Podcast

Feedback from our guests:

“It was absolutely delightful to entertain a genuinely stimulating conversation with such a welcoming host as Howard Burton, whose brilliant and sharp observations could not stop surprising me for their intellectual depth (with a pinch of good humour!). Academic topics whose accurate understanding may seem to only fall within the realm of specialists receive a new light thanks to Howard’s illustrative explanations and inquisitive questions. His podcast series is definitely one to look up to for anybody wishing to enrich and expand their intellectual horizons through an engaging and thought-provoking intellectual journey into thus far uncharted lands in what is – without doubt – a very friendly and inspiring atmosphere.” — Ester Salgarella, classicist, University of Cambridge

“Talking to Howard was not only a pleasure, it helped me connect some of the dots of my own professional formation and particular interests as they inform my work. In other words, I learned things about myself from the conversation. His ability to engage an unusually wide variety of subjects with curiosity and with a sense of what’s important is extraordinary and encouraged me — and, as far as I can tell, most of his interlocutors — to the kind of frankness and unobtrusive structure that makes for interesting listening. Ideas Roadshow is a treasure.” — Matthias Wivel, Curator at The National Gallery

“I cannot praise Howard Burton too highly. The preparatory reading and thinking he does before conducting an interview is astonishing in its depth and extent. He asks interesting and penetrating questions that elicit from his interviewee thoughts that hadn’t surfaced before the questions were asked. He is very interviewee-friendly and has a natural talent for putting one at one’s ease. He bravely ventures beyond what one might expect to be his comfort zone. The resulting product satisfyingly exceeds one’s expectations.” —  Henry Hardy, Fellow, Wolfson College, University of Oxford

“The discussion with Howard was for me a unique experience. I’ve always regarded myself as a person of few words, particularly in English, which is not my native language.  But somehow Howard managed to lure out of me not only views on homelessness but also some quite personal reflections. This is probably the most intimate conversation I’ve ever taken part in. Howard’s breath of knowledge on the subject matter and its ethical implications is impressive and it challenges also the visitor into more profound discussion. This is the way to build a real dialogue. I’m grateful for this opportunity and I totally enjoyed it.” — Juha Kaakinen, CEO Y-Foundation

“It was a pleasure to work with somebody as intellectually stimulating as Howard Burton. He has a natural ability to ask the right kind of questions, and thus was able to draw out the broader themes behind my work – indeed, behind my entire lifelong engagement with music. This series is unique for the depth of the conversations Howard inspires, but also for their accessibility. It’s not easy to hit both of these marks simultaneously, but Ideas Roadshow threads the needle with great success.” — Robin Wallace, Professor of Musicology, Baylor University

“I am convinced that this kind of experience can offer a living memory of the research I am developing in these years and this instrument will be an additional support in a period in which the pandemic is limiting our mobility. Ideas Roadshow is a really serious, although not strictly academic, means of communication and dissemination of ideas and studies, that can be easily accessed. A very good aspect of our times.” — Antonio Panaino, Professor of Iranian Studies, University of Bologna

“I was enormously impressed by the intimate knowledge of my research that Howard showed in our discussion, and the highly pertinent and often challenging inquiry to which he subjected my ideas. It is an academic’s dream for their work to be well understood and appreciated even by non-specialists, and to be subjected to searching but sympathetic criticism. Scholarship progresses through such dialectical engagement, and it’s a true pleasure to be given the opportunity to discuss scholarly ideas in depth with an acute and assured interlocutor as Howard is.” — Armand D’Angour, Professor of Classics, University of Oxford