Best Kenzie McDonald Podcasts (2024)

1
51 Great xPectations with Paul McDonald. 49:14

3M ago49:14

49:14

This week I do some basic drills, some shuttling runs on the massive world of statistics in sport. Former accountant Paul McDonald has many hats, but he is now a sports stat specialist, company founder and originator of the expected transfer values algorithm, trying to bring some sense back to crazy world and numbers of football transfers fees. He …

1
50 Talking Ballots with Adrian Kavanagh 55:28

4M ago55:28

55:28

This week I’m joined by another returnee to the function Room, a lecturer at the Maynooth University Department of Geography and we’re talking about voting systems and the numbers they generate. We catch an STV, - single transferrable vote, FPTP -first past the post and the second chance of the French system. We find out why Eurovision is a giant d…

1
49 The Hole Shebang - Black Holes with Dr John Regan 51:00

5M ago51:00

51:00

This week in the function room, the hole shebang. A bit about Black Holes with Dr John Regan. Royal Society - SFI University Research Fellow in the Department of Theoretical Physics. we caefully scrape the surface of the topic of black holes without hopefully getting sucked in and destroyed by the weight of the topic. John tells me how he got into …

1
48 Object Lesson 47:42

5M ago47:42

47:42

My guest is Katie Steckles, Mathematician, presenter and communicator. She has written seven books about mathematics, hosts the brilliant Mathemetical Objects podcast where she and her co presenter Peter Rowlatt discuss with their guests, very ordinary objects, and sometimes weird ones, and the mathematics behind and because of that object. The kin…

1
47 Body to Body to Body with Dr Matt Kenzie 59:24

6M ago59:24

59:24

Matt Kenzie is one of the Science advisors on the hit Netflix show Three Body Problem. The show and the book is about what happens when aliens want to say hi. Aliens called the San Ti, from a planet in a system of three Suns orbiting each other. They are a three body problem and chaos ensues for the San-Ti. 3BP is made by Weiss and Benioff, so we t…

1
46 Census Sensibility with Dr Jessica Coyne. 59:42

7M ago59:42

59:42

This week in the function room, Census Sensibility with . A glimpse into the work of Ireland's Central Statistic office, the CSO with Statistician Jess Coyne. Yes it's been a little while since the last one. The Easter break and childminding and whatnot intervened and I took a count and there wasn't enough hours in the day. But I'm back now and thi…

1
45 Empire of the Sum a history of the pocket calculator 47:40

8M ago47:40

47:40

Another episode title Im jealous of becuase I didn't pick it, it's the work of Keith Houston a writer and software engineer who has made a habit of writing about things that are there in plain sight. He has written about the history of punctuation, a book about the book and last year a book about the history of the pocket calculator. There's lots o…

1
44 (Replay) Algorithm and Blues with Cathy O'Neill 46:26

8M ago46:26

46:26

My first replay! Given what we've been hearing about Google and their Gemini code disaster and bias and all sorts, time to revisit one of my favourite episodes, with Cathy O'Neil author of Weapons of Math destruction and has a company that audits algorithms. At some stage in a futurstic world when you're in trouble with the Algo Cops you'll wish yo…

1
43 Potential Energy - the Mathematics of Energy Modelling 37:14

8M ago37:14

37:14

This week my guest is Hannah Daly, Professor of Sustainable Energy at University College Cork. It's the third of a trilogy about energy - a sort of trilogy there was another episode in between (a sort of Rogue One of maths/energy episodes) While the other two talk about where we get energy -magical molecules- or store them -stone batteries- this on…

1
42 That's So Derivative - Mathematics at the Movies with John Fardy 58:22

9M ago58:22

58:22

My guest is John Fardy, presenter of Newstalk's Radio (and GoLoud's) movie show ScreenTime. He has watched a lot of movies which means, statistically he's seen a lot of mathematics in movies. Therefore a lot of tall blackboards, a lot of troubled geniuses who struggle to talk to people but speak to numbers with ease, a lot of running around with pi…

1
41 Re: Volts with David Roberts 1:11:31

9M ago1:11:31

1:11:31

A look at some of the stories behind the massive sums of an energy revolution. My guest is David Volts, energy journalist and writer of the Volts newsletter and host of the volts podcast. After Catherine Sheridan's H2 Oh! last week, this is the second of what looks to be an inadvertent energy trilogy. (Or enilogy or trinergy. No doubt that's been t…

1
40 H2 Oh! with Catherine Sheridan 45:11

10M ago45:11

45:11

Catherine Sheridan, an engineer and systems thinker who after 20 years working on water, roads, energy is focussed on a tiny powerful magic little molecule: Hydrogen. We talk 5th year Physics experiments, making the world a fairer place, why the poetry of Robert Graves and the short stories of David Foster Wallace can teach us about the maths of mo…

1
39 There's Been a Breakthrough with TJ Hegarty. 43:40

10M ago43:40

43:40

Function Room 39 There's Been a Breakthrough with TJ Hegarty. TJ Hegarty is the founder of Breakthrough Maths an online maths tutoring company based in Ireland. We talk about small farmers, not letting your father down, wanting to sell butter giving up in the Far East, changing your mind and deciding to give up your job and not sell butter in the F…

1
38 The Auld Sthretch with Éibhear Ó hAnluain 39:40

11M ago39:40

39:40

13th December, on the day of the earliest sunset in Dublin, my guest is Eibhear OHanlon, who more than anyone else knows how to call it a day. He has been the curator of theauldsthretch twitter account, now on mastodon and bluesky for 8 years. Each day he lets gives people a bit of hope and a warning about the length of their day. We talk about ear…

1
37 This Goes All The Way to the Top with David Robert Grimes 1:00:19

12M ago1:00:19

1:00:19

This week we look at the maths of conspiracy theories with physicist, cancer researcher, science writer author of the Award-winning The Irrational Ape why flawed logic puts us all at risk. how to tell if one most likely isn't true, a scary thing called Availability Heuristic, why it's not sugar is making those children hyper at the party, what you …

1
36 Murderous Math with Kjartan Poskitt 43:18

12M ago43:18

43:18

Kjartan (pronounced Jartan) Poskitt is a maths book phenomenon. Author of Murderous Maths a series of, funny books for children about maths, they've been published in 25 countries. We talk about duels, how a fencing teacher went looking for pi, Archimedes, the magic stall at York market and the importance of having your own lair.…

1
35 Riemann Reason with Dr Alex Kontorovich 59:36

1y ago59:36

59:36

The mysterious world of the Riemann Hypothesis. This is about an unsolved problem relating to prime numbers. Bernhard Riemann was a German mathematician who lived in the 19th century and along with a lot of work on geometry also looked at prime numbers. If you're finding this hard to grasp don't worry. Me too. And this episode is not just about thi…

1
34 Sea Change with Joanna Donnelly 33:07

1y ago33:07

33:07

My guest is Joanna Donnelly meteorologist and author of From Malin Head to Mizen Head, a lovely book about the almost meditative experience that is Irish Sea Area Forecast. Hers is the voice Irish radio listeners will hear last thing at night and first thing in the morning. We talk Hecto Pascals, my favourite of all the Pascals, how maths finds som…

1
33 Climate Worrier 53:09

1y ago53:09

53:09

Climate Worrier - the maths of Climate Change. I talk to mathematiciand a man wading kneed deep in the climate models, Chris Budd. Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Bath, He takes me painstakingly -but not painfully- through the key Big Numbers that you should know about when it comes to climate change. We recorded this a couple…

1
32 All the Pieces Matter 25:44

1y ago25:44

25:44

This week it's the maths of puzzles, and how to get wrap your brain around the fact that the answer isn't obvious. Rob Eastaway is my guest- the first returning guest. He has a book out called Headscratchers - a compendium of puzzles from the last five years of the New Scientist. And he's over in Ireland for Mathsweek. (check out mathsweek.ie). And…

1
31 It's in Our Nature 52:06

1y ago52:06

52:06

this week in the function room, It's in our Nature - the fascinating world of biomimicry My guest is Kathyrn Parkes, a technologist with a career spanning nearly 3 decades in designing products and an expert in User Experience. She tells me about what we can learn from nature, the stigmergy of termites, why ants don't have a boss, the benefits of h…

1
30 Anyone's Guess 59:38

1y ago59:38

59:38

this week in the function room, It's Anyone's Guess - the maths of guesswork David Malone of Maynooth University and the Hamilton Institute. I ride the wave of ignorance through some big topics like Information theory, Entropy, what makes a good password and how hard it would be to figure out what I had for breakfast. But first, I notice David has …

1
29 The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same 49:30

1y ago49:30

49:30

The maths of symmetry. Hi it’s me Colm O’Regan. The function room is back after a little summer break and my guest is Pauline Mellon, professor of mathematics at UCD She wants to talk about symmetry and I’m glad she did. She brings me on a tour of maths, religion, biology, art, chemistry, AI and naturally of course town planning.…

1
28 Things Fall Apart 42:40

1+ y ago42:40

42:40

The baffling arithmetic of Dereliction. I talk to Jude Sherry and Frank O’Connor of Derelict Ireland who ask the very simple question about an equation that makes no sense: Why is it that there are tens of thousands of people who need a home and tens of thousand of empty buildings that could be homes. Although specifically about Ireland, this is a …

1
27 A Sense of Ounce 51:37

1+ y ago51:37

51:37

Function Room 27 A Sense Of Ounce – The absolutely fascinating history of one of the most important hallmarks of our existence - how and why we measure things. James Vincent has written a book, Beyond Measure about it and he joins me to talk about this thing we completely take for granted that has changed the world, been part of revolutions, where …

1
26 Chums' Pedigree 40:09

1+ y ago40:09

40:09

My guest is author of Chums, Simon Kuper about how a small cabal of Oxford chums managed to take over British politics. And from his book just how crap an Oxford and Eton education could be and you can still make it to the top. Along the way we learn what happens when a generation of leaders neither has a clue nor gives a toss about science and mat…

1
#25 Crime Numbers 51:24

1+ y ago51:24

51:24

The maths of Criminology. With Ian Marder, Assistant Professor of Criminology at Maynooth University. We talk about statistics and randomized control studies, and bias and how crime always seems worse than it is, why you should get on with your neighbours and to build the ideal justice system

1
24 Carbon of Contention 51:57

1+ y ago51:57

51:57

My guest is Dr Muireann Lynch of the economic and social research institute here in Ireland. She very carefully guides me an idiot on my first tour of the c-word. Carbon. How much it costs to use it, how much it costs, the maths of optimisation, Lagrange multipliers, carbon offsets, what happens when carbon has an infinite price. Warning – this con…

1
23 What the Butler Saw with John Butler 58:17

1+ y ago58:17

58:17

John Butler is a mathematician turned computational neuroscientist, a professor of maths and statistics at TU Dublin who looks at the brain mathematically and tries to figure out why the brain does what it doesWe talk about the senses, why it’s good to get your questions from a child, what an neural network ‘cares about’, lots of stuff but first of…

1
#22 Once Upon A Prime with Sarah Hart 42:55

1+ y ago42:55

42:55

Normally I try and come up with an apt pun but I couldn’t possibly come up with anything better than the title of my guest Sarah Hart’s book. She has written Once Upon A Prime, a very enjoyable read and listen about the many links between maths and literature and myth and poetry. We talk about why giants as we know them can’t exist, the 19th centur…

1
#21 Drawing by Numbers with Ayliean MacDonald 49:15

1+ y ago49:15

49:15

The mathematics of art or the art of mathematics whichever. My guest is teacher, artist, mathematician,m tiktok star, Ayliean MacDonald the only one with that name in the world we think. We talk about the usual things people talk about: aperiodic tiles, Japanese Hitomezashi stitching, L-chair triominals, toilet paper, cozy-gaming and the meditative…

1
Boyle Points - the story of a gas man 38:58

1+ y ago38:58

38:58

This week Robert Boyle, born in Ireland in the 17th century was one of the world's great scientists. I'm talking about him with Eoin Gill, Eoin Gill is a director of Calmast STEM Engagement Centre at South East Technological University, who likes Robert Boyle so much he made an entire summer school about him. Boyle was a massive deal in the scienti…

1
The Weather Forecast: The Original Cloud Computing 49:08

1+ y ago49:08

49:08

My guest is Alan O’Reilly, about his hobby weather forecasting. I first met him when he was on my RTE Radio Show Colm O’Regan Wants A Word. But time constraints meant I don’t think we got to talk for the recommended daily weather talk intake of two hours. Alan lives in County Carlow, in the southern midlands of Ireland from where he observes all th…

1
Some Idle ChatGPT 52:55

1+ y ago52:55

52:55

Welcome back to the function room with me Colm O’Regan. This week, it's ChatGPT. The latest thing that makes people starting dropping the phrase AI into small talk.ChatGPT and all the Ais are of huge interest to my guest. Conrad Wolfram. He’s kind of a big deal. Strategic and international director of Wolfram Research which makes Mathematica the co…

1
Mental Arithmetic: It's All In Your Head 37:46

1+ y ago37:46

37:46

My guest is Rob Eastaway. Author of many books which make maths more interesting and accessible. He also has a podcast called Puzzling Maths with Andrew Jeffrey which you should check out if by some miracle you’re not getting all your maths vitamins from here. His most recent book is Maths on the back of an Envelope and it’s about the surprising po…

1
All We Hear Is: Radio Pulsar 36:03

1+ y ago36:03

36:03

This week on the function room, my guest is Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell, astrophysicist from Northern Ireland who, as a postgraduate student, discovered a NEW TYPE OF STAR.That’s like discovering A NEW TYPE OF STARJocelyn was a postgraduate student at the time and famously her supervisor was awarded the Nobel Prize for radio pulsars, and there w…

1
Back Once Again For The Renegade Masters Student 59:39

1+ y ago59:39

59:39

After a long hiatus, the function room is back and for the first episode, comedian and erstwhile mathsy type Dara O'Briain is the guest. We chat about all sorts, hard sums, looking at the stars, the fantasy of one day going back to learn 'just for the sake of it' and then agreeing that idea might need a bit more thought. And no he didn't do a maste…

1
Rekindling Gaelic Grieving Practices 1:23:25

2y ago1:23:25

1:23:25

As we approach Samhain our thoughts turn to the darker half of the year. What are we going into the dark with? What unanswerable questions? What insurmountable grief? What irreconcilable polarities are we bringing into the dark? Samhain is a time to ritualize this aspect of our spiritual journeys. In this episode Rue and Mica discuss the history an…

1
Part 2 of Our Discussion with Sean Fitzgerald 33:02

2+ y ago33:02

33:02

In part two of our chat with Sean Fitzgerald, we discuss how we might engage in reclaiming Irish spiritualities and folk custom without getting trapped in purity politics, the importance of gaining consent from lineage holders who protect sacred sites, grappling with our own colonial behavior and resisting the urge to claim innocence, what differen…

1
Storying the Landscape & Place-based Spirituality in Ireland, with Sean Fitzgerald 1:07:15

3y ago1:07:15

1:07:15

In this episode Kenzie and Mica chat with Sean Fitzgerald, Irish artist, writer, and co-founder of Airmid's Journal. Sean tells a version of the tale of Balor of the Evil Eye local to Torey Island (with an unexpectedly queer plot twist!), and we hear how the landscape is an intimate part of this epic story at the heart of the Moytura saga. We then …

1
Part 2 of Discussion with Lucy O’Hagan 57:12

3y ago57:12

57:12

This is part 2 of our discussion with Lucy O'Hagan. We continue our conversation about mushroom foraging, cultural appropriation and other pitfalls of cultural reclamation, Lucy's mentors in her rites of passage and ancestral skills work, the importance of Irish language reclamation, fascism in the pagan community, and the impact of the diaspora on…

1
Nature Reconnection in Irish Decolonial Healing, with Lucy O’Hagan 1:02:07

3y ago1:02:07

1:02:07

In this episode, we interview Lucy O'Hagan, founder of Wild Awake Ireland and co-editor of Airmid's Journal. We begin with a poetic and evocative story told by Lucy about a recent encounter she had with a wild badger. Then we have a rich discussion about many things including Lucy's work leading wilderness rites of passage and a forest school in Do…

1
Where Is There a Will? 58:26

3y ago58:26

58:26

In this episode after Ruby makes up her mind, we’re talking about the mathematics of free will. It's recorded at the Cat Laughs Comedy Summer Series in Kilkenny, Ireland. A special series of shows to reintroduce everyone to the vague concept of Going To Stuff Again.My guest is Dr Kevin Mitchell. He’s a neuroscientist a professor at Trinity College …

1
Miracle Grow 1:19:02

3y ago1:19:02

1:19:02

This time, it's about Growth and De-Growth. De-What? What-Growth? A term that's been around for a while but it's obviously being talked about more if an eejit like me is throwing it around at dinner-parties. (or I will when they come back)My guest is Dr Jason Hickel who has written about Degrowth in his book Less is More. We talk about what is degr…

1
Reclaiming & Decolonizing Bardic Traditions for Grounded Social Movements 1:19:06

3y ago1:19:06

1:19:06

In this episode, Rue and Mica discuss how we engage with reclaiming storytelling and bardic traditions as queer settlers of Gaelic lineages. Rue recounts the tale of Lughnasadh and Lugh's encounter with the snake, Crom Dubh. We consider the role of the queer bard who tends the spiritual edges of the community and mull over the tensions of engaging …

1
The Ps of Queues 56:30

3y ago56:30

56:30

Welcome back to the Function Room, And this time, it’s about QUEUES. This has been a summer of queues. A flurry of covid tests and two vaccinations have meant a brush with Big Queue. Which got me thinking - What makes a good queue or a bad one? And is there any maths behind it. There’s a hatch free so step forward, Professor Ken Duffy, director of …

1
A Chip Off The New Block 42:51

3+ y ago42:51

42:51

This time on the function room: My guide to helping people think you’re a great parent. While someone else does the job.The secret? It’s numberblocks. The BAFTA winning animated CBEEBIES TV show for 3 to 6 year old children to get them interested in mathematics in an accessible way. Our children love it. They request it. They watch the same program…

1
Welcome to the Fold 1:07:09

3+ y ago1:07:09

1:07:09

This time we’re folding. We’re creasing. We’re origami-ing. As Ruby and I make two birds and two planes, I find out a little bit about the world of folding. Even with those small things we made we still got the feeling we were playing with something much bigger. Just by taking a flat sheet of paper and transforming. Folding is seen as a negative wo…

1
Queer Natures: Transgender Trees, Lily Phalluses, and the Tale of Sinnach the Seer 1:15:04

3+ y ago1:15:04

1:15:04

In this episode we celebrate the many aspects of queer Nature both within and outside of humanity. We begin with a passage from Mica's book Poet, Prophet, Fox: The Tale of Sinnach the Seer and from there discuss queer ancestors, the dilemmas of being seen, the honored social roles given to genderqueer people in traditional societies, transgender pl…

1
Decolonial Healing (part 2) / Healing from Whiteness 1:04:12

3+ y ago1:04:12

1:04:12

Kenzie, Rue, and Mica reflect upon part 1 of their discussion on decolonial healing and dive deeper into the topics of white guilt, shame and its origins in European history and religions, ancestral trauma, and solidarity. Dog snores and chickadee gossip are invoked. Here are some resources and organizations to learn more from & give to: Whose Land…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Kenzie McDonald Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Quick Reference Guide