Amir Asghari

• Interviews are curious, honest, and candid
• Interviews are not designed with pre-determined questions; the direction and the type of questions asked are determined during the interview based on what the interviewee expresses
• Interviews are not recitations of people’s CVs
• Interviews try to portray external factors (historical, social, economic, …) that have played a role in shaping the interviewee’s thinking
• Interviews pay particular attention to the people and ideas that have played a role in shaping the interviewee’s thinking and how they influenced them
• Interviews try to encourage the interviewee to give a “simple” and exciting expression of what they do
• After the interviews are conducted, they are edited and an effort is made to place them in a coherent narrative format. The final product is published on the project’s YouTube channel only after the interviewee’s approval

People and Mathematics is an oral-history-style project that initially started with the goal of portraying the mathematical lives of mathematicians and the history of mathematics departments from their perspective. The initial definition was

Curions, honest, and candid conversations with those who have passed through mathematics departments

But very soon, the initial definition showed its limitations, because many mathematicians did not start from mathematics departments. For this reason, the project definition changed to

Curious, honest, and candid conversations with people whose professional life is mathematics

But again very soon, the second definition also showed its limitations. Because many people in various fields use mathematics without considering themselves mathematicians. For this reason, the project definition changed to

Curious, honest, and candid conversations with people whose professional life is intertwined with mathematics

But again very soon, the third definition also showed its limitations, because there are many people for whom mathematics has played a role in their life story, even though they may not be professionally dependent on its tools. For this reason, the project definition changed to

Curious, honest, and candid conversations with people for whom mathematics has had a meaningful presence in their lives