Episode 69 - Ranthony Edmonds

My Favorite Theorem

Kevin Knudson: Welcome to My Favorite Theorem, a math podcast with no quiz at the end. I'm Kevin Knudson, professor of mathematics at the University of Florida. And here is your other host.
Evelyn Lamb: Hi, I'm Evelyn Lamb, a freelance math and science writer in Salt Lake City, Utah, where there is a family of quail that live outside my window. And they don't know that I'm here so I can watch them scurrying around in the bushes. There are at least five young ones right now.
KK: Cool.
EL: They are so cute. Oh, it's just like, sometimes — they're not here right now, which is good. Because otherwise, I would just be like, staring out my window. Looking at these cute little quail.
KK: Oh, see, so in Florida, we're in actually the boring birds season because you know, it's just, this is the locals. So I see my cardinals and the titmice and all of that, but it's still fun. I still feed them. I'm out there every day. They’re eating me out of house at home. It's true. It's a good thing. All right, well, so today we are very pleased to welcome Ranthony Edmonds. Why don't you introduce yourself, please?
Ranthony Edmonds: Hi. Yes. So I'm Ranthony Edmonds. I'm a postdoctoral researcher at The Ohio State University.
KK: The Ohio State.
RE: The “the” is very important in Columbus. We take this very seriously. And I've actually become one of those people who corrects and makes sure that they add the “the” in conferences and notes and things like this. It’s very obnoxious. Yeah. So I'm a postdoctoral researcher at The Ohio State University. I study commutative ring theory, classically, specifically factorization theory. And I'm in the midst of this sort of interesting transition, where I am looking into applications of algebraic topology. So I spent the last year learning a bit about topological data analysis, and I’m specifically interested in applying that to redistricting. So I, you know, I my interests are kind of broad, but specifically, to kind of give you some keywords, commutative ring theory, topological data analysis, redistricting. And, of course, you know, my general mission is to increase access to mathematics for Black Americans and members of other traditionally underrepresented groups in the mathematical sciences. And I'm trying to do that through a combination of inclusive pedagogy. academic research, and community engaged scholarship.
EL: Nice, and I was perusing your website before this to familiarize myself a little bit, and I saw that you're working on a kind of a history-related project about Black mathematicians at The Ohio State University historically?
RE: Yes. I think a lot of people had a lot of different reactions to what happened last summer with with George Floyd and the protests that swept over the country. And one thing that I sort of questioned is this idea of, well, if we're going to try to improve access to mathematics for Black Americans, for other traditionally underrepresented groups, how do we really begin to do impactful work if we're not really aware of what's happened historically? And I've always been interested in history. I think a lot of this comes from a previous project I'm still doing with the Hidden Figures story and sort of using that to center discussions about diversity and equity in the discipline. But yeah, I just love math history. I have a team that's very interdisciplinary, and we're looking at the history of the math department, specifically at Ohio State this summer, and then on into the fall. So there are really two things that we want to do. One is, you know, a lot of the narratives of these the pioneers who graduate from the department with PhDs, with master's degrees, they're kind of just hidden. There’s not a lot of recognition about the work that they've done. But we have discovered that there are seven Black PhDs who have graduated with a doctorate degree in math from Ohio State. And we’ve got two former university presidents among that midst. We've got lawyers, authors, you know, program officers in the NSF, just people who have gone on to do really prolific things, and yet are still somewhat kind of unacknowledged by the university themselves, and then just in the wider math community, and I think that there are a lot of hidden stories out there. And I think when I reflect on the Hidden Figures story, this is what made that so impactful is because people didn't know. So I think that there's a lot of work out there that's being done by wonderful people that people just don't know about. And so what we're trying to do is to highlight and amplify those stories, one. And then two, examine and contextualize their experiences at the university. So what was happening when they were students here? What influenced their trajectories after graduation, where they went to work, if they went to industry or academia? I think if we think about trying to get more people in graduate school or get more people at the Faculty level, well, we should start by thinking about how we're serving our undergrads who are in that actual population and how we've done that historically.
So we're doing a lot of things. I'm working with some people in strategic communication, some people in our Office of Diversity and Inclusion here at Ohio State. Also we have a connection with the National math Alliance. So they are an organization that I'm very intimately familiar with from my time in graduate school at the University of Iowa, but they are really focused on trying to increase the number of minorities entering PhD programs in the mathematical sciences. And this is pretty broad, right? It's not just math. It’s statistics, it’s economics, it’s something that requires quantitative training as an undergraduate. So we're working with them. And we're also working with a local museum, the Ohio History Connection, and there is a specific branch which is, they call themselves Afro-Am, but the official title is the National Afro American Museum and Cultural Center. And they're located in Wilberforce, Ohio. We're working with them with some of our archival research, and also our community programming. So we've learned a lot of really interesting things. We’ve sort of broken up the history of the department starting at 1963, when the first Black male PhD, his name was William McWorter, graduated from Ohio State up to the present and just identifying individuals who earned degrees during that time period and interviewing them, as well as sort of contextualizing what are the big things? How did selective admissions affect Black student enrollment in general and specifically in the math department? How did you know the protest of the ‘60s and ‘70s impact the campus environment? We have students who are wonderful who are helping us look at these different questions. And then there's actually like a lot of cool math. For instance, the the first Black male PhD from Ohio State, his name was William McWorter. And he was part of this camp along with like Axler and others that was like “death to determinants.” We don't need them, why are we teaching them to students? He felt like it was a very crippling tool pedagogically, in that students just used them for computations and had no idea what they were. And which makes sense, because I think I've experienced that on the student end of things.
EL: I’d say guilty as charged there.
RE: So he wrote a couple of papers for that were published in Math Magazine about determinant-free methods in linear algebra. And specifically he competed came up with an algorithm for computing the characteristic polynomial of a matrix and computing eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a matrix without using the determinant. And I say, “a matrix,” there are obviously conditions imposed upon it, but it was really cool. So I'm working with a student this summer, and we're reading through this paper, and then we want to create a lesson plan related to that algorithm. Because it mainly focuses on dependency relationships, like do you understand the difference between, like, given a list of vectors, can you determine if they're linearly independent or dependent? And then it requires doing that via elementary row operations. So it's just sort of hitting some of the high points from introductory linear algebra, without getting into the weeds of what the determinant really is. So we're working to create a lesson plan from that, and then hopefully, that'll be incorporated back into the honors track here. It was when he taught here. And disseminating that. Our main goal is learn it and then disseminate it, you know, so other people can can learn from what we're figuring out. So there's this history component, and then there's a lot of math that we're uncovering from the history that's just really interesting in its own right, that we hope to, over time turn into lesson plans that other people can use for their classrooms.
EL: That’s really cool. Like, so I've done a little bit of dabbling in math history and stuff. And it's always really interesting to me how much the language has changed. And you'll see an abstract for a paper written it decades ago and realize, like, we just talk about things differently now, and it's kind of hard to dig down and figure out, Okay, how would I think about what they're doing here? You know, they have these names for different curves that aren't names I use anymore, and like, how do I translate it? It's like almost a translation project. Even going back just to the ‘60s, maybe.
RE: Yeah.
EL: So that must be really interesting. And I think that's a great project for students to do. So yeah, that sounds so cool.
KK: It is. You're very busy. And you know, your list of mathematical interests is super interesting to me too. I mean, I'm not a ring theorist, but the whole TDA and redistricting.
RE: Yeah. We’ll have to talk a bit after the podcast. But yeah, it is really interesting. And I think, you know, it's part of this whole approach of just trying to humanize mathematics. We're studying it, and we're getting into the nitty details, but we're also thinking about how people came to be mathematicians, and how this has actually been affected historically, especially for Black Americans, by policies. You know, a lot of the PhDs that we're studying about were supported by NSF fellowships, and this is a direct response to the space race that was happening. And they saw the influx of federal funding. And so it's all really interesting. I feel like I'm learning a lot about — even though it's focused on Ohio State — I feel like I'm learning a lot about the math community. And one thing that is really cool about us is sort of how we do our lineage. Right? And so the math genealogy websites are really cool, because you can sort of track back, very easily, Oh, this person who would who would they have been working with? You know, I think in another discipline, if you are trying to figure some information out about the person that you want to know, who their academic “siblings” were, that might be actually difficult to discern, but we have the Math Genealogy site where we can get that information easily.
KK: Yeah. All right. So this podcast, though, is called My Favorite Theorem, so we asked you on here for a reason. So, Ranthony, what is your favorite theorem?
RE: Yeah, so I am taking it back, back, back, back. So I actually would say that my favorite theorem is the fundamental theorem of arithmetic.
KK: Okay.
RE: It’s very classic. And the reason that I like it is because it's sort of the first introduction to really meeting math in disguise, because I think a lot of people are at least aware of the concept of it in grade school, even if maybe we don't get into the implications. And so, you know, the fundamental theorem of arithmetic, it states that, given an integer, so positive whole numbers greater than one. So yeah, greater than one, excluding zero, you know, it can be written uniquely as the product of prime numbers. And that this decomposition into primes is unique except for the order. So in practice, it means give me a number, like any number that's an integer, and I can factor it uniquely into small pieces called primes. And that’s it. That's the only way I can factor this number. And it gives it a unique signature. And it's telling us that in the same way that atoms are the building blocks of ordinary matter, these prime numbers build up the integers. And I love it, because there are a lot of implications in the work that I do in factorization theory that can all sort of be traced down to this fundamental idea. And I also love it because when I talk to younger students about ring theory or things like this, I always start with the fundamental theorem of arithmetic. And I tell them when they're drawing factor trees — at least that's how I learned, I'm not sure how you guys — is that what you remember? You had the number and then you do the branches?
KK: Yeah.
EL: I loved doing that when I was a kid. I don't know if you two were also like that. That it was kind of a soothing little exercise. Like, write down a big number — not too big; I wasn't super ambitious — but like, write write down a number and just do a little tree figuring out, you know, yeah, that kind of thing. I don't know. I thought it was fun.
RE: Yeah, I usually start off with when I’m talking with — I don't want to say little kids, right — with general audiences. I'll start off by asking people to pick their favorite three-digit number. So I guess maybe, do you guys have a phone or calculator handy?
KK: Sure.
RE: So this may not pack the same sort of punch, but I ask people to pick their favorite three-digit number. And then I ask them to create a six-digit number by taking that three-digit number and repeating it twice. So I usually use 314 because it's an approximation for pi. I was also married on Pi Day. And so 314 is is my number, and then I create a six-digit number, so that's going to be 314,314. Yeah. Okay.
KK: I chose 312.
RE: Okay, all right. And so I want you to take your six-digit number and divide it by 11.
KK: Okay.
RE: Okay. I have 28,574 right now. And then I want you to take that number and divide it by 13.
KK: It’s amazing that you're getting integers here.
RE: Yeah.
EL: Or is it?
RE: So now I have 2198. Okay, and so now I want you to take this number and divide it by your original three-digit number.
KK: Yep.
RE: And did everyone get seven?
KK: Yes.
EL: Yay!
RE: So yeah, so it's like this really cool thing where if you take a number and you multiply it by 1001, it has the effect of creating a new six-digit number. That's your original original number repeated twice. And so essentially, because we know that 1001 factors uniquely into primes, which is guaranteed to us by the fundamental theorem of arithmetic, you know, 1001 is 7×11×13. And so if you divide away 11, then divide away 13, if you divide away that original number, no matter what it was, you're going to be left with 7. And so it's really exploiting this property of the integers. This is really cool. And so I don't know, I just really love the theorem.
So why, I guess maybe, do I care about it? In terms of the mathematical sense, besides the fact that it's cool? It’s because there's a lot of deeper underlying mathematics here. So it's like, we have this statement that tells us, given any integer, we can decompose it uniquely into the product of prime numbers. And so like I mentioned before, these prime numbers are acting kind of like the atoms of the integers. And so in factorization theory, this is sort of the name of the game. We're really interested in, how do we decompose a mathematical object into its smallest pieces? And this is our very first introduction to this idea. It's in elementary when we're breaking numbers into primes. And then typically, when we kind of level up, the next thing we try to break down are polynomials, right? And so in algebra, whatever level in which you had it, you have a polynomial and you want to break it down too. And so it's like, okay, we want to factor it. And the question is, how do you know when you're done factoring? So you know, with a prime number, you circle it, and it's like, we have our, you know, but with polynomials, it’s a little bit more hazy. There's not a list of, well, there are, but a list of just all the irreducible polynomials that ever are. And so the question is, is there some sort of fundamental theorem that exists for the set of polynomials over the reals? So if we had something like x4−1, I remember in algebra that this was a difference of squares, and so there was a pattern. So I could break this into x2+1 and x2−1. And then this was always a tricky one, because it was like, aha, another another square, x2−1. So you can keep going. But then the question is, you know, do you circle x2+1 or not? Is it irreducible? And the question depends on the setting. Like, it depends on if we're working over the reals, or if we're allowing complex numbers, because if we allow complex numbers, then we can suddenly say that x2+1 is (x+i)(x−i). But if not, then, you know, maybe we're done.
So feasibly, it's like, well, we don't want to have to come up with a fundamental theorem for every single set of polynomials that exist. That's not very efficient. So we kind of generalize this idea of the integers into something called a commutative ring. And we generalize this idea of primes into irreducible elements. AndI think that living that abstraction is what I've spent most of my mathematical career looking at, like how things decompose, but I think tracing it back down to, you know, what we're really trying to do here is to come up with really nice notions that generalize the fundamental theorem of arithmetic. So this is probably why it's my favorite theorem, because I feel like if you keep going down to just the bare bones of what it is we're trying to do, the best example I think is there in that theorem, and also the best things are the things you can talk about.
KK: Yeah, and it's kind of like the first real theorem you learn.
RE: Yeah.
KK: Because, you know, I mean, you start learning mathematics in elementary school, and you learn how to add and subtract, but there aren’t really — well, there are theorems there, or definitions, maybe, but this one, you learn how to do it somewhere like fifth grade, maybe?
RE: Yeah, you’re really young, but I don't know that it was given the name.
EL: Yeah, I didn’t know the name of it, I think until I was probably in grad school, maybe college?
RE: Yeah.
EL: Still, but you learn it. Maybe you don't learn it as a theorem.
KK: Yeah. You learn an algorithm, right? Essentially.
EL: Yeah.
KK: Yeah. How do you do it? I mean, what do they teach you to do? Like, start dividing by primes, maybe?
RE: I guess I felt like at that point, well, this was when I was still just using a lot of memorized facts. And that was math to me. And so I guess I had my list of things that I thought were prime. And then maybe if they threw in a big number, I'd have to think about it. Like if they threw in like a 37. It's like, Oh, wait, what's happening? But 2, 11, 13? You know, we were pretty good to know. But yeah, I think I had no idea that it was a theorem. I do remember learning it, though. And so my favorite things are when I'm learning something, especially in a more advanced mathematical setting, and it takes me back to a very young me who just didn't know that there was a lot more to this when I was first exposed to it.
KK: Mm hmm. Yep. And hopefully didn't fall to the Grothendieck trap of thinking that 57 was prime, right?
RE: No. So basically, I've done a lot of work looking at unique factorization. And so because I work with zero divisors, which I don't know that I need to get into the nuts and bolts, but I thought a lot about what makes a unique factorization domain tick. Because I think a lot about settings where we don't have those nice properties. And so a unique factorization domain is the is the exact generalization of the fundamental theorem of arithmetic. So the fundamental theorem of arithmetic, you know, we've got a setting, the integers, where everything factors uniquely into primes, and in a unique factorization domain, it’s commutative ring, which is a generalization of the integers and the nice properties that they have. And it's a commutative ring, where everything factors uniquely into atoms, so we're generalizing primes now into atoms. And so there are some really nice results related to polynomial rings, where if you have a ring that has unique factorization, then the polynomial ring extension also has that same property, and vice versa, too. And so in the world that I live in, there are a lot of times where these factorization properties don't extend. And so I spend time thinking about what can we do to try to make them extend. So yeah, I think a lot about factorization theory and commutative ring theory. And so a lot of this is sort of based on this very gold-star standard of a factorization setting, which is a unique factorization domain. It's the nicest place that you can live, where factorization is just really well-behaved. You don't have to distinguish between primes and irreducibles, it's just a beautiful place to be. And so I call this a utopia and it's really mimicking or generalizing the fundamental theorem of arithmetic and the results there.
KK: So another thing we like to do on our podcast is ask our guests to pair their theorem with something. So we hear you might have multiple pairings. You’re only obligated for one.
RE: Okay, so originally, my first thought with a pairing was was alcohol, and I don't really drink that much, but I do love mead. So there is a meadery here. Okay, so mead is like it's like when they fermented grapes to make the wine, they ferment honey. So it's sweeter. And so there's a meadery here in Columbus called Brothers Drake. And I believe that they have a cousin, or a brother? You know, another brother meadery that's in California. But that's really broad. I'm not sure which part in California, but they have an apple pie mead. And it's my happy place when I do you know, partake in a little bit of something. So, I think the apple pie mead, and just any mead in general, if you would like to try it, especially when we get into history and stuff. I feel like this is like a very historical drink. Yeah.
EL: Yeah. Like, I don't know, I think of, like, dank castles and that kind of thing. Probably a lot of like, Disney fantasy, you know, people coming from battles and drinking their mead or something.
KK: Right.
RE: Yeah. I think a lot about Thor because I just am a big Marvel Universe person. And so I feel like Thor and Loki would just be having some mead, you know, catching up. But okay, so I was trying to think of what else would go with my theorem that wasn't alcohol. And so because I feel like the fundamental theorem of arithmetic is a very classic thing. So I would just like to pair my theorem with two things. One, sleep. So this is like a shameless plug for everyone to attempt to get eight hours of sleep. This is something that I tried really hard to do last year. And it was really crazy how much I fought against. Like, “I don't have time for this because XYZ,” but it took me maybe a whole semester, and I finally am now sleeping eight hours a night no matter what. And so this is a nice pairing with math, is sleep because I think that it's really good to do math when you're rested and your head is clear. So that's one. And then the second would just be like nice long walks. I love nature. I love cycling and strength training, but you just can't beat a good walk. And so for those who are able and mobile, I just think taking the time to go on quick walks during the day, even if it's just, like, 10 minutes, in between a meeting or something it’s a really great thing to do. So those are, I guess, like, my classic pairings. So what I say is apple pie mead, eight hours of sleep, and a walk.
EL: A nice long walk. This sounds like a great day.
KK: This is amazing. And you’ve got your bike there in the background.
RE: Yeah. Oh, my gosh, we're getting to know each other.
KK: Yeah. Well, when I was a postdoc, I was a very serious cyclist. I mean, I spent a lot of time, it was good therapy for me to get on the bike. Like if I was stuck on my math, I went for a ride.
RE: Yeah.
KK: But I lived in Chicago at the time, so you can't really ride in the winter.
RE: Yeah. That's an interesting city. I guess what like, did you go maybe to like suburbs and ride out there?
KK: Yeah, I was in Evanston. So I was at Northwestern. So that was good, because you could just head north, and then you're out in the country pretty quick. But you know, I had a group I rode with and all that, but just very good therapy all the way around. And then I had a kid and moved to Detroit. And those two things will just kill your cycling.
RE: What about what about you, Evelyn? Do you have — because you were talking about birds in the beginning, and I see that your background is very scenic.
EL: Yes, this is a cold day at Bryce Canyon National Park down in southern Utah. It's extremely hot in all of Utah right now. So this was kind of nostalgic, like, bringing some cold weather into it. But yeah, I love biking and taking walks and stuff. I'm really lucky in the neighborhood I live in. Basically, if you go north from my house, which is also uphill, you end up in less than a mile going into this extensive trail network that can get you all over the place if you're willing to go for a long walk. And it's like, I live less than two miles away from the state capitol building in downtown Salt Lake, but the fact that you can get up into nature so quickly is amazing.
KK: Well, it's right up against it.
EL: We’re built into the foothills here. And it's great. So yeah, I love taking walks in nature and I I've never tried that kind of mead, but there's actually a local like fruit wine place here that has a whole mead series in addition to fruit wines. And it's really cool because they have some that are sweeter and then some that are less, where they fermented, like, all of the sugar and it's amazing some of these, they almost taste like a Chardonnay or something. Yeah. Because you think of mead, honey wine, it's going to be super goopy and sweet, and depending on how much you ferment it and stuff, it actually has all sorts of different flavors so yeah, it's a cool place. I think they've got some like apple and honey cider mix things so I should check those out. Yeah,
RE: You definitely should, but I do agree that there are so many different like flavor profiles. The meadery here, you can go and do samples and they have like, music nights, pre-COVID, I think they're starting to resume this, and, like, empanada nights, which was a very personal weakness of mine. But yeah, I love — like, some of it just is too strong for me, right? Because I was I was leaning towards mead because I was like, okay, I don't know if I'm a hard alcohol drinker. But it's not all just sweet. It's not all just like juice with alcohol. I really like it. And so the last time that we tried was called Purple Rain. And I believe that the guy said that he, and it depends also on the barrel on which you're aging the the the mead, but he did something, like it was like using some sort of like blackberry something, and they accidentally like made too much and it was like overflowing the barrel when they came to check in on it. And so he called it Purple Rain. So I thought that was was pretty cool. Back to the cycling comment, my bike was actually stolen out of my garage at the beginning of COVID, and I was so upset. So at the beginning of COVID and work from home, when I realized that we'd actually be here for a while, I started nesting. I did a lot of things to my office space. So you see this black peel-and-stick wallpaper that I put up and actually turned out really nice.
EL: And a beautiful — I was hoping to see the rest of that picture that you’re tilting up now because yeah, I was thinking that looks really cool.
RE: Yeah, I got art. So this is um, I Gosh, I want to say it's just an Israeli painter named Itay Magen, and I just really love. It does a lot of really vital prints, colorful art. And so this came as a canvas. And then I realized when you buy canvas prints, you actually have to go get them mounted, which can be a little pricey. And then I ordered this Blackboard that you see, but the point that relates to the bike is that I also put together some shells, there's a landing gear, so you're kind of blinded, but I was painting and staining the shelves in my garage, and I left it open for a little bit, just to let the air sort of, you know, vent because of the paint fumes, and my bike was stolen. I got a little too trusting living downtown, you know, moving here from Iowa, you know, I kind of learned my lesson in the big city, I guess. So I got a new one. And I'm still getting to know this one a little bit better. But I took it out for the first time last week, and I have new clipped-in pedals. I got a different pedal than I had last time. I've been practicing just getting clicked in and out just at home because it's a little bit more challenging. So yeah, but I love doing outdoor things. And I think it's really nice to get fresh air, just for balance. And then also it does help, I think, with math. There's a tendency, I think, to try to double down, like, “no, I got to get this result. And then like sleep can happen or life can happen.” But I found that, you know, actually taking the breaks is really helpful.
EL: Yeah, the number of times where, you know, you're stuck on something, and then you actually let yourself sleep and wake up and realize, Oh, I can approach this in some different way — I wish I learned better from that rather than continuing to torture myself sometimes.
KK: Yeah, yeah. All right. Well, this has been great fun. So where can our listeners find you online?
RE: Yeah, so you can find me online on Twitter. My handle is @RanthonyEdmonds, let's see, with regards to the OSU Black math history project I mentioned, we will have a website, probably by September. But in the meantime, you can contact us at [e-mail] if you're interested in telling a story related to your time, you know, at Ohio State or affiliated, or just you just want to tell a math story. You know, that's the place to go. And then I think lastly, I'll start posting a lot soon on Twitter about another project that I'm working on just by the end of the summer related to redistricting and communities of interest, and sort of synthesizing community input so that when the redistricting process happens at the end of this year, we are taking into account communities of interest, which is this sort of traditional redistricting principle that says that communities with shared interests should be kept together in the mapping process. But what are those communities look like? Where are their boundaries? What are their key characteristics? We're working with the MGGG Redistricting Lab along with Ohio Organizing Collaborative and their independent citizens redistricting commission to really collect a lot of public input related to communities of interest. And so I'm focused on what's happening here in Ohio. But this is an effort happening over 10 states this summer, as we prepare for redistricting in the fall and all that's going to happen with the release of the census data. So I guess just stay tuned. Some good places that aren't my Twitter profile will be Common Cause, Ballotpedia, and of course, here in Ohio, the let's see, don't let me lie, ohredistrict.org. And so this is where you can find the Ohio citizens redistricting commission information. And so this is an independent commission that is sort of focusing on modeling good redistricting practices. And we're working closely with them this summer. But like I said, this is definitely happening in over 10 states. And so I'll start posting about this soon. But in terms of not me, specifically, just, you know, look some things up about what's happening in redistricting. Try to get involved and make your voice heard, because it affects all of us and it's really important, but I don't want to go on a separate tangent. This is supposed to be like a closing plug. So follow me on Twitter @RanthonyEdmonds. Email me if you're interested in telling your story related to Black math history at [e-mail]. And then just you know, ohredistrict.org and Common Cause are really great resources for learning more about redistricting that's happening this year.
EL: Excellent. That is a fantastic set of resources. Thanks so much for joining us. This was a lot of fun.
KK: It’s really great.
RE: Thanks for having me.
[outro]
On this episode of My Favorite Theorem, we had the pleasure of talking to Ranthony Edmonds from The Ohio State University about the fundamental theorem of arithmetic. Here are some links you might enjoy after you listen to the episode:
Edmonds' website and Twitter account
An interview with NPR about her Hidden Figures-based course about mathematics and society
Math Alliance, a program that supports mentorship for early-career mathematicians from underrepresented groups
Ohio History Connection and the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center
An article by Evelyn about why 1 isn't a prime number, which mentions the distinction between prime and irreducible
The Metric Geometry and Gerrymandering Group (MGGG)
Ohio Organizing Collaborative
Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission
Common Cause

Ballotpedia