You may not think of checkers as an important game intellectually. It certainly has never had the cachet of chess. That did not stop it from becoming the obsession of the University of Alberta computer science professor for nearly two decades and the center of one of the most ambitious Artificial Intelligence projects ever undertaken. This is their story.

Guests:

Jonathan Schaeffer is a Computer Science Professor at the University of Alberta where he is also the current Dean of the Faculty of Science.

Chinook is the greatest checkers player in the world, in fact it is impossible to beat. The product of an 18 year project in computer artificial intelligence, Chinook represents one of the greatest breakthroughs in computer game playing and was the first machine to ever hold a human world championship.

Music:

sr_cafe
Mgen
Joe Nathan 007
sciencectn (2) (3)
xlcntr
marcalexandre
thedeadsoul
amethystdeceiver
_Oce_

Relatively Prime: Chinook

Relatively Prime: The Unexpected

Relatively Prime: The Toolbox

Sorry for the unannounced hiatus that has now lasted for four years, but our host and producer Sam Hansen has had a lot of life events and changes that led them to not be able to devote the time they needed to making the show. We are planning on coming back very soon, but until then please enjoy this episode about the Mathematics of Voting from the podcast Carry the Two made by the Institute for Mathematical and Statistical Innovation where Sam is the new Director of Communications and Engagement.

Transcript Link: http://relprime.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/rp_carry_the_two_voting.txt
——————–

IMSI is very proud to announce that Carry the Two is back and with a new co-host, IMSI’s new Director of Communications and Engagement Sam Hansen!

Subscribe:   Apple Podcasts  •  Spotify  •  RSS

We in the United States are deep in the middle of a major national election, and over half of the world’s population also have elections in 2024. This is why Carry the Two is going to focus on the intersection of mathematics and democracy for our new season.

In this episode, the first episode of our mathematics and democracy season, we speak with mathematician Ismar Volić of Wellesley College and Director of the Institute for Mathematics and Democracy and Victoria Mooers, an economics PhD student at Columbia University. We discuss what mathematics has to say about our current plurality voting system, how switching to preference ranking votings systems could limit polarization and negative campaigning, and why too much delegation causes problems for those pushing for Liquid Democracy.  

Find our transcript here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AyOFx1hRAzf9a8CZX5cQVCZlklmdRiRE/view?usp=sharing 



Ismar Volić's book: Making Democracy Count: How Mathematics Improves Voting, Electoral Maps, and Representation 

Institute for Mathematics and Democracy

Victoria Mooers article: Liquid Democracy. Two Experiments on Delegation in Voting

Follow more of IMSI’s work: www.IMSI.institute, (twitter) @IMSI_institute, (mastodon) https://sciencemastodon.com/@IMSI, (instagram) IMSI.institute

Music by Blue Dot Sessions and lowercase n

The Institute for Mathematical and Statistical Innovation (IMSI) is funded by NSF grant DMS-1929348

RelPrimeCt2 Mix

Show notes: https://relprime.com/rpsf/

Transcript: http://relprime.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/funding_transcript.txt

Funding

The Three R’s, Reading Writing and 'Rithmetic, have formed the basis of formal education for centuries, at least since they were mentioned by Sir William Curtis in 1795, even if he probably used Reckoning instead of ‘Rithmetic. Most of the time though the three R’s can be simplified down even further to the two Glyphs, Letters and Numbers.

For most people ‘Rithmetic or reckoning or mathematics or what ever you want to call it, falls directly under the umbrella of numbers. That is not incorrect. Numbers are very much mathematics brand. Numbers are how mathematics is represented to children from a young age and when you show an aptitude for the subject you are often branded a numbers person. There is even a youtube channel featuring videos about cool mathematics called Numberphile.

But mathematics is more than numbers, and before you go making a joke about how of course it is otherwise we could never solve for x, mathematics is more than individual letters too. Letters, and that thing you get when you put a bunch of letters together and make them into words and then you take those words and you put them together according to some set of rules called language, plays a very important role in mathematics. This episode of Relatively Prime, The Lexicon, explores this role.


Relatively Prime: The Lexicon

We all use mathematics everyday. At least that is what we all like to tell our friends who ask us, “What good is math anyway?” The problem is so much of this everyday mathematics is, how should I say this, non-obvious. No one thinks they are doing mathematics when they figure out the larger peanut butter is not actually a better deal than the smaller size or when they cut across the intersection diagonally to save time or when they decide to ask that friend they don’t really talk to much to spread the word about their new project because that friend has more friends than they do(not that I have any history doing this last one, no history in doing it at all). Sure those are just algebra, geometry, and network analysis problems deep down, but they are also just normal every issues. In this episode of Relatively Prime we look at three regular, everyday problems and use mathematics to make them a bit more comfortable, a bit more pleasant, and, in the case of the first story, a bit more delicious. Oh, and we have a couple quick pieces of advice about how to make pumping gas fun and tipping more secure.

Relatively Prime: Your Daily Recommended Math

Subscribe to the Podcast 
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/relatively-prime/id560923828
RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/relprime

Mathematics may be the most pure, the most abstract, the most ivory tower of all academic disciplines, but nothing, nothing is beyond the reach of politics. This episode of Relatively Prime looks at how politics effects mathematics and how mathematics can effect politics.



Relatively Prime: Mathematistan

This episode of Relatively Prime is going to be delving into the humanistic side of mathematics. It is the first chapter in a recurring series Samuel is calling Diegetic Plots. Yes that is a super nerdy joke, and yes Samuel is super proud of it.

It features interviews with authors Ted Chiang and Stuart Rojstazer, a reading of Ted Chiang's short story Division by Zero, poetry from Gizem Karaali and JoAnne Growney, and a little something special from Samuel.

Relatively Prime: Diegetic Plots - Chapter One

Segments and full episode of the Relatively Prime episode Principia Metropolica

Relatively Prime: Principia Metropolica

This is the final episode of the 2nd season of Relatively Prime. It is also the second chapter of the ongoing series Diegetic Plots. Which means we will once again be exploring the intersection of mathematics and the humanities. This time by exploring what happens when haiku is used to procrastinate from writing a dissertation, how exactly theorems get born, all the possible continuums upon which feelings can be rated, and the executive summaries of some less than successful grant applications. 

Relatively Prime: Diegetic Plots Chapter 2

Welcome to the new season of Relatively Prime! There will be a few changes for the new season, primarily each episode will feature only a single story, but to make up for that episodes will be coming out monthly, starting with this one which features the story of how Sharif Ibrahim developed the lottery which was used to award licenses for the retail sale of cannabis in Washington State after the referendum legalizing it was passed in November, 2012.

You can support Relatively Prime by becoming a patron of the show on Patreon. Any support you can give the show is greatly appreciated, and goes a long way to making sure it is sustainable.

If you are going to be attending the Joint Mathematics Meetings in Atlanta(or just happen to live in the great city) next month you can not miss the LIVE recording of an episode of Relatively Prime. There are great guests lined up and you can be in the room while the magic is happening. All you have to do is show up at Regency Ballroom VII at the Hyatt on Friday January 6 at 8:00 PM.

Relatively Prime

Relatively Prime: Lottery Daze

Cancer is a truly terrible disease. We all know it too, in fact it is very likely not a person reading this right now who has not had their own lives or the lives of their nearest and dearest affected by it. This includes your host Samuel.
 
This is one reason Samuel was so interested in hearing to the two brilliant mathematicians you will be hearing from today talk about the work they have been doing using mathematics to better understand how to tackle this horrible disease.
 
First you will will hear Jennifer Chayes, Managing Director of Microsoft Research New England, talk about her work using Steiner Trees to help understand Gene Regulatory Networks as related to Glioblastoma and Breast Cancer.
 
Then the conversation shifts focus to the emerging field of immunotherapy cancer vaccines. To better understand how mathematics may help drive this treatment forward we are joined by Ami Radunskaya of Claremont College in Pomona. Ami discusses how modeling can help create better treatment protocols for these vaccines, and leaves us with a very important action item.
 
 Don't forget to support Relatively Prime on Patreon and make sure Samuel can afford to make rent next month. Plus, you can get access to the RelPrime bonus feed and hear Katrine Crowley's first mathematical memory.

Relatively Prime: Steiner Biopsy

Mathematics is not always the easiest thing to talk or write about, especially when the audience is not other mathematicians. This doesn't mean talking about math is impossible though, just that it takes some experience and some maybe some tricks. Of course that leaves a very clear question:  What are these tricks and how can I get this experience? In order to answer just this question Samuel gathered together mathematical communicators Dana Mackenzie, Beth Malmskog, and Colin Adams back in January 2017 at the Joint Mathematics Meetings for the panel "What We Talk About When We Talk About Mathematics", and in this episode of Relatively Prime you will hear from the panel.

Don't forget to support Relatively Prime on Patreon and make sure Samuel can afford to make rent next month. Plus, you can get access to the RelPrime bonus feed and hear the panel in its entirety.

Relatively Prime: Talking The Talk

On this episode of Relatively Prime is the other panel Samuel hosted at the 2017 Joint Mathematics Meetings  in Atlanta. This panel was called Outside the Equation and focused on mathematical communication outside of the typical, i.e. writing and lecture. The panel consisted of three Relatively Prime guests you already know and love: Tim Chartier, the mathematical mime, Anna Haensch, the co-host of The Other Half podcast, and Robert Schneider, singer, songwriter, and guitarist behind Apples in Stereo. If you want to know how mathematical mime goes over at a Renaissance fair or how mathematicians react to an NPR piece on Poincare conjecture or hear a logarithmic scale as played on a marimba stop reading this and press play now.

If you want to hear  a story featuring Samuel and an editor and number systems you must become a patron on Patreon and then you will get bonus audio for every episode, including the full audio of the Outside the Equations panel.

Many thanks to the MAA, AMS, and Atlanta for the JMM where this panel was taped and to all the math loving people who came out to see it in person.

Outside The Equation

Have you ever wondered what mathematicans' favorite theorems were? How about what food or music pairs perfectly with those theorems? Well whether your answer to those questions was yes or no or what are you talking about there is a new mathematics podcast on the scene you need to check out called My Favorite Theorem.

My Favorite Theorem is the brain child of Kevin Knudson and Evelyn Lamb. You may recognize those names as a writer who contributes to The Conversation, Forbes, and is a mathematics professor at the University of Florida and as freelance mathematics journalist who runs the Scientific American blog Roots of Unity. They were kind enough to talk to me early in the morning about where the idea for the show came from, why the pairings are so cool, and how mathematical audio can help humanize mathematicians. Oh, and I make them come up with a pairing for our conversation. Plus, as a super special bonus they were kind enough to let me share episode 3 of My Favorite Theorem with Emille Davie Lawrence as part of the episode. I know you will soon have another podcast added to you subscription list.



Don't forget to support Relatively Prime on Patreon and make sure Samuel can afford to make rent next month.

Download the Episode

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts or RSS
Music

SUPERMILK

Relatively Prime: Their Favorite Theorem

This month's Relatively Prime is all about classification. Samuel is joined by Fabian Müller of zbMath for a discussion of the Mathematics Subject Classification, the benefit of using a hierarchical scheme to organize mathematics, and the work Fabian is doing to help revise MSC as a part of MSC 2020. This is a really important work which effects your ability to search and find the mathematical work you are need, so please think about taking part.

Don't forget to support Relatively Prime on Patreon and help Samuel survive the month!

The Right Bucket

Sadly Samuel did not make it to the second round of The Aperiodical's Big Internet Math Off, but lucky for y'all in a fit of profound arrogance, as well as trying to deal with some potential scheduling issues which could have accompanied victory, they had already made all of their entries. Instead of letting them languish in the dust bin of mathematical communication history Samuel has decided to release them anyway.

This would-be second round entry is all about William Rowan Hamilton, quaternions, and the walk in their honor. It includes a beautiful song by Jess Charlton.You can hear the PRX STEM Story Project funded piece some of the tape was originally gathered for here.

Don't forget to vote in the second round of The Big Internet Math Off even though Samuel is not in it.

All the apologies to Lin-Manuel.

Music and Effects:

Ken MacLeod
tim.kahn
dr_skitz
DickBlox
misjoc
Hamilton
Jess Charlton

Big Internet Math Off Round 2: Quaternions

Sadly Samuel did not make it to the final round of The Aperiodical's Big Internet Math Off, but lucky for y'all in a fit of profound arrogance, as well as trying to deal with some potential scheduling issues which could have accompanied victory, they had already made all of their entries. Instead of letting them languish in the dust bin of mathematical communication history Samuel has decided to release them anyway.

This would-be semi-final entry is all about checkers, well checkers and AI and hubris and death and rivalry and the devil's work. In fact this is really a re-airing of the Series 1 episode Chinook which Samuel will happily tell you is the greatest story they have ever had the story to tell.

Music and Effects:

Ken MacLeod
tim.kahn
dr_skitz
DickBlox
misjoc

Here is the description from the originally episode's post:

    You may not think of checkers as an important game intellectually. It certainly has never had the cachet of chess. That did not stop it from becoming the obsession of the University of Alberta computer science professor for nearly two decades and the center of one of the most ambitious Artificial Intelligence projects ever undertaken. This is their story.

    Jonathan Schaeffer is a Computer Science Professor at the University of Alberta where he is also the current Dean of the Faculty of Science.

    Download the Uncut Jonathan Schaeffer Interview

    Chinook is the greatest checkers player in the world, in fact it is impossible to beat. The product of an 18 year project in computer artificial intelligence, Chinook represents one of the greatest breakthroughs in computer game playing and was the first machine to ever hold a human world championship.

    Music:

    sr_cafe
    Mgen
    Joe Nathan 007
    sciencectn (2) (3)
    xlcntr
    marcalexandre
    thedeadsoul
    amethystdeceiver
    _Oce_

Math Off Round 4: Checkers

Welcome to the third episode of the Cycle of Mathematics mini-series from Relatively Prime. In this mini-series we are covering mathematics from its start as an idea to its publication to it inspiring the cycle to start anew.

In this this episode we bring to you a tour of where mathematics articles go after they are published so that they may be found, Mathematical Reviews/MathSciNet. Samuel is shown the path a paper follows through the Mathematical Reviews by Managing Editor Norm Richert, with stops to talk to many department heads along the way.

Stayed tuned for next month's final entry in the Cycle of Mathematics mini-series which will feature mathematics which was directly inspired by the work featured in the first episode of the mini-series.

Relatively Prime Cycle of Mathematics: Orange Volumes on a Shelf (On the Internet)

This episode is a bit of a blast from the past. Samuel has recently been going back through some of the old episodes from season 1 and while there were listening to The Score they realized that while the story about Robert Schneider and the non-Pythagorean scale was great it barely scratched the surface of amazing things Robert talked about in the interview. Upon registering to the original conversation, 7 years after it was recorded, Samuel realized not only did the story barely scratch the surface, the rest of the interview was absolutely fascinating. Robert’s mind works in amazing ways and the connections it draws between mathematics and music and art and life need to be heard. There is a reason Samuel considers Robert to be one of their favorite people in the world to talk to. So, sit back, listen, and enjoy Robert Schneider from Apples in Stereo, The Elephant 6 Record Co., and freshly minted mathematics PhD (a degree which  had just been begun when this interview was conducted).

Relatively Prime: Robert Schneider

On this month's episode of Relatively Prime Samuel Hansen speaks with Professor Mike Spivey from University of Puget Sound about his interactive fiction game A Beauty Cold and Austere. They discuss how interactive fiction and mathematics work together, some of the mathematical puzzles in the game, and just what easter eggs might be hiding within the game.

Music:
Sepgil
Broke for Free

A Beauty Cold and Austere Voiceover:
Bree Prehn
KT Howard

A Beauty Cold and Austere

For this episode of Relatively Prime Samuel decided that instead of speaking to a guest they would instead talk about the research they are conducting now that they are the Mathematics & Statistics Librarian at the University of Michigan. This research looks into how the citations of mathematical publications age over time, and its discussion includes a first for Relatively Prime - Data Sonification! These sonifications were created using Jonathon Middleton's website Musical Algorithms (you hear more about Jonathan and this site on the Relatively Prime Season 1 episode The Score)

Music:
Lowercase n

Relatively Prime: Citation Aging

On this episode of Relatively Prime we explore the thoughts of authors of general audience mathematics books. It features clips from interviews Samuel Hansen conducted with Colin Adams, Ivars Peterson, John Allen Paulos, Jordan Ellenberg, Dave Richeson, Matt Parker, Steve Strogatz, and Alex Bellos.

Music:
Lowercase n

Zombie Horde Sound by Mike Koenig

Relatively Prime: Authors

To wrap up the year 2019 Samuel Hansen is joined by Katie Steckles and Christian Lawson-Perfect of Aperiodical.com to discuss some of the big stories from the world of mathematics this year.

The stories they discuss include Hannah Fry's Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, Karen Uhlenbeck's Abel Prize, year two of the Big Internet Math Off, a new multiplication algorithm, a new pi digits record, 33 and 42 as the sum of three cubes, and advances toward solutions for Collatz and Riemann.

Music:
lowercase n

Relatively Prime: 2019 Year End Review

In this live episode recorded at the 2020 Joint Mathematics Meetings in Denver Samuel Hansen talks about the truth behind the stories we all tell in mathematics. In order to do this they will investigate the actual facts of the Galois narrative, have a conversation about where and when the decimal point appeared with Glen Van Brummelen of Quest University, and play a game of 2 lies and a truth with some people in the audience.

The podcast was recorded live on the occupied land of the  Arapaho and Cheyenne Nations. Taken finally through violence in the Sand Creek Massacre. Colorado is also the current headquarters of the 
Southern Ute and Mountain Ute Tribes. There was also parts recorded on the occupied lands of the Anishinaabeg (including Odawa, Ojibwe, and Boodewadomi) and Wyandot tribes.

Truthiness

On this month’s Relatively Prime Samuel shares three scenes from the life of Benjamin Banneker. One about a clock, one about a solar eclipse projectsion, and one about a puzzle. You can learn more about the life of Benjamin Banneker by checking out the book The Life of Benjamin Banneker by Silvio Bendini which was essential in the production of this episode and it is available to borrow for free on the Internet Archive  or if you prefer a physical copy your library may have it on hand and if they do not the amazing system that is Interlibrary Loan should be able to provide for you.
Music:
 Chris Zabriske 
 Rodrigonzález
 Griffin Lundin
 ᕲi̾r̾੮ Porcelai̾n

Relatively Prime: 3 Scences from the Life of Benjamin Banneker

On this episode of Relatively Prime Samuel is joined by Brigitte Stenhouse of the Open University to talk about the life and times of Mary, and William, Somerville.

Music:
Lowercase n

The Somervilles

On this episode of Relatively Prime Samuel is joined by Brittany Rhodes the creator of the amazing monthly mathematics subscription box Black Girl Mathgic. They discuss where the idea of the box came from, what comes in the boxes each month, and why everyone benefits when young Black women are centered in mathematics.  If you want to help Brittany and Black Girl Mathgic reach more people you can help out by donating a box.

Music:
Broke For Free (Night Owl) (Only Instrumental)

Relatively Prime: Black Girl Mathgic

On this episode of Relatively Prime, Michole Enjoli and Noelle Sawyer take over for Black in Math Week. They talk to Brea Ratliff and José Vilson, two Black math educators, and discuss what it’s like to be Black in math, what they would say to people making common false statements about Black students in math, and better hopes and dreams for Black students.

Black in Math week is November 8th – 13th, 2020! It’s a week on Twitter to celebrate community among and uplift Black mathematicians. Check us out @BlackInMath for updates! 

Brea is currently pursuing a PhD at Auburn University in Math Education. She is the founder of and CEO Me to the Power of Three and is a past president of the Benjamin Banneker association. 

José is located in New York City and is the founder and executive director of EDUcolor. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at Teachers College at Columbia University in Sociology and Education.

We talk a bit about Afrofuturism in this episode. If you’re interested in checking out more on Afrofuturism, try SpaceBox, a STEM escape room to save astronauts from a virus, and this special minizine from Bitten Magazine!

Music:
Kirshmusic

Transcript available at https://relprime.com/bimw

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