language.html https://www.fluentu.com/blog/language-podcasts/ https://www.fluentu.com/blog/foreign-language-podcasts/ https://player.fm/featured/language-learning https://vocal.media/wander/best-podcasts-to-help-you-learn-a-foreign-language
Drama https://discoverpods.com/audio-drama-podcasts-fiction/ https://www.thepodcasthost.com/fiction-podcasts/best-audio-fiction-podcasts/ https://player.fm/featured/audio-drama https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/the-10-best-drama-podcasts-to-listen-to/ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/15/arts/podcast-dramas.html https://blog.feedspot.com/drama_podcasts/
History of Art and Art https://www.salon.com/2017/10/01/visually-speaking-14-podcasts-that-draw-out-the-historyof-art/ https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/series/history-art https://www.artuk.org/discover/stories/eight-art-podcasts-to-listen-to-right-now https://blog.feedspot.com/art_history_podcasts/ https://www.artworkarchive.com/blog/the-best-art-podcasts-you-should-be-listening-to-in2019 https://www.theartnewspaper.com/feature/top-podcasts
History http://www.openculture.com/history_free_courses https://www.revolutionspodcast.com/ http://revisionisthistory.com/ https://thememorypalace.us/ https://www.thebritishhistorypodcast.com/ https://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/warstudies/research/groups/mhc/events/podcasts https://slate.com/podcasts/the-secret-history-of-the-future
Mathematics https://www.numberphile.com/podcast https://medium.com/however-mathematics/all-podcasts-for-mathematics-peoplee684c9cac79b https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nrss1/episodes/downloads https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00srz5b/episodes/downloads http://lineardigressions.com/ https://player.fm/featured/math http://www.travelsinamathematicalworld.co.uk/ http://relprime.com/
Science and applied science https://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-02/best-science-podcasts/ https://www.bbcearth.com/blog/?article=the-best-nature-science-and-technology-podcasts https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510307/invisibilia https://www.20k.org/ https://www.alieward.com/ologies https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/undiscovered https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b015sqc7 https://www.wired.co.uk/article/best-podcasts https://collegeinfogeek.com/best-podcasts/ https://discoverpods.com/11-podcasts-guaranteed-to-make-you-think/ https://www.howstuffworks.com/about-hsw.htm https://www.reagent.co.uk/11-best-science-podcasts/ https://blog.feedspot.com/chemistry_podcasts/ https://player.fm/featured/chemistry https://www.chemistryworld.com/podcasts https://insidetheperimeter.ca/17-fascinating-physics-podcasts-to-stretch-your-brain-on-asummer-road-trip/
https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.6.3.20190214b/full/ https://player.fm/featured/physics http://www.physics.org/toplistdetail.asp?id=15 https://thebiologist.rsb.org.uk/biologist-features/158-biologist/features/1803-12-of-the-bestpodcasts-for-biologists https://blog.feedspot.com/biology_podcasts/ https://player.fm/featured/biology https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00snr0w/episodes/downloads https://www.podranker.com/medical-podcasts/
Food and food science https://gastropod.com/
Classics/Ancient History https://player.fm/podcasts/Classics - 50 sites listed https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/units/faculty-classics https://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/the_history_of_rome/archives.html
International Relations/Current Affairs/Politics https://player.fm/featured/international-relations https://saisobserver.org/2015/11/20/top-10-foreign-policy-podcasts/ https://player.fm/podcasts/think-tank https://ironline.american.edu/blog/international-service-podcasts/ https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/series/politics-and-international-relations-podcasts http://www.lse.ac.uk/international-relations/ir-events/podcasts-2019 https://www.foreignaffairs.com/browse/audio
International issues - think tanks - ‘what’s a think tank?’ - have a look and find out... https://www.brookings.edu/series/brookings-cafeteria-podcast/ https://thebestschools.org/features/most-influential-think-tanks/ https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/sep/30/list-thinktanks-uk http://eu.thinktankdirectory.org/
Theology / Philosophy http://www.philclassics.libsyn.com/ - Famous philosophy classics - read for you https://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/trs/research/vidpod/index https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/units/faculty-theology-and-religion https://blog.feedspot.com/philosophy_podcasts/ https://medium.com/the-mission/35-best-philosophy-podcasts-28e79725a696
Geography / Environmental https://www.rgs.org/schools/teaching-resources/ask-the-expert-podcasts/ https://player.fm/featured/geography https://blog.feedspot.com/geography_podcasts/ https://tutorful.co.uk/blog/learning-geography-useful-websites-and-resources-that-will-rockyour-world https://player.fm/featured/climate-change https://www.bustle.com/p/8-podcasts-about-climate-change-that-can-help-you-remaininformed-16994758 https://theclimateadvisor.com/the-best-climate-change-podcasts/
Geology / Earth sciences https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/podcasts https://player.fm/featured/geology https://www.bbcearth.com/blog/?article=the-best-nature-science-and-technology-podcasts https://www.brunton.com/blogs/blog/take-a-listen-to-these-four-geology-inspired-podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/geology_podcasts/
Literature https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2018/100-must-read-classic-books/ https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2019/feb/the-best-literary-podcasts-for-book-lovers/ https://blog.feedspot.com/literature_podcasts/ https://electricliterature.com/17-literary-podcasts-to-ease-your-commute/ https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/lifestyle/editors-choice-book-reviews/a576581/bestbooks-podcasts-for-book-lovers/ https://reedsy.com/discovery/blog/best-books-to-read-in-a-lifetime
Music https://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/category/music-classical https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/best-music-podcasts/ https://variety.com/2019/music/news/best-music-podcasts-of-2019-1203450513/ https://www.complex.com/music/best-music-podcasts/broken-record https://www.stereogum.com/2067587/best-music-podcasts-2019/franchises/2019-in-review/ https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/best-classical-music-podcasts/ https://blog.feedspot.com/classical_music_podcasts/ https://www.playbill.com/article/the-must-listen-podcasts-for-opera-and-classical-music-fans https://player.fm/featured/classical If you have got to the end of this and not found anything you like, I give up! Regards, SR