Talks on demand
Explore our diverse collection of event recordings, talks, and podcasts at your convenience to discover inspiration from a range of engaging speakers.
Enjoy the flexibility of watching these recordings in your own time.
Find a talk
Behind Everest: Ruth Mallory’s story
This talk will explore Ruth Mallory's story, wife of Everest climber George, and a founder member of the Pinnacle Club, the first all female rock climbing club in Britain.
The amazing power of very small teams: from the Polar regions to the Moon and everything in between
From the Wright Brothers, Hillary and Tenzing, and Apollo 13 astronauts, to Gilbert and Sullivan and Abbott and Costello, very small teams have transformed our appreciation of the world.
SILA: exploring Inuit culture and sustainability
The artists Susie Hamilton, Naja Abelsen and Eleanor Havsteen-Franklin discuss their exhibition which explores Inuit culture, environmental concerns, and the Arctic expeditions undertaken by their forefathers in Greenland.
Encountering the indigenous body in the Himalayan borderlands
This talk will explore Major Charles John Morris and the embodied construction of ‘martial’ and ‘mountain’ races in British India, 1919-1937.
Brunel, Roosevelt and Amundsen: a comparison of three epic geographical achievers - Brad Borkan
Join Brad Borkan for a fascinating look at three people who each achieved two monumental results: Brunel (tunnels, railways), Roosevelt (Panama Canal, National Parks) and Amundsen (North West Passage, South Pole).
Labour in the lofty peaks: porters in the Everest expeditions (1921-1938) - Nokmedemla Lemtur
This talk recounts the contribution of the porters in the mountaineering expeditions, and explores the possibilities of how a history of their participation can be drawn out through such archival materials.
Atlas of geographical anomalies - Vitali Vitaliev
In this talk, based on his new book, Vitali introduces us to some interesting, unexpected and downright bizarre geographical anomalies, many of which still exist under the radar.
Mapping Rapa Nui: the hidden histories of exploration - Dr Sarah L. Evans
Led by the Oxford-educated Katherine Routledge, the 1912-1916 Mana expedition was the first to systematically survey the famous moai statues on Rapa Nui, forming a basis for subsequent archaeological investigation.
Nellie Bly’s record-breaking race around the world - Rosemary J Brown
Awed by her achievement and shocked by its present-day obscurity, author Rosemary J Brown re-traced Nellie Bly’s global journey 125 years later to get her ‘back on the map'.
The noble art of walking - Nick Fielding
In this illustrated talk, author and traveller Nick Fielding will present a potted history of the noble art of walking.
Photographs, drawings, texts: portrayals of the Mediterranean - Dr María Sebastián Sebastián
The lecture will analyse the depictions of the Mediterranean area through Hasluck and Noel materials kept in the Society's Collections.
Indigenous and scientific knowledge on the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition - Dr Ed Armston-Sheret
This talk will examine the expedition, its use of Indigenous knowledge, and its impacts.