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How to listen to Gresham College lectures offline on iPhone

Last updated 2026-11-06 · Written by Fan YANG, the developer of EarMemo.

Gresham College in London has given free public lectures since 1597, and its site says it holds more than 3,500 lecture videos. Most past lectures also have an audio version. Streaming one on a commute works until the signal drops; a downloaded file does not care.

Download the lecture audio

1. Open the lecture on gresham.ac.uk (Watch Now, or search for the title). Each lecture page has tabs under the video: Details, Text, Audio, Downloads, Extra Reading.
2. Tap the Audio tab. It shows a small podcast player.
3. Tap the player's Share icon. Among the share buttons is a download icon, labelled Download episode. Tapping it on an iPhone only plays the lecture in a new tab, so touch and hold it and choose Download Linked File. On a computer, a plain click downloads the MP3.
4. Find it in Files → Downloads. Safari saves downloads to Files → Downloads. That folder is in iCloud Drive unless you changed it under Settings → Safari → Downloads (Settings → Apps → Safari on iOS 18 and later); choose On My iPhone if you want files to stay off iCloud.

The Downloads tab has the transcript as a PDF (PDF Text), handy if you want to read along later. The same lectures are also published as the Gresham College Lectures podcast.

Import the files into EarMemo

1. From Files. In EarMemo, tap ⋯ → Import Audio / Video, open Downloads, and select the files (tap Select to pick several). Choose Import Folder instead when you have a whole folder. A series of lectures you downloaded on a computer can go in as one folder, which becomes one album.
2. Or from a computer over Wi-Fi. For a big batch, download on the computer, then in EarMemo tap ⋯ → Wi-Fi Transfer, open the address it shows in any desktop browser on the same network, and drag the folder onto the page. The transfer stays on your local network. All four transfer routes.

Listen: speed, resume, and marks from your headphones

• Speed from 0.5× to 3.5×, pitch kept, for an hour-long lecture.
• It remembers the exact second in every file, so you can leave one file, play another, and come back to where you stopped.
• Mark a moment without touching the phone. In Settings → Headphone Controls, set Next to Bookmark Here. On AirPods Pro, press twice; a short chime confirms the mark. Add a sentence later, and tap the mark to hear that passage again.
• A sleep timer with a countdown on the Lock Screen, for listening in bed.

Using the files

Gresham's terms encourage use of its lecture audio for educational purposes and rule out commercial use. Listening on your own phone is exactly what the download button is for; re-publishing the files is not.

Questions people actually ask

Can I download Gresham College lectures?

Yes. On a lecture page, open the Audio tab and tap the player's Share icon. On iPhone, touch and hold the download icon (Download episode) and choose Download Linked File; on a computer, click it. The transcript is a PDF under the Downloads tab.

Where does the downloaded lecture go on my iPhone?

Into the Files app, in the Downloads folder that Safari uses — iCloud Drive by default, or On My iPhone if you changed Safari's download location.

Can I play the lecture faster than 2×?

In EarMemo, yes: speed goes from 0.5× to 3.5× with the pitch kept.

Do I need an internet connection to listen?

Only to download. Once the file is imported, EarMemo plays it, keeps your place and saves your marks on the device without a connection.

Is EarMemo free for this?

Free to download, and the free allowance never expires: you can listen to one album at a time, try 10 different audio tracks in total, add unlimited timestamp markers, and write text on 5 of them. Importing, resume, speed and the sleep timer are free. A long series needs EarMemo Pro, a single one-time purchase with no subscription.