LSE: Public lectures and events
1,444 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 days ago - ★★★★ - 256 ratingsThe London School of Economics and Political Science public events podcast series is a platform for thought, ideas and lively debate where you can hear from some of the world's leading thinkers. Listen to more than 200 new episodes every year.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Rights, virtues and humanity: re-thinking the ethics of human rights
December 04, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 60.3 MBContributor(s): Professor Kimberly Hutchings | For the past twenty years the idea of human rights as an absolute and universal ethical standard has been subject to a barrage of criticism. Critiques have come from all philosophical and political directions, including communitarian, pragmatist, poststructuralist and decolonial. In this lecture, Kimberly Hutchings explores the critical landscape of human rights thinking today and how we might re-think the concept of human rights in ways that wil...
How can we tackle loneliness?
December 02, 2023 00:00 - 26 minutes - 49.4 MBContributor(s): Heather Kappes, David McDaid, Molly Taylor | According to the Office for National Statistics, 7.1 per cent of adults in Great Britain - nearly 4 million people - say they 'often or always' feel lonely. Look around you when you’re in a crowded place – a supermarket or an office - 1 in 14 of the people you’re looking at are likely to be lonely, not just sometimes but most of the time. And that’s half a million more people saying that they feel chronically lonely in 2023 than the...
The oceans, the blue economy and implications for climate change
November 29, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 74 MBContributor(s): Dr Siva Thambisetty, Dr John Siddorn, Ishbel Matheson, Dr Joanna Post, Dr Darian McBain | The blue economy is estimated to be worth over US$1.5 trillion per year globally, providing over 30 million jobs and supplying protein to over three billion people. With new large-scale industrial activities, such as offshore renewable energy as well as the growing interest in ocean mining and marine biotechnology, the oceans have moved to the top of political and economic agendas. This e...
The legacy of Richard Titmuss: social welfare fifty years on
November 27, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 67.7 MBContributor(s): Professor Ann Oakley, Professor Chris Renwick, Professor Sally Sheard, Professor John Stewart | Richard Titmuss, the first chair in Social Administration at the London School of Economics and Political Science, died fifty years ago in 1973. From his appointment in 1950 until his death Titmuss established and defined the field of social policy. This event will discuss Titmuss’s critique of the ‘welfare state’, and how his insights have had to evolve in the light of the challeng...
Greek foreign policy: future challenges and opportunities
November 27, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 70.2 MBContributor(s): Professor George Gerapetritis | Climate change, worldwide aggression, migration flows, food crisis and public health emergencies have core common characteristics: they destroy certainties, they produce extraterritorial effects, they are not dealt through deliberative mechanisms. In light of these, we need to revisit the current status and, perhaps, return to the basics. Enhancing democratic institutions and global principled governance, acknowledging the moral value of solidar...
How economics changes the world
November 23, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 72.7 MBContributor(s): Professor Mary S Morgan | While the conventional view is that ideas create policy change and economic change follows on - it is just not that simple. We can see what is involved by looking at major changes - such as the reconstruction of post-war economies, post-colonial economic development planning, or switching from capitalist to socialist systems. Designing such new kinds of worlds required new ways of thinking about how the economic world could work involving imagination ...
Why the racial wealth divide matters
November 22, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 66.4 MBContributor(s): Professor Vimal Ranchhod, Faeza Meyer, Dr Eleni Karagiannaki, Dr Shabna Begum | Wealthy households able to draw on owner occupied housing assets, private pensions, savings and financial investments have prospered. Meanwhile the majority of the populations, even in rich nations – have been exposed to harsh ‘austerity’ policies, and often the need to balance debt obligations. There is increasing evidence that wealth assets play a significant role in allowing social mobility adva...
Dementia and decision-making
November 21, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 83.4 MBContributor(s): Professor Richard Pettigrew, Dr David Jarrett, Nicci Gerrard, Ruth Bright | Many of us will face this important question: over 850,000 people in the UK currently have dementia, and many more will be involved in their care. One of the great strengths of the LSE is its work in decision-theory – but how should we apply decision-theory to those with dementia? How can we figure out the preferences of a person who currently has dementia, whose desires may appear incoherent and ever-...
Making good law in a time of polycrisis
November 20, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 50.6 MBContributor(s): Lord McFall | He advises caution on radical reform of the Upper House, arguing that incremental change to the process for nomination of peers would strengthen its role as a “forum for civil society” allowing the country to draw on expertise from outside politics.
Trends and determinants of global child malnutrition: what can we learn from history?
November 16, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 68.1 MBContributor(s): Professor Eric Schneider | Children with poor nutrition or who are exposed to high levels of chronic disease grow more slowly than healthy children. Thus, children’s growth is a sensitive metric of how population health has evolved over time. Eric begins by showing how child growth has changed around the world since the nineteenth century and linking changes in child growth to child stunting, children who are too short for their age relative to healthy standards, the most comm...
The elusive plantation: imagining development in Mozambique
November 15, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 84.8 MBContributor(s): Professor Catherine Boone, Professor Wendy Wolford | For over 100 years, plantations have served as the imagined ideal for agricultural production and labor management in Mozambique. This talk outlines the colonial roots of this desire for the always-elusive plantation and argue that it manifests in contemporary Mozambique in a variety of ways: the global market takes priority over local needs; agricultural researchers rely on external funding that is short-term, motivated by ...
Art, rights and resistance for the 21st century
November 14, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 79.9 MBContributor(s): Daffne Valdes Vargas, Sibila Sotomayor Van Rysseghem, Paula Cometa Stange | This is a timely event. 50 years after the Chilean coup that ushered forth a violent 17-year dictatorship and 5 years after Chile’s widespread democratic protests, known as the estallido social, they will discuss the importance of understanding history for the present and why feminist theory and resistance matters more than ever. They also speak about their book, Set Fear on Fire: the feminist call tha...
Good jobs, bad jobs in the UK labour market
November 09, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 65.7 MBContributor(s): Stephen Timms MP, Professor Kirsten Sehnbruch, Professor James Foster | In the context of a worldwide cost-of-living crisis and likely recession, policy attention will focus increasingly on poverty and employment. In the UK, as elsewhere, those workers employed in low-wage, unstable jobs with poor working conditions are likely to suffer disproportionately in this crisis, thus exacerbating existing inequalities. It will further discuss the policy implications and applications ...
AI disruption in the job market: navigating future skills and relevance
November 08, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 62.5 MBContributor(s): Professor Leslie Willcocks, Dr Michael Muthukrishna, Lucy Bailey, Dr Grace Lordan | The job market is in constant flux; industries change or become obsolete and new technologies emerge and disrupt. Never before has this been more salient, with the recent progress of AI. In this public event the panel will explain just how AI is now and will continue to disrupt the labour market.
How can you get happier?
November 07, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 50.5 MBContributor(s): Professor Paul Dolan | Paul Dolan introduces his new podcast series, Get Happier, which aims to help you improve your own happiness and the happiness of those around you, at home and at work, without too much effort. This recording contains strong language.
The women who made modern economics
November 06, 2023 00:00 - 58 minutes - 47 MBContributor(s): Rachel Reeves MP | In this event, Rachel delves into the untold stories of remarkable women who have historically been sidelined in the economic landscape. As both a woman and an economist, Rachel brings a unique perspective to the challenges faced by women in the field and the broader impact on society. She addresses the barriers these women encountered, highlighting the consequences for us all when their contributions were dismissed. This event is a call to action, inspiring...
Underground empire: how America weaponised the world economy
November 02, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 67.7 MBContributor(s): Professor Leslie Vinjamuri, Ann Pettifor, Professor Abraham L Newman, Professor Henry Farrell | The panel discusses debates around the weaponisation of the global economy with the sustainability of these tactics, how different major and emerging powers are reacting, and what role the UK has to play in both utilising and mitigating these tactics.
How did Britain come to this? The accidental logics of Britain's neoliberal settlement
November 01, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 73.4 MBContributor(s): Ros Taylor, Dr Abby Innes, Professor Gwyn Bevan | The post-war political settlement established by Clement Attlee’s government developed systems to tackle what William Beveridge identified as five giant evils of Britain in 1942: Want, Disease, Ignorance, Idleness, and Squalor. By 1979, these systems were failing. In the UK, from 1979, successive governments led by Margaret Thatcher aimed to tackle those failures in a neoliberal settlement based on rolling back the state and em...
Towards a world of good relationships
October 31, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 83.2 MBContributor(s): Gemma Mortensen, Kirsty McNeill, David Robinson | How are we to live together? More than ever, the big questions that we face are all about relationships. Their substance and quality will determine the direction and quality of our lives. In his 2018 LSE public lecture David Robinson set out the case for building a better society by building better relationships. What happened next? David will tell the unfolding story of the Relationships Project, discuss new trends in our unde...
Black Feminism in Europe
October 30, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 75.1 MBContributor(s): Dr SM Rodriguez, Dr Mame-Fatou Niang | In tandem with the theme of Black History Month, "Celebrating our Sisters, Saluting our Sisters, and Honouring Matriarchs of Movements", this panel discussion analyses the role of black women in social, cultural and political movements historically and in our times.
The economic government of the world, 1933-2023
October 26, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 72 MBContributor(s): Professor Martin Daunton | In his latest book, which forms the basis of this lecture, Martin Daunton pulls back the curtain on the institutions and individuals who have created and managed the economy over the last ninety years, revealing how and why one economic order breaks down and another is built.
Can we change the world?
October 26, 2023 00:00 - 29 minutes - 40.6 MBContributor(s): Faiza Shaheen, Duncan Green, Dr Jens Madsen | Experts will discuss how change isn't as straightforward as we'd like it to be – How it can be all in the timing and that, at times, you just need to wait for the right moment to make change happen. We’ll hear from an academic striving to become a Member of Parliament and make change from within the political system, rather than by lobbying from the outside. And an author and strategic advisor to Oxfam will explain how change is bu...
The psychosis of whiteness
October 25, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 77.8 MBContributor(s): Dr Sara Camacho-Felix, Professor Kehinde Andrews | An all-encompassing, insightful and wry look at living in a racist world, by a leading black British voice in the academy and in the media. Take a step through the looking-glass to a strange land, one where Piers Morgan is a voice worth listening to about race, where white people buy self-help books to cope with their whiteness, where Boris Johnson and Donald Trump are seen by the majority of the population as 'the right (whit...
The golden passport: global mobility for millionaires
October 24, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 67 MBContributor(s): Professor Jason Sharman, Oliver Bullough, Thomas Anthony, Dr Kristin Surak | Drawing on fieldwork in sixteen countries, Kristin Surak exposes the world of the wealthy elites who buy passports, the states and brokers who sell them, and the normalisation of a once shadowy practice. It’s a business that thrives on uncertainty and imbalances of power between big, globalised economies and tiny states desperate for investment. In between are fascinating stories of buyers, brokers, a...
In conversation with Arun Blair-Mangat
October 24, 2023 00:00 - 55 minutes - 44.6 MBContributor(s): Arun Blair-Mangat | To celebrate Black History Month, join us for this conversation between LSE alumnus Arun Blair-Mangat and LSE President Eric Neumayer.
Organised labour and future of British politics
October 23, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 83.2 MBContributor(s): Paul Nowak | The protracted cost of living crisis has seen a resurgence of industrial action across almost every sector of the British economy. To discuss the political implications of this renewed activism in the labour movement, we are joined by Paul Nowak, General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress.
Homelessness in London in a time of crisis
October 17, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 80.4 MBContributor(s): Dr Jennifer Wynter, Professor Christine Whitehead, Dr Maria-Christina Vogkli, Pam Orchard, Manny Hothi | London accounts for around 60% of all households in temporary accommodation in England and over a quarter of those who are sleeping rough. Households also stay in temporary accommodation for much longer. In this debate we will be looking at the reasons why the situation has worsened; the consequences for individuals facing homelessness; the consequences for London’s local a...
Shattered nation: inequality and the geography of a failing state
October 16, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 69.2 MBContributor(s): Professor Danny Dorling | Britain was once the leading economy in Europe; it is now the most unequal. Fifty years ago the UK led the world in child health; today, twenty-two of the twenty-seven EU countries have better mortality rates for newborns. No other European country has such miserly unemployment benefits; university fees so high; housing so unaffordable; or a government economically so far to the right.
Predicting our climate future: what we know, what we don't know, what we can't know
October 12, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 83.2 MBContributor(s): | Climate change raises new, foundational challenges in science. It requires us to question what we know and how we know it. The subject is important for society but the science is young and history tells us that scientists can get things wrong before they get them right. How, then, can we judge what information is reliable and what is open to question? During the event the essential characteristics of climate change which make it a difficult issue to study will be highlighte...
How to slay a dragon: building a new Russia after Putin
October 10, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 75.4 MBContributor(s): Mikhail Khodorkovsky | The book is Khodorkovsky's account of what is happening in Russia today and what could happen in the future. Putin will not last forever: sooner or later, there will be a post-Putin era. But Russia's history has been deeply shaped by an autocratic trap: a revolution against an autocracy has produced another autocracy, followed by another revolution and another autocracy, and so on. If Russia is to find its place as a constructive partner in a global comm...
The identity trap: a story of ideas and power in our time
October 06, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 62.9 MBContributor(s): Professor Yascha Mounk | He terms this as the "identity synthesis" which seeks to put each citizen's matrix of identities at the heart of social, cultural and political life. This, he argues, is "the identity trap". Mounk traces the intellectual origin of these ideas and their use as politica, social and cultural capital over the decades. He makes a nuanced case on why their application to areas from education to public policy is proving to be deeply counterproductive. He argu...
Can Russia be remade?
October 05, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 75.3 MBContributor(s): Professor Nina Lvovna Khrushcheva | With the war in Ukraine well into its second year, we are joined by Nina Khrushcheva to discuss the fault lines that the war has opened up in Russian society - and the potential of the Russia left to use these fractures to push for a more progressive Russia.
Recovering enslaved peoples' perspectives from archives, literature, and art
October 05, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 59.9 MBContributor(s): Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Sir Isaac Julien | Henry Louis Gates, Jr in conversation with Isaac Julien and LSE's Imaobong Umoren.
How can we leverage transparency to the betterment of society?
October 04, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 76.7 MBContributor(s): Professor Christian Leuz | Publicity and transparency are frequently proposed as solutions to societal and environmental problems; after all, sunlight is famously said to be the best of disinfectants. Such regimes have become common place for consumer protection, food safety, healthcare, campaign contributions, conflicts of interest, and more. They are viewed as less intrusive and more benign than directly regulating corporate activities. But do they work? Or are transparency ...
Eurowhiteness: culture, empire and race in the European project
October 03, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 64 MBContributor(s): Professor Mike Wilkinson, Professor Helen Thompson, Hans Kundnani, Professor Gurminder K Bhambra | The European Union is often seen as a cosmopolitan rejection of violent nationalism. Yet the idea of Europe has a long, problematic history—in medieval times, it was synonymous with Christianity; in the modern era, it became associated with ‘whiteness’. Eurowhiteness exposes the EU as a vehicle for imperial amnesia. Narratives of European integration emphasise the lessons of war ...
Ukraine: the war that changed the world
October 02, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 71.4 MBContributor(s): Professor Tomila Lankina, Dr Eleanor Knott, Professor Robert Falkner, Professor Chris Alden | Few predicted the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Even fewer thought it would still be going on 18 months later. There is though almost complete agreement that what began as a regional conflict has changed the world forever.
A theory of everyone: who we are, how we got here, and where we're going
September 28, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 75.9 MBContributor(s): Matthew Syed, Dr Michael Muthukrishna | Playing on the phrase “a theory of everything” from physics, Michael Muthukrishna discusses his ambitious, original, and deeply hopeful book A Theory of Everyone, which draws on the most recent research from across the sciences, humanities, and the emerging field of cultural evolution to paint a panoramic picture of who we are and what exactly makes human beings different from all other forms of life on the planet.
Decentralised governance: crafting effective democracies around the world
September 26, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 63.3 MBContributor(s): Professor Fabio Sánchez, Professor Sarmistha Pal, Professor Jean-Paul Faguet | This new book brings together a new generation of political economy studies, blending theoretical insights with empirical innovation, including broad cross-country data as well as detailed studies of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Indonesia, Ghana, Kenya and Colombia. The authors investigate the pros and cons of decentralisation in both democratic and autocratic regimes, and the effects of crit...
What’s it like to be criminalised for being gay?
September 25, 2023 00:00 - 30 minutes - 56.7 MBContributor(s): Ryan Centner, James, Jamal | Homosexuality is illegal in just over a third of countries across the globe. Some nations, like Barbados, have recently repealed anti-gay laws, but others, like Uganda, have just introduced the death penalty. Joanna Bale talks to LSE’s Dr Ryan Centner about how Western gay men living in Dubai create covert communities where they can meet and socialise. James, a British gay man, and Jamal, an Emirati gay man, also share their very different experi...
Four ways of thinking
September 14, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 56.8 MBContributor(s): Professor David Sumpter | What is the best way to think about the world? How often do we consider how our own thinking might impact the way we approach our daily decisions? Could it help or hinder our relationships, our careers, or even our health? Acclaimed mathematician David Sumpter shows how we can deal with the chaos and complexity of our lives with four easily applied approaches to our problems: statistical, interactive, chaotic and complex. Combining engaging personal e...
An industrial strategy for the green economy
September 14, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 80.2 MBContributor(s): Heather Boushey, Ed Miliband MP, Dr Arkebe Oqubay, Dr Anna Valero | The transition to a net zero economy requires a new industrial revolution. How should the UK and other countries craft effective policies to generate such radical change? What will be the effect of the Biden administration’s green subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act on the US, Europe and the rest of the world?
From adversity to resilience: climate justice in developing countries
September 12, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 65.9 MBContributor(s): Professor Oriana Bandiera, Chipokota Mwanawasa, Asif Saleh, Ali Sarfraz | The conversation will centre around the pressing needs of adaptation and social protection, both integral for survival and resilience in these regions. The speakers will discuss the need for research and innovative strategies promoting sustainable livelihoods and diversification of jobs, highlighting policy interventions that fortify the most vulnerable against escalating climate shocks.
The war on air pollution
September 11, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 82.2 MBContributor(s): Professor Michael Greenstone, Professor Namrata Kala, Omar Masud, Liu Xin | This event raises the profile of this important determinant of human well-being and explore innovative ways to reduce it. To do this we will pair prominent academics and policy makers working on the frontline of the war on air pollution to help map a path forward for the world.
Parenthood and the double x economy
September 04, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 74.2 MBContributor(s): Alison McGovern MP, Professor Henrik J Kleven, Professor Linda Scott | In this event, expert and best-selling author Linda Scott, in a conversation with academic and political leaders, discusses how the unequal division of the burden of parenthood fuels women’s systematic exclusion from economic participation.
Is AI coming for our jobs?
August 20, 2023 00:00 - 30 minutes - 42 MBContributor(s): Professor Sir Christopher Pissarides, Professor Charlie Beckett, Dr Giulia Gentile | We’ll hear about the introduction of Artificial Intelligence in the courtroom, and what might happen if robots take over the roles of judges. Experts will explore how journalism and other professional fields could be affected by the AI revolution. They will discuss what individuals can do to prepare, and the role of governments and businesses in addressing practical and ethical concerns about ...
The Other Pandemic: how QAnon contaminated the world
July 03, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 62.1 MBContributor(s): James Ball | The Other Pandemic: How QAnon Contaminated the World, takes us into the depths of the internet to trace the origins and rapid ascent of QAnon – the world's first digital pandemic – and how we can build immunity. Imagine a deadly pathogen that, once created, could infect any person in any part of the globe within seconds. No need to wait for travellers, trains, or air traffic to spread it, all you need is an internet connection. In his new book, James Ball decodes ...
Global Trends in Climate Litigation
June 29, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 8.09 MBContributor(s): Dr Joana Setzer, Catherine Higham, Dr Maria Antonia Tigre, Professor Lauge Poulson, Dr Birsha Ohdedar, Sophie Marjanac, Laura Ford | This influential report presents an overview of climate litigation, highlighting recent developments and future trends. The report is widely read and cited by civil society organisations, policymakers, the legal community, judges, financiers, scholars and media all around the world. Over the past year, the climate litigation field has seen novel ...
Know Your Place: how society sets us up to fail – and what we can do about it
June 19, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 77.1 MBContributor(s): Professor Gary Younge, Gary Stevenson, Dr Faiza Shaheen, Kimberly McIntosh | Part memoir, part polemic, this is a personal and statistical look at how society is built, the people it leaves behind, and what we can do about it. Our panel of speakers discuss the prospects for social mobility in Britain today, and how we can create opportunities for all.
Russia's War Against Ukraine: war crimes and responsibility for post-war reconstruction | LSE Festival
June 17, 2023 00:00 - 1 hour - 126 MBContributor(s): | These include reported mass rape, torture, and abductions of children, as well as the destruction of civil infrastructure like schools, hospitals, and residential homes. Efforts are under way by inter-state and non-state organisations, governments, and civil society to document the crimes and the material consequences and costs of the invasion. The panel, including prominent Ukraine policy practitioners and leading academic experts on Ukraine and Russia, discuss whether the...
How Did Britain Come to This? | LSE Festival
June 17, 2023 00:00 - 56 minutes - 45.5 MBContributor(s): Ros Taylor, Professor Gwyn Bevan | So what is wrong with the design of British government, and how has it resulted in catastrophic failures of governance in recent years? To mark the publication of his new book with LSE Press, Professor Gwyn Bevan and political podcaster and author Ros Taylor will reflect on a century of systemic failures of governance and explore what an innovative state might look like in the future.