Speaker(s): Professor Danny Dorling | When we think of economic inequality we tend to think of a trend that is ever rising and destined to continue rising; that is far from inevitable. There are many statistics today that point at Britain being at a peak of inequality. However, having allowed the gaps between us to grow so wide has had dire implications for our health, housing, education, demography, politics and future. Danny Dorling highlights these and discusses what it will take to begin to descend from the peak of inequality. Danny Dorling (@dannydorling) is a Professor of Human Geography at the University of Oxford. He has also worked in Sheffield, Newcastle, Bristol, Leeds and New Zealand, went to university in Newcastle upon Tyne, and grew up in Oxford. He has published over forty books including many atlases and All That is Solid in 2014; Injustice: Why social inequalities still persist in 2015; A Better Politics: How government can make us happier in 2016; The Equality Effect in 2017; and Do We Need Economic Inequality? – in 2018. His latest book is Peak Inequality - Britain’s Ticking Time Bomb. Jonathan Hopkin (@jrhopkin) is Associate Professor of Comparative Politics, Department of Government, LSE.

Speaker(s): Jesse Norman MP | At a time when economics and politics are both increasingly polarized between left and right, this book, Adam Smith: What He Thought, and Why it Matters, which Jesse Norman will discuss at this event, returns to intellectual first principles to recreate the lost centre of public debate. It offers a Smithian analysis of contemporary markets, predatory capitalism and the 2008 financial crash; it addresses crucial issues of inequality, human dignity and exploitation; and it provides a compelling explanation of why Smith is central to any attempt to defend and renew the market system. Jesse Norman MP (@Jesse_Norman) studied at Oxford, before completing a Masters and PhD in Philosophy at University College London. Before entering politics, he ran an educational project in Communist Eastern Europe and was a Director at Barclays. He has also been an Honorary Fellow at UCL, a Governor of the National Institute for Economic and Social Research, and a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. His previous books include a celebrated study of Edmund Burke. He currently serves as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department for Transport. Tim Besley is School Professor of Economics of Political Science and W. Arthur Lewis Professor of Development Economics in the Department of Economics at LSE. The Department of Economics at LSE (@LSEEcon) is one of the largest economics departments in the world. Its size ensures that all areas of economics are strongly represented in both research and teaching. The Centre For Macroeconomics (@CFMUK) brings together world-class experts to carry out pioneering research on the global economic crisis and to help design policies that alleviate it.

Speaker(s): Ann Pettifor | In February 2018, Jeremy Corbyn accused bankers of taking the economy hostage, and said in a speech that Britain's financial sector will be "the servant of industry not the masters of all" if the Labour Party wins the next election. How realistic is that promise? In this lecture Ann Pettifor will argue that given the dependency of the finance sector on the largesse of the state and its taxpayers, a Labour government could transform the relationship between finance and industry. Ann Pettifor (@AnnPettifor) is the author of The Production of Money, director of PRIME economics, and a member of Labour’s Economic Advisory Committee. She was one of a few to predict the Great Financial Crisis in her 2006 book The Coming First World Debt Crisis. Ann Pettifor (@AnnPettifor) is the author of The Production of Money, director of PRIME economics, and a member of Labour’s Economic Advisory Committee. She was one of a few to predict the Great Financial Crisis in her 2006 book The Coming First World Debt Crisis. Natacha Postel-Vinay is Assistant Professor, Economic History Department, LSE.

Speaker(s): Kenneth Clarke, Professor Tony Travers | This event, in memory of Maurice Fraser, will see former Chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke in conversation with LSE's Tony Travers and Kevin Featherstone. Kenneth Clarke, MP for Rushcliffe since 1970, held several Ministerial offices in the Governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major - as Secretary of State for Health, Secretary of State for Education and Science, Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer. He also served as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice and Minister without Portfolio within the Coalition Government. As the Member of the House of Commons with the longest continuous service he is currently the Father of the House. Tony Travers is Interim Dean of the School of Public Policy at LSE. Kevin Featherstone is Head of the European Institute and Eleftherios Venizelos Professor of Contemporary Greek Studies and Professor of European Politics at the LSE. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector.

Speaker(s): Professor Gilles Kepel | ISIS has been defeated militarily, but the fight for the Middle East is just beginning. At this event Gilles Kepel, author of The Rise of Jihad in the West, discusses the future of the region and how it will shape global politics in the decades ahead. Hear more about how sectarian conflict, bold new leaders, economic changes, and shifting geopolitics will be at the centre of the struggle for power and influence in the Middle East. Gilles Kepel is Chair of Middle East and Mediterranean Studies at École Normale Supérieure. Minouche Shafik is Director of LSE. Prior to this she was Deputy Governor of the Bank of England. LSE IDEAS (@lseideas) is LSE's foreign policy think tank. We connect academic knowledge of diplomacy and strategy with the people who use it.

Speaker(s): Sir Nick Clegg | Battered, bruised and blamed for so many of the world's problems, liberal values have found themselves under attack from left and right. But these values have multiple virtues and with many enduring strengths. In his inaugural lecture as a visiting professor in practice at LSE's School of Public Policy, Sir Nick Clegg will set out the case for liberal values at a time when stark social and generational divisions threaten to pull the country apart. If Open versus Closed is the pivotal divide in British politics today, then liberalism, a far richer philosophy than its critics allow, is best placed to bridge that divide. Sir Nick Clegg will explain why liberalism must be defended, must be cherished, but must also adapt to face the challenges of the future - and why there is nothing inconsistent with being both a liberal and a patriot. Nick Clegg (@nick_clegg) served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2015 and as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2007 to 2015. He was the MP for Sheffield Hallam from 2005 to 2017 and was a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2004. He now heads a think-tank, Open Reason. Tony Travers is Interim Dean of the School of Public Policy at LSE. In September 2018, LSE’s School of Public Policy fully replaces the existing Institute of Public Affairs. The School of Public Policy will be the home for LSE’s Master of Public Administration (MPA), Executive MPA and Executive MPP degrees. Update, Tuesday 12 June: Due to unforeseen circumstances, Anne McElvoy is no longer able to speak at this event.

Speaker(s): Lorraine Ansell, Saj Jetha, Dr Sunita Malhotra, Nina Mohanty, Professor Sandy Pepper | Organisations are increasingly leveraging diversity to drive success, with generational diversity beginning to take centre stage. How will the arrival of Generation Z impact today’s working culture and how do you combine the wisdom of age with the exuberance of youth? An inter-generational panel explores the impact of five generations working alongside each other for the first time. Presenting their own experiences of building successful careers, and drawing on workplace innovations, the panellists offer creative new ideas for individuals of any generation to capitalise on opportunities at work, overcome challenges, and boost their collegiality. This event marks 30 years since the foundation of the CEMS Global Alliance in Management Education. Lorraine Ansell (@LAvoiceart) is an award-nominated voiceover artist and studio engineer. She previously worked for L’Oréal, YSL and Amnesty International and is a LSE/ESADE CEMS alumna. Saj Jetha is founder of the multi award-winning talent consultancy, The Smarty Train with the mission is to Unlock Talent. He is an LSE alumnus and trustee of The University of London’s Convocation Trust. Sunita Malhotra is Professor at Université Catholiquede Louvain, lecturer on the CEMS Masters in International Management and Managing Director, People Insights. Nina Mohanty (@ninamohanty) is Business Development Manager at Bud. Sandy Pepper is Professor of Management in Practice at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Christine Cote is Senior Lecturer in Practice and Academic Director of the CEMS Masters in International Management programme and the MBA Exchange at the London School of Economics. Jane Shaw is Which MBA? editor, The Economist. Jane will moderate the panel Q&A. The Department of Management (@LSEManagement) is a world-leading centre for research and education in business and management. CEMS (@cems_alliance), the Global Alliance in Management Education is an alliance of 31 business schools, 73 corporate and seven social partners, delivering the CEMS Masters in International Management to 1200 students with a network of over 12,000 alumni across the globe.

Speaker(s): Lucas Chancel, Duncan Green, Rebecca Simson, Paul Segal | The first World Inequality Report (WIR2018), documents a sharp rise in global economic inequality since the 1980s despite strong growth in emerging economies. It also discusses country-to-country inequality trajectories (including UK's wealth inequality dynamics) and highlights the importance of policy-making in the diverging trends observed across countries and world regions. The report, first launched in December last year at the Paris School of Economics, was coordinated by Facundo Alvaredo, Lucas Chancel, Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman. It draws from new findings of the World Wealth and Income Database (a project which regroups more than 100 researchers all over the world) and provides the first systemic assessment of globalization in terms of income and wealth inequality since 1980. This discussion will examine the implications of the report findings.

Speaker(s): Professor Philippe Aghion | This event is the annual Economica Coase lecture. Philippe Aghion is a professor at the College de France and LSE, and a fellow of the Econometric Society and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Oriana Bandiera (@orianabandiera) is a Professor of Economics and the Director of the Suntory and Toyota Centre for Economics and Related Disciplines (STICERD) at the London School of Economics. The Department of Economics at LSE (@LSEEcon) is one of the largest economics departments in the world. Its size ensures that all areas of economics are strongly represented in both research and teaching.

Speaker(s): Yogendra Yadav | What can we learn from the current challenge to the idea of a diverse and democratic India? Does this demand rethinking the idea of India as a “State-Nation”? Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) is a nationally-renowned Indian psephologist, an expert on comparative democracy and National President of the newly-formed Swaraj India party. Robin Archer is Director of the Ralph Miliband Programme at LSE. The Ralph Miliband Programme (@RMilibandLSE) is one of LSE's most prestigious lecture series and seeks to advance Ralph Miliband's spirit of free social inquiry.

Speaker(s): Professor Simon Critchley, Dr Gerald Moore, Dr Emily Ryall | ‘All that I know most surely about morality and obligations, I owe to football’, observed Albert Camus. And it is football, above all other sports, that so many philosophers revere. So there’s everything to play for in this panel discussion exploring the relationship between football and philosophy. We give it 110% in our exploration of what makes for a ‘good game’ and whether philosophical principles can be put into play on the pitch. Simon Critchley is Han Jonas Professor of Philosophy, New School for Social Research, NY. Gerald Moore is Associate Professor of French, University of Durham. Emily Ryall is a Reader in Applied Philosophy, University of Gloucestershire. Shahidha Bari is a Fellow, the Forum; Senior Lecturer in Romanticism, Queen Mary University of London. The Forum for European Philosophy (@ForumPhilosophy) is an educational charity that organises a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK

Speaker(s): Jason Farrell, Paul Goldsmith | In their book, How To Lose A Referendum, which they will talk about at this event, Sky News senior political correspondent Jason Farrell and political blogger and economics and politics teacher Paul Goldsmith identify eighteen key reasons why the UK made its choice, from Britain’s absence at the birth of the European project to the inflammatory rhetoric of one Nigel Farage, and everything in between. The book is the product of extensive and refreshingly frank interviews with the key players from both campaigns coupled with a wide-ranging exploration of the historical context around Britain’s departure. Why was a project designed for common peace and prosperity ultimately so hard to defend? Jason Farrell (@JasonFarrellSky) is a senior political correspondent for Sky News. Paul Goldsmith (@PaulGoldsmith73) is a politics and economics teacher at Latymer Upper School and author of the Goldblog. Tony Travers is Director of the Institute of Public Affairs, LSE. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector. The Institute of Public Affairs (@LSEPubAffairs) is one of the world's leading centres of public policy. We aim to debate and address some of the major issues of our time, whether international or national, through our established teaching programmes, our research and our highly innovative public engagement initiatives.

Speaker(s): Professor Jean Pisani-Ferry, Christine Ockrent | The lecture takes stock of the transformation of French economic policy following the sweeping electoral success of Emmanuel Macron, and appraises its achievements. Jean Pisani-Ferry (@pisaniferry) is a professor at Sciences Po Paris and the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, and Mercator Senior Fellow at Bruegel. He was the Director for Programme and Ideas of Emmanuel Macron’s presidential campaign. Christine Ockrent (@Ockrent) is a journalist and broadcaster; former Chief Operating Officer of France 24 and RFI; Editor in Chief of the weekly news magazine L’Express. Iain Begg (@IainBeggLSE) is Professorial Research Fellow at the European Institute. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector. The Dahrendorf Forum (@DahrendorfForum) is a joint initiative between the LSE and the Hertie School of Governance, funded by Mercator Stiftung.

Speaker(s): Dr Maxim Bolt | This lecture will reflect on an apparently dated concept: structure. Spanning institutions of state and market, it will focus on formality as a kind of structuring, and a lens for understanding the production of difference. This event is the annual Malinowski Memorial Lecture. Maxim Bolt is Reader in Anthropology and African Studies, University of Birmingham. Katy Gardner trained at Cambridge and the LSE. After spending much of her career at the University of Sussex she has returned to the LSE. Her work focuses on issues of globalisation, migration, & economic change in Bangladesh and its transnational communities in the UK. LSE's Anthropology Department (@LSEAnthropology), with a long and distinguished history, remains a leading centre for innovative research and teaching. Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEMalinowski

Speaker(s): Professor Olmo Silva, Amy Finch | Olmo Silva will discuss the conceptual framework and empirical evidence underpinning the idea that autonomy and choice can lead to improvements in education standards in England. Recent reforms in many countries around the world have injected ‘private sector’ elements in the provision of public education – in particular school autonomy and school choice – with the aim of improving education standards. But do these initiatives work? The answer to this question sparks lively debates among academics and policy makers alike – and resonates vividly among parents worried about taking the right decisions for their children’s learning and development. In England, ‘quasi markets’ have long been part of the education landscape. However, recent policy initiatives – in particular the mass academisation of secondary education – have brought these and related ideas centre stage. This dynamism makes the country an ideal “open-air laboratory” for studying these issues and provide a timely answer to some pressing questions. Olmo Silva is Professor of Real Estate Economics and Finance, LSE. Amy Finch (@amy_finch) is Head of Strategic Development, Ofsted. Julian Le Grand is a Professor of Social Policy at LSE. The LSE Department of Geography & Environment (@LSEGeography) is a centre of international academic excellence in economic, urban and development geography, environmental social science and climate change.

Speaker(s): Professor Olmo Silva, Amy Finch | Olmo Silva will discuss the conceptual framework and empirical evidence underpinning the idea that autonomy and choice can lead to improvements in education standards in England. Recent reforms in many countries around the world have injected ‘private sector’ elements in the provision of public education – in particular school autonomy and school choice – with the aim of improving education standards. But do these initiatives work? The answer to this question sparks lively debates among academics and policy makers alike – and resonates vividly among parents worried about taking the right decisions for their children’s learning and development. In England, ‘quasi markets’ have long been part of the education landscape. However, recent policy initiatives – in particular the mass academisation of secondary education – have brought these and related ideas centre stage. This dynamism makes the country an ideal “open-air laboratory” for studying these issues and provide a timely answer to some pressing questions. Olmo Silva is Professor of Real Estate Economics and Finance, LSE. Amy Finch (@amy_finch) is Head of Strategic Development, Ofsted. Julian Le Grand is a Professor of Social Policy at LSE. The LSE Department of Geography & Environment (@LSEGeography) is a centre of international academic excellence in economic, urban and development geography, environmental social science and climate change.

Speaker(s): Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala | Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s new book, Fighting Corruption Is Dangerous: The Story Behind the Headlines, draws on her years as Nigeria’s Finance Minister to provide practical lessons on the difficult, sometimes-dangerous, always-necessary work of fighting graft and corruption. Determined to root out the fraudulent claims and other schemes that drain the country of resources and ultimately deprive the poor of crucial services, the former Managing Director of the World Bank, Okonjo- Iweala found herself and her family targeted for reprisals designed to force her to drop her anti-corruption campaign. She refused to stop or to resign, even as her enemies kidnapped her mother. Admitting that it is risky to tell her story, Okonjo-Iweala, currently senior advisor at Lazard and board chair of Gavi, notes that it is also dangerous not to tell it. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (@NOIweala) was Nigeria's Minister of Finance from 2003 to 2006 and from 2011 to 2015, and Foreign Minister in 2006. She was Managing Director of the World Bank from 2007 to 2011, overseeing South Asia, Europe, Central Asia, and Africa, and is currently Senior Adviser at Lazard and Board Chair of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. She is the author of Reforming the Unreformable: Lessons from Nigeria. Minouche Shafik is Director of LSE. Prior to this she was Deputy Governor of the Bank of England. During her 15 years at the World Bank, Minouche worked on its first ever World Development Report on the environment, designed reform programmes for transition countries in Eastern Europe, and developed proposals for economic integration in support of the Oslo peace process in the Middle East. She became the youngest vice-president in the history of the World Bank at the age of 36. Minouche returned to the UK in 2004 and rose to become the Permanent Secretary of the Department for International Development where she was responsible for the UK’s development assistance efforts around the world. The IGC (@The_IGC) aims to promote sustainable growth in developing countries by providing demand-led policy advice based on frontier research. We direct a global network of world-leading researchers and in-country teams in Africa and South Asia and work closely with partner governments. Based at LSE and in partnership with the University of Oxford, the IGC is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). Based at LSE, the Firoz Lalji Centre for Africa (@AfricaAtLSE) promotes independent academic research and teaching; open and issue-oriented debate; and evidence-based policy making. The Centre accomplishes this by connecting different social science disciplines and by working in partnership with Africa bringing African voices to the global debate.

Speaker(s): Lawrence Wright | Come learn about the most controversial state in America and what it tells us about Donald Trump and the future of the US. This event marks the publications of Lawrence's new book, God Save Texas: A Journey into the Future of America. Lawrence Wright (@lawrence_wright) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, screenwriter, playwright and a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine. Peter Trubowitz (@ptrubowitz) is Department Head of International Relations and Director of the US Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science and Associate Fellow at Chatham House, Royal Institute of International Affairs. The United States Centre (@LSE_US) at LSE is a hub for global expertise, analysis and commentary on America.

Speaker(s): Juan Carlos Varela Rodríguez | President Juan Carlos Varela R. (@JC_Varela) studied primary and secondary in Javier College, under the direction of the Company of Jesus Order. He graduated as an Industrial Engineer from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), in the United States. He was elected Vice President of the Republic of Panamá in July 2009. In March 2013 he became the presidential candidate for the Panameñista Party and in August of that same year, he was proclaimed candidate of the Alliance "El Pueblo Primero", formed by the Panameñista Party and the Popular Party, with the support of the independent sectors of the country. Alvaro Mendez (@alvaroimendez) is the co-founder of the LSE Global South Unit. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the LSE. The LSE Global South Unit (@LSE_Globalsouth) is a decentralised ideas hub aimed at investigating the changing role of the South in shaping the global order. LSE IDEAS (@lseideas) is LSE's foreign policy think tank. We connect academic knowledge of diplomacy and strategy with the people who use it.

Speaker(s): Nomi Prins | In her new book, which she will talk about at this event, former Wall Street insider Nomi Prins shows how the 2007–2008 financial crisis turbo-boosted the influence of central bankers and triggered a massive shift in the world order. Central banks and international institutions like the IMF have overstepped their traditional mandates by directing the flow of epic sums of fabricated money without any checks or balances. Meanwhile, the open door between private and central banking has ensured endless opportunities for market manipulation and asset bubbles—with government support. Journalist and former global investment bank executive Nomi Prins (@nomiprins) is the author of six previous books. This event marks the publication of her latest book, Collusion: How Central Bankers Rigged the World. Wouter den Haan is Co-director for the Centre for Macroeconomics and Professor of Economics at LSE. The Department of Economics at LSE (@LSEEcon) is one of the largest economics departments in the world. Its size ensures that all areas of economics are strongly represented in both research and teaching. The Centre For Macroeconomics (@CFMUK) brings together world-class experts to carry out pioneering research on the global economic crisis and to help design policies that alleviate it.

Speaker(s): Professor Julia Black, Professor Simon Deakin, Sean Ennis | Theresa May’s claim that free market capitalism constitutes “the greatest agent of collective human progress ever created” raises a complex question: can markets pursue social values? Julia Black is Pro Director for Research and Professor in the Department of Law, LSE. Simon Deakin is Professor of Law, University of Cambridge and Director of the Centre for Business Research. Sean Ennis is Senior Economist, Competition Division, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris. Niamh Dunne, Assistant Professor of Law, LSE. LSE Law (@lselaw) is an integral part of the School's mission, plays a major role in policy debates & in the education of lawyers and law teachers from around the world. This event is part of LSE Beveridge 2.0, a series of public engagement activities rethinking the welfare state for the 21st century and the global context. Update, Tuesday 8 May: Due to unforeseen circumstances, Martin Cave is no longer able to speak at this event. LSE apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

Speaker(s): Professor Elizabeth Anderson, Omar Khan | Women and minority groups are significantly under-represented in politics and various other walks of life. 'Affirmative action' is one response in tackling this enduring issue. But what is it? Who is it for? And why does it generate so much controversy? We discuss these questions and explore the relationship between affirmative action and social justice. Elizabeth Anderson is John Dewey Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy, University of Michigan. Omar Khan (@omaromalleykhan) is Director, Runnymede; Governor, University of East London. Sarah Fine (@DrSJFine) is a Fellow, the Forum; Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, KCL. The Forum for European Philosophy (@ForumPhilosophy) is an educational charity that organises a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK.

Speaker(s): Dr Pedro Sanchez | The leader of the opposition in Spain, Pedro Sánchez, will analyse the political, social and economic factors that have led to the growth of populism and secessionism in Catalonia and will propose possible solutions to the current political blockade in Spain. Dr Pedro Sanchez (@sanchezcastejon) is currently Secretary General of PSOE (Spanish Socialists and Workers' Party), leader of the opposition in Spain and vice president of the Socialist International. He was also Secretary-General of the PSOE, leader of the opposition and candidate to the Presidency of the Spanish Government in the period 2014-2016. Between 2009-2016 he was Member of the Spanish Parliament. He was also Senior Lecturer in Global Economics and Economic History at the Camilo José Cela University in Madrid (Spain) from 2008 to 2014. Previously, Dr Sanchez also served as Member of the Madrid City Council and as an adviser at different international institutions, including the European Parliament and the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia Herzegovina. He studied economics at the Complutense University of Madrid and holds a PhD in economics from the Camilo José Cela University as well as master's degrees from Ortega y Gasset Institute, and the Free University of Brussels. He is fluent in English, French and Spanish. Paul Preston is the Príncipe de Asturias Professor of Contemporary Spanish Studies and Director of the Cañada Blanch Centre for Contemporary Spanish Studies at the London School of Economics. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector. The Cañada Blanch Centre for Contemporary Spanish Studies is a research centre at the London School of Economics with a focus on a flourishing interest in contemporary Spain in Britain. The Dahrendorf Forum (@DahrendorfForum) is a joint initiative between the LSE and the Hertie School of Governance, funded by Mercator Stiftung. LSE IDEAS (@lseideas) is LSE's foreign policy think tank. We connect academic knowledge of diplomacy and strategy with the people who use it.

Speaker(s): Rachel Holmes | On the centenary of the Representation of the People Act, Rachel Holmes remembers and reflects on the roles of revolutionary thinking and militancy in winning votes for women. The complacency of hindsight leads many in modern Britain to believe universal suffrage and votes for women to have been obvious and inevitable. The length and difficulty of the struggle and the vital roles of revolutionary thinking and militancy is almost airbrushed from our history. Rachel Holmes is Sylvia Pankhurst’s most recent biographer. Anne Phillips is the Graham Wallas Professor of Political Science in the Department of Government The Ralph Miliband Programme (@RMilibandLSE) is one of LSE's most prestigious lecture series and seeks to advance Ralph Miliband's spirit of free social inquiry.

Speaker(s): Dr. Dambisa Moyo | In Dr. Dambisa Moyo's new book, Edge of Chaos, which she will talk about at this event, she offers a radical menu of ten ways to improve democracy: making it better able to address the range of headwinds that the global economy faces (including technology and the prospects of a jobless underclass, demographic shifts, gapping income inequality, an unsustainable debt burden, natural resource scarcity and declining productivity) and deliver more economic growth and prosperity. Dr.Dambisa Moyo (@dambisamoyo) is an international economist who writes on the macroeconomy and global affairs. Professor Erik Berglof (@ErikBerglof) became the inaugural Director of the Institute of Global Affairs (IGA) on 1 February 2015. He joined the School as a Professor in Practice in the Department of Economics. The Institute of Global Affairs (@LSEIGA), its Global Policy Lab and seven constituent centres bring together LSE faculty and students from across departments to design research-based and locally rooted solutions to global challenges. Based at LSE, the Firoz Lalji Centre for Africa (@AfricaAtLSE) promotes independent academic research and teaching; open and issue-oriented debate; and evidence-based policy making. The Centre accomplishes this by connecting different social science disciplines and by working in partnership with Africa bringing African voices to the global debate.

Speaker(s): James Ball, Professor Charlie Beckett, Sophie Gaston | The LSE Truth, Trust and Technology Commission is working with experts, practitioners and the public to identify structural causes of media misinformation and set out a new framework for strategic policy. The four themes it is looking at are: journalism credibility, platform responsibility, political communications and media literacy and citizenship. At this event the audience is invited to put questions and views about misinformation direct to our expert panel. James Ball (@jamesrbuk) is a Commissioner of the LSE T3 project and the author of Post-Truth: How Bullshit Conquered the World. Charlie Beckett (@CharlieBeckett) is a Professor in LSE's Department of Media and Communications and Director of the Truth, Trust and Technology Commission. Damian Collins MP (@DamianCollins) is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Folkestone and Hythe, Chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee and Commissioner on the Truth, Trust and Technology Commission. Sophie Gaston (@sophgaston) is Deputy Director and Head of International Research at Demos. Sonia Livingstone (@Livingstone_S) is Professor of Social Psychology in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE and Chair of the LSE Truth, Trust and Technology Commission. The Department of Media and Communications (@MediaLSE) is a world-leading centre for education and research in communication and media studies at the heart of LSE’s academic community in central London. We are ranked #1 in the United Kingdom and #3 globally in our field (2018 QS World University Rankings). Update, Monday 30 April: Due to unforeseen circumstances, Baroness Kidron is no longer able to speak at this event, but we are delighted to be joined by Sophie Gaston.

Speaker(s): Professor Simon Glendinning, Professor Elspeth Guild, Dr Natascha Zaun | What does a map tell us about Europe? What does it leave out? Prominent scholars in law, philosophy and political science reflect on how the age of cross-border flows from within and without Europe pose questions of how to map Europe and its peoples with renewed force. Simon Glendinning (@lonanglo) is Professor of European Philosophy at LSE’s European Institute and Director of the Forum for European Philosophy. Elspeth Guild is Jean Monnet Professor ad personam at Queen Mary, University of London and Radboud University Nijmegen. Natascha Zaun is Assistant Professor in Migration Studies at LSE’s European Institute. Robert Basedow is Assistant Professor in International Political Economy at the LSE European Institute. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector. The LSE 'Europe in Question' Discussion Paper Series (LEQS) was established in May 2009 to publish high quality research on Europe and the European Union from scholars across LSE and beyond.

Speaker(s): Professor Nic Cheeseman, Dr Brian Klaas | In this talk, Nic Cheeseman and Brian Klaas show how to rig an election - with the hopes that the lesson will help save democracy. The greatest political paradox of our time is this: there are more elections than ever before but the world is becoming less democratic. Elections are often the frontlines in a global battle for democracy. Dictators, despots, and counterfeit democrats hold elections to legitimize their regime, but then rig them to ensure that they maintain their iron grip on power. Vote buying. Violent repression. Assassinating rivals. Gerrymandering. Voter suppression. Ballot box stuffing. And the digital frontier of hacking and disinformation campaigns. Nic Cheeseman (@Fromagehomme) is Professor of Democracy at the University of Birmingham and was formerly the Director of the African Studies Centre at Oxford University. He is the recipient of the GIGA award for the best article in Comparative Area Studies (2013) and the Frank Cass Award for the best article in Democratization (2015). He is also the author of Democracy in Africa: Successes, failures and the struggle for political reform (Cambridge University Press, 2015), the founding editor of the Oxford Encyclopaedia of African Politics, a former editor of the journal African Affairs, and an advisor to, and writer for, Kofi Annan's African Progress Panel. Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) is a Fellow in Comparative Politics at the London School of Economics. Klaas is an expert on democracy, authoritarianism, American politics, and elections. He is the author of The Despot's Apprentice: Donald Trump's Attack on Democracy, The Despot's Accomplice: How the West is Aiding & Abetting the Decline of Democracy, and How to Rig an Election (co-authored with Professor Nic Cheeseman; Yale University Press 2018). Klaas is also a columnist for The Washington Post. Catherine Boone joined the LSE as Professor of Comparative Politics in 2013. She holds a BA from the University of California, and Ph.D from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The Department of Government (@LSEGovernment) at LSE is one of the largest political science departments in the UK. Our activities cover a comprehensive range of approaches to the study of politics.

Speaker(s): Dr Jessica Chiba, John Crace, Tim Crouch | For Victor Hugo, ‘all forms of the multiple reality, actions and ideas, man and humanity’ can be found in Shakespeare. Perhaps this is the reason why, over 400 years after his death, we continue to study, perform, and re-read his plays in search of truths about ourselves and the world. Should we think of Shakespeare as a philosopher? Can reading him philosophically add to our understanding of his work, or is it simply another way of trying to contain this ‘myriad-minded’ (Coleridge) thinker? Jessica Chiba is a Teaching Fellow in English, Royal Holloway, University of London. John Crace (@JohnJCrace) is a journalist, critic, and author of the Penguin Incomplete Shakespeare series. Tim Crouch (@timcrouch1964) is a playwright and theatre maker. Danielle Sands (@DanielleCSands) is a Lecturer in Comparative Literature and Culture at Royal Holloway, University of London and a Forum for European Philosophy Fellow. The Forum for European Philosophy (@ForumPhilosophy) is an educational charity that organises a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK.

Speaker(s): Tony Barber, Professor Catherine De Vries, Professor Simon Hix | The European Union is facing turbulent times. It is plagued by deep divisions over the future of European integration. This panel brings together experts who will discuss how Brexit and the rise of Euroscepticism on the continent may shape the contours of the European project in the coming years. Tony Barber (@TonyBarber8) is Europe Editor of the Financial Times. Catherine De Vries (@CatherineDVries) is Professor of Politics and Director of the Essex Centre of Experimental Social Science, Department of Government, University of Essex. Simon Hix (@simonjhix) is Harold Laski Professor of Political Science, Department of Government, LSE. Sara Hobolt (@sarahobolt) is Sutherland Chair in European Institutions at the European Institute and the Department of Government, London School of Economics. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector.

Speaker(s): Sir Danny Alexander, Robert Bartlett, Tamsyn Barton, Kwasi Kwarteng | This panel discussion will explore whether the UK should establish a new bank to support infrastructure investment. Danny Alexander (@dannyalexander) is Vice President at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Robert Bartlett is Head of Infrastructure at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. Tamsyn Barton (@TBartonBond) is Chief Executive of Bond. Kwasi Kwarteng (@KwasiKwarteng) is MP for Spelthorne and Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Tim Besley is School Professor of Economics of Political Science and W. Arthur Lewis Professor of Development Economics in the Department of Economics at LSE and is a member of the National Infrastructure Commission. The Department of Economics at LSE (@LSEEcon) is one of the largest economics departments in the world. Its size ensures that all areas of economics are strongly represented in both research and teaching. This event is being held with the UK National Infrastructure Commission, which is considering this issue as part of its upcoming National Infrastructure Assessment. Twitter hashtag for this event: #LSEinfrastructure

Speaker(s): Professor Fawaz Gerges | Fawaz Gerges tells us how the clash between pan-Arab nationalism and pan-Islamism has shaped the history of the region from the 1920s to the present. Fawaz Gerges (@FawazGerges) is Professor of International Relations at LSE and author of Making the Arab World: Nasser, Qutb, and the Clash That Shaped the Middle East. John Sidel is the Sir Patrick Gillam Professor of International and Comparative Politics at LSE. The Department of International Relations ( @LSEIRDept) is now in it's 90th year, making it one of the oldest and largest in the world. Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEArabworld

Speaker(s): Professor Mariana Mazzucato | In her new book, The Value of Everything, which she will discuss in this lecture, Mariana Mazzucato, argues that if we are to reform capitalism, we urgently need to rethink where wealth comes from. Which activities are creating it, which are extracting it, and which are destroying it? Answers to these questions are key if we want to replace the current parasitic system with a type of capitalism that is more sustainable, more symbiotic: that works for us all. Mariana Mazzucato (@MazzucatoM) is Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London (UCL) where she is also Founder and Director of the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. She is author of the highly-acclaimed book The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs. Private Sector Myths, and winner of the 2014 New Statesman SPERI Prize in Political Economy, the 2015 Hans-Matthöfer-Preis and the 2018 Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought. She advises policymakers around the world on how to deliver 'smart', inclusive and sustainable growth. She was named as one of the '3 most important thinkers about innovation' in the New Republic. Wouter den Haan is Co-director for the Centre for Macroeconomics and Professor of Economics at LSE. The Department of Economics at LSE (@LSEEcon) is one of the largest economics departments in the world. Its size ensures that all areas of economics are strongly represented in both research and teaching. The Centre For Macroeconomics (@CFMUK) brings together world-class experts to carry out pioneering research on the global economic crisis and to help design policies that alleviate it.

Speaker(s): Professor Christine Bell, Dr Aisling Swaine | ‘Conflict-related violence against women’ is often understood to mean sexual violence, specifically rape used as a weapon of war. But this is only one part of a broad continuum of gender violence which must be understood and addressed within and across conflict settings. In her new book, Conflict-Related Violence Against Women: Transforming Transition, Aisling Swaine examines the contexts of Liberia, Northern Ireland and Timor-Leste to identify a spectrum of forms of gender violence. She analyses their occurrence, and the relationship between them, within and across different points of pre-, mid- and post-conflict. Swaine proposes that a transformation rather than a transition is required in the aftermath of conflict, if justice is to play a role in preventing gender violence. Christine Bell (@christinebelled) is Principal Director of the Political Settlements Research Programme, Assistant Principal (Global Justice), Co-Director, Global Justice Academy, and Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Edinburgh. Aisling Swaine (@AislingSwaine) is Assistant Professor of Gender and Security at the Department of Gender Studies, LSE, where she teaches primarily on the MSc in Women, Peace and Security. Christine Chinkin is Director of the Centre for Women, Peace and Security. The Centre for Women, Peace and Security (@LSE_WPS) is a leading academic space for scholars, practitioners, activists, policy-makers and students to develop strategies to promote justice, human rights and participation for women in conflict-affected situations around the world.

Speaker(s): Professor Tony Bennett, Professor Angela McRobbie, Dr Clive James Nwonka, Professor Beverley Skeggs | This event will consider the prospects for contemporary thinking within the cultural studies tradition to engage with current inequalities. Mindful of the historical importance of this tradition, dating back to the 1960s and including work by Richard Hoggart, Raymond Williams, Stuart Hall, feminist cultural theory, and Bourdieu, the panel will both take stock of these older perspectives and offer their thoughts on contemporary prospects. Tony Bennett is Research Professor in Social and Cultural Theory in the Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University. Angela McRobbie is Professor of Communications at Goldsmiths University of London. She has recently elected Fellow of the British Academy. Her early work was carried out at Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies and her most recent books include: The Aftermath of Feminism 2008, Be Creative 2015. She is currently completing Feminism, Neoliberalism and Popular Culture (Polity 2019). Clive James Nwonka (@CJNwonka) is Course Leader for the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity, LSE. His research is interested in how inequality is visualised and framed in cinema and cultural policy, through both film studies and cultural studies approaches. Beverley Skeggs (@bevskeggs) is Academic Director for the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity, LSE. Bev is one of the foremost feminist sociologists in the world, her work has been significant in drawing attention to the intersections between class and gender inequality. Mike Savage (@MikeSav47032563) is Martin White Professor of Sociology at LSE and co-Director of LSE International Inequalities Institute. The International Inequalities Institute at LSE (@LSEInequalities) brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead critical and cutting edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

Speaker(s): Gro Harlem Brundtland, Hector Castañón, Aya Chebbi, Ban Ki-moon, Graça Machel, Njoki Njoroge Njehu, Dr Wanda Wyporska, Ernesto Zedillo | Join The Elders, the Fight Inequality Alliance, and Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity to honour grassroots efforts around the world to turn around the inequality crisis and learn how you can join the movement working to #WalkTogether to #FightInequality. Around the world, the gap between the richest and the rest of society has reached extremes not seen in a century. The global inequality crisis is undermining efforts to end poverty, racial and class-based discrimination, advance women’s rights, defend the environment, protect human rights and democracy, prevent conflict, and promote fair and dignified employment. We have an unacceptable concentration of wealth and power in the hands of elites, whilst hundreds of millions fight to survive. Together we will raise the voices of grassroots ‘Sparks of Hope’ who are fighting the root causes of inequality, and joining together in alliance to build more equal peaceful and just societies, and identify how we can each take steps towards freedom with equality. Gro Harlem Brundtland was the first female Prime Minister of Norway and is Deputy Chair of The Elders; a medical doctor who champions health as a human right; put sustainable development on the international agenda. Hector Castañón is a consultant for UN-HABITAT México; fellow of LEAD International for sustainable development; coach at Rhize.org for grassroots leadership training and cofounder of Tómala.Mx, a cross sectoral network of civil society organizations. He is a member of the Mexican Citizen Assembly to Address Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 10 related to poverty and inequality (AO1O), which is the Mexican chapter of the Fight Inequality Alliance. Aya Chebbi (@aya_chebbi) is an award winning pan-African feminist activist and blogger.

Speaker(s): Anna Rosling Rönnlund, Ola Rosling | When asked simple questions about global trends – why the world's population is increasing; how many young women go to school; how many of us live in poverty – we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently outguess journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers according to the book's authors In their new book Factfulness, Professor of International Health Hans Rosling, together with his two long-time collaborators Anna Rosling Rönnlund and Ola Rosling, offer a radical new explanation of why this happens, and reveal the ten insticts that distort our perspective Ola Rosling (@OlaRosling) and Anna Rosling Rönnlund (@AnnaGapminder), Hans Rosling’s son and daughter-in-law, were co-founders of the Gapminder Foundation, and Ola its director from 2005 to 2007 and from 2010 to the present day. After Google acquired the bubble-chart tool called Trendalyzer, invented and designed by Anna and Ola, Ola became head of Google's Public Data Team and Anna the team's senior user experience (UX) designer. They have both received international awards for their work Tiziana Leone (@tizianaleone) is an Assistant Professor at the London School of Economics. Tiziana’s research agenda is focused around maternal and reproductive health, including a lifecourse approach to women’s health The Department of International Development (ID) was established in 1990 as the Development Studies Institute (DESTIN) to promote interdisciplinary postgraduate teaching and research on processes of social, political and economic development and change The Global Health Initiative is a cross-departmental research platform set up to increase the coherence and visibility of Global Health research activity across the School, both internally and externally. It provides support for interdisciplinary engagement and showcases LSE’s ability to apply rigorous social science research to emerging global health challenges.

Speaker(s): Chris Hughes, Professor Natalie Fenton, Kam Sandhu | Co-founder of Facebook Chris Hughes makes the case that one-percenters like him should pay their fortune forward in a radically simple way: a guaranteed income for working people Chris Hughes (@chrishughes) is co-founder of the Economic Security Project and co-founder of Facebook. His new book is Fair Shot: Rethinking Inequality and How We Earn Natalie Fenton (@NatalieFenton1) is Professor of Media and Communications at Goldsmiths and vice-chair of Hacked-Off, of the Media Reform Coalition and the Centre for the Study of Global Media and Democracy. She has published many books and articles, the most recent Digital Political Radical is published by Polity Kam Sandhu (@KamBass) is a journalist and editor of Real Media, a co-operative dedicated to public interest journalism. Her research areas include inequality, data and corporate accountability. Her work has featured in New Internationalist, InSurge Intelligence, DeSmog, The Real News Network and more Beverley Skeggs (@bevskeggs) is Academic Director, Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity programme, International Inequalities Institute The International Inequalities Institute at LSE (@LSEInequalities) brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead critical and cutting edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

Speaker(s): Dr Linda Yueh | Linda Yueh will discuss her new book that helps us to think about the biggest economic challenges of our time by drawing on the ideas of the great economists whose thinking has already changed the world Linda Yueh (@lindayueh) is a Fellow in Economics at St Edmund Hall, Oxford University, Adjunct Professor of Economics at London Business School, and a Visiting Senior Fellow at LSE IDEAS Linda Yueh (@lindayueh) is a Fellow in Economics at St Edmund Hall, Oxford University, Adjunct Professor of Economics at London Business School, and a Visiting Senior Fellow at LSE IDEAS Michael Cox is Director of LSE IDEAS and Emeritus Professor of International Relations at LSE LSE IDEAS (@lseideas) is LSE's foreign policy think tank. We connect academic knowledge of diplomacy and strategy with the people who use it.

Speaker(s): Professor Toby Dodge, Dr Rachel Ibreck, Rim Turkmani, Lyse Doucet | This event will launch LSE’s new Conflict Research Programme funded by the UK’s Department for International Development. The CRP aims to understand why contemporary violence is so difficult to end and to analyse the underlying political economy of violence with a view to informing policy, with a special focus on Iraq, Syria, South Sudan, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Members of the research team will present their ideas and initial findings to Javier Solana, the former foreign policy chief of the European Union. Toby Dodge (@ProfTobyDodge) is Director of the LSE Middle East Centre, Kuwait Professor and Professor in the International Relations Department at LSE. He is also Senior Consulting Fellow for the Middle East at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, London. Rachel Ibreck's research centres on the politics of human rights, justice and civil society in the context of conflict and genocide, principally in Africa. Rim Turkmani (@Rim_Turkmani) is a Senior Research Fellow with the Conflict Research Programme on the Syrian war economy and the role of Syrian civil society in brokering peace and creating stability from the bottom up. Lyse Doucet (@bbclysedoucet) is chief international correspondent at the BBC. Lyse has been reporting for the BBC for nearly 30 years, with posts in Abidjan, Kabul, Islamabad, Tehran, Amman and Jerusalem. Javier Solana (@javiersolana) is President of the ESADE Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics and a former EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy. He is a Visiting Professor at LSE. Mary Kaldor is a Professor of Global Governance and Director of the Conflict and Civil Society Research Unit in the LSE Department of International Development. Professor Kaldor directs the unit’s largest research project, the Conflict Research Programme (CRP). The Conflict and Civil Society Research Unit is based within the International Development Department at LSE. The Unit focuses on understanding conflict and violence in Africa, Europe and the Middle East and bridging the gap between citizens and policy makers. Update, Monday 19 March: Due to unforeseen circumstances Rory Stewart will no longer be speaking at this event.

Speaker(s): Professor Aeron Davis, Polly Toynbee, Joe Earle Polly Toynbee Joe Earle | Join Aeron Davis, Polly Toynbee, Joe Earle and Bev Skeggs for a discussion on Britain’s dysfunctional leadership. Aeron Davis will cast the evening off by arguing that the Brexit vote and 2017 election result are more than temporary setbacks for the Establishment. Instead, there is a deeper crisis of leadership that has been developing over decades. The great transformations of the 1980s onwards have not only upended societies, they have reshaped elite rule itself. The UK is producing a new generation of leaders who, although richer, have lost coherence, vision, influence and power. Their failings are not only damaging the wider public, economy and society, they are undermining the very foundations of the Establishment itself. Joining Aeron to offer their take on Britain’s top tier will be Polly Toynbee, the Guardian’s award-winning political affairs columnist, and Joe Earle, author and campaigner for economic reform. The event will be chaired by the LSE’s Bev Skeggs. The event will also launch Aeron Davis’s new book Reckless Opportunists: Elites at the End of the Establishment. The book, based on 350 interviews with elite figures across business, politics and finance, asks: how did we end up producing the leaders that got us here and what can we do about it?

Speaker(s): Professor Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet | Arabs and Persians have historically been placed in a binary and oppositional relationship. This bifurcated past has influenced the contemporary politics and historiography of the region, with far-reaching consequences for the stability and economic viability of different Middle Eastern communities. This clash of ethnicities becomes especially prominent in the Persian Gulf, where migrants, sailors, indigenous communities, and laborers have intermingled and forged a unique and multi-ethnic culture that defies facile categorization. Yet with the imposition of nationalism these multi-cultural communities have had to accept or adapt to the dominant state identity. This lecture will analyse the process of identity formation in the communities of the Persian Gulf by studying textual sources, as well as imperial and national objectives, that have determined these outcomes. Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet is Walter H Annenberg Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania. Roham Alvandi is is Associate Professor of International History at the London School of Economics and Political Science. This event is the Department of International History Annual Gulf History Lecture with generous support from LSE Kuwait Programme.

Speaker(s): Lord Sainsbury | David Sainsbury will be talking about his lifetime of philanthropy. Lord Sainsbury is founder of the Gatsby Charitable Foundation. He donated £200 million of Sainsbury’s shares to the Foundation’s assets. Stephan Chambers is Marshall Institute Director. The Marshall Institute (@LSEMarshall) aims to increase the impact and effectiveness of private action for public benefit through research, teaching and convening.

Speaker(s): Dr Joseph Slaughter | Modern Euro-American law operates by fashioning legal persons as creatures endowed with rights and responsibilities. This figurative process of personification is a means of emancipation. Indeed, the fourteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution laid the legal groundwork not only for recognition of the full legal personality of ex-slaves; it also “emancipated” the business corporation, which possesses legal rights and responsibilities by way of analogy to the human, figured as a metaphorical assemblage of human body parts. A perverse version of that analogical operation also sits at the bottom of international human rights law. Technically speaking, international law seems to protect the rights of the human, through the figure of the international legal person, by way of analogy to the human being itself. However, Joseph Slaughter argues that some of the qualities of international legal personhood that we now think of as properly belonging to human beings first appeared in the form of colonial charter companies. In this talk, Joseph Slaughter examines the rhetorical magic of modern law that populates the social world with personified legal fictions that may “resemble us too much” by reading international human rights law alongside and through early Nigerian novelist Amos Tutuola’s enchanting The Palm-wine Drinkard. Joseph Slaughter is Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University in the City of New York. Gerry Simpson is a Professor of Public International Law at LSE. This event is the Annual London Review of International Law Lecture supported by the SOAS Centre for the study of Colonialism, Empire and International Law. LSE Law (@lselaw) is an integral part of the School's mission, plays a major role in policy debates & in the education of lawyers and law teachers from around the world.

Speaker(s): Professor Catherine Barnard, Professor Simon Hix, Jill Rutter, Professor Tony Travers | One year on from the triggering of Article 50, how far have the Brexit negotiations progressed? What lessons are there for the UK and the European Union? What are the implications for the future? Catherine Barnard (@CSBarnard24) is Professor of European Union Law, University of Cambridge. Simon Hix (@simonjhix) is Harold Laski Professor of Political Science, Department of Government, LSE. Jill Rutter (@jillongovt) is a programme director for Brexit at the Institute for Government and has co-authored a number of the Institute reports on the implications of Brexit for Whitehall and Westminster. Tony Travers is Director, Institute of Public Affairs, LSE. Kevin Featherstone is Head of the European Institute, Eleftherios Venizelos Professor of Contemporary Greek Studies and Professor of European Politics. This lecture is part of the LSE Programme on Brexit. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector. The Institute of Public Affairs (@LSEPubAffairs) is one of the world's leading centres of public policy. We aim to debate and address some of the major issues of our time, whether international or national, through our established teaching programmes, our research and our highly innovative public-engagement initiatives.

Speaker(s): Dharshini David | The dollar is the lifeblood of globalisation: China holds billions in reserve for good reason. Greenbacks, singles, bucks or dead presidents, call them what you will, $1.2 trillion worth are floating around right now – and half the dollars in circulation are actually outside of the USA. But what is really happening as these billions of dollars go around the world every day? By following $1 from a shopping trip in suburban Texas, via China’s Central Bank, Nigerian railroads, the oil fields of Iraq and beyond, The Almighty Dollar answers questions such as: why is China the world’s biggest manufacturer – and the US its biggest customer? Is free trade really a good thing? Why would a nation build a bridge on the other side of the globe? Dharshini David (@DharshiniDavid) is an economist and broadcaster. From 2009 she fronted Sky News’ daily financial coverage and copresented Sky News Tonight. Keyu Jin (@KeyuJin) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics and a member of the Centre for Macroeconomics and Centre for Economic Performance. The Department of Economics at LSE (@LSEEcon) is one of the largest economics departments in the world. Its size ensures that all areas of economics are strongly represented in both research and teaching. The Centre For Macroeconomics (@CFMUK) brings together world-class experts to carry out pioneering research on the global economic crisis and to help design policies that alleviate it.

Speaker(s): Peter Frase | Robots and artificial intelligence promise to reshape the economy. But the political struggle between workers and owners will determine who really benefits from these changes. Peter Frase (@pefrase) is an editor at Jacobin Magazine and author of Four Futures. Robin Archer is Director of the Ralph Miliband Programme at LSE. The Ralph Miliband Programme (@RMilibandLSE) is one of LSE's most prestigious lecture series and seeks to advance Ralph Miliband's spirit of free social inquiry.

Speaker(s): Professor Ash Amin, Dr Victoria Redclift | Migration is integral to the cultural and economic life of cities. Yet we live in a migration milieu in which migrants are rendered as illegal subjects, and where migration processes are reduced to crises at national border points. This event explores the relation between cities, migrants and migration systems. The event also launches The Sage Handbook of the 21st Century City edited by Suzanne Hall and Ricky Burdett. This edited collection engages with the volatile processes of urbanisation that reveal the turbulent nature of our early twenty-first century. Ash Amin is 1931 Professor of Geography, Head of Department of Geography and Fellow of Christ’s College, University of Cambridge. Victoria Redclift (@VRedclift) is Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of Surrey. Ricky Burdett is Professor of Urban Studies at LSE and Director of the Urban Age and LSE Cities. LSE Cities (@LSECities) is an international centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science that carries out research, graduate and executive education and outreach activities in London and abroad. Its mission is to study how people and cities interact in a rapidly urbanising world, focussing on how the design of cities impacts on society, culture and the environment. The Department of Sociology at LSE (@LSEsociology) was established in 1904 and remains committed to top quality teaching and leading research and scholarship today.

Speaker(s): Stefaan de Rynck | Stefaan de Rynck, Senior Advisor to Michel Barnier, Chief EU Negotiator for Brexit, will provide a state of play on the Brexit negotiations. He will focus on the Withdrawal Treaty and the nature of the transition and will address the current progress and possible ways forward. Stefaan De Rynck (@StefaanDeRynck) is senior advisor of Michel Barnier, Chief EU Negotiator for Brexit, in charge of public engagement strategy and relations with think tanks. He is professor at the College of Europe since 2003, and also teaches on EU governance at the Collegio Carlo Alberto (University of Turin). Kevin Featherstone is Head of the European Institute, Eleftherios Venizelos Professor of Contemporary Greek Studies and Professor of European Politics. This lecture is part of the LSE Programme on Brexit. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector. The Institute of Public Affairs (@LSEPubAffairs) is one of the world's leading centres of public policy. We aim to debate and address some of the major issues of our time, whether international or national, through our established teaching programmes, our research and our highly innovative public-engagement initiatives.

Speaker(s): Hilary Benn | Hilary Benn will speak about the Brexit negotiations and the future of the UK-EU relations. Hilary Benn (@hilarybennmp) is Labour MP for Leeds Central and Chair of the Select Committee on Exiting the European Union. Tony Travers is Director of the Institute of Public Affairs, LSE. This lecture is part of the LSE Programme on Brexit. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector. The Institute of Public Affairs (@LSEPubAffairs) is one of the world's leading centres of public policy. We aim to debate and address some of the major issues of our time, whether international or national, through our established teaching programmes, our research and our highly innovative public-engagement initiatives.

Speaker(s): Professor Daniele Archibugi, Alice Pease, Professor Christine Chinkin, Professor Richard Falk, Professor Mary Kaldor | Editor's note: We apologise for the poor audio quality of this podcast. In their new book, Crime and Global Justice: The Dynamics of International Punishment, which will be the subject of this discussion, Daniele Archibugi and Alice Pease offer an analysis of the successes and shortcomings of the global justice system from 1945 to the present day. Over the last quarter of a century a new stem of global criminal justice has emerged; national judges have become bolder in prosecuting crimes committed abroad, special tribunals have been able to target national leaders as well as their henchmen, and a permanent International Criminal Court has been established. But how successful have these ambitious transformations been? Have they ushered in a new era of cosmopolitan justice or are the old principles of victors’ justice still in play? Daniele Archibugi is a Research Director at the Italian National Research Council (CNR-IRPPS) in Rome, and Professor of Innovation, Governance and Public Policy at the University of London, Birkbeck College. Alice Pease is a freelance researcher currently working on a modern slavery campaign at the House of Lords. Christine Chinkin is Emerita Professor of International Law and Director of the Centre on Women, Peace and Security at the LSE. Richard Falk is Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University and a Research Fellow in Global Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Mary Kaldor is a Professor of Global Governance and Director of the Conflict and Civil Society Research Unit in the LSE Department of International Development. Gerry Simpson is a Professor and a Chair of Public International Law in the Department of Law, LSE.

Speaker(s): Dr Ursula von der Leyen | Ursula von der Leyen is Germany's Minister of Defence, a position she has held since 2013. Since 2005, Ursula von der Leyen has been a member of the German Federal Cabinet. Before she was appointed Minister of Defence, she served as Federal Minister of Labor and Social Affairs since November 2009. From 2005 to 2009, she was Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. Dr von der Leyen studied at Göttingen and Münster, Hanover Medical School and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Minouche Shafik is Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Prior to this she was Deputy Governor of the Bank of England. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector. The German Society is a student union society at the London School of Economics and Political Science. This event forms part of their annual German Symposium which takes place from 28 February to 2 March.

Speaker(s): Professor Sarah Banet-Weiser, Dr Shani Orgad | In 2018, we are living in a moment in North America and Europe where feminism has become, somewhat incredibly, popular. It seems as if everywhere you turn, there is an expression of feminism—on a t-shirt, in a movie, in the lyrics of a pop song, in an inspirational Instagram post. There are many different feminisms that currently circulate in popular culture across all media platforms, some connecting with synergy, others struggling for priority and visibility. But feminism isn’t the only popular phenomenon we need to contend with in the early 21st century. For every popular feminist practice or expression, there is always an accompanying hostile rejoinder or challenge, regardless of the mediated space in which it occurred— whether that was social media, or the legal realm, or corporate culture. In this talk, Sarah Banet-Weiser will discuss the ways in which contemporary popular feminism re-imagines and re-directs what “empowerment” means for girls and women, and how it is restructuring feminist politics within neoliberal culture. For many, a broader acceptance of feminism as an identity, concept, and practice is exhilarating; yet, for those who find feminism to be a threat, this acceptance also stimulates fear, trepidation, aggression, and violence. This talk is about the deeply entwined relationship between the creation and expression of popular feminism and what she calls popular misogyny. Sarah Banet-Weiser (@sbanetweiser) is Professor, Vice Dean and Director of the USC Annenberg School of Communication. In autumn 2018 she will join LSE as Head of the Department of Media and Communications. Shani Orgad is Associate Professor in the LSE Department of Media and Communications. Robin Mansell (@REMVAN) is Professor of New Media and the Internet and Head of the LSE Department of Media and Communications. The Department of Media and Communications (@MediaLSE) is a world-leading centre for education and research in communication and media studies at the heart of LSE’s academic community in central London. We are ranked #1 in the UK and #3 globally in our field (2017 QS World University Rankings).

Speaker(s): Poet Curious, Christian Gabriel, Caroline Teague, Desree, Thomas Owoo, Hannah Gordon | LSE LIFE invites you to take part in a night of spoken word performances, philosophical dialogue and hiphop vibes. Poetcurious hosts as hiphop poets from across London perform their spoken word art, offering lyrical rhymes that challenge our assumptions on urban spaces, masculinities, racism, and much more. These artists use beats to not just entertain, but educate us, transform us, and motivate us to reconsider our worlds. Between performances, Poetcurious, spoken word artist and co-convener of HipHopEd UK, will encourage dialogue between the audience and performers as we explore together the philosophy underpinning the poetry. Inspired by critical pedagogy, audience and performers ask each other questions, and learn from each other. Between performances and dialogues sets, a guest DJ will play beats as attendees are encouraged to continue dialogues while they get drinks and groove. There will also be an open mic at the end of the evening – so those of you who are budding freestyle artists, share your lyrical beats. The guiding values of the night will be based on the HipHopEd Manifesto, which states that “Collaboration is at the heart of HipHopEd” and “HipHop is dialogue”. So, come prepared to share, learn, talk, and enjoy a night of good vibes to close out this year’s LSE Festival. Poetcurious (@poetcurious) is a poet, artist and educator living and working in North West London. Co-convener of HipHopEd UK and host of “Rise Up”, “HeadSpin” and “Root Down”, Poetcurious can usually be found performing HipHop poetry on the spoken word scene; spitting freestyles over HipHop Beats or discussing critical pedagogy in a university lecture hall.

Speaker(s): Dr Adura Banke-Thomas, Dr Tania Burchardt, Tammy Campbell, Kathleen Scanlon, Dr Jamie Woodcock | What are the key challenges of welfare states of the future? In a world of limited resources, what should our priority be? To close the LSE Festival, we will pit Beveridge's "five giants" (reimagined as the giant issues of housing and urbanisation, education and skills, health and social care, the future of work and the challenges of poverty), as well as sustainability, the missing sixth Giant voted for by you, against each other in a battle to decide which is the biggest issue now and in the near future. Adura Banke-Thomas is LSE fellow in Health Policy. He is also a research fellow at the Centre for Reproductive Health Research and Innovation, Lagos State University, Nigeria and a fellow at the McCain Institute for International Leadership, Washington DC, USA. Tania Burchardt is Director of the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) and an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Policy at LSE. Tania’s research interests lie in theories of justice, including the capability approach, measurement of inequality and applied welfare policy analysis. Tammy Campbell (@_TammyCampbell) is based in the LSE’s Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, and is a (mainly) quantitative researcher. She completed her PhD at the UCL Institute of Education, focussing on structural and psychological factors creating difference among primary school pupils, and was previously a Government Social Researcher in the Department for Education. Rebecca Elliott (@RebsFE) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at LSE. Her research interests span economic sociology, political sociology, environmental sociology, and knowledge production and science studies. She is particularly interested in how the environmental impacts of climate change are confronted as economic problems. Kathleen Scanlon (@KathJScanlon) is Assistant Professorial Research Fellow at LSE London. She has a wide range of research interests including comparative housing policy (across all tenures–social and private rented housing as well as owner-occupation), comparative mortgage finance, and migration. Jamie Woodcock (@jamie_woodcock) is a Fellow at LSE and author of Working The Phones, a study of a call centre in the UK inspired by the workers' inquiry. His current research involves developing this method in co-research projects with Deliveroo drivers and other digital workers in the so-called gig economy. Minouche Shafik is Director of LSE. Prior to this she was Deputy Governor of the Bank of England.

Speaker(s): Brett Heasman, Celestin Okoroji, Professor Bev Skeggs, Dr Jana Uher | Editor's note: We apologise for the poor audio quality of this podcast. There have been significant advances in the rights, recognition and participation of diverse groups of people in the UK over the past 30 years. And yet, people’s backgrounds and characteristics – such as their age, gender, ethnicity, 'abilities' or 'disabilities', and sexual orientation – continue to strongly influence their life experiences, opportunities and prosperity. During an extended period of austerity, the current political climate is characterised by sharp divisions in attitudes to the long-term direction of the country, to the question of 'who belongs?' and to the sustainability of the UK's welfare system – giving rise to the question, ‘Can we afford to be different?’ LSE’s EDI (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) team brings together a panel of experts on inequality for a discussion of the challenges of developing an inclusive and fair society in the 21st century. In honour of the 75th anniversary of the release of the Beveridge report, the speakers will draw on their research findings and disciplinary perspectives to consider how we should approach difference and supporting one another in society. When looking at life outcomes, what can we learn from examining the interplay of people’s characteristics and backgrounds? What does it mean to contribute to society, and who judges this? And what are the social costs of getting our approach to difference wrong? Brett Heasman is a PhD researcher in the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science at LSE. His research focuses on the public understanding of autism, for which he has won grant awards for collaboration and impact from the ESRC and LSE. Brett is the creator of the 'Open Minds' exhibition, which was set up to promote autistic voices. Celestin Okoroji is a PhD researcher in the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science at LSE. His research focuses on the ways in which ideas associated with stigmatised groups – such as unemployed people - become a part of stigmatised group members' self-concept. Celestin’s research was awarded the Popular Prize at the 2016 LSE Research Festival. Bev Skeggs is academic director of the Atlantic Fellows programme in the International Inequalities Institute at LSE. Jana Uher was a senior research fellow and Marie Curie fellow at LSE from 2015 to 2017. She is now a senior lecturer at the University of Greenwich. Sunil Kumar teaches on the MSc in Social Policy and Development and convenes the postgraduate elective ‘Urbanisation and Social Policy in the Global South’. As dean of graduate studies (2011–16) at LSE, he chaired the Equality and Diversity Forum, among other duties. His recent research is on the urbanisation-construction-migration nexus in south Asia.

Speaker(s): Dr Duncan Green, Dr Armine Ishkanian, Dr Michael McQuarrie, Ludovica Rogers | The Beveridge Report's contemporary relevance can only be considered if we properly understand the ways in which civil society actors from across the globe are challenging unequal redistributive systems. The aim of this panel is to challenge the top-down approach of defining welfare needs and well-being and to critically examine how civil society actors, ranging from social movements, NGOs, to trade unions, have campaigned for the recognition of needs and for fairer redistribution. Duncan Green (@fp2p) is Senior Strategic Adviser at Oxfam GB, Professor in Practice in International Development at LSE, Honorary Professor of International Development at Cardiff University and a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Development Studies. Armine Ishkanian (@Armish15) is an Associate Professor and the Programme Director of the MSc in Social Policy & Development (State and NGO Streams) in the Department of Social Policy at LSE. Michael McQuarrie (@mgmcquarrie) is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at LSE. Ludovica Rogers (@ldvcrgrs) was an active participant in the Occupy movement and since then has been active in other groups that formed from or around it, such as the movement of the Commons, the #NoTTIP campaign and Debt Resistance UK. Hakan Seckinelgin is an Associate Professor (Reader) in the Department of Social Policy at LSE.

Speaker(s): Dr Tania Burchardt, Professor Sir John Hills, Professor Stephen P Jenkins, Professor Lucinda Platt | Taking five ‘Giants’ in the study of poverty over the last 100 years, themselves, like Beveridge, authors of influential reports, this event discusses how their thinking articulates with Beveridge’s vision and has advanced our understanding of poverty and how to tackle it. This event focuses on Beveridge’s Giant of ‘want’. It addresses the thinking on poverty of five ‘Giants’ in the study of poverty over the last 100 years, who have been closely associated with LSE and who are themselves authors or co-authors of influential reports: Beatrice Webb, Brian Abel-Smith, Peter Townsend, Amartya Sen and Anthony Atkinson. It explores how their thinking both articulates with the concepts and propositions of Beveridge in his report, and has transformed the ways in which we think about poverty and how to address it. The event draws on the insights of current LSE academics known for their work on poverty and inequality. Lucinda Platt will discuss Beatrice Webb’s ‘Minority Report on the Poor Laws’ of 1909, which was deemed to be highly influential on Beveridge’s thinking and the break with the Poor Laws expressed in his report. John Hills will shed light on the ‘rediscovery of poverty’ marked by the publication of Brian Abel-Smith and Peter Townsend’s 1966 work on ‘The Poor and The Poorest’, the corrective this provided to the somewhat over-optimistic interpretation of the achievements of the welfare state in eliminating poverty, and how it foregrounded Townsend’s subsequent development of the relational and ‘relative’ conception of poverty. Tania Burchardt will analyse the distinctive contribution of Amartya Sen to how we understand poverty across very different contexts, in her consideration of the 2009 Report by the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress (coauthored with Joseph Stiglitz and Jean-Paul Fitoussi). Finally, Stephen Jenkins will evaluate the significance of the Atkinson Commission’s 2015 Report on Monitoring Global Poverty to how we conceptualize and address poverty in a global context. Tania Burchardt is Director of the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) and an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Policy at LSE. John Hills is Richard Titmuss Professor of Social Policy at LSE, co-director of the LSE’s interdisciplinary International Inequalities Institute and is currently Chair of CASE. Stephen P Jenkins is Professor of Economic and Social Policy, in the Department of Social Policy at LSE. Lucinda Platt is Professor of Social Policy and Sociology in the Department of Social Policy at LSE. Lucinda’s research focuses on inequalities, with a particular focus on ethnicity and migration, as well as gender, disability, identity, and child poverty. Paul Gregg is a Professor of Economic and Social Policy, and Director of the Centre for Analysis and Social Policy at the University of Bath.

Speaker(s): Dr Tania Burchardt, Professor Sir John Hills, Professor Stephen P Jenkins, Professor Lucinda Platt | Taking five ‘Giants’ in the study of poverty over the last 100 years, themselves, like Beveridge, authors of influential reports, this event discusses how their thinking articulates with Beveridge’s vision and has advanced our understanding of poverty and how to tackle it. This event focuses on Beveridge’s Giant of ‘want’. It addresses the thinking on poverty of five ‘Giants’ in the study of poverty over the last 100 years, who have been closely associated with LSE and who are themselves authors or co-authors of influential reports: Beatrice Webb, Brian Abel-Smith, Peter Townsend, Amartya Sen and Anthony Atkinson. It explores how their thinking both articulates with the concepts and propositions of Beveridge in his report, and has transformed the ways in which we think about poverty and how to address it. The event draws on the insights of current LSE academics known for their work on poverty and inequality. Lucinda Platt will discuss Beatrice Webb’s ‘Minority Report on the Poor Laws’ of 1909, which was deemed to be highly influential on Beveridge’s thinking and the break with the Poor Laws expressed in his report. John Hills will shed light on the ‘rediscovery of poverty’ marked by the publication of Brian Abel-Smith and Peter Townsend’s 1966 work on ‘The Poor and The Poorest’, the corrective this provided to the somewhat over-optimistic interpretation of the achievements of the welfare state in eliminating poverty, and how it foregrounded Townsend’s subsequent development of the relational and ‘relative’ conception of poverty. Tania Burchardt will analyse the distinctive contribution of Amartya Sen to how we understand poverty across very different contexts, in her consideration of the 2009 Report by the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress (coauthored with Joseph Stiglitz and Jean-Paul Fitoussi). Finally, Stephen Jenkins will evaluate the significance of the Atkinson Commission’s 2015 Report on Monitoring Global Poverty to how we conceptualize and address poverty in a global context. Tania Burchardt is Director of the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) and an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Policy at LSE. John Hills is Richard Titmuss Professor of Social Policy at LSE, co-director of the LSE’s interdisciplinary International Inequalities Institute and is currently Chair of CASE. Stephen P Jenkins is Professor of Economic and Social Policy, in the Department of Social Policy at LSE. Lucinda Platt is Professor of Social Policy and Sociology in the Department of Social Policy at LSE. Lucinda’s research focuses on inequalities, with a particular focus on ethnicity and migration, as well as gender, disability, identity, and child poverty. Paul Gregg is a Professor of Economic and Social Policy, and Director of the Centre for Analysis and Social Policy at the University of Bath.

Speaker(s): Kate Bell, Dr Derek King, Lisa McKenzie | The subject of care is now a central political concern. The consequences of longer lives and new expectations about universal participation in paid work have produced new questions about the ways in which care - for all ages and situations - can be provided and organised. We all know that at present the majority of people who provide care, both paid and unpaid, are women but we also know that the demands for care are increasing and increasingly difficult to fund. In the twenty first century assumptions about who cares - and for whom - demand that we think not just about the cost of care but also about the ways in which we recognise and validate care and caring as part of the lives of all citizens. Kate Bell (@kategobell) is Head of the Economic and Social Affairs Department (ESAD) at TUC, which leads the TUC's work in many key areas of economic and social policy, seeking to influence public and political debate through a comprehensive programme of research, analysis and events. Derek King is Assistant Professorial Research Fellow in the Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU) at LSE. Lisa McKenzie (@redrumlisa) is Lecturer in Practical Sociology at Middlesex University and an Atlantic Fellow at the International Inequalities Institute at LSE. She is a working class academic and undertakes research and actively campaigns on social and political issues relating to class inequality. Mary Evans is LSE Centennial Professor at the Department of Gender Studies. This event links with the exhibition Who Cares? Women, care and welfare on display in the Atrium Gallery from Monday 19 February - Friday 23 March 2018. Update, Friday 23 February: Due to unforeseen circumstances, Hilary Land is no longer able to speak at this event.

Speaker(s): Professor Paul Dolan | Loneliness is one of the giant issues we are facing as a society today. Our relationships with other people are fundamental to our wellbeing, but what kinds of relationships make us happy or miserable? How should individuals decide when to ‘make or break’ a relationship? Why is the term love often misunderstood and misconstrued? How do social policies influence people’s relationships, such as by encouraging marriage and discouraging divorce – and how should they, if at all? Paul Dolan (@profpauldolan) is Professor of Behavioural Science at LSE, Director of Executive MSc Behavioural Science and Head of the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science. There are two main themes to Paul’s work: Developing measures of happiness and subjective wellbeing that can be used in policy and by individuals looking to be happier; and considering ways in which the lessons from the behavioural sciences can be used to understand and change individual behaviour, and to add to the evidence base in this regard. He uses a range of data and methods to address these issues, and to better integrate them e.g. surveys, big data, lab studies, and field experiments. He is author of the Sunday Times best-selling book, Happiness by Design and the forthcoming The Narrative Trap, in which he talks about how the stories we tell about how we ought to live our lives harm us. Suzi Godson (@suzigodson) is a psychologist and journalist. She has been The Times sex and relationships columnist for fifteen years and is the author of several award winning books. She is currently conducting a longitudinal PhD study exploring the impact of midlife divorce on women with adult children. Last September she launched the multi award winning MeeTwo app, a safe, scalable, early intervention solution to the growing problem of adolescent anxiety. MeeTwo helps teenagers to talk about difficult things and encourages young people to help themselves, by helping each other. MeeTwo is free to use and is available on the App Store and Google Play

Speaker(s): Dr Jonathan Birch, Heikki Helanterä, Hannah Rubin | If evolution is a 'struggle for existence', why do we witness so much altruism in nature? From bacteria to baboons, the natural world is full of spectacular examples of organisms cooperating with one another. In the early 1960s, WD Hamilton changed the way we think about how such behaviour evolves, and his pioneering work kick-started a research programme now known as 'social evolution theory'. The Forum brings together a panel of biologists and philosophers of biology will discuss the legacy of Hamilton’s ideas, and the evolution of altruism in microbes, insects, humans, and the cells of our own bodies. Jonathan Birch is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at LSE and author of The Philosophy of Social Evolution. Heikki Helanterä is Group Leader in the Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions at the University of Helsinki. Hannah Rubin is Postdoctoral Researcher in Theoretical Philosophy at the University of Groningen. Bryan Roberts (@SoulPhysics) is Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method at LSE.

Speaker(s): Deeti Vyas Béghin, Helen Newcombe, Olivia Pinnock, Roger Williams | As fashion production processes get faster and faster, this event will ask: how can fashion brands and producers adapt their business models, in the face of growing demands to reduce the environmental impacts from the production, consumption and disposal of clothing? Chaired by Dr Richard Perkins from the Department of Geography and Environment, a panel of speakers brought together by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment will explore how fashion now demands faster and faster production and consumption of clothing; new approaches being pioneered by brands to become more sustainable; and the role consumers play in shaping demand for a new type of fashion future. Deeti Vyas Béghin is Chief of Business Longevity at Global Bright Futures. Deeti comes from a retail and commercial banking background and has spent over 7 years in the finance sector. In 2006, Deeti left the world of mainstream finance to pursue her interest in bridging the worlds of sustainability and business. More recently, she been involved in the sustainable fashion sector with organisations such as Made-By, WRAP, and CottonConnect, working on projects ranging from analysing the commercial viability of sustainable business models in fashion to farmer training programmes to improve the livelihoods to cotton farmers. Helen Newcombe (@davyjs) is the founder of Davy J, a British swimwear brand that creates beautiful active swimwear, all manufactured in the UK and made using ECONYL® yarn, a nylon yarn regenerated from 100% waste materials including fishing nets and other marine rubbish. Olivia Pinnock is a Freelance Fashion Writer and Lecturer. Roger Williams is an award winning Director/Producer and Director of Photography, who has worked with some of the world’s most respected broadcasters and entertainment companies.

Speaker(s): Professor Paul Collier, Rubbina Karruna, Paida Hlambelo | Across the developing world, the pace of urbanisation has outstripped the ability of governments to facilitate decent, affordable housing for citizens. With the price of private housing developments making them out of reach to middle income households, urban growth in these rapidly growing cities has largely occurred through unplanned, low density, and low-quality housing. As a result, citizens are unable to access basic services and amenities that affect their quality of life. At the same time, cities are missing a key ingredient for the effective clustering of individuals and firms that make cities engines for growth. In this context, many city governments are asking: how can policy help to address the growing gap between housing supply and rising demands? Can public housing schemes address the need of low income residents? How can policy be used to unleash private housing markets equipped for the demands of these cities? The International Growth Centre (IGC) and LSE Cities explore these questions in examining the future of housing policy in developing cities. Speakers will be presenting and defending their views on viable options for policy – the audience will have to decide who presents the most compelling case for reform. Paul Collier is Professor of Economics and Public Policy in the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford and Director of IGC. Rubbina Karruna is DFID Cities Adviser. Paida Hlambelo is an architect for Vavaki Architects. Priya Manwaring is Cities Economist for the International Growth Centre.

Speaker(s): Professor Danny Dorling, Lynsey Hanley, Professor Anne Power | The crucially important role of social housing has been recognised following the Grenfell Tower disaster, which also laid bare the disconnect between the ‘elites’ and the most disadvantaged in society.This event explores the link between inequality and housing, evidenced by the growing demand for low cost rented housing among those on the very lowest incomes. Unless the voices of communities and residents are heard and taken seriously, there is a risk that gaps in society will widen even further.Danny Dorling (@dannydorling) is a Professor of Human Geography at the University of Oxford. He has also worked in Sheffield, Newcastle, Bristol, Leeds and New Zealand, went to university in Newcastle upon Tyne, and grew up in Oxford. He has published over forty books including many atlases and All That is Solid in 2014; Injustice: Why social inequalities still persist in 2015; A Better Politics: How government can make us happier in 2016; The Equality Effect in 2017; and Do We Need Economic Inequality? – in 2018.Lynsey Hanley was born in Birmingham and lives in Liverpool. She is the author of Estates: An Intimate History, and Respectable: Crossing the Class Divide. She is a regular contributor to the Guardian.Anne Power has been involved in European and American housing and urban problems since 1965. She is Professor of Social Policy at LSE and Head of LSE Housing and Communities, a research group based within the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion. She is author of many books, reports and articles on housing, cities and low-income communities including most recently Cities for a Small Continent.John Hills is Chair of CASE, Co-Director LSE International Inequalities Institute and Richard Titmuss Professor of Social Policy, LSE.

Speaker(s): Professor Michael Cox | There have been many famous Directors of LSE, from Halford Mackinder to Ralph Dahrendorf. But none can lay claim to such fame as LSE’s fourth Director, William Beveridge - generally regarded as the main architect of the Welfare State and the energetic visionary who oversaw a major expansion of LSE from 1919-1937. But though his achievements at LSE were by any measure great, his relations with some of the School’s leading academic figures were never easy, while his attempt to redefine the nature of the social sciences floundered. Why was rethinking the relationship between state and society an easier task for Beveridge than running an ‘unruly School’? Michael Cox is Director of LSE IDEAS and Emeritus Professor of International Relations at LSE. He is author and editor of over twenty books, currently working on a ‘new’ history of LSE. Professor David Stevenson is the Stevenson Professor of International History, Department of International History, LSE. LSE IDEAS (@lseideas) is LSE's foreign policy think tank. We connect academic knowledge of diplomacy and strategy with the people who use it.

Speaker(s): Professor Rebeca Aldunate, Nicci Gerrard, Professor Michael Murphy, Jane Vass | With the average life expectancy increasing from 66.7 in 1942 to 81.25 in 2017, and set to continue, population ageing is poised to become one of the most significant social transformations of the 21st century. This panel discusses how ageing could come to dominate the giant issue of health and social care, and potentially all areas of the welfare state. Rebeca Aldunate is Director of the Biotechnology School, Faculty of Science at Universidad Santo Tomás, Chile. Nicci Gerrard (@FrenchNicci) is the co-author, with Sean French, of the bestselling Nicci French psychological thrillers and has written six novels under her own name, including The Winter House and Missing Persons. She was on the staff of The Observer for many years and still writes for that paper, in 2016 winning the Orwell Prize for 'Exposing Britain's Social Ills'. She is also a co-founder of John’s Campaign, that fights for more compassionate care in hospital for people with dementia, and a humanist celebrant. Michael Murphy is Professor of Demography in the Department of Social Policy at LSE, having joined the School in 1980. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. He has acted as an adviser to UK and US Governments, and international organisations, such as EU, UN and OECD. His current research areas include demographic modelling of ageing and mortality trends, social care and living arrangements and well-being of older people. Jane Vass is Director of Policy and Research at Age UK since April 2015. Prior to this Jane was Head of Public Policy at Age UK from 2012, having joined Age UK’s predecessor, Age Concern England as Financial Services Policy Adviser in 2006. Carrie Friese (@CarrieFriese) is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at LSE. Her research is in medical sociology and science and technology studies, with a focus on reproduction across humans and animals. Update, Wednesday 21 February: Due to unforeseen circumstances, Olivia Casanueva and Joanna Latimer are no longer able to speak at this event, but we are delighted to be joined by Rebeca Aldunate.

Speaker(s): Professor Rebeca Aldunate, Nicci Gerrard, Professor Michael Murphy, Jane Vass | With the average life expectancy increasing from 66.7 in 1942 to 81.25 in 2017, and set to continue, population ageing is poised to become one of the most significant social transformations of the 21st century. This panel discusses how ageing could come to dominate the giant issue of health and social care, and potentially all areas of the welfare state. Rebeca Aldunate is Director of the Biotechnology School, Faculty of Science at Universidad Santo Tomás, Chile. Nicci Gerrard (@FrenchNicci) is the co-author, with Sean French, of the bestselling Nicci French psychological thrillers and has written six novels under her own name, including The Winter House and Missing Persons. She was on the staff of The Observer for many years and still writes for that paper, in 2016 winning the Orwell Prize for 'Exposing Britain's Social Ills'. She is also a co-founder of John’s Campaign, that fights for more compassionate care in hospital for people with dementia, and a humanist celebrant. Michael Murphy is Professor of Demography in the Department of Social Policy at LSE, having joined the School in 1980. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. He has acted as an adviser to UK and US Governments, and international organisations, such as EU, UN and OECD. His current research areas include demographic modelling of ageing and mortality trends, social care and living arrangements and well-being of older people. Jane Vass is Director of Policy and Research at Age UK since April 2015. Prior to this Jane was Head of Public Policy at Age UK from 2012, having joined Age UK’s predecessor, Age Concern England as Financial Services Policy Adviser in 2006. Carrie Friese (@CarrieFriese) is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at LSE. Her research is in medical sociology and science and technology studies, with a focus on reproduction across humans and animals. Update, Wednesday 21 February: Due to unforeseen circumstances, Olivia Casanueva and Joanna Latimer are no longer able to speak at this event, but we are delighted to be joined by Rebeca Aldunate.

Speaker(s): Rebecca Campbell, Ruth Reaney, Dr Jamie Woodcock | If William Beveridge was to return to the East End, what would he make of it today? The welfare state has changed significantly in the 75 years since the publication of the Beveridge report, but so has the structure of the economy and the kinds of work that people do today. There is continuity with work, but there is also change: in some ways moving backwards, in other ways radically transforming. This panel session brings together academics from LSE’s Employment Relations and Human Resource Management Faculty Research Group to debate what Beveridge 2.0 would involve for work and how work could change in the future, to provoke a broader discussion on what is happening with work today. Rebecca Campbell is a teacher and graduate researcher in the Department of Management at LSE. Her research focuses on employment and pension decision-making. Ruth Reaney is an LSE Fellow in the Department of Management at LSE. She specialises in work and employment and her current research concerns trade union response to decreasing institutional security. Jamie Woodcock (@jamie_woodcock) is an LSE Fellow in the Department of Management. His current research focuses on the digital economy, the transformation of work, and eSports. Jamie completed his PhD in Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London and has held positions at Goldsmiths, the University of Leeds, the University of Manchester, Queen Mary, NYU London, and Cass Business School. David Marsden is Professor of Industrial Relations in the Department of Management and an Associate in the Labour Markets Research Programme within the Centre for Economic Performance. The Employment Relations and Human Resource Management Faculty Group within LSE’s Department of Management conducts research and teaching in the institutional and strategic context of work and employment. LSE’s Department of Management informs and inspires better management in practice by challenging and extending the understanding of people, teams, organisations and markets, and the economic, psychological, social, political and technological contexts in which they operate worldwide.

Speaker(s): Professor Derek Fraser | There was a marked difference between the enthusiastic popular response to the Report and what was perceived to be a lukewarm reception by Churchill and the wartime coalition. How far was the Report implemented in the creation of the Welfare State in 1948 and why 75 years later do many politicians wish to "Get back to Beveridge"? The lecture will review the content and context of the Beveridge Report and explain why it is of enduring importance. Derek Fraser is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Teesside, where he served as Vice-Chancellor for 11 years. He was previously Professor of Modern History at the University of Bradford and Professor of English History at UCLA. His expertise is in modern British social and urban history and the 5th Edition of his book, The Evolution of the British Welfare State, was published in September 2017. Mary Evans is LSE Centennial Professor in the Department of Gender Studies. A Time for Revolutions: making the Welfare State is exhibited at LSE Library Gallery Monday 8 January – Friday 13 April. This exhibition marks the 75th anniversary of the Beveridge report and looks at how welfare provision has been shaped and changed through the ages. This is one of a series of ongoing exhibitions and events hosted by LSE Library which utilise its world class special collections in order to provide food for thought for all.

Speaker(s): Professor Kalipso Chalkidou, Professor Ken Shadlen, Dr Daniel Wang | Although Universal health coverage is a pillar of the modern welfare state, the successful design and implementation of arrangements to deliver on this promise faces enormous challenges. This panel, with perspectives from health policy, law, and political science, examines these challenges and reflects on national experiences in developing countries. Topics will include: the imperatives of determining which healthcare products and services are covered; national and regional strategies for securing stable supplies of quality healthcare services at affordable prices; the relationship between the spread of patents on pharmaceutical products, a new phenomenon, and governments’ commitments to provide essential medicines; and the tensions between health technology assessment systems designed to make judgements on cost-effectiveness and legal systems that offer opportunities for individuals and groups to secure expensive health products via litigation. Kalipso Chalkidou (@kchalkidou) is the Director of Global Health Policy and a Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development, and a Professor of Practice in Global Health at Imperial College London. Ken Shadlen is Professor of Development Studies in the Department of International Development of LSE. He is currently Head of Department (September 2017-2020). Daniel Wang is a Lecturer in Health and Human Rights at Queen Mary University of London. Justin Parkhurst (@justinparkhurst) is Associate Professor in Global Health Policy in the Department of Health Policy at LSE and an honorary Senior Lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The panel is brought together by the Global Health Initiative (@LSEGlobalHealth), a newly established cross-departmental research platform set up to increase the coherence and visibility of Global Health research activity across the School, both internally and externally. It provides support for interdisciplinary engagement and showcases LSE’s ability to apply rigorous social science research to emerging global health challenges

Speaker(s): Professor Kalipso Chalkidou, Professor Ken Shadlen, Dr Daniel Wang | Although Universal health coverage is a pillar of the modern welfare state, the successful design and implementation of arrangements to deliver on this promise faces enormous challenges. This panel, with perspectives from health policy, law, and political science, examines these challenges and reflects on national experiences in developing countries. Topics will include: the imperatives of determining which healthcare products and services are covered; national and regional strategies for securing stable supplies of quality healthcare services at affordable prices; the relationship between the spread of patents on pharmaceutical products, a new phenomenon, and governments’ commitments to provide essential medicines; and the tensions between health technology assessment systems designed to make judgements on cost-effectiveness and legal systems that offer opportunities for individuals and groups to secure expensive health products via litigation. Kalipso Chalkidou (@kchalkidou) is the Director of Global Health Policy and a Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development, and a Professor of Practice in Global Health at Imperial College London. Ken Shadlen is Professor of Development Studies in the Department of International Development of LSE. He is currently Head of Department (September 2017-2020). Daniel Wang is a Lecturer in Health and Human Rights at Queen Mary University of London. Justin Parkhurst (@justinparkhurst) is Associate Professor in Global Health Policy in the Department of Health Policy at LSE and an honorary Senior Lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The panel is brought together by the Global Health Initiative (@LSEGlobalHealth), a newly established cross-departmental research platform set up to increase the coherence and visibility of Global Health research activity across the School, both internally and externally. It provides support for interdisciplinary engagement and showcases LSE’s ability to apply rigorous social science research to emerging global health challenges

Speaker(s): Professor Paul Dolan, Lord Willetts | There is increasing evidence from the UK and the US to show that higher education is associated with less happiness and more inequality. In light of this, Professor of Behavioural Science at LSE Paul Dolan argues that the government should reduce funding to higher education and prioritise early years education instead. Former Minister for Universities David Willetts stands up for the value of a university degree. Paul Dolan (@profpauldolan) is Professor of Behavioural Science at LSE, Director of Executive MSc Behavioural Science and Head of the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science. There are two main themes to Paul’s work: Developing measures of happiness and subjective wellbeing that can be used in policy and by individuals looking to be happier; and considering ways in which the lessons from the behavioural sciences can be used to understand and change individual behaviour, and to add to the evidence base in this regard. He uses a range of data and methods to address these issues, and to better integrate them e.g. surveys, big data, lab studies, and field experiments. He is author of the Sunday Times best-selling book, Happiness by Design and the forthcoming The Narrative Trap, in which he talks about how the stories we tell about how we ought to live our lives harm us. David Willetts is the Executive Chair of the Resolution Foundation. He served as the Member of Parliament for Havant (1992-2015), as Minister for Universities and Science (2010-2014) and previously worked at HM Treasury and the No. 10 Policy Unit. Lord Willetts is a visiting Professor at King’s College London, a board member of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a Board member of Surrey Satellites and of the Biotech Growth Trust, Chair of the British Science Association, a Governor of the Ditchley Foundation and a member of the Council of the Institute for Fiscal Studies. He is a member of the Board of the Crick Institute and a Trustee of the Science Museum. He is an Honorary Fellow of Nuffield College Oxford. Lord Willetts has written widely on economic and social policy. His book The Pinch about fairness between the generations was published in 2010. His latest book A University Education is published by Oxford University Press. Julia Black is Pro Director for Research at LSE.

Speaker(s): Professor Paul Dolan, Lord Willetts | There is increasing evidence from the UK and the US to show that higher education is associated with less happiness and more inequality. In light of this, Professor of Behavioural Science at LSE Paul Dolan argues that the government should reduce funding to higher education and prioritise early years education instead. Former Minister for Universities David Willetts stands up for the value of a university degree. Paul Dolan (@profpauldolan) is Professor of Behavioural Science at LSE, Director of Executive MSc Behavioural Science and Head of the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science. There are two main themes to Paul’s work: Developing measures of happiness and subjective wellbeing that can be used in policy and by individuals looking to be happier; and considering ways in which the lessons from the behavioural sciences can be used to understand and change individual behaviour, and to add to the evidence base in this regard. He uses a range of data and methods to address these issues, and to better integrate them e.g. surveys, big data, lab studies, and field experiments. He is author of the Sunday Times best-selling book, Happiness by Design and the forthcoming The Narrative Trap, in which he talks about how the stories we tell about how we ought to live our lives harm us. David Willetts is the Executive Chair of the Resolution Foundation. He served as the Member of Parliament for Havant (1992-2015), as Minister for Universities and Science (2010-2014) and previously worked at HM Treasury and the No. 10 Policy Unit. Lord Willetts is a visiting Professor at King’s College London, a board member of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a Board member of Surrey Satellites and of the Biotech Growth Trust, Chair of the British Science Association, a Governor of the Ditchley Foundation and a member of the Council of the Institute for Fiscal Studies. He is a member of the Board of the Crick Institute and a Trustee of the Science Museum. He is an Honorary Fellow of Nuffield College Oxford. Lord Willetts has written widely on economic and social policy. His book The Pinch about fairness between the generations was published in 2010. His latest book A University Education is published by Oxford University Press. Julia Black is Pro Director for Research at LSE.

Speaker(s): Louise Doughty, Winnie M Li, Professor Nicola Lacey | How can literature reach audiences in ways that social science research about inequality can’t? How can narratives about fictional characters dramatise lived experiences of social inequality – and what are the ethical implications of creating these narratives for a mass readership? This event brings together two award-winning authors (one established, one emerging) whose fiction explores various forms of social inequality. Louise Doughty, author of eight novels, is best known for her bestselling Apple Tree Yard, which was adapted into a BBC TV series. Winnie M Li is a PhD student at LSE, whose debut novel Dark Chapter, recently won The Guardian’s Not The Booker Prize and is inspired by her own lived experience of rape. They will be discussing these questions wtih Bingchun Meng, whose work focuses on the representation of gender in media narratives, and Nicola Lacey, whose work focuses on feminist analysis of law, law and literature and biography. Louise Doughty (@DoughtyLouise) is the author of eight novels, most recently Black Water, which was published in 2016 to critical acclaim in the UK and US where it was nominated as one of the New York Times Notable Books of the Year. Her previous book was the Top Ten bestseller Apple Tree Yard, adapted for BBC One as a four-part series starring Emily Watson. Her sixth novel, Whatever You Love, was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award and longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction. She has also won awards for radio drama and short stories, along with publishing one work of non-fiction, A Novel in a Year, based on her popular newspaper column. She is a critic and cultural commentator for UK and international newspapers and broadcasts regularly for the BBC. Winnie M Li (@winniemli) is a PhD Researcher based in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE. Her research examines the uses of social media by rape survivors to narrate their experiences of sexual trauma – and how this online engagement can serve as a means of individual recovery and community-building. Before coming to LSE, Winnie worked for fifteen years in the creative industries in the US, the UK, Ireland, Qatar, and Singapore. Her debut novel Dark Chapter, inspired by her own experience of rape, was published worldwide in 2017. It was listed by Stylist Magazine as one of ‘10 Smashing Debut Novels of 2017’ and won The Guardian's Not The Booker Prize, decided in part by a public vote. It is currently nominated for the prestigious Edgar Awards in the US for Best First Novel. Nicola Lacey is School Professor of Law, Gender and Social Policy at LSE and an Associate Member of the International Inequalities Institute. She is an Honorary Fellow of New College Oxford and of University College Oxford; a Fellow of the British Academy; and a member of the Board of Trustees of the British Museum. In 2011 she was awarded the Hans Sigrist Prize by the University of Bern for outstanding scholarship on the function of the rule of law in late modern societies and in 2017 she was awarded a CBE for services to Law, Justice and Gender Politics. Her publications include Women, Crime and Character: From Moll Flanders to Tess of the d’Urbervilles (OUP 2008) and In Search of Criminal Responsibility (OUP 2016). Bingchun Meng is an Associate Professor and Deputy Head of Department in the Department for Media and Communications at LSE. She is also LSE’s Advisor to Female Students. Her research interests include gender and the media, political economy of media industries, communication governance, and comparative media studies. Her book The Politics of Chinese Media: Consensus and Contestation was recently published by Palgrave.

Speaker(s): Professor Nicholas Barr, Professor Howard Glennerster, Professor Sandra McNally, Dr Kitty Stewart, Professor Anne West | Ignorance, though one of the Giants, was barely mentioned in the Beveridge Report, but addressed by the 1944 Education Act and 1963 Robbins Report. This panel identifies gaps that have emerged and ways to fill them, focussing particularly on equality of opportunity. Kitty Stewart will discuss the importance of early education to children’s life chances, and consider how far current early years and childcare policy is well-designed to promote children’s development and to narrow gaps between children from different backgrounds. Anne West will focus on school-based education. She will outline how the school system has changed since the 1944 Education Act, particularly since the academies programme was introduced. She will highlight some of the concerns that have been raised regarding the governance and financing of academies and outline proposals as to how these might be addressed. Sandra McNally will address the state of further and technical education in England. She will look at the extent to which there are good opportunities within this type of education in England – and whether there is inequality of opportunity in who is able to access the more successful routes. The post-war assumption was that education should be tax-financed. As higher education expanded both Howard Glennerster and Nicholas Barr advocated income-contingent graduate contributions. They discuss two contrasting futures: A return to old style, mainly tax-financed higher education, with a neglect of early education and vocational education, and resource constraints affecting the size and/or quality of higher education; or a forward-looking approach based on: a holistic view of tertiary education; a universal endowment at 18; a well-designed income-contingent loan; flexible pathways through tertiary education; and greater emphasis on education spending earlier in the system. Nicholas Barr is Professor of Public Economics at LSE and the author of numerous books and articles including The Economics of the Welfare State (OUP, 5th edn, 2012), Financing Higher Education: Answers from the UK (with Iain Crawford) (Routledge 2005), and Reforming Pensions: Principles and Policy Choices (with Peter Diamond) (OUP, 2008). Howard Glennerster joined the Higher Education Research Unit at LSE in 1964 after working in the Labour Party Research Department. Sandra McNally is Director of the Centre for Vocational Education Research and Director of the Education and Skills Programme at the Centre for Economic Performance at LSE. She is also a professor of economics at University of Surrey. Her interests are in the economics of education. She works on evaluation of government policies, particularly in schools and in post-16 education. Kitty Stewart is Associate Professor of Social Policy at LSE, and Associate Director of LSE’s Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion. Anne West is Professor of Education Policy in the Department of Social Policy at LSE.

Speaker(s): Professor Matthew Jones, Dr David Motadel, Professor David Stevenson | Editor's note: We apologise for the poor audio quality of this podcast. Academics from the Department of International History at LSE will reassess the 1942 Beveridge Report in the light of German, American, and British planning for reconstruction after World War II. Matthew Jones is Professor of International History at LSE. He works on US foreign relations, British foreign policy, and nuclear history during the Cold War. David Motadel is Assistant Professor of International History at LSE. He works on the history of modern Europe and Europe's relations with the wider world. David Stevenson is Professor of International History at LSE. His research includes the continuities between the First World War and the Second. Megan Black is Assistant Professor of International History with research interests in the United States and the world, environmental history, and political economy. She completed doctoral work at George Washington University and a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University. Her current manuscript, The Global Interior: Mineral Frontiers and American Power, is forthcoming with Harvard University Press.

Speaker(s): Professor Nicholas Barr, Professor Howard Glennerster, Professor Sandra McNally, Dr Kitty Stewart, Professor Anne West | Ignorance, though one of the Giants, was barely mentioned in the Beveridge Report, but addressed by the 1944 Education Act and 1963 Robbins Report. This panel identifies gaps that have emerged and ways to fill them, focussing particularly on equality of opportunity. Kitty Stewart will discuss the importance of early education to children’s life chances, and consider how far current early years and childcare policy is well-designed to promote children’s development and to narrow gaps between children from different backgrounds. Anne West will focus on school-based education. She will outline how the school system has changed since the 1944 Education Act, particularly since the academies programme was introduced. She will highlight some of the concerns that have been raised regarding the governance and financing of academies and outline proposals as to how these might be addressed. Sandra McNally will address the state of further and technical education in England. She will look at the extent to which there are good opportunities within this type of education in England – and whether there is inequality of opportunity in who is able to access the more successful routes. The post-war assumption was that education should be tax-financed. As higher education expanded both Howard Glennerster and Nicholas Barr advocated income-contingent graduate contributions. They discuss two contrasting futures: A return to old style, mainly tax-financed higher education, with a neglect of early education and vocational education, and resource constraints affecting the size and/or quality of higher education; or a forward-looking approach based on: a holistic view of tertiary education; a universal endowment at 18; a well-designed income-contingent loan; flexible pathways through tertiary education; and greater emphasis on education spending earlier in the system. Nicholas Barr is Professor of Public Economics at LSE and the author of numerous books and articles including The Economics of the Welfare State (OUP, 5th edn, 2012), Financing Higher Education: Answers from the UK (with Iain Crawford) (Routledge 2005), and Reforming Pensions: Principles and Policy Choices (with Peter Diamond) (OUP, 2008). Howard Glennerster joined the Higher Education Research Unit at LSE in 1964 after working in the Labour Party Research Department. Sandra McNally is Director of the Centre for Vocational Education Research and Director of the Education and Skills Programme at the Centre for Economic Performance at LSE. She is also a professor of economics at University of Surrey. Her interests are in the economics of education. She works on evaluation of government policies, particularly in schools and in post-16 education. Kitty Stewart is Associate Professor of Social Policy at LSE, and Associate Director of LSE’s Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion. Anne West is Professor of Education Policy in the Department of Social Policy at LSE.

Speaker(s): Kathleen Henehan, Professor Nicola Lacey, Lord Wood | A distinguished panel discusses the most promising European welfare state reforms to combat Beveridge's social evils, presented in a video by European Institute students. Kathleen Henehan (@kathleenhenehan) joined the Resolution Foundation in 2017, working on post-16 skills and education, including apprenticeships, technical and higher education, and adult skills development. Prior to joining Resolution Foundation, Kathleen worked at Universities UK, where she focused on graduate employment outcomes and learning and teaching policy. She has a PhD in Political Science from LSE. Nicola Lacey is School Professor of Law, Gender and Social Policy at LSE and an Associate Member of the International Inequalities Institute. She is an Honorary Fellow of New College Oxford and of University College Oxford; a Fellow of the British Academy; and a member of the Board of Trustees of the British Museum. In 2011 she was awarded the Hans Sigrist Prize by the University of Bern for outstanding scholarship on the function of the rule of law in late modern societies and in 2017 she was awarded a CBE for services to Law, Justice and Gender Politics. Her publications include Women, Crime and Character: From Moll Flanders to Tess of the d’Urbervilles(OUP 2008) and In Search of Criminal Responsibility (OUP 2016). Stewart Wood, Baron Wood of Anfield (@StewartWood) is a Labour life peer in the House of Lords since 2011. He studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University and completed his PhD in Government as a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard University. He has taught Politics at Oxford University since 1995. He served as advisor to Gordon Brown from 2001 to 2010, first at the Treasury and then at 10 Downing Street. At no.10 he was senior special adviser to the Prime Minister on foreign policy; Northern Ireland; and culture, media and sports policy. He also served as advisor to Ed Miliband, the Labour party's leader, from 2010 to 2015. His research and writing focuses on contemporary political economy in Europe, German politics, American politics, and public policy issues around industrial policy and the future of the welfare state. Nicholas Barr is Professor of Public Economics at the European Institute and the Department of Economics at LSE. He is the author of numerous books and articles including The Economics of the Welfare State (OUP, 5th edn, 2012), Financing Higher Education: Answers from the UK (with Iain Crawford) (Routledge 2005), and Reforming Pensions: Principles and Policy Choices (with Peter Diamond) (OUP, 2008). Alongside his academic work is wide-ranging involvement in policy, including spells at the World Bank and IMF. He has been active in policy debates, particularly on pension reform and higher education finance, advising governments in the post-communist countries, and in the UK, Australia, Chile, China, Hungary, New Zealand and South Africa.

Speaker(s): Dr Tania Burchardt, Amy Feneck, Dr Sam Friedman, Dr Luna Glucksberg | The economic and political power of the richest in our society has dramatically increased since 1942. 75 years on since his report, the panel will discuss whether Beveridge’s concern with poverty now needs to be extended to include a concern with richness. Tania Burchardt is Director of the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) and an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Policy at LSE. Amy Feneck is an artist based in London. Her work spans photography, writing, moving image and participatory projects, including collaborating with artist Ruth Beale on The Alternative School of Economics – an artistic project investigating political, social and cultural issues. Sam Friedman (@SamFriedmanSoc) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at LSE. His research focuses on the cultural dimensions of contemporary class division. Luna Glucksberg (@luna_inequality) is an urban anthropologist based in LSE’s International Inequalities Institute, looking at socio-economic stratification in contemporary British society. Her current work focuses on the reproduction of wealth amongst elites in the UK, considering the roles of two key and so far under-researched actors: family offices and women. Mike Savage (@MikeSav47032563) is the Martin White Professor of Sociology at LSE and co-Director of the LSE’s International Inequalities Institute. His research focuses principally on social inequality, with a particular interest in social stratification and inequality. With an introduction from Katharina Hecht (@katharina_hecht), a PhD Researcher in the Department of Sociology at LSE. Her research focuses on perceptions of top incomes and wealth.

Speaker(s): Professor John Kay, Professor Philippe Van Parijs, Dr Malcolm Torry, Polly Toynbee | Discussion of a Basic Income – an unconditional, nonwithdrawable income for every individual (and sometimes called a Citizen’s Income, a Citizen’s Basic Income, or a Universal Basic Income) – is now a mainstream global social policy debate. This event will bring together key figures on different sides of that debate – Professor Philippe Van Parijs from the University of Louvain, and Professor John Kay of the University of Oxford – to debate the motion: ‘This house believes that if the Beveridge Report were being written today then it would have recommended a Basic Income’. Before they speak, Dr Malcolm Torry, a Visiting Senior Fellow at LSE, and Director of the Citizen’s Basic Income Trust, will briefly define a Basic Income; and at the end of the debate the Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee will offer her reflections on the event and on the wider debate about Basic Income. John Kay (@ProfJohnKay) is an economist whose career has spanned the academic world, business and finance, and public affairs. He has held chairs at the London Business School, the University of Oxford, and LSE, and is a Fellow of St John’s College, Oxford, where he began his academic career in 1970. Philippe Van Parijs (@pvpbrussels) is a special guest professor at the Universities of Louvain and Leuven, a Robert Schuman Fellow at the European University Institute and an associate member of Nuffield College, Oxford. Malcolm Torry (@Citizensincome) has been Director of the Citizen's Basic Income Trust since 2001 (and was Director before that between 1988 and 1992); he is a Visiting Senior Fellow in the Social Policy Department at LSE; and he is General Manager of BIEN, The Basic Income Earth Network. Polly Toynbee (@pollytoynbee) is a columnist for The Guardian. She was formerly BBC social affairs editor, columnist and associate editor of The Independent, co-editor of the Washington Monthly and a reporter and feature writer for The Observer. Enkeleida Tahiraj (@edatahiraj) is Senior Visiting Fellow at LSEE European Institute at LSE, researching rights based social policies and policy innovation. Her current research and teaching involves Universal Basic Income pilot projects. This event follows on from the Citizen's Basic Income Day at LSE, a day of discussions bringing together experts and speakers from pilot projects and experiements around the world.

Speaker(s): Salonie Hiriyur, Laura-Jane Silverman, Dhruv Washishth | Editor's note: We apologise for the poor audio quality of this podcast. For the younger generations considering their future career options, are the technological advances transforming the way we work something to be afraid of or excited by? And are they being sufficiently prepared for the future of work? Salonie Hiriyur started work as a journalist in India, but wanting to develop a sound theoretical basis in development studies, she moved to London to complete a Master's from the Gender Institute at LSE. She graduated in 2016 and from there moved to work at the ILO (Geneva) in research. As a research assistant, she worked on reports on women's employment, the informal economy, social protection programmes for informal workers. She is now looking at starting a PhD in Social Policy, analysing the effects of the emergence of online platforms on the domestic work sector in India. Laura-Jane Silverman is a Careers Consultant and heads up the entrepreneurial work that LSE Careers offers to students and alumni. Having graduated from the University of Cambridge, Laura-Jane worked in various industries including Television and Film and Recruitment before starting up her own careers consulting and recruitment business. She has worked with universities and business schools across Europe and worked with students who are working out their future career strategies. In 2011 she joined LSE and now manages LSE Generate, the entrepreneurial skills development programme here at LSE and is also on the steering committee for the new Work It Out initiative that helps students think about their values and priorities as they explore future job opportunities. Dhruv Washishth is the Co-Founder and CEO of Paradigm Shift, a silicon valley startup that utilizes Virtual Reality for education. He is pursuing his MSc in Management of Information Systems, Digital Innovation & Philosophy at LSE. He has been a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, London and in 2014, he was selected by the Government of UK as a global young entrepreneur. In the past, he also launched Angelhack's operations in India and used to manage the startup accelerator at TiE Bangalore. Megan Beddoe @MeganBeddoe is Activities and Development Officer at the LSE Students' Union.

Speaker(s): Professor Sam Fankhauser, Professor Fawaz Gerges, Professor Naila Kabeer, Professor Mary Kaldor, Professor Lord Layard | Beveridge's "Five Giants" remain central issues in discussions about the welfare state today, but there are also new challenges that have emerged since the 1940s. Which "Giant" issue would a modern day Beveridge prioritise? Having polled LSE students, staff and alumni for their suggestions as to Beveridge’s missing giants, the sixth giant will be selected from one of the following: Sustainability, Equity, Loneliness/Isolation, Security, Extremism. You decide. Vote on which of these giant issues should take its place alongside Beveridge’s giants. In this event, on the opening night of the LSE Festival, prominent LSE academics will put forward their pitch for the missing giants on the shortlist. Sam Fankhauser is Director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and Deputy Director of the ESRC-funded Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy, both at LSE. Fawaz A Gerges is Professor of International Relations at LSE, and holder of the Emirates Professorship in Contemporary Middle East Studies. Naila Kabeer is Professor of Gender and Development at the Department of Gender Studies and Department of International Development. Mary Kaldor is Professor of Global Governance and Director of the Conflict and Civil Society Research Unit in the LSE Department of International Development. Professor Kaldor also directs the unit’s largest research project, the Conflict Research Programme (CRP), an international DFID-funded partnership investigating public authority, through a theoretical lens of the political marketplace and the concept of civicness, across a range of countries in Africa and the Middle East. Richard Layard is Emeritus Professor of Economics and Director of the Wellbeing Programme at the Centre for Economic Performance, LSE, and a member of the House of Lords. Jennifer Jackson-Preece is an Associate Professor of Nationalism, with a joint appointment in both the European Institute and the Department of International Relations, LSE. She is Deputy Head of the European Institute.

Speaker(s): Professor Sam Fankhauser, Professor Fawaz Gerges, Professor Naila Kabeer, Professor Mary Kaldor, Professor Lord Layard | Beveridge's "Five Giants" remain central issues in discussions about the welfare state today, but there are also new challenges that have emerged since the 1940s. Which "Giant" issue would a modern day Beveridge prioritise? Having polled LSE students, staff and alumni for their suggestions as to Beveridge’s missing giants, the sixth giant will be selected from one of the following: Sustainability, Equity, Loneliness/Isolation, Security, Extremism. You decide. Vote on which of these giant issues should take its place alongside Beveridge’s giants. In this event, on the opening night of the LSE Festival, prominent LSE academics will put forward their pitch for the missing giants on the shortlist. Sam Fankhauser is Director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and Deputy Director of the ESRC-funded Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy, both at LSE. Fawaz A Gerges is Professor of International Relations at LSE, and holder of the Emirates Professorship in Contemporary Middle East Studies. Naila Kabeer is Professor of Gender and Development at the Department of Gender Studies and Department of International Development. Mary Kaldor is Professor of Global Governance and Director of the Conflict and Civil Society Research Unit in the LSE Department of International Development. Professor Kaldor also directs the unit’s largest research project, the Conflict Research Programme (CRP), an international DFID-funded partnership investigating public authority, through a theoretical lens of the political marketplace and the concept of civicness, across a range of countries in Africa and the Middle East. Richard Layard is Emeritus Professor of Economics and Director of the Wellbeing Programme at the Centre for Economic Performance, LSE, and a member of the House of Lords. Jennifer Jackson-Preece is an Associate Professor of Nationalism, with a joint appointment in both the European Institute and the Department of International Relations, LSE. She is Deputy Head of the European Institute.

Speaker(s): Professor Xenia Chryssochoou, Professor Peter Dwyer, David Goodhart, Celestin Okoroji | Editor's note: We apologise for the poor audio quality of this podcast. Central to the promise of the Beveridge Report is the assumption of social solidarity: we need a cohesive society to support social protection, and the resulting shared safety net should increase cohesion even further. Yet as the country and its welfare state evolved, so did the social bonds on which they depended. Given what we know about human behaviour and experience, what prospect is there for the level of solidarity needed to carry Beveridge’s vision into the twenty-first century? Bringing together policy and social psychology, this event will consider two challenges to welfare state solidarity. First, social policy expert Peter Dwyer and social psychologist Celestin Okoroji will present evidence from very different projects looking at the experiences of those receiving benefits in the context of greater demands for compliant behaviours and worsening stereotypes of the ‘welfare recipient’. Second, policy writer David Goodhart and social psychologist Xenia Chryssochoou will offer contrasting perspectives on whether greater diversity in the national population poses a challenge for the sense of collective solidarity needed to sustain the welfare state. This event will feature diverse research insights on thorny issues and will offer a chance for the audience to share their views on the debates at hand. Xenia Chryssochoou is Professor of Social and Political Psychology at Panteion University. Her research focuses on social psychological dimensions of identity in liberal societies, and in issues of multiculturalism and integration. Peter Dwyer (@ProfPeteDwyer) is Professor of Social Policy at the University of York. His research focuses on social citizenship, migration, and inclusion, and he directs the multi-site ESRC-funded project, Welfare Conditionality: Sanctions, Support and Behaviour Change. David Goodhart (@David_Goodhart) is Head of the Demography, Immigration and Integration Unit at the think tank Policy Exchange. He is the founder and former editor of Prospect magazine, and author of The British Dream: Successes and Failures of Post-War Immigration and The Road to Somewhere: The Populist Revolt and the Future of Politics, a Sunday Times bestseller. Celestin Okoroji is a PhD student at the LSE Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science. His research focuses on the ways in which ideas associated with stigmatised groups become a part of stigmatised group member’s self-concept, with a focus on the unemployed in Britain. Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington is Assistant Professor of Social Psychology at the LSE Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science. Her research focuses on the psychology of poverty and intergroup relations in the context of widening economic inequality.

Speaker(s): Professor Xenia Chryssochoou, Professor Peter Dwyer, David Goodhart, Celestin Okoroji | Editor's note: We apologise for the poor audio quality of this podcast. Central to the promise of the Beveridge Report is the assumption of social solidarity: we need a cohesive society to support social protection, and the resulting shared safety net should increase cohesion even further. Yet as the country and its welfare state evolved, so did the social bonds on which they depended. Given what we know about human behaviour and experience, what prospect is there for the level of solidarity needed to carry Beveridge’s vision into the twenty-first century? Bringing together policy and social psychology, this event will consider two challenges to welfare state solidarity. First, social policy expert Peter Dwyer and social psychologist Celestin Okoroji will present evidence from very different projects looking at the experiences of those receiving benefits in the context of greater demands for compliant behaviours and worsening stereotypes of the ‘welfare recipient’. Second, policy writer David Goodhart and social psychologist Xenia Chryssochoou will offer contrasting perspectives on whether greater diversity in the national population poses a challenge for the sense of collective solidarity needed to sustain the welfare state. This event will feature diverse research insights on thorny issues and will offer a chance for the audience to share their views on the debates at hand. Xenia Chryssochoou is Professor of Social and Political Psychology at Panteion University. Her research focuses on social psychological dimensions of identity in liberal societies, and in issues of multiculturalism and integration. Peter Dwyer (@ProfPeteDwyer) is Professor of Social Policy at the University of York. His research focuses on social citizenship, migration, and inclusion, and he directs the multi-site ESRC-funded project, Welfare Conditionality: Sanctions, Support and Behaviour Change. David Goodhart (@David_Goodhart) is Head of the Demography, Immigration and Integration Unit at the think tank Policy Exchange. He is the founder and former editor of Prospect magazine, and author of The British Dream: Successes and Failures of Post-War Immigration and The Road to Somewhere: The Populist Revolt and the Future of Politics, a Sunday Times bestseller. Celestin Okoroji is a PhD student at the LSE Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science. His research focuses on the ways in which ideas associated with stigmatised groups become a part of stigmatised group member’s self-concept, with a focus on the unemployed in Britain. Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington is Assistant Professor of Social Psychology at the LSE Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science. Her research focuses on the psychology of poverty and intergroup relations in the context of widening economic inequality.

Speaker(s): Nicholas Timmins, Professor Sir Julian Le Grand, Minouche Shafik | Five tools and massive programmes were adopted to tackle Beveridge's "Five Giants": A policy of full employment; a National Health Service; a massively extended system of education; a new housing programme; and a much modernised system of social security. But in the 75 years since they took effect, who have been the "Five Giant" ministers in each of these areas? In this opening event of the LSE Festival: Beveridge 2.0, Nicholas Timmins and Professor Sir Julian Le Grand debate who, among the many hundreds of politicians who have held office, really made a difference between then and now. Nicholas Timmins is the author of The Five Giants: A Biography of the Welfare State which tells its tale from Beveridge to the modern day, with a fully up-dated version published by William Collins in November 2017. He is a senior fellow at the Institute for Government and at the King's Fund, and has been a Visiting Professor in the Department of Social Policy at LSE and a Visiting Fellow at King's College, London, in Public Management. Before that he was a journalist, working for Nature, the Press Association, The Times, The Independent (of which he was a founder member) and the Financial Times, where, between 1996 and 2012 he was Public Policy Editor and commentator. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and between 2008 and 2011 was President of the Social Policy Association. Julian Le Grand held the Richard Titmuss Chair of Social Policy in the Department of Social Policy and is now Professor in the Marshall Institute. From 2003 to 2005 he was seconded to No. 10 Downing Street as a Senior Policy Adviser to the Prime Minister. He is the author, co-author or editor of over twenty books and has written more than one hundred articles and book chapters on economics, philosophy and public policy. He has chaired several government commissions and working groups, including most recently the Mutuals Task Force for the Cabinet Office, and the Panels reviewing Doncaster's and Birmingham's Children's Services for the Department for Education. He has acted as an adviser to the President of the European Commission, the World Bank, the World Health Organisation, and the OECD. In 2015 he was awarded a knighthood for services to social sciences and public service. Minouche Shafik is Director of LSE. Prior to this she was Deputy Governor of the Bank of England.

Speaker(s): Nicholas Timmins, Professor Sir Julian Le Grand, Minouche Shafik | Five tools and massive programmes were adopted to tackle Beveridge's "Five Giants": A policy of full employment; a National Health Service; a massively extended system of education; a new housing programme; and a much modernised system of social security. But in the 75 years since they took effect, who have been the "Five Giant" ministers in each of these areas? In this opening event of the LSE Festival: Beveridge 2.0, Nicholas Timmins and Professor Sir Julian Le Grand debate who, among the many hundreds of politicians who have held office, really made a difference between then and now. Nicholas Timmins is the author of The Five Giants: A Biography of the Welfare State which tells its tale from Beveridge to the modern day, with a fully up-dated version published by William Collins in November 2017. He is a senior fellow at the Institute for Government and at the King's Fund, and has been a Visiting Professor in the Department of Social Policy at LSE and a Visiting Fellow at King's College, London, in Public Management. Before that he was a journalist, working for Nature, the Press Association, The Times, The Independent (of which he was a founder member) and the Financial Times, where, between 1996 and 2012 he was Public Policy Editor and commentator. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and between 2008 and 2011 was President of the Social Policy Association. Julian Le Grand held the Richard Titmuss Chair of Social Policy in the Department of Social Policy and is now Professor in the Marshall Institute. From 2003 to 2005 he was seconded to No. 10 Downing Street as a Senior Policy Adviser to the Prime Minister. He is the author, co-author or editor of over twenty books and has written more than one hundred articles and book chapters on economics, philosophy and public policy. He has chaired several government commissions and working groups, including most recently the Mutuals Task Force for the Cabinet Office, and the Panels reviewing Doncaster's and Birmingham's Children's Services for the Department for Education. He has acted as an adviser to the President of the European Commission, the World Bank, the World Health Organisation, and the OECD. In 2015 he was awarded a knighthood for services to social sciences and public service. Minouche Shafik is Director of LSE. Prior to this she was Deputy Governor of the Bank of England.

Speaker(s): Kit de Waal, Paul McVeigh, Dr Aaron Reeves | In the run up to the LSE Festival: Beveridge 2.0, rethinking the welfare state for the 21st Century, we bring together a panel to discuss the relationship between literature and poverty. They reflect on questions such as: do you need money to access literature? If not, why are there comparatively few working-class writers? And can literature actively play a part in reducing financial hardship?

Speaker(s): Dr Tatiana Borisova, Professor Matthew Craven | This event will consider the relationship between Cold War International Law and the Beveridge moment. In particular, did the ideals of the Beveridge Report get translated into global legal idealism, or were they neutralised or depoliticized by international legal projects around human rights or co-existence? And did the Beveridge Moment in international law actually take place at the height of the Cold War in Bandung in 1955 with the establishment of the non-aligned movement (or still later with the New International Economic Order in the 1970s?). The Cold War and the Beveridge Report occupy similar moments in time (Beveridge issues his report in 1942 a few month after the Anglo-Americans devise their report on the future of world organisation in the 1941 Atlantic Charter, the Attlee Government announces the implementation of the Report as the early Cold war divisions are beginning to appear at Nuremberg and San Francisco; and the NHS is created in 1948 while the Soviets are succeeding in getting their first production reactor operating). This event brings together three world experts on international law during this post-war period to explore these topics. Tatiana Borisova will bring her knowledge of Russia and Europe at the time of the Cold War to the table. She has co-edited the 2012 publication, The Legal Dimension in Cold War Interactions: Some Notes from the Field. Matthew Craven is a leader of the Cold War and International Law Project. His work asks the question: is contemporary international law a product of the Cold War? He has also contributed to a wider debate about the future of the international legal and diplomatic order, as global divisions emerge that echo the ideological enmity and paranoia that pervaded the Cold War period. If you want to learn how International Law has developed in the post-war period, and particularly through the time of Beveridge and the Cold War, you must attend this talk. Tatiana Borisova is Associate Professor, Department of History, Higher School of Economics, St Petersburg. Matthew Craven is Director of the Centre for the Study of Colonialism, Empire and International Law, SOAS. Gerry Simpson is Professor of Public International Law, LSE Law. LSE Law (@lselaw) is an integral part of the School's mission, plays a major role in policy debates & in the education of lawyers and law teachers from around the world.

Speaker(s): Professor Ananya Roy | In cities around the world, especially in the United States, processes of socio-spatial restructuring continue to unfold. Often understood as neoliberal urbanism and often identified through concepts such as gentrification, these processes entail the displacement of subaltern classes to the far edges of urban life. In this talk, Ananya Roy argues that it is necessary to analyse such transformations through a theorisation of racial capitalism. In particular, she draws on research conducted by scholars and social movements in Los Angeles to delineate processes of racial banishment. In doing so, Roy argues that the standard conceptual repertoire of urban studies is ill-equipped to study such processes. In particular, influential explanations that invoke neoliberalisation often miss the long histories of dispossession and disposability that are being remade in the contemporary city. Put another way, she makes the case for how urban studies must contend with legacies of white liberalism and the elision of the race question. Relying on both postcolonial theory and the black radical tradition, Roy demonstrates that what is at stake is not only a more robust analysis of urbanism but also attention to the various forms of movement and mobilisation that are challenging racial banishment. Ananya Roy (@ananyaUCLA) is Professor of Urban Planning, Social Welfare and Geography and inaugural Director of the Institute on Inequality and Democracy at UCLA Luskin. She holds The Meyer and Renee Luskin Chair in Inequality and Democracy. Ricky Burdett (@BURDETTR) is Professor of Urban Studies at the LSE and Director of LSE Cities and the Urban Age Programme. He was curator of the Conflicts of an Urban Age exhibition at the 2016 International Architecture Biennale in Venice and contributed to the United Nations Habitat III conference on sustainable urbanisation in Quito. LSE Cities (@LSECities) is an international centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science that carries out research, graduate and executive education and outreach activities in London and abroad. Its mission is to study how people and cities interact in a rapidly urbanising world, focussing on how the design of cities impacts on society, culture and the environment.

Speaker(s): Professor Eileen Barker, Professor Conor Gearty | Thirty years after founding INFORM, the information network on religious movements, Eileen Barker argues that the sociology of religion still has an important role in “knowing the causes of things”. Abraham Lincoln is reputed to have remarked, “I don’t like that man; I must get to know him better”. Today the world is populated by religions that most of us do not like. Throughout most of the 20th century, there was a rumour that secularisation was a worldwide phenomenon; by the 21st century, however, diversification was emerging as a more prominent theme. But by then, many of the social sciences had abandoned the study of religion, being either blind to, or uninterested in, the ways in which religious, spiritual and fundamentally atheistic beliefs were affecting not only lives at the individual level, but also the political, economic and cultural institutions of society. This talk will argue, with a variety of illustrations, that the sociological study of religions is essential for a comprehensive understanding of our contemporary global society. It will maintain that we must get to know them better. In 1988, with the support of the Home Office and the mainstream Churches, Eileen Barker set up INFORM, an NGO affiliated to the Sociology Department at LSE which supplies information about alternative religions that is as objective and up-to-date as possible. A former governor of INFORM, Conor Gearty is a current member of INFORM's advisory panel. This event will celebrate Eileen's work over the past 30 years. As such, a celebratory drinks reception will follow the lecture. Eileen Barker is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at LSE with Special Reference to the Study of Religion. Conor Gearty @conorgearty is Professor of Human Rights Law at LSE. Nigel Dodd (@nigelbdodd) is Professor of Sociology, LSE. The Department of Sociology at LSE (@LSEsociology) was established in 1904 and remains committed to top quality teaching and leading research and scholarship today.

Speaker(s): Professor Michael Ignatieff | A new ‘populism’ is evident in a variety of countries. Experts and expertise are attacked as standing in the way of the popular will. Universities are under new pressures from populist politicians. How should these pressures be resisted? Born in Canada, educated at the University of Toronto and Harvard, Michael Ignatieff (@M_Ignatieff) is a university professor, writer and former politician. His major publications are The Needs of Strangers (1984), Scar Tissue (1992), Isaiah Berlin (1998), The Rights Revolution (2000), Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry (2001), The Lesser Evil: Political Ethics in an Age of Terror (2004), Fire and Ashes: Success and Failure in Politics (2013) and The Ordinary Virtues: Moral Order in a Divided World (2017). Between 2006 and 2011, he served as an MP in the Parliament of Canada and then as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition. He is a member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and holds eleven honorary degrees. Between 2012 and 2015 he served as Centennial Chair at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs in New York. Between 2014 and 2016 he was Edward R. Murrow Professor of the Practice of the Press, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is currently the Rector and President of Central European University in Budapest. Simon Glendinning (@lonanglo) is Professor of European Philosophy at the European Institute and the Director of the Forum for European Philosophy. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector.

Speaker(s): Stephen Armstrong, Alex Wheatle, Ros Taylor, Ros Wynne-Jones | In this event, aimed at school children aged 13-18, a panel of speakers discuss how we tell the truth about the people struggling to get by in modern Britain. Stephen Armstrong (@SArmstrong1984) is a journalist and author of The New Poverty. He writes extensively for the Sunday Times, the Daily Telegraph and the Guardian. He also appears occasionally on BBC Radio 4 and Radio 2. His other books include War PLC, The Super-Rich Shall Inherit the Earth and The Road to Wigan Pier Revisited. Born in 1963 to Jamaican parents living in Brixton, Alex Wheatle (@brixtonbard) spent most of his childhood in a Surrey children's home. He spent a short stint in prison following the Brixton uprising of 1981. Following his release from, he continued to write poems and lyrics and became known as the Brixton Bard. Alex's first novel, Brixton Rock, was published to critical acclaim in 1999; his books now feature widely on school reading lists. Alex is representing English PEN, and tours the country with his one-man show, Uprising. He was awarded an MBE in for services to literature in 2008. His first YA novels include Liccle Bit; Crongton Knights, which won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award 2016; and most recently Straight Outta Crongton. Ros Taylor (@rosamundmtaylor) is Research Manager at the Truth, Trust & Technology Commission in the Department of Media & Communications at LSE and Managing Editor of LSE Brexit. Ros Wynne-Jones (@roswynnejones) is a journalist and author. She writes the Real Britain column every Friday in the Daily Mirror campaigning against government cuts and standing up for ordinary people. She is author of the novel Something is Going to Fall Like Rain. She has spent the last year retracing George Orwell’s steps on the Road to Wigan Pier 80 Years On stopping in the places he did and talking to ordinary people about their lives as part of the Daily Mirror's Wigan Pier Project. The Orwell Youth Prize (@OrwellYouthPriz) is a registered charity which aims to inspire and support the next generation of politically engaged young writers. The OYP run workshops in schools, regional workshops, a writing prize and an annual Celebration Day. The writing prize for young people aged 13 – 18, is open now open for entries! Supported by LSE Library, which holds unique material relating to social, economic and political history and ideas. We welcome school visits and can tailor sessions for schools in areas of key stage 3 & 4 history and citizenship, areas of A level history and A level government & politics and sociology as well as supporting Extended Project Qualification (EPQ). More information and free online resources.

Speaker(s): Baroness Chakrabarti, Baroness Hale, Professor Nicola Lacey | On February 6th 1918, with the coming into force of the Representation of the People Act, women were by law first given the vote in this country. Even though this foundational right only applied to a restricted category of women initially, the dam had been breached and the universal franchise would soon follow. 100 years on, to the very day, LSE Law will be marking this constitutional watershed with speeches from Brenda Hale, Shami Chakrabarti, and Nicola Lacey. There will also be an opportunity to view key historic documents from the women’s library held by the LSE, followed by a drinks reception. This public lecture is the first in a series of LSE Law events taking place over 2018 and 2019 to mark the Centenary of the founding of the LSE Law department. Shami Chakrabarti was formerly director of the human rights group Liberty, and is now the Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales. She is a Visiting Professor at LSE Law. Brenda Hale is an English judge and is the current President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. She is the first woman to serve in the role, and she is one of only two women to have ever been appointed to the Supreme Court (alongside Lady Black). Nicola Lacey is School Professor of Law, Gender and Social Policy at LSE. Jeremy Horder is Head of the Law Department and Professor of Criminal Law at LSE. LSE Law (@lselaw) is an integral part of the School's mission, plays a major role in policy debates & in the education of lawyers and law teachers from around the world.

Speaker(s): Professor Francesca Klug | At the beginning of the year in which the UDHR’s 70 birthday will be commemorated around the globe, Francesca Klug asks: is the Declaration no longer relevant for our modern world or has its time finally come? Francesca Klug is a Visiting Professor at LSE Human Rights and former Director of the Human Rights Futures Project from 2001-2015 at the LSE Centre for the Study of Human Rights. Francesca was formerly a Senior Research Fellow at King's College Law School where she assisted the government in devising the model for incorporating the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law reflected in the Human Rights Act. Conor Gearty (@conorgearty) is Professor of Human Rights Law at LSE. LSE Human Rights (@LSEHumanRights) is a trans-disciplinary centre of excellence for international academic research, teaching and critical scholarship on human rights.

Speaker(s): Professor Cass Sunstein | How does new information about climate change impact our existing beliefs? Cass Sunstein identifies some surprising biases and findings. Cass Sunstein (@CassSunstein) is the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard Law School. From 2009 to 2012, he was Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Nicholas Stern (@lordstern1) is IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government at the LSE and has been Chair of the Grantham Research Institute since it was founded in 2008. The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (@GRI_LSE ) was established by the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2008 to create a world-leading centre for policy-relevant research and training on climate change and the environment, bringing together international expertise on economics, finance, geography, the environment, international development and political economy.

Speaker(s): Dr Clare Chambers, Sir Paul Coleridge, Peter Tatchell | Marriage is an odd mix of sex, religion, and politics. Our speakers ask what marriage is and whether there is there any distinctive moral value in it. Should the state promote it? Is it possible to have an ‘equal’ marriage, or is marriage fundamentally an oppressive institution? Should marriage be rejected in favour of civil partnerships, or something else, or perhaps nothing else? Clare Chambers is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Cambridge. Paul Coleridge is a former high court judge and Chairman, The Marriage Foundation. Peter Tatchell (@PeterTatchell) is an activist and Director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation. Sarah Fine (@DrSJFine) is Fellow, The Forum and Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, King’s College London. The Forum for European Philosophy (@ForumPhilosophy) is an educational charity that organises a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK.

Speaker(s): Professor Akwugo Emejulu | How might we transform the ways in which we think about ‘crisis’, ‘activism’ and 'solidarity'? Drawing on her new co-authored book, Minority Women and Austerity: Survival and Resistance in France and Britain, Akwugo Emejulu's talk will explore the asymmetrical impacts of austerity measures on women of colour and their strategies for resistance in Scotland, England and France. Akwugo Emejulu is Professor of Sociology, University of Warwick. Aisling Swaine is Assistant Professor of Gender and Security in LSE's Department for Gender Studies LSE’s Department of Gender Studies (@LSEGenderTweet) is the largest gender studies centre in Europe. With a global perspective, LSE Gender’s research and teaching intersects with other categories of analysis such as race, ethnicity, class and sexuality; because gender relations work in all spheres of life, interdisciplinarity is key to LSE Gender’s approach. The International Inequalities Institute at LSE (@LSEInequalities) brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead critical and cutting edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

Speaker(s): Professor Francesco Caselli, Lorenzo Codogno, Miriam Sorace | Italy will hold its next general election no later than spring 2018. What are the potential outcomes and likely implications for Italy and Europe? Francesco Caselli is Norman Sosnow Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, LSE. Lorenzo Codogno is Visiting Professor in Practice, European Institute, LSE. Miriam Sorace (@MiriamSorace) is LSE Fellow in EU Politics, European Institute, LSE. Sara Hagemann (@sarahagemann) is Associate Professor in European Politics at the LSE European Institue. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector.

Speaker(s): Michael La Cour | Michael La Cour will in this lecture discuss the role and responsibility of corporations in addressing the challenges of the food system, and how sustainability and health drives innovation. Michael La Cour (@MichaelIKEAFood) is Managing Director of IKEA Food Services AB. Richard Perkins is Associate Professor of Environmental Geography at LSE. The LSE Department of Geography & Environment (@LSEGeography) is a centre of international academic excellence in economic, urban and development geography, environmental social science and climate change.

Speaker(s): Professor Ricardo Hausmann | The difference between rich and poor countries is mostly explained by differences in “technology”. But what is technology and why does it not diffuse more quickly? This lecture will clarify the importance of collective know-how in technology diffusion and the importance of a sense of us in creating the needed cooperation to support the implementation of technology. Ricardo Hausmann (@ricardo_hausman) is Director of Harvard's Center for International Development and Professor of the Practice of Economic Development at the Kennedy School of Government. Previously, he served as the first Chief Economist of the Inter-American Development Bank (1994-2000), where he created the Research Department. He has served as Minister of Planning of Venezuela (1992-1993) and as a member of the Board of the Central Bank of Venezuela. He also served as Chair of the IMF-World Bank Development Committee. He was Professor of Economics at the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administracion (IESA) (1985-1991) in Caracas, where he founded the Center for Public Policy. His research interests include issues of growth, macroeconomic stability, international finance, and the social dimensions of development. He holds a PhD in economics from Cornell University. Riccardo Crescenzi (@crescenzi_r ) is a Professor of Economic Geography at LSE. The LSE Department of Geography & Environment (@LSEGeography) is a centre of international academic excellence in economic, urban and development geography, environmental social science and climate change.

Speaker(s): Professor Philippe Bourgois, Dr Jens Lerche, Dr Alpa Shah | Our panel examines how economic growth in India entrenches social difference of tribe, caste and class and has transformed identity-based discrimination into new forms of exploitation and oppression. Philippe Bourgois is Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles. Jens Lerche (@JensLerche) is Reader in Labour and Agrarian Studies, SOAS. Alpa Shah (@alpashah001) is Associate Professor (Reader), Department of Anthropology, LSE. Katy Gardner is Head of Department of Anthropology, LSE. LSE Anthropology (@LSEAnthropology) is world famous and world leading. We are ranked top Anthropology department in the Guardian League Tables 2018. The International Inequalities Institute at LSE (@LSEInequalities) brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead critical and cutting edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

Speaker(s): Shane Wall | Our planet’s pace of change is at lightning speed. How do we stay ahead of the curve to innovate, adapt, reinvent and engineer experiences for a future that promises to look vastly different from today? Join Shane Wall for a conversation about megatrends – major socio-economic, demographic and technological shifts occurring across the globe that will have a sustained, transformative impact on the world and humanity in the decades ahead. Shane Wall (@ShaneWallCTO) is HP Inc.’s Chief Technology Officer and Global Head of HP Labs. In this role, Shane drives the company’s technology vision and strategy, leads new business incubation and oversees the overall technical and innovation community. Before HP, Shane spent ten years at Intel. Based in Vancouver, Washington, Shane is a graduate of the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University and has a B.S., Computer Engineering from Oregon State University. He holds multiple patents in the image and compute area. Carsten Sørensen (@verbalpiercing) is Associate Professor (Reader) of Digital Innovation at LSE’s Department of Management. He studies the complex impact of digital platforms and infrastructures on organisational design, innovation processes, and work. The Department of Management (@LSEManagement) is a world-leading centre for research and education in business and management.

Speaker(s): Professor John Burnside,Professor Barbara Taylor,Professor James Warren | ‘Hell is other people’, noted Jean Paul Sartre—rather rudely, it might seem to an outside observer. But is the pursuit of philosophical understanding an inherently solitary pursuit by its nature? From Augustine to Kant, philosophy has cherished the image of the deep thinker immersed in solitudinous reflection. But how does solitude differ from loneliness? And in an age of increasing social atomization, can we think about our lonely condition in ways that might allow us to overcome it? We explore the idea of loneliness as an aesthetic and socio-political phenomena, as well as an existential question. John Burnside is Professor in Creative Writing, St Andrews University and a poet and novelist, winner of both the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and the Whitbread Poetry Award. Barbara Taylor is Professor of Humanities, Queen Mary, University of London. James Warren (@JIWarren) is Professor of Ancient Philosophy, University of Cambridge. Shahidha Bari (@ShahidhaBari ) is a Fellow at The Forum and Lecturer in Romanticism in the Department of English, Queen Mary, University of London. The Forum for European Philosophy (@ForumPhilosophy) is an educational charity that organises a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK.

Speaker(s): Dr Brian Klaas | Donald Trump isn't a despot. But he is increasingly acting like a despot's apprentice. An expert on authoritarianism, Brian Klaas is well placed to recognise the warning signs of tyranny. He argues forcefully that with every autocratic tactic or tweet, Trump further erodes democratic norms in the world's most powerful democracy. Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) is Fellow in Comparative Politics, Department of Government, LSE and author of The Despot's Apprentice: Donald Trump's Attack on Democracy. Jonathan Hopkin (@jrhopkin) is Associate Professor of Comparative Politics, Department of Government, LSE and author of Party Formation and Democratic Transition in Spain as well as numerous journal articles on democratic institutions and political economy in Europe. The Department of Government (@LSEGovernment) at LSE is one of the largest political science departments in the UK. Our activities cover a comprehensive range of approaches to the study of politics.

Speaker(s): Professor Lord Layard | To mark the publication of The Origins of Happiness Andrew Marr and Richard Layard discuss some of its key focal points: What makes people happy? Why should governments care about people's wellbeing? How would policy change if wellbeing was the main objective? Richard Layard is Director of the Wellbeing program at the Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. Andrew Marr (@AndrewMarr9) is the host of The Andrew Marr Show on BBC One and also hosts BBC Radio 4's Start the Week every Monday. He began his career in journalism on The Scotsman newspaper in 1981, later moving to London to become its political correspondent. He was part of the team which launched The Independent in 1986 and returned as its editor, after a stint at The Economist magazine. He was then a columnist for The Express and The Observer before making the move into television, as the BBC's Political Editor, in May 2000. The Centre for Economic Performance (@CEP_LSE) is an interdisciplinary research centre at the LSE Research Laboratory. It was established by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in 1990 and is now one of the leading economic research groups in Europe.

Speaker(s): Professor Thomas Shapiro, Zamila Bunglawala | In his latest book, Toxic Inequality, which he will discuss in this lecture, Thomas Shapiro examines a powerful and unprecedented convergence in the United States: historic and rising levels of wealth and income inequality in an era of stalled mobility, intersecting with a widening racial wealth gap, all against the backdrop of changing racial and ethnic demographics. Thomas Shapiro (@tmshapiro) is Director, Institute on Assets and Social Policy and Pokross Professor of Law and Social Policy, Brandeis University. Zamila Bunglawala is Deputy Director of Strategy and Insight, Race Disparity Unit, Cabinet Office. Lucinda Platt is Professor of Social Policy and Sociology in the LSE Department of Social Policy. This lecture is funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Read about the International Inequalities Institute’s partnership with JRF here. The Internatio.nal Inequalities Institute at LSE (@LSEInequalities) brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead critical and cutting edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

Speaker(s): Mary Robinson | Events such as hurricanes affecting Texas, Florida and Caribbean Islands, wild-fires raging in California and Portugal, and severe monsoon rains in South Asia, bring home the urgency of a people centered, climate justice approach. Mary Robinson is President of the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice and Chair of the Board of Trustees. She is a former President of Ireland (1990-1997) and a former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997-2002). Between March 2013 and August 2014 Mary Robinson was the UN Secretary-General Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region of Africa. From August 2014 – December 2015 she was the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Change. In May 2016 the UN Secretary-General appointed Mary Robinson as a Special Envoy on El Niño and Climate. Robin Archer is Director of the Ralph Miliband Programme at LSE. The Ralph Miliband Programme (@RMilibandLSE) is one of LSE's most prestigious lecture series and seeks to advance Ralph Miliband's spirit of free social inquiry.

Speaker(s): Liam Halligan, Dr Gerard Lyons | In their latest book Clean Brexit, which they will discuss at this event, Liam Halligan and Gerard Lyons offer a vision of how Britain, and the world, can make a great success of Brexit. If the negotiations go well, the UK could become an inspiration for voters elsewhere in Europe who have long demanded EU reform. Unashamedly optimistic about Britain’s future, they argue that leaving the EU provides an opportunity for the UK to re-invent its economy, while reclaiming our place as a premier global trading nation. Liam Halligan (@LiamHalligan) is a British economist, journalist and broadcaster. Gerard Lyons (@DrGerardLyons) is a leading UK and international economist and writer. Tony Travers is Director of the Institute of Public Affairs. This lecture is part of the LSE Programme on Brexit. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector. The Institute of Public Affairs (@LSEPubAffairs) is one of the world's leading centres of public policy. We aim to debate and address some of the major issues of our time, whether international or national, through our established teaching programmes, our research and our highly innovative public-engagement initiatives.

Speaker(s): Professor Helen Frowe, Issam Kourbaj, Vernon Rapley, Professor Eleanor Robson | From the recent destruction of Palmyra and the looting of the National Museum of Iraq, cultural artefacts are one of the many casualties of armed conflict. What exactly is cultural property and whose property is it? How should we weigh its value against other priorities during times of conflict? What risks should be taken to protect it, and who is responsible for rebuilding and restoring when the conflict is over? Our speakers discuss the political and ethical issues around culture in war zones. Helen Frowe is Professor of Practical Philosophy and Director of the Stockholm Centre for the Ethics of War and Peace, Stockholm University. Issam Kourbaj is Lector in Art, University of Cambridge and a Syrian artist. Vernon Rapley is Director of Cultural Heritage Protection and Security, Victoria & Albert Museum and Special Advisor for Cultural Protection Fund, The British Council. Eleanor Robson is Professor of Ancient Middle Eastern History and Director of the Nahrein Network, UCL. Sarah Fine is Fellow, The Forum and Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, King’s College London. The Forum for European Philosophy (@ForumPhilosophy) is an educational charity that organises a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK.

Speaker(s): Shri Suresh Prabhu, Y K Sinha | Editor's note: We regret to inform you that owing to a technical problem the last few minutes of the lecture are missing from the podcast Shri Suresh Prabhu, Minister for Commerce and Industry, Government of India will in this lecture discuss the importance of trade and investment in driving sustainable growth and inclusion. He will also reflect on the future of India-UK collaborations in a changing world. Prior to his current role Dr Prabhu (@sureshpprabhu) was Minister for Railways during November 2014 – September 2017. He is a Chartered Accountant and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India; has a Law degree; and is pursuing two PhD programs in climate change and economics, in Germany and in Mumbai. Minister Prabhu is visiting London for a meeting of the India-UK Joint Economic and Trade Committee. He has been strategically leading the agenda for the future of multilateral trade at the recent WTO talks in Buenos Aires and beyond. Y K Sinha is the High Commissioner of India to the UK. Nicholas Stern (@lordstern1) is IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government and Director of LSE India Observatory. The India Observatory (@LSE_IO), set up in 2006, is a Centre to develop and enhance research and programmes related to India's economy, politics and society. It is involved in public policy engagement in, and with, India and also works in collaboration with international partners for the generation and exchange of knowledge on India and its position in the world.

Speaker(s): Jeroen Dijsselbloem | In his lecture Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem will speak about the lessons learnt from the economic and financial crises, where we are now and about the challenges for the Eurozone in the future. Jeroen Dijsselbloem (@J_Dijsselbloem) is President of the Eurogroup and former Minister of Finance for the Netherlands. Kevin Featherstone is Head of the European Institute, LSE. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector.

Speaker(s): Dr Pablo Rodriguez | Innovation in most large companies these days is fairly incremental. There is nothing inherently wrong in this, as much of our progress as a society has resulted from such innovation. Over recent years, however, we are seeing a radical departure from incremental innovation. Instead, we look at organisations who intentionally set extremely ambitious innovation objectives, where incremental innovation cannot get the job done. The focus of this talk is to discuss the ways in which organisations mobilise resources to go after bold objectives which can move the needle: Moonshots. These are not incremental innovation activities, but instead multi-year missions that mobilise extensive scientific and technological resources to expand the horizons for both organizations and societies, and transform both in the process. From the original Apollo mission, the original IBM 360 mainframe computer, NASA, DARPA, Google X, or Telefonica´s new spinoff company — Alpha, more and more organizations are trying to inductively develop a coherent approach to creating and executing organisational moonshots. A major driving force to tackle Moonshots is the incredible advances in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence. It is widely believed that global human progress depends on the collection and analysis of data to fuel our increasingly digital world. There is tangible benefit including economic opportunity to be gained. But arguably most important, is data as a force for global and impactful social good and, here, the possibilities are endless. Pablo Rodriguez (@pabloryr) is the CEO of Alpha. Prior to Alpha, Pablo led Telefonica´s corporate research lab and incubator. He has worked in several Silicon Valley startups and corporations including Inktomi, Microsoft Research and Bell-Labs. His current interests are privacy and personal data, re-thinking the Internet ecosystem and network economics. He has co-founded the Data Transparency Lab, an NGO to drive data privacy and transparency. He is on the advisory board of Akamai, EPFL, and IMDEA Networks. He has worked with chef Ferran Adria (El Bulli) on computational gastronomy and with F.C. Barcelona applying data science to soccer. He received his Ph.D. from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. He is an IEEE Fellow and an ACM Fellow. Milan Vojnovic is Professor of Data Science with the Department of Statistics and the MSc in Data Science Programme Director. SEDS (@SEDS_LSE) is an interdisciplinary research unit established to foster the study of data science and new forms of data with a focus on its social, economic, and political aspects. SEDS aims to host, facilitate, and promote research in social and economic data science. SEDS is a collaboration between the Departments of Statistics, Methodology and Mathematics.

Speaker(s): Eimear McBride, Dr Kaye Mitchell | Is it possible to express the richness, variety, and depth of our inner experience, our thoughts and feelings? If so, what is the best way to do it? Should we turn to literature or to philosophy? And what can they teach each other about understanding, expressing, and performing the self? In this event, award-winning novelist Eimear McBride will discuss these questions with writer and academic Kaye Mitchell. Eimear McBride is an award-winning novelist, author of A Girl is a Half-formed Thing and The Lesser Bohemians. Kaye Mitchell is Senior Lecturer in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures, University of Manchester. Danielle Sands (@DanielleCSands) is a Lecturer in Comparative Literature and Culture at Royal Holloway, University of London and a Forum for European Philosophy Fellow. The Forum for European Philosophy (@ForumPhilosophy) is an educational charity that organises a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK.

Speaker(s): Professor Arne Westad | Arne Westad and Michael Cox discuss the truly global nature of the Cold War, with East and West demanding absolute allegiance around the world. For over forty years the demands of the Cold War shaped the lives of millions of people worldwide, with countries as remote from each other as Korea, Angola, and Cuba defined by the conflict. For many nations, the war was not 'cold' at all and the second half of the 20th century offered no reprieve from horrors of world war. This conversation is based on Professor Westad's new book, The Cold War: A World History. Arne Westad (@OAWestad) is the S.T. Lee Professor of US-Asia Relations at Harvard University. Michael Cox is Director of LSE IDEAS and Emeritus Professor of International Relations at LSE. LSE IDEAS (@lseideas) is LSE's foreign policy think tank. We connect academic knowledge of diplomacy and strategy with the people who use it.

Speaker(s): Professor Mike Savage, Dr Abigail McKnight, Dr Sam Friedman | We hope you’ve enjoyed listening to the autumn 2017 programme of LSE public events and that you’ll stay tuned for the exciting programme of events we have lined up for the new year. In the meantime we have a new podcast series that we think you might enjoy. LSE IQ is a monthly, thirty minute podcast, where we ask some of the smartest social scientists - and other experts - to answer intelligent questions about economics, politics or society. Recent episodes have tackled questions such as 'What's the secret to happiness?', 'Could social entrepreneurship be the answer to world poverty?' and, 'Is our prison system broken?'. To give you a taste of LSEIQ the latest episode, which asks 'Why is social mobility declining?', is available for you here in our public events podcast feed. To listen to other episodes and to subscribe, search for 'LSE IQ' in your favourite podcast app or visit http://lse.ac.uk/iq . We’d like to hear your opinion too so why not join the discussion on social media using the hashtag #LSEIQ and please also consider leaving a review on iTunes or the Apple podcast app.

Speaker(s): Brhmie Balaram, Jason Moyer-Lee | The gig economy is on the rise and with it worries about exploitation. Leading experts will analyse how to deal with the challenges and opportunities of new ways of working. Brhmie Balaram (@Brhmie) is a Senior Researcher in the RSA’s Economy, Enterprise and Manufacturing team. She leads the RSA’s research on the sharing economy. She was previously a researcher for the Independent Review of the Police Federation and for the influential RSA City Growth Commission. She has experience exploring issues of institutional reform, economic inequality and labour market disadvantage. Brhmie joined the RSA from the Institute of Public Policy Research and was formerly at The Work Foundation. Jason Moyer-Lee (@MoyerLee) is General Secretary, Independent Workers of Great Britain union. Robin Archer is Director of the Ralph Miliband Programme at LSE. The Ralph Miliband Programme (@RMilibandLSE) is one of LSE's most prestigious lecture series and seeks to advance Ralph Miliband's spirit of free social inquiry.

Speaker(s): David Gauke | Beveridge offered a radical response to the social and economic circumstances of his time in a country emerging from global depression and conflict. Yet today’s world would be unrecognisable to Beveridge: the past 75 years have seen significant social and economic changes that the welfare system has needed to accommodate. We now face further significant changes as we enter the fourth industrial revolution. Our welfare system will need to change to adapt to future circumstances. David Gauke (@DavidGauke) was appointed Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in June 2017. He was elected the Conservative MP for Hertfordshire South West in May 2005. David was a member of the Treasury Select Committee from February 2006 until he was appointed as a Shadow Minister for the Treasury in June 2007. He was appointed Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury in May 2010, and promoted to Financial Secretary to the Treasury in July 2014 where he served until July 2016. He served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from July 2016 to June 2017. After qualifying as a solicitor in 1997, David worked for a leading City firm before entering Parliament in 2005. Minouche Shafik is Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Prior to this she was Deputy Governor of the Bank of England.

Speaker(s): Yasmin Diamond | Yasmin Diamond reflects on her extensive career in corporate, government and public sector communications to discuss effective female leadership, what makes a good communicator and overcoming cultural differences in the workplace. Join her in conversation with Dr Hyun-Jung Lee. Yasmin Diamond is Executive Vice President of Global Corporate Affairs of InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG). Before joining IHG, Yasmin was Director of Communications at the Home Office. She has held numerous government positions including Director of Communications at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Head of Communications for Welfare to Work and New Deal and Head of Marketing at the Department for Education and Skills. Prior to government communications, Yasmin was Publicity Commissioner for the BBC. Hyun-Jung Lee is Assistant Professor of Employment Relations and Organisational Behaviour in LSE's Department of Management. Dr Lee’s research is focused on cross-cultural management, multicultural identity and HR issues in multinationals. The Department of Management (@LSEManagement) is a world-leading centre for research and education in business and management.

Speaker(s): Pierre Krähenbühl | Appointed by the UN Secretary-General in November 2013, Pierre Krähenbühl (@PKraehenbuehl) became UNRWA Commissioner-General on 30 March 2014. As Commissioner-General, he serves at the level of Under-Secretary-General. A Swiss national born in 1966, Mr. Krähenbühl has 25 years of experience in humanitarian, human rights and development work. Prior to joining UNRWA, he served as Director of Operations at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from July 2002 to January 2014, responsible for the conduct, management and supervision of 12,000 ICRC staff working in 80 countries. In this position, Mr. Krähenbühl directly oversaw the ICRC response to conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Colombia and Libya among others. He led senior-level negotiations with a range of governments, armed forces and other groups to secure access to conflict-affected populations. Chetan Bhatt (@ChetanBhatt1962) is Professor of Sociology and Director of LSE Human Rights. This event is LSE Human Rights' International Human Rights Day Lecture. LSE Human Rights (@LSEHumanRights) is a trans-disciplinary centre of excellence for international academic research, teaching and critical scholarship on human rights.

Speaker(s): Professor Tim Roughgarden | The fields of computer science and game theory both trace their roots to the first half of the 20th century, with the work of Turing, von Neumann, Nash, and others. Fast forwarding to the present, there are now many fruitful points of contact between these two fields. Game theory plays an important role in 21st-century computer science applications, ranging from social networks to routing in the Internet. The flow of ideas also travels in the other direction, with computer science offering a number of tools to reason about economic problems in novel ways. For example, computational complexity theory sheds new light on the “bounded rationality” of decision-makers. Approximation guarantees, originally developed to analyse fast heuristic algorithms, can be usefully applied to Nash equilibria. Computationally efficient algorithms are an essential ingredient to modern, large-scale auction designs. In this lecture, Tim Roughgarden will survey the key ideas behind these connections and their implications. Tim Roughgarden is a Professor in the Computer Science and (by courtesy) Management Science and Engineering Departments, Stanford University, as well as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Mathematics at LSE. Martin Anthony (@MartinHGAnthony) is Professor of Mathematics and Head of Department of Mathematics at LSE. The Department of Mathematics (@LSEMaths) is internationally recognised for its teaching and research in the fields of discrete mathematics, game theory, financial mathematics and operations research.

Speaker(s): Dr Gary L Darmstadt, Dr Jeni Klugman, Dr Anita Raj,Dr Frances Stewart | The Women, Peace and Security Index is the first global index bridging both women’s inclusion and access to justice, as well as security. Developed by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security and the Peace Research Institute of Oslo, the Index ranks 153 countries covering over 98 percent of the world’s population. Global indices such as this are a way to assess and compare progress against goals, by distilling an array of complex information into a single number and ranking. What is the potential in this new WPS index? Does it provide more than an opportunity to spotlight achievement and failure? Could it help identify routes to transformative change around a shared agenda for women’s inclusion, justice, and security? Gary L Darmstadt (@gdarmsta) is Associate Dean for Maternal and Child Health, and Professor of Neonatal and Developmental Pediatrics in the Department of Pediatrics at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Jeni Klugman is managing director at the Georgetown Institute for Women Peace and Security, and a fellow at the Kennedy School of Government’s Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard University. Anita Raj (@AnitaRajUCSD) is a Tata Chancellor Professor of Medicine and the Director of UC San Diego's Center on Gender Equity and Health in the Department of Medicine. She is also a Professor of Education Studies in the Division of Social Sciences. Frances Stewart (@Some0172) was Director of Oxford Department of International Development from 1993-2003 and Director of the Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity at the department between 2003 and 2010. Paul Kirby is Assistant Professorial Research Fellow in the Centre for Women, Peace and Security. The Centre for Women, Peace and Security (@LSE_WPS) is a leading academic space for scholars, practitioners, activists, policy-makers and students to develop strategies to promote justice, human rights and participation for women in conflict-affected situations around the world.

Speaker(s): Minouche Shafik, Professor Sir John Hills, Dr Waltraud Schelkle, Professor Richard Sennett, Professor Alex Voorhoeve | In November 1942, former LSE Director William Beveridge published a report that was to lay the foundation for Britain’s welfare state, caring for its citizens ‘from cradle to grave’. 75 years on, you are invited to join new LSE Director Dame Minouche Shafik, as she considers the future of social safety nets in a very different world economy. Minouche Shafik is Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Prior to this she was Deputy Governor of the Bank of England. John Hills is Richard Titmuss Professor of Social Policy at the London School of Economics and co-director of the LSE’s interdisciplinary International Inequalities Institute. He was director of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Exclusion from 1997 to 2016 and is currently Chair of CASE. His work has focused on inequality, the welfare state, and the role of social policy over the life course. Waltraud Schelkle is an Associate Professor of Political Economy at the European Institute and has been at LSE since autumn 2001, teaching courses on the political economy of European integration at MSc and PhD level. She is an Adjunct Professor of economics at the Economics Department of the Free University of Berlin. Dr Schelkle is also a (non-resident) Senior Fellow at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS), Johns Hopkins University, Washington D.C. and Chair of the Advisory Board of the Centre for Social Policy Research (Zentrum für Sozialpolitik) in Bremen. Richard Sennett (@richardsennett) writes about cities, labor, and culture. He teaches sociology at New York University and at the London School of Economics. Alex Voorhoeve is Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method at the LSE and part-time Visiting Professor of Ethics and Economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Shirley Pearce is currently Chair of Court and Council at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Beveridge 2.0 - Rethinking the Welfare State for the 21st Century The core theme of Beveridge 2.0 is to run throughout this academic year, informing how LSE shares its research and its societal impact. Engagement activities such as the LSE’s acclaimed public events programme, schools outreach work and LSE Festival will shine a light on the ‘Five Giants’ identified in the Beveridge report, re-cast for the 21st century and for the global context. Originally described as Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness, today’s giants are framed as the challenges of poverty; health and social care; education and skills; housing and urbanisation; and the future of work. LSE’s community is coming together for the LSE Festival (19 – 24 February 2018) to explore these themes as deeply as possible, and to consider the interconnectedness of the themes. Cross-cutting questions, such as the issues of rights and expectations of citizens with respect to welfare provision; questions of who decides, who provides and who pays for welfare provision; and sustainability – financial, environmental and social will be addressed, along with the identification of ‘missing Giants’ that a modern day Beveridge would prioritise instead.

Speaker(s): Dr Serena Ferente, Dr Carmen Pavel, Professor David Runciman | The Brexit debate saw a revival in talk of ‘sovereignty’. But what exactly is it, and why is it so highly prized? What are its essential features and what are its limits? In a globalized world, is sovereignty something modern states can achieve? We will explore this elusive concept, and ask whether it is still a useful concept in the twenty-first century. Serena Ferente is Senior Lecturer in Medieval European History, KCL. Carmen Pavel is Lecturer in International Politics, King’s College London. David Runciman is Professor of Politics, University of Cambridge. Sarah Fine (@DrSJFine) is a Fellow in The Forum and a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, King’s College London. The Forum for European Philosophy (@ForumPhilosophy) is an educational charity that organises a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK.

Speaker(s): Minouche Shafik, Professor Sir John Hills, Dr Waltraud Schelkle, Professor Richard Sennett, Professor Alex Voorhoeve | In November 1942, former LSE Director William Beveridge published a report that was to lay the foundation for Britain’s welfare state, caring for its citizens ‘from cradle to grave’. 75 years on, you are invited to join new LSE Director Dame Minouche Shafik, as she considers the future of social safety nets in a very different world economy. Minouche Shafik is Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Prior to this she was Deputy Governor of the Bank of England. John Hills is Richard Titmuss Professor of Social Policy at the London School of Economics and co-director of the LSE’s interdisciplinary International Inequalities Institute. He was director of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Exclusion from 1997 to 2016 and is currently Chair of CASE. His work has focused on inequality, the welfare state, and the role of social policy over the life course. Waltraud Schelkle is an Associate Professor of Political Economy at the European Institute and has been at LSE since autumn 2001, teaching courses on the political economy of European integration at MSc and PhD level. She is an Adjunct Professor of economics at the Economics Department of the Free University of Berlin. Dr Schelkle is also a (non-resident) Senior Fellow at the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS), Johns Hopkins University, Washington D.C. and Chair of the Advisory Board of the Centre for Social Policy Research (Zentrum für Sozialpolitik) in Bremen. Richard Sennett (@richardsennett) writes about cities, labor, and culture. He teaches sociology at New York University and at the London School of Economics. Alex Voorhoeve is Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method at the LSE and part-time Visiting Professor of Ethics and Economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Shirley Pearce is currently Chair of Court and Council at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Beveridge 2.0 - Rethinking the Welfare State for the 21st Century The core theme of Beveridge 2.0 is to run throughout this academic year, informing how LSE shares its research and its societal impact. Engagement activities such as the LSE’s acclaimed public events programme, schools outreach work and LSE Festival will shine a light on the ‘Five Giants’ identified in the Beveridge report, re-cast for the 21st century and for the global context. Originally described as Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness, today’s giants are framed as the challenges of poverty; health and social care; education and skills; housing and urbanisation; and the future of work. LSE’s community is coming together for the LSE Festival (19 – 24 February 2018) to explore these themes as deeply as possible, and to consider the interconnectedness of the themes. Cross-cutting questions, such as the issues of rights and expectations of citizens with respect to welfare provision; questions of who decides, who provides and who pays for welfare provision; and sustainability – financial, environmental and social will be addressed, along with the identification of ‘missing Giants’ that a modern day Beveridge would prioritise instead.

Speaker(s): Dr Tatiana Cutts, Professor Nigel Dodd, Dr Eva Micheler, Dr Philipp Paech | The socio-economic debate surrounding money has advanced since the early metallist days of John Locke. Money is no longer viewed as an homogenous, neutral thing; rather, theorists are wont to emphasise its pivotal role in shaping networks of social relations. Yet, in many respects, the legal analysis of money is playing catch-up, and the advent of distributed online ecosystems such as Bitcoin and Ethereum has pushed to the fore some difficult questions concerning the appropriate legal lens through which to view money, and monetary assets. If we are to produce robust answers, these questions must be explored with the benefit of interdisciplinary insight. In this conversation, law meets sociology in an attempt to lay the foundation for confronting some of these challenges. Tatiana Cutts (@TatianaCutts) is Assistant Professor of Law, LSE Law. Nigel Dodd (@nigelbdodd) is Professor of Sociology, LSE. Eva Micheler is Associate Professor in Law, LSE Law. Philipp Paech is Assistant Professor of Law, LSE Law. Jo Braithwaite is Associate Professor of Law at LSE Law. LSE Law (@lselaw) is an integral part of the School's mission, plays a major role in policy debates & in the education of lawyers and law teachers from around the world.

Speaker(s): Professor Joachim Blatter, Professor Erik O Eriksen, Professor Sieglinde Gstöhl | As the UK and the EU look ahead to their long-term relationship post-Brexit, what might the UK learn from the experiences of other European states that are outside the EU but have endeavoured to maintain close economic ties to it? What does life outside the EU offer? Is there a trade-off between market access and sovereignty? What are the implications for domestic politics and economics? This expert panel will probe beyond the rhetoric to outline the key issues. This lecture is part of the LSE Programme on Brexit and the Dahrendorf Forum a project of LSE IDEAS. Joachim Blatter is Professor of Political Science at the University of Lucerne. Erik O Eriksen is the Director of ARENA and Professor of Political Science, University of Oslo. Sieglinde Gstöhl is Director of the Department of EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies, College of Europe (Belgium). Kevin Featherstone is Head of the European Institute, LSE. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector. The Institute of Public Affairs (@LSEPubAffairs) is one of the world's leading centres of public policy. We aim to debate and address some of the major issues of our time, whether international or national, through our established teaching programmes, our research and our highly innovative public-engagement initiatives.

Speaker(s): Professor Walter Scheidel | Throughout history only violent shocks have significantly reduced economic inequality: war, revolution, plagues. Walter Scheidel considers the prospects of levelling in today’s more stable world. Walter Scheidel (@WalterScheidel) is Dickason Professor in the Humanities, Professor of Classics and History, and Kennedy-Grossman Fellow in Human Biology, Stanford University. Aaron Reeves is Associate Professorial Research Fellow in Poverty and Inequality, International Inequalities Institute, LSE. This lecture is funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Read about the International Inequalities Institute’s partnership with JRF here. The International Inequalities Institute at LSE (@LSEInequalities) brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead critical and cutting edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

Speaker(s): Kate Raworth, Professor Oriana Bandiera | Economics matters. Its theories are the mother tongue of public policy, the rationale for multi-billion-dollar investments, and the tools we use to tackle global poverty and manage our planetary home. Pity then – or more like disaster – that its fundamental ideas are centuries out of date, but still dominate decision-making for the future. Instead of criticising the past, this book takes the long view forwards, identifying seven insights to help the twenty-first-century economist bring humanity into the global sweet spot (shaped like a doughnut) that combines human prosperity with ecological sustainability. The Department of International Development is proud to be hosting Kate Raworth (@KateRaworth), Senior Visiting Research Associate at Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute and Senior Associate of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, as well as the author of Doughnut Economics, Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist. Kate will present her book that dares to take on the mainstream economics establishment with a radical rewrite of 200 years of theory. Using humour and metaphor, but always deeply grounded in the theory itself she offers a new model for a green, fair and thriving global economy. It promises that the economic future will be fascinating, but wildly unlike the past, if we equip ourselves with the mindset needed to take it on. Oriana Bandiera is Professor of Economics, LSE. Duncan Green (@fp2p) is Senior Strategic Advisor at Oxfam UK and Professor in Practice at LSE. He is the author of the From Poverty to Power blog and How Change Happens. The Department of International Development (@LSE_ID) promotes interdisciplinary post-graduate teaching and research on processes of social, political and economic development and change.

Speaker(s): Lady Kishwar Desai | The 70th year of Indian independence inevitably recalls Partition and the violent division that followed it. In a lecture that considers the lessons for other countries facing similar divisions, Kishwar Desai talks about establishing the Partition Museum in Amritsar, and considers whether partition and division are ever reparable. Lady Kishwar Desai (@kishwardesai) is an author and columnist and chair of the Arts and Cultural Heritage Trust, which is responsible for creating the Partition Museum, dedicated to the memory of the Partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947. Susheila Nasta MBE is currently Professor of Modern and Contemporary Literature at Queen Mary College, University of London and Emeritus Professor at the Open University. The Migration Museum Project (@MigrationUK) is working to establish the UK’s first national migration museum, telling the long story of migration into and out of this country and providing a forum in which to discuss the impact of migration on our national identity.

Speaker(s): Dr Cristobal Young, Ed Miliband MP, Dr Andrew Summers | If taxes rise, will they leave? In his new book, Cristobal Young publishes the findings from the first-ever large-scale study of migration of the world’s richest individuals, drawing on special access to over 45mil US tax returns, together with Forbes rich lists. He shows that contrary to popular opinion, although the rich have the resources and capacity to flee high-tax places, their actual migration is surprisingly limited. Place still matters, even in today’s globalised world. <brCristobal Young (@cristobalyoung5) is Assistant Professor of Sociology, Stanford University. <brEd Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) is the Member of Parliament for Doncaster North and was leader of the Labour Party from 2010-2015. <brAndrew Summers (@summers_ad) is Assistant Professor of Law, LSE. His teaching and research specialises in the taxation of wealth. <brNicola Lacey is School Professor of Law, Gender and Social Policy, LSE. <brThe International Inequalities Institute at LSE (@LSEInequalities) brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead critical and cutting edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges. <brLSE Law (@lselaw) is an integral part of the School's mission, plays a major role in policy debates & in the education of lawyers and law teachers from around the world.

Speaker(s): Eric Ries | Discover how to kick-start innovation and deliver sustained growth, even in highly uncertain environments. Join entrepreneur Eric Ries in conversation with Dr Lourdes Sosa as he discusses his new book The Startup Way. Drawing on his experiences of working with iconic organisations following the release of his international bestseller The Lean Start Up, Ries offers a new framework for entrepreneurial management, showing how the startup ethos can breathe new life into companies of all sizes. Eric Ries (@ericries) is an entrepreneur and author of the international bestseller The Lean Startup. He has founded a number of startups including IMVU, where he served as CTO, and is the founder and current CEO of the Long-Term Stock Exchange. Ries has also advised on business and product strategy for startups, venture capital firms, and large companies, including General Electric, where he partnered to create the FastWorks programme. He has served as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Harvard Business School, IDEO, and Pivotal. Lourdes Sosa is Associate Professor in LSE’s Department of Management. She researches technological discontinuities, a pervasive phenomenon in which a radical change in technologies disrupts a market. Prior to academia, Dr Sosa worked in R&D management at General Electric and General Motors. The Department of Management (@LSEManagement) is a globally diverse academic community at the heart of the LSE, taking a unique interdisciplinary, academically in-depth approach to the study of management and organisations.

Speaker(s): Professor Michael Mastanduno, Minouche Shafik | The post-Cold War US-China “grand bargain” in economics and security is now unravelling, and faces new uncertainty in the era of Trump. Michael Mastanduno is Nelson A Rockefeller Professor of Government, Dartmouth College and the inaugural Susan Strange Professor of International Relations at LSE. Minouche Shafik is Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Prior to this she was Deputy Governor of the Bank of England. Peter Trubowitz (@ptrubowitz) is Head of Department and Director of the US Centre at LSE. The Department of International Relations (@LSEIRDept) is now in its 90th year, making it one of the oldest and largest in the world.

Speaker(s): Professor Riccardo Crescenzi, Martin Sandbu | The process of technological development constantly opens windows of opportunity for new innovation centres to emerge around the world. What makes it possible for some cities and regions to join the exclusive ‘world innovation club’? Why are other places persistently excluded or lose their membership? Scholarly and policy debates attempt to identify factors at the national, regional or city level to ‘ignite’ innovation and boost productivity and employment in stagnating areas of the world. Our understanding is more limited of the transformative power of the flows of capital, skills and knowledge bundled into increasingly complex value chains, often controlled by multinational firms. This inaugural lecture by Riccardo Crescenzi will discuss the conceptual foundations and new empirical evidence from across the globe on the link between internationalisation, multinational firms’ strategies and local innovation and prosperity. The lecture will first discuss how multinationals decide where to locate different types of foreign activities along the value chain and how this process leads to ‘matching’ between firms and host regions. The second part will look at the consequences of these decisions and strategies for world cities and regions, drawing upon examples from Europe, the United States, China, India, Russia and Latin America. The final part will address the role of public policies and discuss how mayors, regional governors and national governments can effectively leverage global investment flows and value chains for innovation and recovery after the Great Recession. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union Horizon 2020 Programme H2020/2014-2020) (Grant Agreement n 639633-MASSIVE-ERC-2014-STG). Riccardo Crescenzi (@crescenzi_r ) is a Professor of Economic Geography at LSE. Martin Sandbu (@MESandbu) is an economics commentator at the Financial Times. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose (@rodriguez_pose) is a Professor of Economic Geography at LSE. The LSE Department of Geography & Environment (@LSEGeography) is a centre of international academic excellence in economic, urban and development geography, environmental social science and climate change.

Speaker(s): Professor Riccardo Crescenzi, Martin Sandbu | The process of technological development constantly opens windows of opportunity for new innovation centres to emerge around the world. What makes it possible for some cities and regions to join the exclusive ‘world innovation club’? Why are other places persistently excluded or lose their membership? Scholarly and policy debates attempt to identify factors at the national, regional or city level to ‘ignite’ innovation and boost productivity and employment in stagnating areas of the world. Our understanding is more limited of the transformative power of the flows of capital, skills and knowledge bundled into increasingly complex value chains, often controlled by multinational firms. This inaugural lecture by Riccardo Crescenzi will discuss the conceptual foundations and new empirical evidence from across the globe on the link between internationalisation, multinational firms’ strategies and local innovation and prosperity. The lecture will first discuss how multinationals decide where to locate different types of foreign activities along the value chain and how this process leads to ‘matching’ between firms and host regions. The second part will look at the consequences of these decisions and strategies for world cities and regions, drawing upon examples from Europe, the United States, China, India, Russia and Latin America. The final part will address the role of public policies and discuss how mayors, regional governors and national governments can effectively leverage global investment flows and value chains for innovation and recovery after the Great Recession. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union Horizon 2020 Programme H2020/2014-2020) (Grant Agreement n 639633-MASSIVE-ERC-2014-STG). Riccardo Crescenzi (@crescenzi_r ) is a Professor of Economic Geography at LSE. Martin Sandbu (@MESandbu) is an economics commentator at the Financial Times. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose (@rodriguez_pose) is a Professor of Economic Geography at LSE. The LSE Department of Geography & Environment (@LSEGeography) is a centre of international academic excellence in economic, urban and development geography, environmental social science and climate change.

Speaker(s): Professor Partha Dasgupta | Contemporary economics is mostly unconcerned with distortions to individual incentives that lead to population and consumption overshoots. Currently the overshoot would appear to be in consumption in the rich world and fertility in the poor world. In this lecture Professor Dasgupta will trace those distortions to an absence of adequate property rights to the biosphere and to the fact that human preferences are socially embedded. Those distortions also encourage technological advancements to be rapacious in the use of Nature’s resources, thus exacerbating the problems. Using global assessments of the biosphere’s capacity to provide humanity with the demands we make of it, he will provide crude estimates of the size of the global population that Earth can support in comfort under foreseeable technologies and institutions. Partha Dasgupta, was born in Dhaka (at that time in India) and educated in Varanasi (Matriculation 1958 from Rajghat Besant School), Delhi (B.Sc. Hons, in Physics, 1962, University of Delhi), and Cambridge (B.A. Hons. in Mathematics, 1965, and Ph.D. in Economics, 1968). He is Frank Ramsey Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Cambridge, Fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge, and Professorial Research Fellow at the Sustainable Consumption Institute, University of Manchester. He taught at the London School of Economics during 1971-1984 and moved to the University of Cambridge in 1985 as Professor of Economics, where he served as Chairman of the Faculty of Economics in 1997-2001. Sam Fankhauser is Director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Deputy Director of the ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy. The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment(@GRI_LSE ) was established by the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2008 to create a world-leading centre for policy-relevant research and training on climate change and the environment, bringing together international expertise on economics, finance, geography, the environment, international development and political economy.

Speaker(s): Dr Muhammad Yunus | The capitalist system, in its current form, is broken. In this lecture, Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist Dr Muhammad Yunus outlines his radical economic vision for fixing it, as explored in his new book A World of Three Zeroes. Muhammad Yunus (@Yunus_Centre) is the economist who invented microcredit, founded Grameen Bank, and earned a Nobel Peace Prize for his work towards alleviating poverty. He was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science (Economics) by LSE in November 2011. Minouche Shafik is Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Prior to this she was Deputy Governor of the Bank of England. The Department of Economics at LSE (@LSEEcon) is one of the largest economics departments in the world. Its size ensures that all areas of economics are strongly represented in both research and teaching. The Centre For Macroeconomics (@CFMUK) brings together world-class experts to carry out pioneering research on the global economic crisis and to help design policies that alleviate it.

Speaker(s): Dr Brian Epstein, Dr Thomas Pradeu | The Lakatos Award is given for an outstanding contribution to the philosophy of science, widely interpreted, in the form of a book published in English during the previous five years. The 2015 award winner Dr Pradeu will speak on Why Philosophy in Science? Re-Visiting Immunology and Biological Individuality and the 2016 award winner Dr Epstein on Rebuilding the Foundations of the Social Sciences. Brian Epstein is an associate professor of Philosophy at Tufts University. Thomas Pradeu is Research Director in Philosophy of Science, CNRS Immunology Unit and University of Bordeaux.

Speaker(s): Dr Brian Epstein, Dr Thomas Pradeu | The Lakatos Award is given for an outstanding contribution to the philosophy of science, widely interpreted, in the form of a book published in English during the previous five years. The 2015 award winner Dr Pradeu will speak on Why Philosophy in Science? Re-Visiting Immunology and Biological Individuality and the 2016 award winner Dr Epstein on Rebuilding the Foundations of the Social Sciences. Brian Epstein is an associate professor of Philosophy at Tufts University. Thomas Pradeu is Research Director in Philosophy of Science, CNRS Immunology Unit and University of Bordeaux.

Speaker(s): Dr Brian Epstein, Dr Thomas Pradeu | The Lakatos Award is given for an outstanding contribution to the philosophy of science, widely interpreted, in the form of a book published in English during the previous five years. The 2015 award winner Dr Pradeu will speak on Why Philosophy in Science? Re-Visiting Immunology and Biological Individuality and the 2016 award winner Dr Epstein on Rebuilding the Foundations of the Social Sciences. Brian Epstein is an associate professor of Philosophy at Tufts University. Thomas Pradeu is Research Director in Philosophy of Science, CNRS Immunology Unit and University of Bordeaux.

Speaker(s): Victoria Dutchman-Smith, Emmy Eklundh, Professor Matthew Ratcliffe | At the intersection of the personal and the political, we explore the relationship between mental health and economics, politics, and society at large. Is it even possible to distinguish between mental illness that derives from an individual’s physiology or childhood experience and that which has broader social or political causes? Why do particular mental illnesses appear to characterize certain eras? Could social change limit the spread of mental illness in contemporary society? Victoria Dutchman-Smith (@glosswitch) is a journalist and commentator. Emmy Eklundh is a Teaching Fellow in Spanish and International Politics, King’s College London. Matthew Ratcliffe is Professor for Theoretical Philosophy, University of Vienna. Danielle Sands (@DanielleCSands) is a Lecturer in Comparative Literature and Culture at Royal Holloway, University of London and a Forum for European Philosophy Fellow. The Forum for European Philosophy (@ForumPhilosophy) is an educational charity that organises a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK.

Speaker(s): Dr John Collins, Misha Glenny, Dr Sasha Jesperson, Tuesday Reitano, Dr Anja Shortland | From the 70 year old "War on Drugs", to the more recent "War on Human Smuggling", politicians use militarised responses to look decisive on crime. The deployment of armies, navies, military assets and militarised approaches can send a powerful message, but have produced mixed results. This debate, co hosted between the LSE US Centre and the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime will discuss four different areas of criminality – wildlife crime, piracy, human smuggling and drug trafficking – to see how effective a militarised response can really be, and what might be lost as collateral damage. The International Drug Policy Unit (IDPU) is a cross-regional and multidisciplinary project, designed to establish a global centre for excellence in the study of international drug policy. John Collins (@JCollinsIDPU) is Executive Director of the International Drug Policy Unit and Fellow of the LSE US Centre. Misha Glenny (@MishaGlenny) is an investigative journalist and author of McMafia. Sasha Jesperson (@SashaJesperson) is Director, Centre for the Study of Modern Slavery, St Mary's University Twickenham. Tuesday Reitano (@Tuesdayjaded) is Deputy Director, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime. Anja Shortland is Reader in Political Economy, King's College London. Michael Cox is Director of LSE IDEAS and Emeritus Professor of International Relations at LSE.

Speaker(s): Jane Connors, Professor Aoife O’Donoghue, Rosalyn Park, Navanethem Pillay | The United Nations has developed a strong focus on gender balance and gender sensitivity throughout all of its work. Yet the UN itself has significant problems in relation to gender within its Secretariat, Funds, Programmes and Agencies. Despite the UN Charter arguably setting out legal obligations to ensure gender parity within the UN and initiatives aimed at addressing the lack of gender parity, there have been few concrete changes to the lack of gender parity at senior levels. That impacts on the UN’s work, and on its legitimacy and credibility. This panel discussion will focus on why the UN remains deeply unequal in relation to gender, and suggest methods for addressing this issue. The event is part of the AHRC-funded UN Gender Network, which brings together academics, civil society, member states and UN staff to achieve a deep understanding of the causes and impact of gender inequality within the UN and the impact this has on its global leadership and work. Jane Connors is the inaugural Victims’ Rights Advocate for the United Nations and Assistant Secretary-General and Visiting Professor in Practice at the Centre for Women, Peace and Security. Prior to that she was the International Advocacy Director (Law and Policy) of Amnesty International, based in Geneva. Aoife O’Donoghue is a professor at Durham Law School. Rosalyn Park is Director, Women's Human Rights Program, The Advocates for Human Rights. Navanethem Pillay served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014. Christine Chinkin is Director of the Centre for Women, Peace and Security. The Centre for Women, Peace and Security (@LSE_WPS) is a leading academic space for scholars, practitioners, activists, policy-makers and students to develop strategies to promote justice, human rights and participation for women in conflict-affected situations around the world.

Speaker(s): Robert Peston | To celebrate the release of his new book WTF: What the F--- Happened and What Happens Next? Robert Peston will be helping us make sense of the significant events which are changing our lives. It has never been a scarier time and never has there been more uncertainty in every arena of public life. Peston will go through it all, answering the questions everyone is asking around their breakfast tables. He will explain what happened, how it happened and where we might be going. Peston will be in conversation with LSE Director Minouche Shafik. Robert Peston (@Peston) is ITV's political editor, presenter of the politics show Peston on Sunday and founder of the education charity, Speakers for Schools. He has written three books, How Do We Fix This Mess?, Who Runs Britain?, and Brown's Britain. For a decade until the end of 2015, he was at the BBC, as economics editor and business editor. Previously he was City editor at the Sunday Telegraph, political editor and financial editor at the FT, a columnist for the New Statesman, and at the Independent in various roles. Peston has won more than 30 awards for his journalism, including Journalist of the Year from the Royal Television Society. His blog is itv.com/robertpeston. Minouche Shafik is Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Prior to this she was Deputy Governor of the Bank of England. The Institute of Public Affairs (@LSEPubAffairs) is one of the world's leading centres of public policy. We aim to debate and address some of the major issues of our time, whether international or national, through our established teaching programmes, our research and our highly innovative public-engagement initiatives.

Speaker(s): Professor Sara Hobolt, Philippe Legrain, John Rentoul | What will a Brexit deal look like? How does the British public view controversies over budget, jurisdiction and immigration? What are the risks of a breakdown of the Brexit negotiations? To address these questions, our panel of leading experts will look at the negotiation stance of the British government and the EU, and present new evidence on British public attitudes towards Brexit. Sara Hobolt (@sarahobolt) is Sutherland Chair in European Institutions at the European Institute, LSE. Philippe Legrain (@plegrain) is former advisor to the European Commission President and Visiting Senior Fellow at the LSE European Institute. John Rentoul (@JohnRentoul) is Chief Political Commentator for The Independent and visiting professor at King's College London. James Tilley is Professor of Politics and Fellow of Jesus College at the University of Oxford. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector.

Speaker(s): Darren Walker | Philanthropic organisations play a key role in challenging the causes, effects, and consequences of inequality, funding projects that aim to directly and indirectly reduce the inequality gap. However questions have been raised about the approach, direction and priorities of such wealthy organisations when funding projects to tackle inequality, and the effect of these projects on the beneficiaries and the economy as a whole. The Ford Foundation has identified inequality as the central issue of our time. Darren Walker, President of Ford Foundation, will discuss the work and focus of the Ford Foundation, and the greater role of Philanthropy in reducing inequality. Darren Walker (@darrenwalker) is President of the Ford Foundation, the US’s second largest philanthropy. Prior to joining Ford, he was Vice President at the Rockefeller Foundation. Julia Black is Pro Director for Research at LSE. The International Inequalities Institute at LSE (@LSEInequalities) brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead critical and cutting edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

Speaker(s): Rolf Dobelli | Editor's note: At time code 11:00 please note ‘about 1400 years old’ should state ‘about 2400 years old’ and research discussed between time codes 34:16 - 37:30 should be attributed to Matthew Syed. Rolf Dobelli, the bestselling author of The Art of Thinking Clearly returns to the UK to discuss his new book The Art of the Good Life. Join us for a talk in which Rolf will provide some surprising and indispensable mental shortcuts for better decision-making in life, work and business. Rolf Dobelli (@dobelli) is a Swiss writer, novelist and entrepreneur. He has an MBA and a PhD in economic philosophy from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and is a co-founder of getAbstract, the world's leading provider of book summaries. Helena Vieira (@helenavieira1) is LSE Business Review’s managing editor. LSE Business Review (@LSEforBusiness) is a blog that promotes the dialogue between researchers and society on topics related to business and economics.

Speaker(s): Frances O'Grady | While the general election result left the Prime Minister significantly weakened, publically the government has stuck to its Brexit negotiating red lines set out in her Lancaster House speech. As the clock ticks on talks, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady argues that it’s time for the government to level with the British public on the realistic trades and compromises that will be needed to reach a new deal with the EU. The TUC is lobbying hard on both sides of the table for a Brexit deal that prioritises jobs, investment, living standards, rights and public services. With the rate of net migration falling but no sign of a wages recovery and growing public alarm about spreading insecurity at work, the government should rethink its negotiating strategy and style. A Brexit deal that’s best for workers will be best for Britain too. This lecture is part of the LSE Programme on Brexit. Frances O’Grady (@FrancesOGrady) is the General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) since 2013. She has been an active trade unionist and campaigner all her working life. She has been employed in a range of jobs from shop work to the voluntary sector. Tony Travers is Director of LSE London, a research centre at LSE. He is also a Visiting Professor in the LSE’s Government Department. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector. The Institute of Public Affairs (@LSEPubAffairs) is one of the world's leading centres of public policy. We aim to debate and address some of the major issues of our time, whether international or national, through our established teaching programmes, our research and our highly innovative public-engagement initiatives.

Speaker(s): Ahmad Al-Rashid, Dr Phillip Cole, Professor Elspeth Guild | Some people crossing borders are called refugees while others are not. But who is a refugee? What precisely is the relationship between migration and seeking refuge? Can we justify the distinction between refugees, migrants, and displaced people? Our panel discuss whether current legal definitions are in need of modification, and if so, what should be altered and why. Ahmad Al-Rashid is an author; Syrian campaigner and Violence, Conflict and Development Postgraduate, SOAS. Phillip Cole is a Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, University of West England, Bristol. Elspeth Guild is Jean Monnet Professor ad personam, Queen Mary, University of London. Sarah Fine is a Fellow at The Forum and a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, King’s College London. The Forum for European Philosophy (@ForumPhilosophy) is an educational charity that organises a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK.

Speaker(s): Dr Tobias Adrian | Editor's note: We apologise for the poor audio quality of this podcast. Financial instability can put growth at risk. How should global financial stability issues been analyzed? What is the IMF’s current assessment of global financial stability? During his lecture, Tobias Adrian will discuss the main features of a framework to assess global financial stability in a comprehensive and consistent way. He will also present the analysis of the October 2017 Global Financial Stability Report, which identifies sources of financial instability and the policies to mitigate risks to growth. The report focuses on the interplay between financial and macroeconomic developments, and assesses the degree to which these interactions pose risks that could threaten economic growth. Tobias Adrian, an LSE alumnus, is the Financial Counsellor and Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In this capacity, he leads the IMF’s work on financial sector surveillance, monetary and macroprudential policies, financial regulation, debt management, and capital markets. He also oversees capacity building activities in IMF member countries, particularly with regard to the supervision and regulation of financial systems, central banking, monetary and exchange rate regimes, and asset and liability management. Prior to joining the IMF, Dr Adrian was a Senior Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Associate Director of the Research and Statistics Group. Dr Adrian taught at Princeton University and New York University and has published extensively in economics and finance journals, including the American Economic Review, Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, and Review of Financial Studies. His research spans asset pricing, financial institutions, monetary policy, and financial stability, with a focus on aggregate consequences of capital markets developments. Wouter den Haan is Co-director for the Centre for Macroeconomics and Professor of Economics at LSE. The Department of Economics at LSE (@LSEEcon) is one of the largest economics departments in the world. Its size ensures that all areas of economics are strongly represented in both research and teaching. The Centre For Macroeconomics (@CFMUK) brings together world-class experts to carry out pioneering research on the global economic crisis and to help design policies that alleviate it.

Speaker(s): Professor Alondra Nelson | Alondra Nelson will discuss her book The Social Life of DNA on how claims about ancestry are marshalled together with genetic analysis in a range of social ventures. The use of genetic ancestry testing in the United States has grown exponentially since its emergence about fifteen years ago. In this same period, U.S. colleges and universities have increasingly uncovered and confronted their ties to the history of racial slavery. Although genetic ancestry tests are principally sought to provide genealogical information, these data have been marshalled into a wider range of social ventures, including the politics of remembrance and reconciliation. In this presentation, Alondra Nelson examines the recent use of genetic ancestry testing by the descendants of nearly three hundred enslaved men and women owned by Georgetown University, whom the institution’s Jesuit stewards sold to Southern plantations in 1838 in order to secure its solvency. The case of the GU 272 will be explored as a “reconciliation project”—a social endeavour in which DNA analysis is put to the use of repairing historic injury. Alondra Nelson (@alondra) is President of the Social Science Research Council. She is also Professor of Sociology at Columbia University, where she served as the inaugural Dean of Social Science. A scholar of science, medicine, and social inequality, her recent books include The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation after the Genome and Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination. She is Chair of the American Sociological Association Section on Science, Knowledge, and Technology and is an elected member of the Sociological Research Associations. Nelson received her BA from the University of California at San Diego, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She earned her PhD from New York University in 2003. Nigel Dodd is a professor of sociology at the London School of Economics, and Editor-in-Chief of the British Journal of Sociology. This event is The British Journal of Sociology Annual Lecture. The British Journal of Sociology (@BJSociology) represents the mainstreams of sociological thinking and research and is consistently ranked highly by the ISI in Sociology.

Speaker(s): Professor Alondra Nelson | Alondra Nelson will discuss her book The Social Life of DNA on how claims about ancestry are marshalled together with genetic analysis in a range of social ventures. The use of genetic ancestry testing in the United States has grown exponentially since its emergence about fifteen years ago. In this same period, U.S. colleges and universities have increasingly uncovered and confronted their ties to the history of racial slavery. Although genetic ancestry tests are principally sought to provide genealogical information, these data have been marshalled into a wider range of social ventures, including the politics of remembrance and reconciliation. In this presentation, Alondra Nelson examines the recent use of genetic ancestry testing by the descendants of nearly three hundred enslaved men and women owned by Georgetown University, whom the institution’s Jesuit stewards sold to Southern plantations in 1838 in order to secure its solvency. The case of the GU 272 will be explored as a “reconciliation project”—a social endeavour in which DNA analysis is put to the use of repairing historic injury. Alondra Nelson (@alondra) is President of the Social Science Research Council. She is also Professor of Sociology at Columbia University, where she served as the inaugural Dean of Social Science. A scholar of science, medicine, and social inequality, her recent books include The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation after the Genome and Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination. She is Chair of the American Sociological Association Section on Science, Knowledge, and Technology and is an elected member of the Sociological Research Associations. Nelson received her BA from the University of California at San Diego, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She earned her PhD from New York University in 2003. Nigel Dodd is a professor of sociology at the London School of Economics, and Editor-in-Chief of the British Journal of Sociology. This event is The British Journal of Sociology Annual Lecture. The British Journal of Sociology (@BJSociology) represents the mainstreams of sociological thinking and research and is consistently ranked highly by the ISI in Sociology.

Speaker(s): Steve Crawshaw | Editor's note: We apologise for the poor audio quality of this podcast. How do ordinary citizens become dissidents? As journalist and human rights advocate, Steve Crawshaw has witnessed extraordinary change, everywhere from Prague to Yangon. He explores what Vaclav Havel called the “power of the powerless”, and the role of creative mischief in achieving surprising change. Steve Crawshaw (@stevecrawshaw) is Senior Advocacy Adviser on Global Thematic Issues, Amnesty International and author of Street Spirit: The Power of Protest and Mischief. Dr Liene Ozoliņa-Fitzgerald is a political sociologist at LSE. She is a co-convener of the Department of Sociology Writing Group for faculty and PhD students. The Ralph Miliband Programme (@RMilibandLSE) is one of LSE's most prestigious lecture series and seeks to advance Ralph Miliband's spirit of free social inquiry.

Speaker(s): David Madden, Anna Minton, Alex Vasudevan | The need for a home is universal. But today, housing is dominated by economic and political logics that conflict with the ideal of housing for all. When residential space becomes a speculative investment or a tool for political repression, it raises fundamental questions about what, and whom, housing is for. Recent books by these speakers examine housing issues from various places and perspectives. Reflecting on themes from this work, this event will explore struggles over the shape and function of the housing system in contemporary cities. It will connect an analysis of the housing crisis with debates about commodification, residential injustice and rights. David Madden (@davidjmadden) is Assistant Professor in Sociology at LSE and co-author, with Peter Marcuse, of In Defense of Housing: The politics of crisis. Anna Minton (@AnnaMinton) is a Reader in the School of Architecture at UEL and author of Big Capital: Who is London for? Alex Vasudevan (@Potentia_Space) is Associate Professor in Human Geography at Oxford University and author of The Autonomous City: A history of urban squatting. Suzanne Hall (@SuzanneHall12) is Associate Professor in Sociology at LSE. The Department of Sociology at LSE (@LSEsociology) was established in 1904 and remains committed to top quality teaching and leading research and scholarship today.

Speaker(s): Pierre Gramegna | Pierre Gramegna will discuss the dynamics behind financial services firms’ decisions to relocate or grow their presence in continental Europe in the aftermath of Brexit. This lecture is part of the LSE Programme on Brexit. Pierre Gramegna (@pierregramegna) is Luxembourg's Minister of Finance. Kevin Featherstone is Head of the European Institute, LSE. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector. The Institute of Public Affairs (@LSEPubAffairs) is one of the world's leading centres of public policy. We aim to debate and address some of the major issues of our time, whether international or national, through our established teaching programmes, our research and our highly innovative public-engagement initiatives.

Speaker(s): David Madden, Anna Minton, Alex Vasudevan | The need for a home is universal. But today, housing is dominated by economic and political logics that conflict with the ideal of housing for all. When residential space becomes a speculative investment or a tool for political repression, it raises fundamental questions about what, and whom, housing is for. Recent books by these speakers examine housing issues from various places and perspectives. Reflecting on themes from this work, this event will explore struggles over the shape and function of the housing system in contemporary cities. It will connect an analysis of the housing crisis with debates about commodification, residential injustice and rights. David Madden (@davidjmadden) is Assistant Professor in Sociology at LSE and co-author, with Peter Marcuse, of In Defense of Housing: The politics of crisis. Anna Minton (@AnnaMinton) is a Reader in the School of Architecture at UEL and author of Big Capital: Who is London for? Alex Vasudevan (@Potentia_Space) is Associate Professor in Human Geography at Oxford University and author of The Autonomous City: A history of urban squatting. Suzanne Hall (@SuzanneHall12) is Associate Professor in Sociology at LSE. The Department of Sociology at LSE (@LSEsociology) was established in 1904 and remains committed to top quality teaching and leading research and scholarship today.

Speaker(s): Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska, David McAllister | 2016 was unquestionably a year of political and economic shocks with Brexit and the election of President Trump. The UK elections in June 2017 created further difficulties for the Brexit negotiations with the Conservative and Democratic Unionist party agreement which left the Brexit process in uncertain territory. This event explores what Brexit will mean for the relationship between the UK, Germany and the EU. Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska (@AgataGostynska) is a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform. David McAllister (@davidmcallister) is Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the European Parliament and a vice president of the European People's Party. John Ryan is Visiting Fellow, LSE IDEAS and a senior adviser for private and public sector organisations on Brexit. LSE IDEAS (@lseideas) is LSE's foreign policy think tank. We connect academic knowledge of diplomacy and strategy with the people who use it. Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (@KAS_UKIRL) is a political foundation, closely associated with the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU).

Speaker(s): Professor Saadi Lahlou | Saadi Lahlou will discuss themes from his book Installation Theory, a powerful and robust framework for nudge and intervention. Saadi Lahlou is Chair in Social Psychology, Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, LSE. Professor Dame Shirley Pearce is currently Chair of Court and Council at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). PBS@LSE (@PsychologyLSE) is at the cutting edge of psychological and behavioural science. We investigate how the mind works in different environmental, social and cultural contexts, and to make use of this knowledge to change behaviour and policy in ways that improve human wellbeing.

Speaker(s): Evan Davis | Never has there been more concern about dishonesty in public life. From President Trump to the Brexit debate, we hear constant talk of falsehoods and fake news, and appeals to alternative facts. In his new book, Post-Truth: Why We Have Reached Peak Bullshit and What We Can Do About It, which he will discuss at this event, Evan Davis steps inside the panoply of deception and spin employed not just in recent politics, but in all walks of life to explain why bullshit is both pervasive and persistent. Drawing on behavioural science, economics, psychology and his knowledge of the media, Evan will discuss why bullshit has apparently become the communications strategy of our time. Evan Davis (@EvanHD) is a well-known broadcaster, presenting the current affairs programme Newsnight, on BBC 2; The Bottom Line on Radio 4 and Dragons’ Den on BBC 2. He was a presenter on Radio 4s The Today programme for six years and prior to Today he was the Economics Editor of the BBC. Professor Charlie Beckett is Director of LSE's Commission on Truth, Trust and Technology, and Director of Polis, LSE's journalism think-tank. The Institute of Public Affairs (@LSEPubAffairs) is one of the world's leading centres of public policy. We aim to debate and address some of the major issues of our time, whether international or national, through our established teaching programmes, our research and our highly innovative public-engagement initiatives. Polis (@PolisLSE) is part of the Department of Media and Communications aimed at working journalists, people in public life and students in the UK and around the world. Polis is the place where journalists and the wider world can examine and discuss the media and its impact on society.

Speaker(s): Jorn Lyseggen | The Internet has changed the way we make decisions, but the way executives make decisions hasn't changed at all. Board members focus on internal data when every day competitors are leaving behind online breadcrumbs filled with valuable external data. This could be a job advert, filing a new patent, launching a new product, social media and more. Using insights gleaned from this data will help companies to look ahead and make more informed decisions. In this lecture, Jorn Lyseggen will talk about his new book Outside Insight, which includes case studies of the success and failures of international companies including Nike, Volvo, L’Oreal, Manchester United, the World Wide Fund for Nature, as well as the Obama 2012 campaign. Jorn Lyseggen (@jorn_lyseggen) is the CEO of Meltwater: a company that develops and markets media monitoring and business intelligence software. The company was founded in 2002 in a shack in Norway with just $15,000 start-up money. Now, Meltwater employs more than 1,000 people in 60 offices across six continents, and has over 23,000 clients across the world. The company has won various awards and Jorn also founded the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology, a training programme and seed fund for African entrepreneurs. Kenneth Benoit is Professor of Quantative Social Research Methods and Head of the Department of Methodology at LSE. SEDS (@SEDS_LSE) is an interdisciplinary research unit established to foster the study of data science and new forms of data with a focus on its social, economic, and political aspects. SEDS aims to host, facilitate, and promote research in social and economic data science. SEDS is a collaboration between the Departments of Statistics, Methodology and Mathematics.

Speaker(s): Jorn Lyseggen | The Internet has changed the way we make decisions, but the way executives make decisions hasn't changed at all. Board members focus on internal data when every day competitors are leaving behind online breadcrumbs filled with valuable external data. This could be a job advert, filing a new patent, launching a new product, social media and more. Using insights gleaned from this data will help companies to look ahead and make more informed decisions. In this lecture, Jorn Lyseggen will talk about his new book Outside Insight, which includes case studies of the success and failures of international companies including Nike, Volvo, L’Oreal, Manchester United, the World Wide Fund for Nature, as well as the Obama 2012 campaign. Jorn Lyseggen (@jorn_lyseggen) is the CEO of Meltwater: a company that develops and markets media monitoring and business intelligence software. The company was founded in 2002 in a shack in Norway with just $15,000 start-up money. Now, Meltwater employs more than 1,000 people in 60 offices across six continents, and has over 23,000 clients across the world. The company has won various awards and Jorn also founded the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology, a training programme and seed fund for African entrepreneurs. Kenneth Benoit is Professor of Quantative Social Research Methods and Head of the Department of Methodology at LSE. SEDS (@SEDS_LSE) is an interdisciplinary research unit established to foster the study of data science and new forms of data with a focus on its social, economic, and political aspects. SEDS aims to host, facilitate, and promote research in social and economic data science. SEDS is a collaboration between the Departments of Statistics, Methodology and Mathematics.

Speaker(s): Dr Rizal Sukma | Emerging from domestic political turmoil of 1966, Indonesia sought to re-orient its foreign policy of anti-west and regional confrontation. It pursued a policy of self-restraint for the benefit of regional reconciliation, through its role as a founding member of ASEAN in August 1967. Indonesia's credentials as a regional partner were cemented by its enthusiastic and active engagement in every aspect of ASEAN's activism ever since. Fifty years on, however, there is a need for a strategic reassessment of Indonesia's role in ASEAN and the extent to which ASEAN remains the main platform --the cornerstone--for the attainment of Indonesia's changing national and international priorities. Rizal Sukma (@DrRizalSukma) has been Indonesian Ambassador to the UK and Ireland since February 2016. Jürgen Haacke is Director of the Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre, within the Institute of Global Affairs at the LSE, and Associate Professor of International Relations. This is the first in a series of public lectures commemorating ASEAN’s 50th anniversary. Please click here for more details. The Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre (@LSESEAC) is a cross-disciplinary, regionally-focused academic centre within the Institute of Global Affairs at the London School of Economics and Political Science. SEAC is LSE’S gateway to understanding Southeast Asia.

Speaker(s): Professor Jean Tirole | When Jean Tirole won the 2014 Nobel Prize in Economics, he suddenly found himself being stopped in the street by complete strangers and asked to comment on issues of the day. His transformation from academic economist to public intellectual prompted him to reflect on the role economists and their discipline play in society. The result is Economics for the Common Good, a passionate manifesto for a world in which economics is a positive force for the common good. Jean Tirole, the winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Economics, has been described as one of the most influential economists of our time. He is chairman of the Toulouse School of Economics and of the Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse and a visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His many books include The Theory of Corporate Finance and Financial Crises, Liquidity, and the International Monetary System. Wouter den Haan is Co-director for the Centre for Macroeconomics and Professor of Economics at LSE. The Department of Economics at LSE (@LSEEcon) is one of the largest economics departments in the world. Its size ensures that all areas of economics are strongly represented in both research and teaching. The Centre For Macroeconomics (@CFMUK) brings together world-class experts to carry out pioneering research on the global economic crisis and to help design policies that alleviate it.

Speaker(s): Dr Jennifer Cirone, Winnie Li, Dr Tiffany Page, Professor Alison Phipps, Fiona Waye | Through discussion, the panellists will examine the work that is underway to reform academic institutions, with a focus on reporting mechanisms, cultural change, and the importance of creating the right conditions to report. The event will be expressly concerned with intersectional identities. It connects with a HEFCE-funded project that LSE has underway, in response to the Universities UK Taskforce’s recommendations on tackling violence against women, harassment and hate crime affecting university students. Jennifer Cirone manages community based services for Solace Women’s Aid in Camden for survivors of domestic and sexual abuse. Winnie Li (@winniemli) is a PhD researcher in Media and Communications at the LSE and author of the novel Dark Chapter. Tiffany Page (@t_haismanpage) is co-founder of The 1752 Group. Alison Phipps (@alisonphipps) is Professor of Gender Studies, University of Sussex. Fiona Waye (@FionaCWaye) is Senior Policy Lead in Inclusion, Equality and Diversity at Universities UK. Marsha Henry (@mghacademic) is Associate Professor in the Department of Gender Studies and Deputy Director of the Centre for Women, Peace and Security. The EDI Office (@EDI_LSE) serves as a vital resource and leader in promoting and furthering LSE’s commitment to equity and diversity for all members of its community. LSE’s Department of Gender Studies (@LSEGenderTweet) is the largest gender studies centre in Europe. With a global perspective, LSE Gender’s research and teaching intersects with other categories of analysis such as race, ethnicity, class and sexuality; because gender relations work in all spheres of life, interdisciplinarity is key to LSE Gender’s approach.

Speaker(s): Philippe Legrain, Professor Helen Thompson, Professor Jonathan White, Waltraud Schelkl | Creating the European monetary union between diverse and unequal nation states is one of the biggest social experiments in history. Waltraud Schelkle's new book, which will form the basis of the discussion at this event, offers an explanation of how the euro experiment came about and was sustained despite a severe crisis, and provides a comparison with the monetary-financial history of the United States. Philippe Legrain (@plegrain) is founder of Think Tank OPEN and Senior Visiting Fellow, European Institute, LSE. Helen Thompson (@HelenHet20) is Professor of Political Economy, University of Cambridge. Jonathan White (@JonathanPJWhite) is Professor of Politics at the LSE European Institute. Waltraud Schelkle is an Associate Professor of Political Economy, European Institute, LSE and author of The Political Economy of Monetary Solidarity. Sara Hobolt (@sarahobolt) is Sutherland Chair in European Institutions at the European Institute and the Department of Government, LSE. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector.

Speaker(s): Catherine McKenna | Catherine McKenna, Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change will speak to Canada’s climate actions and the importance of clean growth, and why the Paris Agreement is crucial to international success in fighting climate change. Catherine McKenna (@ec_minister) is Canada's Minister of Environment and Climate Change, a position she has held since November 2015. Catherine practiced competition and international trade law in Canada and Indonesia and was senior negotiator with the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in East Timor. She also served as senior advisor on the former Chief Justice Antonio Lamer’s review of Canada’s military justice system. Catherine co-founded Canadian Lawyers Abroad, a charitable organization that works in developing countries and with Indigenous communities in Canada. She served as Executive Director of the Banff Forum, a public policy organization for young leaders. Catherine taught at the Munk School of Global Affairs. Catherine has degrees from McGill University and the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada and the New York Bar. Sam Fankhauser is Director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Deputy Director of the ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy. The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment(@GRI_LSE ) was established by the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2008 to create a world-leading centre for policy-relevant research and training on climate change and the environment, bringing together international expertise on economics, finance, geography, the environment, international development and political economy.

Speaker(s): George Monbiot | A toxic ideology rules the world – of extreme competition and individualism. It misrepresents human nature, destroying hope and common purpose. Only a positive vision can replace it, a new story that re-engages people in politics and lights a path to a better world. George Monbiot explains how new findings in psychology, neuroscience and evolutionary biology cast human nature in a radically different light: as the supreme altruists and cooperators. He shows how we can build on these findings to create a new politics: a ‘politics of belonging’. Both democracy and economic life can be radically reorganized from the bottom up, enabling us to take back control and overthrow the forces that have thwarted our ambitions for a better society. His new and thrilling vision provides the hope and clarity required to change the world. George Monbiot (@GeorgeMonbiot) is an author, activist and Guardian columnist. His new book is Out of the Wreckage: A New Politics in an Age of Crisis. His other titles include How Did We Get Into This Mess?; Heat: How to Stop the Planet Burning; The Age of Consent: A Manifesto for a New World Order; Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain; and Feral: Rewilding the Land, Sea and Human Life. He recently helped to found Rewilding Britain, which seeks to redefine people’s relationship to the living world. Robin Archer is Director of the Ralph Miliband Programme at LSE. The Ralph Miliband Programme (@RMilibandLSE) is one of LSE's most prestigious lecture series and seeks to advance Ralph Miliband's spirit of free social inquiry.

Speaker(s): Professor Richard Florida | In recent years, the young, educated, and affluent have surged back into cities, reversing decades of suburban flight and urban decline. And yet all is not well. In his latest book, The New Urban Crisis, which he will discuss in this talk, Richard Florida demonstrates how the same forces that power the growth of the world’s superstar cities also generate their vexing challenges: gentrification, unaffordability, segregation, and inequality. Richard Florida (@Richard_Florida) is Director, Martin Prosperity Institute and Professor of Business and Creativity, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, and author of The New Urban Crisis. Ricky Burdett (@BURDETTR) is Professor of Urban Studies at the LSE and Director of LSE Cities and the Urban Age Programme. He was curator of the Conflicts of an Urban Age exhibition at the 2016 International Architecture Biennale in Venice and contributed to the United Nations Habitat III conference on sustainable urbanisation in Quito. He was a member of the UK Government’s Independent Airports Commission from 2012 to 2015 and is involved in regeneration projects across Europe and the USA. LSE Cities (@LSECities) is an international centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science that carries out research, education and outreach activities in London and abroad. Its mission is to study how people and cities interact in a rapidly urbanising world, focussing on how the design of cities impacts on society, culture and the environment. Centre for London (@centreforlondon) is the capital's dedicated think tank. Politically independent and a charity, we help national and London policymakers think beyond the next election and plan for the future. Through research, analysis and events we generate bold and creative solutions that improve the city we share. This event is supported by British Land and UNCLE.

Speaker(s): Dr Stephen Fisher, Rachel Shabi, Lord Wood | After a shock election result, a panel of leading analysts will ask what lies ahead for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour and what the party should do next. Stephen Fisher is Associate Professor in Political Sociology and Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford. Fisher's research focuses on political attitudes and behaviour, especially on elections and voting in Britain and elsewhere. He has developed a method for long-range election forecasting, which was covered extensively in the media in the 2015 UK General Election. Rachel Shabi is a British journalist and author. She is a contributing writer to The Guardian. She has also written extensively on British politics, as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Middle East. Her award-winning book, Not the Enemy: Israel's Jews from Arab Lands, was published in 2009. She received the International Media Awards Cutting Edge prize in 2013, the Anna Lindh Journalism Award for reporting across cultures in 2011, and was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize the same year. Stewart Wood is a Labour member of the House of Lords and a Fellow of Magdalen College, where he taught politics from 1995-2011. From 2001-2007 he was a member of the Treasury’s Council of Economic Advisers, working on a range of public policy issues for the Chancellor of the Exchequer. From 2007-2010 he worked at 10 Downing Street as a Senior Special Adviser to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, leading on foreign policy (Europe, USA & Middle East); culture, media & sports policy; and Northern Irish affairs. He was a member of the Labour Shadow Cabinet & an adviser to Ed Miliband from 2010-2015. Robin Archer is Director of the Ralph Miliband Programme at LSE. The Ralph Miliband Programme (@RMilibandLSE) is one of LSE's most prestigious lecture series and seeks to advance Ralph Miliband's spirit of free social inquiry.

Speaker(s): Professor Daniel M. Hausman | Using economics as an example, this lecture addresses a perennial philosophical question that also occupied Auguste Comte: can inquiries into social phenomena be sciences? This talk is the Auguste Comte Memorial Lecture. Daniel M. Hausman is the Herbert A. Simon and Hilldale Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A founding editor of the journal, Economics and Philosophy, his research has centered on epistemological, metaphysical, and ethical issues lying at the boundaries between economics and philosophy. An assistant professor at the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method at the LSE, Johanna Thoma’s main research is in practical rationality and decision theory. She is particularly interested in questions of rationality over time, and in the context of uncertainty. She also works on ethics and the philosophy of science, in particular the philosophy of social science and economics. The Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method (@LSEPhilosophy) at LSE was founded by Professor Sir Karl Popper in 1946, and remains internationally renowned for a type of philosophy that is both continuous with the sciences and socially relevant.

Speaker(s): Professor Anne Applebaum | In 1932-33, nearly four million Ukrainians died of starvation, having been deliberately deprived of food. Anne Applebaum will explore how and why this happened and explain its lasting importance. Anne Applebaum (@anneapplebaum) is a columnist for the Washington Post and a Pulitzer-prize winning historian. She is also Professor of Practice at the London School of Economics’s Institute of Global Affairs where she runs Arena, a program on disinformation and 21st century propaganda. Formerly a member of the Washington Post editorial board, she has also worked as the Foreign and Deputy Editor of the Spectator magazine in London, as the Political Editor of the Evening Standard, and as a columnist at Slate and at several British newspapers, including the Daily and Sunday Telegraphs. From 1988-1991 she covered the collapse of communism as the Warsaw correspondent of the Economist magazine and the Independent newspaper. This event marks the publication of her newest book, Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine. Erik Berglof (@ErikBerglof ) is the inaugural Director of the Institute of Global Affairs (IGA) at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). The Institute of Global Affairs (@LSEIGA ), its Global Policy Lab and eight constituent centres bring together LSE faculty and students from across departments to design research-based and locally rooted solutions to global challenges.

Speaker(s): Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs | As climate change intensifies, the issues of climate justice loom ever larger. Who owes what to whom as we confront more climate disasters as well as the rising costs of mitigation and adaptation? Jeffrey Sachs will discuss various ethical approaches to these issues, and propose a practical framework for implementing global climate justice. Jeffrey D. Sachs (@JeffDSachs) is Professor of Economics at Columbia University, a leader in sustainable development, senior UN advisor, bestselling author and syndicated columnist. Eric Neumayer (@EricNeumayer) is Professor of Environment and Development within the Department of Geography and Environment at the LSE. He is currently a Pro-Director with responsibility for Faculty Development. The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (@GRI_LSE ) was established by the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2008 to create a world-leading centre for policy-relevant research and training on climate change and the environment, bringing together international expertise on economics, finance, geography, the environment, international development and political economy.

Speaker(s): Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs | As climate change intensifies, the issues of climate justice loom ever larger. Who owes what to whom as we confront more climate disasters as well as the rising costs of mitigation and adaptation? Jeffrey Sachs will discuss various ethical approaches to these issues, and propose a practical framework for implementing global climate justice. Jeffrey D. Sachs (@JeffDSachs) is Professor of Economics at Columbia University, a leader in sustainable development, senior UN advisor, bestselling author and syndicated columnist. Eric Neumayer (@EricNeumayer) is Professor of Environment and Development within the Department of Geography and Environment at the LSE. He is currently a Pro-Director with responsibility for Faculty Development. The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (@GRI_LSE ) was established by the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2008 to create a world-leading centre for policy-relevant research and training on climate change and the environment, bringing together international expertise on economics, finance, geography, the environment, international development and political economy.

Speaker(s): Professor Mark Currie, Dr Alison Gibbons, Professor James Ladyman, Hilary Lawson | Did Derrida make us do it? Is our current situation the inevitable outcome of the intellectual adventuring of the twentieth century that critiqued grand narratives and challenged absolute truths? Or should we call upon the critical scepticism of post-modernism and post-structuralism with renewed vigour, to better see through the smoke and mirrors of contemporary culture? We ask what the relationship is between facts, alternative facts, and fiction, and explore the precarious status of truth in the twenty-first century. Mark Currie is Professor of Contemporary Literature, Queen Mary, University of London. Alison Gibbons is Reader in Contemporary Stylistics, Sheffield Hallam University. James Ladyman is Professor of Philosophy, University of Bristol. Hilary Lawson is Director of the Institute of Art and Ideas. Shahidha Bari (@ShahidhaBari ) is a Fellow at The Forum and Lecturer in Romanticism in the Department of English, Queen Mary, University of London. The Forum for European Philosophy (@ForumPhilosophy) is an educational charity that organises a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK.

Speaker(s): Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs | The automation of robots and artificial intelligence is pretty well advanced in certain industries. The income now is shifting more and more to capital and away from workers, contributing to a general widening of inequality in the United States. Jeff Sachs argues that we need to pursue policies so that the coming generation of smart machines works for us and our well-being, rather than humanity working for the machines and the few who control their operating systems. Jeffrey D. Sachs (@JeffDSachs) is Professor of Economics at Columbia University, a leader in sustainable development, senior UN advisor, bestselling author and syndicated columnist. Francesco Caselli is Norman Sosnow Professor of Economics, LSE, and Director of the Macroeconomics Program at LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance (CEP). The CEP (@CEP_LSE) is an interdisciplinary research centre at the LSE Research Laboratory. It was established by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in 1990 and is now one of the leading economic research groups in Europe. The International Growth Centre (@The_IGC) aims to promote sustainable growth in developing countries by providing demand-led policy advice based on frontier research. The IGC directs a global network of world-leading researchers and in-country teams in Africa and South Asia and works closely with partner governments to generate high quality research and policy advice on key growth challenges.

Speaker(s): Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs | The automation of robots and artificial intelligence is pretty well advanced in certain industries. The income now is shifting more and more to capital and away from workers, contributing to a general widening of inequality in the United States. Jeff Sachs argues that we need to pursue policies so that the coming generation of smart machines works for us and our well-being, rather than humanity working for the machines and the few who control their operating systems. Jeffrey D. Sachs (@JeffDSachs) is Professor of Economics at Columbia University, a leader in sustainable development, senior UN advisor, bestselling author and syndicated columnist. Francesco Caselli is Norman Sosnow Professor of Economics, LSE, and Director of the Macroeconomics Program at LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance (CEP). The CEP (@CEP_LSE) is an interdisciplinary research centre at the LSE Research Laboratory. It was established by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in 1990 and is now one of the leading economic research groups in Europe. The International Growth Centre (@The_IGC) aims to promote sustainable growth in developing countries by providing demand-led policy advice based on frontier research. The IGC directs a global network of world-leading researchers and in-country teams in Africa and South Asia and works closely with partner governments to generate high quality research and policy advice on key growth challenges.

Speaker(s): Kristalina Georgieva | Demands on development assistance have risen in recent years, with pandemics, refugee crises and regional conflicts. Kristalina Georgieva draws out lessons on securing financing to meet these demands. Kristalina Georgieva (@KGeorgieva) assumed her current position as the Chief Executive Officer for the World Bank on January 2, 2017. Previously, Georgieva, a Bulgarian national, helped shape the agenda of the European Union since 2010, first as Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, where she managed one of the world's largest humanitarian aid budget and established herself as a global champion for resilience. As the European Commission Vice President for Budget and Human Resources, Georgieva was in charge of the European Union's €161 billion (US $175bn) budget and 33,000 staff across its institutions around the world. She tripled funding available to the refugee crisis in Europe and drove rapid progress towards achieving a target of 40 percent women in management by 2019 in order to improve the Commission's gender balance. Before joining the European Commission, Georgieva held multiple positions at the World Bank. In her most recent role as the Vice President and Corporate Secretary (2008-2010), she was the interlocutor between the World Bank Group’s senior management, its Board of Directors and its shareholder countries. In the wake of the 2008 international financial crisis, she played a key role in the World Bank's governance reform and accompanying capital increase. Simeon Djankov is Executive Director of the Financial Markets Group at LSE. The Financial Markets Group Research Centre (@FMG_LSE) was established in 1987 at the LSE. The FMG is a leading centre in Europe for policy research into financial markets. It is the focal point of the LSE's research communication with the business, policy making and international finance communities. The FMG works alongside the Department of Finance to understand problems in financial markets and in the decision-making processes of corporations, banks and regulators.

Speaker(s): Baroness Chakrabarti | Shami Chakrabarti will discuss her position as Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales with questions from the audience and online. Shami Chakrabarti is Shadow Attorney General for England & Wales, a Visiting Professor in Practice at LSE Law and an alumna of LSE. Nicola Lacey is School Professor of Law, Gender and Social Policy. LSE Law (@lselaw) is an integral part of the School's mission, plays a major role in policy debates & in the education of lawyers and law teachers from around the world.

Speaker(s): Guy Verhofstadt | Guy Verhofstadt argues for a Europe that is united against challenges nation-states can no longer deal with on their own: from migration to defence to the tackling of the economic crisis. Brexit is the perfect opportunity to deliver that stronger and more democratic Europe. This lecture is part of the LSE Programme on Brexit. Guy Verhofstadt (@GuyVerhofstadt) was Prime Minister of Belgium from 1999 to 2008. Today, he heads the liberal group in the European Parliament, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, as well as the Brexit negotiation team. Kevin Featherstone is Head of the European Institute, LSE. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector. The Institute of Public Affairs (@LSEPubAffairs) is one of the world's leading centres of public policy. We aim to debate and address some of the major issues of our time, whether international or national, through our established teaching programmes, our research and our highly innovative public-engagement initiatives.

Speaker(s): Mark Thompson | How did changes in political language influence the Brexit vote and the US election? And what do these changes mean for the crisis of trust in the establishment? Mark Thompson is the CEO of The New York Times and former Director-General of the BBC. Robin Archer is Director of the Ralph Miliband Programme at LSE. The Ralph Miliband Programme (@RMilibandLSE) is one of LSE's most prestigious lecture series and seeks to advance Ralph Miliband's spirit of free social inquiry.

Speaker(s): Professor Bev Skeggs, Dr Seeta Peña Gangadharan | If our personal data is traded in milliseconds up to 70k times per day, what does this mean? Should we care? Are we aware? Does it matter? Is it possible to escape? Bev Skeggs will draw on research that uses software to track the trackers (Facebook) and identify how a person's browser use is tracked and searched in detail for sources of potential value that can be sold to advertising companies. She argues that if we want to know how inequalities are being shaped in the present and future we need to understand the opaque mechanisms that operate through stealth and experiment with our personal disclosures. Bev Skeggs (@bevskeggs) is Academic Director of the Atlantic Fellows programme in the International Inequalities Institute at LSE. Seeta Peña Gangadharan is Assistant Professor at the Department of Media and Communications at LSE. For four years prior, she served as Senior Research Fellow at New America’s Open Technology Institute, addressing policies and practices related to digital inclusion, privacy, and “big data.” Mike Savage (@MikeSav47032563) is Martin White Professor of Sociology and Co-Director of the LSE International Inequalities Institute. The International Inequalities Institute at LSE (@LSEInequalities) brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead critical and cutting edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

Speaker(s): Professor Bev Skeggs, Dr Seeta Peña Gangadharan | If our personal data is traded in milliseconds up to 70k times per day, what does this mean? Should we care? Are we aware? Does it matter? Is it possible to escape? Bev Skeggs will draw on research that uses software to track the trackers (Facebook) and identify how a person's browser use is tracked and searched in detail for sources of potential value that can be sold to advertising companies. She argues that if we want to know how inequalities are being shaped in the present and future we need to understand the opaque mechanisms that operate through stealth and experiment with our personal disclosures. Bev Skeggs (@bevskeggs) is Academic Director of the Atlantic Fellows programme in the International Inequalities Institute at LSE. Seeta Peña Gangadharan is Assistant Professor at the Department of Media and Communications at LSE. For four years prior, she served as Senior Research Fellow at New America’s Open Technology Institute, addressing policies and practices related to digital inclusion, privacy, and “big data.” Mike Savage (@MikeSav47032563) is Martin White Professor of Sociology and Co-Director of the LSE International Inequalities Institute. The International Inequalities Institute at LSE (@LSEInequalities) brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead critical and cutting edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

Speaker(s): Professor Mario Monti | 60 years after its foundation, major tensions are facing the EU. From institutional to political and economic tensions, from geopolitical tensions (North vs South, West vs East) to tensions between net contributors and net recipients. Threatened by the “-EXIT” temptation in the background, national politics often collide with European integration’s basic principles. However, the “case for EU support” is still robust, as the domains where a balance between the national and the European level has been reached - the Euro, the single market and the competition policy - prove. Mario Monti (@SenatoreMonti) is President of Bocconi University and former Prime Minister of Italy. Minouche Shafik is Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Prior to this she was Deputy Governor of the Bank of England. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector.

Speaker(s): Dr Marsha Henry | Marsha Henry argues for reimagining peacekeeping, which starts with a return to critical theories and concepts in order to acknowledge the production of gendered, racial and classed inequalities in peacekeeping spaces and relations. In particular, turning to critical concepts such as standpoint, power geometries and space-time continuum, the colour line, militarised femininities, and intersectionality, the lecture traces the practical and policy dead-ends that arise when peacekeeping studies relies on policy and practice driven objectives, alone. Marsha Henry is Associate Professor in the Department of Gender Studies and Deputy Director of the Centre for Women, Peace and Security. Clare Hemmings is Professor of Feminist Theory and Director of the Department of Gender Studies at LSE. LSE’s Department of Gender Studies (@LSEGenderTweet) is the largest gender studies centre in Europe. With a global perspective, LSE Gender’s research and teaching intersects with other categories of analysis such as race, ethnicity, class and sexuality; because gender relations work in all spheres of life, interdisciplinarity is key to LSE Gender’s approach.

Speaker(s): Dr Marina Franchi, Katie Hind, Jane Martinson, Eleanor Mills, Allyson Zimmermann | This panel will discuss how the front pages of national newspapers portray women in terms of content and bylines. Marina Franchi (@marinapfranchi) is an LSE Fellow, LSE100. Katie Hind (@katiehind) is a showbusiness writer at the Mail on Sunday. Jane Martinson (@janemartinson) is a Guardian columnist. Eleanor Mills (@EleanorMills) is Editorial Director of The Sunday Times, Editor of The Sunday Times Magazine, and Chair of Women in Journalism. Allyson Zimmermann (@AllyZimmermann) is Executive Director of Catalyst Europe. Helena Vieira (@helenavieira1) is LSE Business Review’s managing editor. LSE Business Review (@LSEforBusiness) is a blog that promotes the dialogue between researchers and society on topics related to business and economics.

Speaker(s): Professor David Harvey | Editor's note: We regret to say that owing to a technical problem the first few minutes of the lecture are missing from the podcast Leading Marxist scholar David Harvey discusses the profound insights and enormous power Marx’s analysis continues to offer 150 years after the first volume of Capital was published. His latest book is Marx, Capital and the Madness of Economic Reason. David Harvey (@profdavidharvey) is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the City University of New York Graduate School and an Honorary Graduate of LSE. His course on Marx’s Capital, developed with students over thirty years, has been downloaded by people from all over the world. Hyun Bang Shin (@urbancommune) is Associate Professor of Geography and Urban Studies at LSE. The LSE Department of Geography & Environment (@LSEGeography) is a centre of international academic excellence in economic, urban and development geography, environmental social science and climate change.

Speaker(s): Christian Odendahl,Professor William Paterson,Dr Natascha Zaun | Editor's note: We apologise for the poor audio quality of this podcast. The forthcoming elections in Germany have important implications for Germany, for Europe and international politics. For the UK, the next German Chancellor will likely have a crucial impact on the ‘BREXIT’ outcome. The re-election of Angela Merkel would further strengthen her international status – not to be underestimated by Moscow or Washington. But recent elections in different countries have produced surprises, on occasions. The elections may give a signal as to the current appeal of the centre-left in Europe and the prospects for social democracy. The outcome will be watched closely also in Paris, with President Macron keen to assert Franco-German leadership to revive the EU. Christian Odendahl @COdendahl is Chief Economist, Centre for European Reform. William Paterson is Honorary Professor of German and European Politics, Aston University. Natascha Zaun is Assistant Professor in Migration Studies at the LSE European Institute. Waltraud Schelkle is an Associate Professor of Political Economy at the LSE European Institute. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector.

Speaker(s): Christian Odendahl,Professor William Paterson,Dr Natascha Zaun | Editor's note: We apologise for the poor audio quality of this podcast. The forthcoming elections in Germany have important implications for Germany, for Europe and international politics. For the UK, the next German Chancellor will likely have a crucial impact on the ‘BREXIT’ outcome. The re-election of Angela Merkel would further strengthen her international status – not to be underestimated by Moscow or Washington. But recent elections in different countries have produced surprises, on occasions. The elections may give a signal as to the current appeal of the centre-left in Europe and the prospects for social democracy. The outcome will be watched closely also in Paris, with President Macron keen to assert Franco-German leadership to revive the EU. Christian Odendahl @COdendahl is Chief Economist, Centre for European Reform. William Paterson is Honorary Professor of German and European Politics, Aston University. Natascha Zaun is Assistant Professor in Migration Studies at the LSE European Institute. Waltraud Schelkle is an Associate Professor of Political Economy at the LSE European Institute. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector.

Speaker(s): Jon Sopel | Jon Sopel, BBC North America Editor will be talking about his new book If Only They Didn’t Speak English – Notes from Trump’s America in which he sets out to analyse how a country that he says once stood for the grandest of aspirations is now mired in a storm of political extremism, racial division, and increasingly perverse beliefs. Jon Sopel (@BBCJonSopel) has been the BBC ’s North America Editor since 2014. As a BBC presenter of 16 years, Jon has worked variously as the corporation’s Paris Correspondent, Chief Political Correspondent, hosted both The Politics Show and Newsnight and is a regular on HARDtalk, as well as a number of Radio 4 programmes. As North America Editor, Jon has covered the 2016 election at first hand, reporting for the BBC across TV, radio, and online. Tony Travers is Director of the IPA and LSE London. The Department of Government (@LSEGovernment) at LSE is one of the largest political science departments in the UK. Our activities cover a comprehensive range of approaches to the study of politics.

Speaker(s): Richard Rogers, Amanda Levete, Alan Yentob | Editor's note: While every effort has been made to trace the owners of copyright material reproduced in the advent of any omissions, please contact Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Richard Rogers, one of the world's leading architects and urban thinkers, discusses his life and work with architect Amanda Levete, BBC television presenter Alan Yentob, and director of LSE Cities, Ricky Burdett, Professor of Urban Studies at LSE, to celebrate the launch of his upcoming memoir and manifesto for a better society, A Place for All People. Richard Rogers, founder of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, is a pre-eminent architect of his generation, whose approach to buildings is infused with his enthusiasm for modernism, love of life and strong sense of social justice. Richard and his partners, including Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, have been responsible for some of the most radical designs of the 20th Century, from the Pompidou Centre in Paris, to the Millennium Dome and the Lloyds Building in the City of London, to 3 World Trade Center, as well as airports, cancer care centres and low-cost homes. Amanda Levete (@amanda_levete) is a RIBA Stirling Prize winning architect and founder and principal of AL_A, an international award-winning design and architecture studio. Since its formation in 2009, AL_A has designed cultural, retail and commercial schemes around the world including the recently opened expansion of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the remodelling of Galeries Lafayette Haussmann in Paris. Levete trained at the Architectural Association and worked for Richard Rogers before joining Future Systems as a partner in 1989, where she realised ground-breaking buildings including the Media Centre at Lord’s Cricket Ground and Selfridges department store in Birmingham. Alan Yentob is a British television executive and presenter. He has spent his entire career at the BBC and has held many of its most prestigious positions. He joined the BBC as a general trainee in 1968. After working on arts programmes such as Omnibus (1967) and Arena (1975), he was made Head of Music and Arts at the BBC (1985-1988), Controller of BBC Two (1988 - 1993), Controller of BBC One (1993 - 1997), BBC Director of Programmes in Production (1997 - 1998), BBC Director of Television (1998 - 2000), Director of Drama, Entertainment and CBBC (2000 - 2004) and Creative Director of the BBC. Ricky Burdett (@BURDETTR) is Professor of Urban Studies at the LSE and Director of LSE Cities and the Urban Age Programme. He was curator of the Conflicts of an Urban Age exhibition at the 2016 International Architecture Biennale in Venice and contributed to the United Nations Habitat III conference on sustainable urbanisation in Quito. He was a member of the UK Government’s Independent Airports Commission from 2012 to 2015 and is involved in regeneration projects across Europe and the USA. LSE Cities (@LSECities) is an international centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science that carries out research, education and outreach activities in London and abroad. Its mission is to study how people and cities interact in a rapidly urbanising world, focussing on how the design of cities impacts on society, culture and the environment.

Speaker(s): Dr Axel A. Weber | Axel A. Weber, Group Chairman UBS and former President of the Bundesbank will be in conversation with Lutfey Siddiqi, Visiting Professor-in-Practice at LSE. br>Axel A. Weber was elected to the Board of Directors (BoD) of UBS AG at the 2012 AGM and of UBS Group AG in November 2014. He is Chairman of the BoD of both UBS AG and UBS Group AG. He is chairman of the Institute of International Finance and president of the International Monetary Conference, as well as a board member of the Swiss Bankers Association and a member of the Group of Thirty, among others. Mr Weber was president of the German Bundesbank between 2004 and 2011, during which time he also served as a member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank, a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements, German governor of the International Monetary Fund and as a member of the G7 and G20 Ministers and Governors. He was a member of the steering committees of the European Systemic Risk Board in 2011 and the Financial Stability Board from 2010 to 2011. On leave from the University of Cologne from 2004 to 2012, he was a visiting professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business from 2011 to 2012. From 2002 to 2004, Mr Weber served as a member of the German Council of Economic Experts. He was a professor of international economics and director of the Centre for Financial Research at the University of Cologne from 2001 to 2004, and a professor of monetary economics and director of the Center for Financial Studies at Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main from 1998 to 2001. From 1994 to 1998, he was a professor of economic theory at the University of Bonn. br>Lutfey Siddiqi (@Lutfeys ) is a Centre for International Studies Visiting Professor-in-Practice and an Adjunct Professor at the National University of Singapore. br>The Centre for International Studies at LSE is home to an interdisciplinary community of scholars from around the globe undertaking innovative research with an international dimension. br>The Systemic Risk Centre (@LSE_SRC ) was set up to study the risks that may trigger the next financial crisis and to develop tools to help policymakers and financial institutions become better prepared.

Speaker(s): Dr John Collins, Dr Michael Shiner, Danny Kushlick | We hope you’ve enjoyed listening to this year's programme of public events and that you'll stay tuned for the exciting programme of events we have lined up, for the new academic year beginning in September. In the meantime we have a brand new podcast series that we think you might enjoy. LSE IQ is a monthly podcast where we ask some of the smartest social scientists - and other experts - to answer intelligent questions about economics, politics or society. Recent episodes have tackled questions such as 'Whats the future of work?', 'Is social media good for society?' and 'What can Brexit tell us about the white working class?'. To give you a taste of LSEIQ the latest episode, which asks 'Why haven't we won the War on Drugs?', is available for you here in our public events podcast feed. To listen to other episodes and to subscribe, search for LSEIQ in your favourite podcast app or visit lse.ac.uk/iq . We’d like to hear your opinion too so why not join the discussion on social media using the hashtag #LSEIQ and please also consider leaving a review on iTunes or the Apple podcast app.

Speaker(s): John Sidel | Today’s on-going conflicts in Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere and recurring terrorist incidents have helped to reproduce and reinforce the conventional wisdom about Islam as an increasingly powerful force in world politics. In this lecture, by contrast, Professor John Sidel suggests a contrary – and contrarian – perspective: that the apparent increase in violence is a reflection more of the diminishing strength and solidity of Islam as a collective basis for social identity and political unity.

Speaker(s): Stephen Machin | The lecture will present evidence on the determinants of criminality, with a focus on how economic incentives matter for crime. A particular emphasis will be placed on new empirical developments in the economics of crime field, and the use of large scale microdata in research designs that enable causal effects to be identified. Some of the areas to be covered include: crime and the labour market; the economic returns to crime; online crime; and the impact of policing on crime.

Speaker(s): Bill Emmott | Liberal democracies of the West are in decline. A former editor of the Economist explains how they must change in order to recover and thrive. When faced with global instability and economic uncertainty, it is tempting for states to react by closing borders, hoarding wealth and solidifying power. We have seen it at various times in Japan, France and Italy and now it is infecting all of Europe and America, as the vote for Brexit in the UK has vividly shown. This insularity, together with increased inequality of income and wealth threatens the future role of the West as a font of stability, prosperity and security. Part of the problem is that the principles of liberal democracy upon which the success of the West has been built have been suborned, with special interest groups such as bankers accruing too much power and too great a share of the economic cake. So how is this threat to be countered? States such as Sweden in the 1990s, California at different times or Britain under Thatcher all halted stagnation by clearing away the powers of interest groups and restoring their societies' ability to evolve. To survive, the West needs to be porous, open and flexible. From reinventing welfare systems to redefining the working age, from reimagining education to embracing automation, Emmott will lay out the changes the West must make to revive itself in the moment and avoid a deathly rigid future. Bill Emmott (@bill_emmott) was the editor-in-chief of the Economist from 1993 to 2006, and is now a writer and consultant on international affairs. He is a regular contributor to the Financial Times, La Stampa and Nikkei Business. His latest book is The Fate of the West: The Battle to Save the World's Most Successful Political Idea. Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) is an LSE Fellow in Comparative Politics and author of The Despot's Accomplice: How the West is Aiding & Abetting the Decline of Democracy.

Speaker(s): Michael Cox | Until very recently nearly everybody – with a few critical exceptions – insisted that globalization was the only way forward for the world as a whole. Yet globalization is now under challenge: and not in the developing countries where billions still live in poverty but in the rich nations of the West. How has this come about and how serious is the opposition to globalization?

Speaker(s): Lord Patten | Chris Patten will in this talk use each phase of his life as a spur to reflect upon its contemporary situation - education, America, conservatism, Ireland, China, Europe and finally the question of links between violence and religion. Lord Patten was the last Governor of Hong Kong and will reflect on the current situation there as it marks the 20th anniversary of its handover on 1st July. Chris Patten is currently Chancellor of Oxford University. As a British MP (1979-92) he served as Minister for Overseas Development, Secretary of State for the Environment and Chairman of the Conservative Party, being described afterwards as 'the best Tory Prime Minister we never had' (Observer). He is author of the international bestsellers, East and West (1998), Not Quite the Diplomat: Home Truths about World Affairs (2005), and his new book is First Confession: A Sort of Memoir. Kevin Featherstone is Head of the European Institute, LSE. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector.

Speaker(s): Sadiq Khan, Professor Ricky Burdett, Professor Sadie Morgan, Jackie Sadek | Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, will set out his personal vision for London's future development, and discuss his plans to ensure that the city’s growth benefits all Londoners. London’s population is at an all-time high, and continues to grow as fast as any period since the 19th century. This growth brings challenges of increasing pressures on housing, workspace, local services, infrastructure and heritage, but also brings opportunities to strengthen London’s position as one of the world’s greatest cities. In A City for All Londoners, Sadiq Khan set out his intention to write this new chapter in London’s development according to the principles of ‘good growth’. For this one-off event the Mayor will describe what good growth will mean for London and Londoners, and how he intends to work with London’s developers, architects, planners, local authorities and communities to deliver it. Following his speech, Sadiq Khan will join a panel who will respond to his vision. Sadiq Khan (@MayorofLondon) was elected as Mayor of London in May 2016. Prior to this, he was the MP for Tooting from 2005 to 2016. Sadiq was appointed Minister of State for Communities in 2008 and later became Minister of State for Transport, attending Cabinet. He was also Crossrail Minister. In 2010, Sadiq was appointed Shadow Lord Chancellor and in 2013 appointed Shadow Minister for London. In 2015 he led the Labour Party campaign in London in the General Election. Ricky Burdett (@BURDETTR) is Professor of Urban Studies at the LSE and Director of LSE Cities and the Urban Age Programme. Sadie Morgan is a founding director of leading architectural practice dRMM. Jackie Sadek (@JackieSadek) has 30 years’ experience in property development and urban regeneration, specializing in public-private sector partnerships. Tony Travers is Director of the IPA and LSE London. The Institute of Public Affairs (@LSEPubAffairs) is one of the world's leading centres of public policy. We aim to debate and address some of the major issues of our time, whether international or national, through our established teaching programmes, our research and our highly innovative public-engagement initiatives. LSE Cities (@LSECities) is an international centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science that carries out research, education and outreach activities in London and abroad. Its mission is to study how people and cities interact in a rapidly urbanising world, focussing on how the design of cities impacts on society, culture and the environment. LSE London (@LSE_London) is the London School of Economics' specialist research centre focusing on analyses of London's economy and broader metropolitan issues in a comparative context. The centre has a strong international reputation particularly in the fields of labour markets, social and demographic change, housing, finance and governance, and is the leading academic centre for analyses of city-wide developments in London. It is an interdisciplinary group involving staff from a number of departments who have particular expertise in economics, geography, government and planning.

Speaker(s): Professor Branko Milanovic | Branko Milanovic will discuss the recent evolution in global inequality and focus on the political implications of the important changes in the global distribution of income. Branko Milanovic (@BrankoMilan) is Senior Scholar at the Luxembourg Income Study Center and Visiting Presidential Professor, Graduate Center, City University of New York. Mike Savage (@MikeSav47032563) is Martin White Professor of Sociology and Co-Director of the LSE International Inequalities Institute. The International Inequalities Institute at LSE (@LSEInequalities) brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead critical and cutting edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

Speaker(s): Professor Branko Milanovic | Branko Milanovic will discuss the recent evolution in global inequality and focus on the political implications of the important changes in the global distribution of income. Branko Milanovic (@BrankoMilan) is Senior Scholar at the Luxembourg Income Study Center and Visiting Presidential Professor, Graduate Center, City University of New York. Mike Savage (@MikeSav47032563) is Martin White Professor of Sociology and Co-Director of the LSE International Inequalities Institute. The International Inequalities Institute at LSE (@LSEInequalities) brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead critical and cutting edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

Speaker(s): Andrew Dell, CEO Africa, HSBC | With growth and economic influence shifting South and East, this lecture presents a personal view of how global trends make this economic process inevitable as well as how global regulatory changes in response to the Global Financial Crisis have unintended consequences in developing economies.

Speaker(s): Edward Llewellyn | Edward Llewellyn, newly installed UK Ambassador in Paris and former Chief of Staff for David Cameron, will reflect on Anglo-French relations in the first Maurice Fraser Memorial Lecture. Edward Llewellyn (@EdLlewellynFCO) is British Ambassador to France and former Chief of Staff to David Cameron (2011-2016). Kevin Featherstone is Head of the European Institute, Eleftherios Venizelos Professor of Contemporary Greek Studies and Professor of European Politics at LSE. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector.

Speaker(s): Jamie Woodcock, Dr Alpa Shah | Jamie Woodcock goes undercover in a call centre to reveal the plight of over a million workers employed in the UK’s least-loved service industry. In the six months he spent ‘working the phones’, Jamie observed – and succumbed to – pockets of resistance to management, surveillance and control. Join Jamie as he recalls his experience, illustrating how call centres have become emblematic of the post-industrial service economy, which prompts him to question whether the gig economy will be subjected to a similar fate. Jamie Woodcock (@jamie_woodcock) is an LSE Fellow in LSE's Department of Management. Alpa Shah (@alpashah001) is Associate Professor (Reader) in the Department of Anthropology at the LSE. Bev Skeggs (@bevskeggs) is Professor of Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London. The Department of Management (@LSEManagement) is a globally diverse academic community at the heart of the LSE, taking a unique interdisciplinary, academically in-depth approach to the study of management and organisations.

Speaker(s): Professor Christine Chinkin, Professor Mary Kaldor, Dr Javier Solana | By failing to address 'new wars' international law has added to insecurity. Is it time for a second generation human security resting upon the laws of humanity? This event launches Christine Chinkin and Mary Kaldor's new book International Law and New Wars, which examines how international law fails to address the contemporary experience of what are known as 'new wars' - instances of armed conflict and violence in places such as Syria, Ukraine, Libya, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. International law, largely constructed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, rests to a great extent on the outmoded concept of war drawn from European experience - inter-state clashes involving battles between regular and identifiable armed forces. The book shows how different approaches are associated with different interpretations of international law, and, in some cases, this has dangerously weakened the legal restraints on war established after 1945. It puts forward a practical case for what it defines as second generation human security and the implications this carries for international law. Christine Chinkin is Director of the Centre for Women, Peace and Security. Mary Kaldor is Director of the Civil Society and Human Security Research Unit. Javier Solana is President at ESADE Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics and Distinguished Fellow at The Brookings Institution. Professor Toby Dodge is Director of the LSE Middle East Centre, a Professor in the International Relations Department at LSE, and a Senior Consulting Fellow for the Middle East, International Institute for Strategic Studies, London. The Centre for Women, Peace and Security (@LSE_WPS) is a leading academic space for scholars, practitioners, activists, policy-makers and students to develop strategies to promote justice, human rights and participation for women in conflict-affected situations around the world.

Speaker(s): Professor Michael Lynk, Dr Valentina Azarova, Dr Federica Bicchi, Dr Victor Kattan, Hugh Lovatt | Editor's note: We apologise for the poor audio quality of this podcast. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict presents us with a paradox. While it has generated notable developments in international law, it seems to be unaffected by international law. Closing this apparent gap requires an examination of what international law stands for in the current situation, when Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories shows every sign of permanence. What has UN Security Council Resolution 2334 added to the debate? How should we assess the lawfulness of Israeli practices in the occupied territories? Has Israel’s prolonged occupation become illegal? And what does this mean for Palestinian rights and third state responsibilities? This lecture, followed by the discussants’ comments and Q&A, will be the opportunity to analyse concepts and issues from an academic perspective. Michael Lynk is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, Western University, in London, Ontario. Valentina Azarova (@ValentinaAzarov) is Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Global Public Law, Koç University, Istanbul. Federica Bicchi is Associate Professor of International Relations at LSE. Victor Kattan (@VictorKattan) is Senior Research Fellow at the Middle East Institute and an Associate Fellow at the Faculty of Law at the National University of Singapore. Hugh Lovatt (@h_lovatt), Policy Fellow and Israel/Palestine Project Coordinator for ECFR’s Middle East and North Africa Programme. Toby Dodge (@ProfTobyDodge) is Professor of International Relations and Director of the Middle East Centre at LSE. The Department of International Relations (@LSEIRDept) is now in its 89th year, making it one of the oldest, and largest in the world.

Speaker(s): Professor Alvin Roth | Nobel laureate Alvin Roth will deliver this year’s Morishima Lecture on the topics of game theory, market design and experimental economics. Alvin Roth is the Craig and Susan Shaw Professor of Economics at Stanford University. He was awarded the 2012 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics Sciences jointly with Lloyd Shapley, for their work on the theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design. Nava Ashraf is Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is also Director of Research of the Marshall Institute for Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship. STICERD (@STICERD_LSE) brings together world-class academics to put economics and related disciplines at the forefront of research and policy. Founded in 1978 by the renowned Japanese economist Michio Morishima, with donations from Suntory and Toyota, we are a thriving research community within the LSE.

Speaker(s): Jee Kim, Professor Amartya Sen, Katy Wright | Inequalities is a common, if often unstated, theme in the news. How the causes and consequences of inequalities are presented matters, so how do we change the current narratives? Jee Kim is leading the Narratives Initiative as part of the global Atlantic Fellows programme. Amartya Sen is Thomas W Lamont University Professor and Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University. He is the recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics and is an LSE Honorary Fellow. Katy Wright (@KatyWright) is Head of Global External Affairs at Oxfam. Beverley Skeggs (@bevskeggs) is the incoming Director of the Atlantic Fellows Programme at the III, starting in September 2017, she is currently Professor of Sociology, at Goldsmiths, University of London where she has worked since 2004. If you are interesed in attending this public event, you may be interested in attending the International Inequalities Institute annual conference entitled Challenging Inequalities: developing a global response taking place at 9:30am to 5:30pm on Wednesday 14 June 2017. The International Inequalities Institute at LSE (@LSEInequalities) brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead critical and cutting edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

Speaker(s): Stephen D. King | Globalisation, long considered the best route to economic prosperity and the apparent norm for decades, may not be as inevitable as we think. It now threatens to go abruptly into reverse. What went wrong? And what is the likely impact upon our future prosperity? Stephen D. King (@KingEconomist) is senior economic adviser at HSBC, a specialist adviser to the House of Commons Treasury Committee and an author. His latest book is Grave New World: The End of Globalization: The Return of History. Nick Oulton is an associate at the Centre for Economic Performance, a member of the Centre for Macroeconomics and a Visiting Professor at UCL. The Department of Economics at LSE (@LSEEcon) is one of the largest economics departments in the world. Its size ensures that all areas of economics are strongly represented in both research and teaching. The Centre For Macroeconomics (@CFMUK) brings together world-class experts to carry out pioneering research on the global economic crisis and to help design policies that alleviate it.

Speaker(s): Professor Sara Hobolt, David Goodhart, Professor Anand Menon, Professor Simon Hix | The outcome of the 2017 General Election will be crucial in steering the UK’s approach to Brexit negotiations, and for setting the tone of UK public policy for the next Parliament. Join LSE academics and guest speakers for an evening of lively analysis and debate on the potential winners, losers, and consequences for the UK and beyond. 9.25pm - Introduction and Welcome – Professor Julia Black. 9.30pm - Panel 1: What to expect. Speakers: Professor Patrick Dunleavy, Dr Jennifer van Heerde-Hudson. 10.20pm - Panel 2: British Politics. Speakers: Professor Tim Bale, Professor Matthew Goodwin, Cordelia Hay. 11.35pm- Panel 3: Brexit. Speakers: Professor Sara Hobolt, David Goodhart, Professor Anand Menon, Professor Simon Hix. 12.15am - Panel 4: Economy and Welfare. Speakers: Professor Tim Besley, Dr Stephanie Rickard, Vicky Pryce. 12.55am - Panel 5: Defence and Foreign Policy. Speakers: Professor Mick Cox, Dr Brian Klaas, Dr Yu Jie. 1.35am - Final Analysis and Goodnight – Professor Tony Travers.

Speaker(s): Professor Tim Bale, Professor Matthew Goodwin, Cordelia Hay | The outcome of the 2017 General Election will be crucial in steering the UK’s approach to Brexit negotiations, and for setting the tone of UK public policy for the next Parliament. Join LSE academics and guest speakers for an evening of lively analysis and debate on the potential winners, losers, and consequences for the UK and beyond. 9.25pm - Introduction and Welcome – Professor Julia Black. 9.30pm - Panel 1: What to expect. Speakers: Professor Patrick Dunleavy, Dr Jennifer van Heerde-Hudson. 10.20pm - Panel 2: British Politics. Speakers: Professor Tim Bale, Professor Matthew Goodwin, Cordelia Hay. 11.35pm- Panel 3: Brexit. Speakers: Professor Sara Hobolt, David Goodhart, Professor Anand Menon, Professor Simon Hix. 12.15am - Panel 4: Economy and Welfare. Speakers: Professor Tim Besley, Dr Stephanie Rickard, Vicky Pryce. 12.55am - Panel 5: Defence and Foreign Policy. Speakers: Professor Mick Cox, Dr Brian Klaas, Dr Yu Jie. 1.35am - Final Analysis and Goodnight – Professor Tony Travers.

Speaker(s): Professor Patrick Dunleavy, Dr Jennifer van Heerde-Hudson | The outcome of the 2017 General Election will be crucial in steering the UK’s approach to Brexit negotiations, and for setting the tone of UK public policy for the next Parliament. Join LSE academics and guest speakers for an evening of lively analysis and debate on the potential winners, losers, and consequences for the UK and beyond. 9.25pm - Introduction and Welcome – Professor Julia Black. 9.30pm - Panel 1: What to expect. Speakers: Professor Patrick Dunleavy, Dr Jennifer van Heerde-Hudson. 10.20pm - Panel 2: British Politics. Speakers: Professor Tim Bale, Professor Matthew Goodwin, Cordelia Hay. 11.35pm- Panel 3: Brexit. Speakers: Professor Sara Hobolt, David Goodhart, Professor Anand Menon, Professor Simon Hix. 12.15am - Panel 4: Economy and Welfare. Speakers: Professor Tim Besley, Dr Stephanie Rickard, Vicky Pryce. 12.55am - Panel 5: Defence and Foreign Policy. Speakers: Professor Mick Cox, Dr Brian Klaas, Dr Yu Jie. 1.35am - Final Analysis and Goodnight – Professor Tony Travers.

Speaker(s): Professor Tim Besley, Dr Stephanie Rickard, Vicky Pryce | The outcome of the 2017 General Election will be crucial in steering the UK’s approach to Brexit negotiations, and for setting the tone of UK public policy for the next Parliament. Join LSE academics and guest speakers for an evening of lively analysis and debate on the potential winners, losers, and consequences for the UK and beyond. 9.25pm - Introduction and Welcome – Professor Julia Black. 9.30pm - Panel 1: What to expect. Speakers: Professor Patrick Dunleavy, Dr Jennifer van Heerde-Hudson. 10.20pm - Panel 2: British Politics. Speakers: Professor Tim Bale, Professor Matthew Goodwin, Cordelia Hay. 11.35pm- Panel 3: Brexit. Speakers: Professor Sara Hobolt, David Goodhart, Professor Anand Menon, Professor Simon Hix. 12.15am - Panel 4: Economy and Welfare. Speakers: Professor Tim Besley, Dr Stephanie Rickard, Vicky Pryce. 12.55am - Panel 5: Defence and Foreign Policy. Speakers: Professor Mick Cox, Dr Brian Klaas, Dr Yu Jie. 1.35am - Final Analysis and Goodnight – Professor Tony Travers.

Speaker(s): Professor Mick Cox, Dr Brian Klaas, Dr Yu Jie | The outcome of the 2017 General Election will be crucial in steering the UK’s approach to Brexit negotiations, and for setting the tone of UK public policy for the next Parliament. Join LSE academics and guest speakers for an evening of lively analysis and debate on the potential winners, losers, and consequences for the UK and beyond. 9.25pm - Introduction and Welcome – Professor Julia Black. 9.30pm - Panel 1: What to expect. Speakers: Professor Patrick Dunleavy, Dr Jennifer van Heerde-Hudson. 10.20pm - Panel 2: British Politics. Speakers: Professor Tim Bale, Professor Matthew Goodwin, Cordelia Hay. 11.35pm- Panel 3: Brexit. Speakers: Professor Sara Hobolt, David Goodhart, Professor Anand Menon, Professor Simon Hix. 12.15am - Panel 4: Economy and Welfare. Speakers: Professor Tim Besley, Dr Stephanie Rickard, Vicky Pryce. 12.55am - Panel 5: Defence and Foreign Policy. Speakers: Professor Mick Cox, Dr Brian Klaas, Dr Yu Jie. 1.35am - Final Analysis and Goodnight – Professor Tony Travers.

Speaker(s): Dr Jana Uher | People often feel they are being judged differently for doing the same things. But experiences based on gender identity or ethnicity are frequently dismissed. This lecture will present key findings of a timely Marie Curie Project conducted at LSE. Identical leadership films featuring different protagonists and cutting-edge interview methodologies involving first-person videos provided deep insights into how people perceive others and how they judge others on personality scales. These new findings illuminate the pathways to the emergence of implicit biases and their manifestation in standardised surveys, which are widely used in organisations and research. Jana Uher is Senior Research Fellow, MarieCurie Fellow and member of the Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Team at LSE. Julia Black is Interim Director of LSE and Professor of Law at LSE. The Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science (@PsychologyLSE) study and teach societal psychology: the psychology of humans in complex socio-technical systems (organisations, communities, societies). Our research deals with real-world issues, we train the future global leaders.

Speaker(s): Professor Lord Stern, Professor Amartya Sen | What can insights from seven decades of research in Palanpur tell us about economic development, inequality and prospects for India? This event is the Eva Colorni Memorial Lecture. Nicholas Stern (@lordstern1) is IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government at LSE, Director of the LSE India Observatory and President of the British Academy. Amartya Sen is Thomas W Lamont University Professor and Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University. He is the recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics and is an LSE Honorary Fellow. Naila Kabeer (@N_Kabeer) is Professor of Gender and Development at the Gender Institute and at the Department of International Development at LSE. Her research interests include gender, poverty, social exclusion, labour markets and livelihoods, social protection and citizenship and much of her research is focused on South and South East Asia. LSE's Gender Institute (@LSEGenderTweet) is the largest gender studies centre in Europe. With a global perspective, the Gender Institute's research and teaching intersects with other categories of analysis such as race, ethnicity, class and sexuality; because gender relations work in all spheres of life, interdisciplinarity is key to our approach. The International Inequalities Institute at LSE (@LSEInequalities) brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead critical and cutting edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

Speaker(s): Professor Lord Stern, Professor Amartya Sen | What can insights from seven decades of research in Palanpur tell us about economic development, inequality and prospects for India? This event is the Eva Colorni Memorial Lecture. Nicholas Stern (@lordstern1) is IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government at LSE, Director of the LSE India Observatory and President of the British Academy. Amartya Sen is Thomas W Lamont University Professor and Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University. He is the recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics and is an LSE Honorary Fellow. Naila Kabeer (@N_Kabeer) is Professor of Gender and Development at the Gender Institute and at the Department of International Development at LSE. Her research interests include gender, poverty, social exclusion, labour markets and livelihoods, social protection and citizenship and much of her research is focused on South and South East Asia. LSE's Gender Institute (@LSEGenderTweet) is the largest gender studies centre in Europe. With a global perspective, the Gender Institute's research and teaching intersects with other categories of analysis such as race, ethnicity, class and sexuality; because gender relations work in all spheres of life, interdisciplinarity is key to our approach. The International Inequalities Institute at LSE (@LSEInequalities) brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead critical and cutting edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

Speaker(s): James Meek | Is the historical association between extreme social change and violent revolution hampering opposition to the ballot-box extremism of the populist right? The Russian revolutions of 1917 still influence contemporary events, but they distort our understanding of them. Because the 1917 revolutions were both violent political transformations and executed programmes of radical social change, we see the two as bound to occur together. But it is not inevitable. From Ukraine and the Arab Spring to neoliberalism and the rise of superrich families, James Meek explores how the world is being reshaped by political revolutions that are empty of coherent ideology, and by transformational social revolutions, radical and ideological, that strive to operate outside the political sphere. James Meek (@LRBoutoflondon) is an award winning novelist and author who has reported extensively from Russia and the Middle East. His books include The People’s Act of Love and Private Island. He is a contributing editor for the London Review of Books. Robin Archer is Director of the Ralph Miliband Programme at LSE. The Ralph Miliband Programme (@RMilibandLSE) is one of LSE's most prestigious lecture series and seeks to advance Ralph Miliband's spirit of free social inquiry.

Speaker(s): Nana Bemma Nti, Christine Chinkin, Jeni Klugman, Jacqui True, Torunn L Tryggestad | How are scholars and researchers worldwide holding governments to account for their local and international women, peace and security commitments? Nana Bemma Nti is Faculty Co-ordinator of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre. Christine Chinkin is Director of the LSE Centre for Women, Peace and Security. Jeni Klugman (@JeniKlugman) is Director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security. Jacqui True (@JacquiTrue) is Director of the Monash Gender Peace and Security Institute. Torunn L Tryggestad is Director of the PRIO Centre on Gender, Peace and Security. Dr Paul Kirby is Assistant Professorial Research Fellow in the Centre for Women, Peace and Security. The Centre for Women, Peace and Security (@LSE_WPS) is a leading academic space for scholars, practitioners, activists, policy-makers and students to develop strategies to promote justice, human rights and participation for women in conflict-affected situations around the world.

Speaker(s): Dr Franklin Ginn, Dr Suzanne Hobson, Professor John Milbank, Florian Mussgnug | Within our apparently secular, globalised, and technology-driven world, we are witnessing a return of apocalyptic thinking. What are its current incarnations and why have they emerged now? Or did apocalyptic thinking ever really leave us? Is it inescapably linked to our belief in progress? What are the politics of apocalypse? Does it paralyse or inspire us? In this event, the panel will consider philosophical, ecological, literary, and theological manifestations of apocalyptic thinking. Franklin Ginn is Lecturer in Cultural Geography, University of Bristol. Suzanne Hobson is Senior Lecturer in Twentieth Century Literature, Queen Mary, University of London. John Milbank (@johnmilbank3) is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Nottingham. Florian Mussgnug is Reader in Italian and Comparative Literature, UCL. Danielle Sands (@DanielleCSands) is a Lecturer in Comparative Literature and Culture at Royal Holloway, University of London and a Forum for European Philosophy Fellow. The Forum for European Philosophy (@ForumPhilosophy) is an educational charity that organises a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK.

Speaker(s): Dr Rupert Stasch | Editor's note: The first few minutes of the chairperson's introduction is missing from the recording. This lecture draws on Rupert Stasch's fieldwork studying Cannibal Tours-type encounters between international visitors and Korowai people of Indonesian Papua. Korowai, tourists, and guides regularly assimilated Rupert to tourism-relevant roles, and he regularly noticed similarities between tourism participants' ideas or practices and his own. In the lecture, he will explore the ethnography of the anthropology-tourism relation in this research, following a wider well-established genre of productive reflection on anthropology's alignments and disalignments with other social complexes it both studies and is historically co-implicated with. He emphasises that the diversity of alignments drawn or enacted by different participants does not fit one predictable construal of the anthropology-tourism relation. Concerning the side of tourists, he attaches special significance to a minor but theoretically challenging pattern of tourists being “anthropological” not just in a sense of enacting primitivist ideology with historical connections to our discipline, but also being “anthropological” in a sense of taking tourism’s primitivist ideology itself as an object of inquiry, or otherwise developing ideas about tour interactions parallel to his own. This is the Malinowski Memorial Lecture 2017. Rupert Stasch is a lecturer in social anthropology at the University of Cambridge. Katy Gardner trained at Cambridge and the LSE. After spending much of her career at the University of Sussex she has returned to the LSE. Her work focuses on the issues of globalisation, migration and economic change in Bangladesh and its transnational communities in the U.K. LSE's Anthropology Department, (@LSEAnthropology) with a long and distinguished history, remains a leading centre for innovative research and teaching. We are committed to both maintaining and renewing the core of the discipline, and our undergraduate teaching and training of PhD students is recognised as outstanding.

Speaker(s): Lenny Abrahamson, Professor Maximilian De Gaynesford, Francine Stock | 'Film is made for philosophy', wrote Stanley Cavell, 'it shifts or puts different light on whatever philosophy has said about appearance and reality, about actors and characters, about scepticism and dogmatism, about presence and absence'. Does the language of cinema lend itself to questions of metaphysics and mortality? How can a character, a close up, or a cut represent a concept? In this panel, a filmmaker, a film critic, and a philosopher explore the ways in which film has engaged with philosophy and ask how far we might consider film itself a philosophical medium. Lenny Abrahamson (@lennyabrahamson) is a film and television director. His films include Adam & Paul, Frank, and the Oscar-winning Room. Maximilian De Gaynesford is Professor of Philosophy, University of Reading. Francine Stock (@FrancineFilm) is a radio and TV presenter and author of In Glorious Technicolor: a century of film and how it has shaped us. Shahidha Bari (@ShahidhaBari) is Lecturer in Romanticism in the Department of English, Queen Mary, University of London and Forum for European Philosophy Fellow. The Forum for European Philosophy (@ForumPhilosophy) is an educational charity that organises a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK.

Speaker(s): Julia Gillard, Professor Pauline Rose | Julia Gillard (@JuliaGillard) will make the case for a step change in global investment in education to address a learning crisis in which hundreds of millions of children are out of school and many more are failing to achieve basic levels of learning. Ms Gillard will outline the ways in which donors, philanthropists and the private sector can join with developing countries to ensure the world’s children are equipped to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Julia Gillard is the chair of the Board of Directors of the Global Partnership for Education. She served as Prime Minister of Australia between 2010 and 2013 and successfully managed Australia’s economy during the global economic crises. During her tenure she reformed Australia’s education at every level from early childhood to higher education with a special focus on disadvantaged children. She also established Australia’s first national curriculum and ensured significant investment in school buildings. Before becoming Prime Minister, Ms. Gillard was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and Social Inclusion. Pauline Rose (@PaulineMRose) is Professor of International Education at the University of Cambridge, where she is Director of the Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre in the Faculty of Education. She is also Senior Research Fellow at the UK Department for International Development. Professor Rose is author of numerous publications on issues that examine educational policy and practice, including in relation to inequality, financing and governance, democratisation, and the role of international aid. Saul Estrin is a Professor of Management and founding Head of the Department of Management at LSE. The Department of Management (@LSEManagement) is a globally diverse academic community at the heart of the LSE, taking a unique interdisciplinary, academically in-depth approach to the study of management and organisations.

Speaker(s): Professor Danny Dorling | In more equal countries, human beings are generally happier and healthier, there is less crime, more creativity and higher educational attainment. In this talk to launch his latest book, Danny Dorling shows that the evidence is now so overwhelming that it should be changing politics and society all over the world. More and more evidence is emerging to suggest that greater economic equality benefits all people in all societies, whether you are rich, poor or in-between. The truth of this generalisation has only become evident recently, and is contentious because it contradicts the views of many in the elite. However, the elite you get in any one country now also appears to be influenced by the levels of inequality you tolerate. The UK and USA voted for Brexit and Trump; Canada, Austria and the Netherlands saw very different recent electoral outcomes. By spring 2017 it became clear that far more countries were becoming more economically equal than more unequal, putting the equality effect to work. But that is of little comfort for the minority of people who live in the few very unequal countries that still see high inequalities, rising or only slowly falling, and in which politics then become increasingly bizarre. The most economically unequal countries in the rich world are now the USA, Israel and the UK. In all three cases sustaining very high rates of inequality is becoming increasingly expensive. Danny Dorling (@dannydorling) is the Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography at the University of Oxford. He is the author of The No-Nonsense Guide to Equality; The Atlas of the Real World; Unequal Health; Inequality and the 1%; Injustice: Why Social Inequalities Persist; and the forthcoming The Equality Effect. Neil Lee (@ndrlee) is Assistant Professor in Economic Geography at LSE. The International Inequalities Institute at LSE (@LSEInequalities) brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead critical and cutting edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

Speaker(s): Professor Catharine A MacKinnon | The minuscule motion of a butterfly’s wings can trigger a tornado half a world away, according to chaos theory. Under the right conditions, small simple actions can produce large complex effects. In this lecture to mark the launch of her new book, Catharine A MacKinnon argues that the right seemingly minor interventions in the legal realm can have a butterfly effect that generates major social and cultural transformations. Butterfly Politics brings this incisive understanding of social causality to a wide-ranging exploration of gender relations. The pieces collected here—many published for the first time—provide a new perspective on MacKinnon’s career as a pioneer of legal theory and practice and an activist for women’s rights. Its central concerns of gender inequality, sexual harassment, rape, pornography, and prostitution have defined MacKinnon’s intellectual, legal, and political pursuits for over forty years. Though differing in style and approach, the selections all share the same motivation: to end inequality, including abuse, in women’s lives. Several mark the first time ideas that are now staples of legal and political discourse appeared in public—for example, the analysis of substantive equality. Others urge changes that have yet to be realized. The butterfly effect can animate political activism and advance equality socially and legally. Seemingly insignificant actions, through collective recursion, can intervene in unstable systems to produce systemic change. A powerful critique of the legal and institutional denial of reality that perpetuates practices of gender inequality, Butterfly Politics provides a model of what principled, effective, socially conscious engagement with law looks like. Catharine A MacKinnon is Elizabeth A Long Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School and the James Barr Ames Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. Christine Chinkin is Director of the Centre for Women, Peace and Security and emerita Professor of International Law. The Centre for Women, Peace and Security (@LSE_WPS) is a leading academic space for scholars, practitioners, activists, policy-makers and students to develop strategies to promote justice, human rights and participation for women in conflict-affected situations around the world.

Speaker(s): Dr Mary Bousted, Peter Hitchens, Melissa Benn, Mark Morrin, Harriet Sergeant | In response to the Government's May 2017 Schools White Paper, the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) and Times Educational Supplement (TES) host ""The Big General Election Grammar Schools Debate"" on whether there is a place for grammar schools in the UK education system. Will they work for everyone, not just the privileged few? After an introduction from Professor Sandra McNally, Director of the Education and Skills Programme at CEP, the high profile panel will argue whether or not there is a way back for grammar schools in the UK, debating the motion 'This house believes that a new government should open more grammar schools.' Melissa Benn (@Melissa_Benn) is a writer, journalist and campaigner. She was educated at Holland Park comprehensive and the London School of Economics where she graduated with a First in history. Mary Bousted (@MaryBoustedATL) is general secretary of ATL (Association of Teachers and Lecturers). Peter Hitchens (@ClarkeMicah) is a journalist, author and broadcaster. Hitchens writes for The Mail on Sunday and is a former foreign correspondent in Moscow and Washington. He works as a foreign reporter and in 2010 was awarded the Orwell Prize for journalism. Lewis Iwu (@lewisiwu) read politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford University, where he was elected President of the students’ union. Lewis is an active debating coach, having coached the national teams of Hong Kong in 2006, the United Arab Emirates in 2010 and 2011, and the ESU England schools debating team in 2012. Mark Morrin is ResPublica's Localism Lead. He is focusing on their new projects and workstreams, working in partnership with city-regions, to radicalise the localism agenda and realise a new vision for local economic growth and public sector reform.Harriet Sergeant (@HarrietSergeant) is a journalist, author and Research Fellow of the Centre For Policy Studies. She is the author of books: Between the Lines: Conversations in South Africa, Shanghai: Collision Point of Cultures 1918-1939, Japan, and Among the Hoods: My Years with a Teenage Gang.

Speaker(s): Professor Jonathan Wolff | For much of the early part of the twentieth century, political theorists debated the moral and economic merits of capitalism in competition with communism. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and its satellites, and the triumph of the market economy, those on the political left briefly flirted with the idea of market socialism. But critics of capitalism are running out of alternative ideas, to the point that a placard at an anti-capitalism march proclaimed 'Replace Capitalism with Something Nice!'. In this year's Ralph Oppenheimer Memorial Lecture Professor Jonathan Wolff will ask: Are we stuck with capitalism? How far can it be modified? How far should it be modified? The event will include an introduction by David Edmonds in honour of Ralph Oppenheimer. Jonathan Wolff (@JoWolffBSG) is Blavatnik Professor of Public Policy, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. Peter Dennis is a Fellow, Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, LSE and Forum for European Philosophy Fellow. David Edmonds (@DavidEdmonds100) is a philosopher, author, and producer of the Philosophy Bites podcast. The Forum for European Philosophy (@ForumPhilosophy) is an educational charity that organises a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK.

Speaker(s): Professor Jane Mansbridge | Editor's note: We apologise for the poor audio quality of this podcast. The Trump election and the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom revealed that some members of the political class were not listening hard enough to the concerns of some of the voters disadvantaged by globalisation. What kinds of contacts do representatives have with their constituents? What kinds ought they to have? With better contact, would the representatives have convinced their constituents that a Clinton presidency or a Remain vote better served their interests? This event is the Brian Barry Memorial Lecture 2017. Jane Mansbridge is Charles F. Adams Professor of Political Leadership and Democratic Values, at the Harvard Kennedy School. She is the author of Beyond Adversary Democracy, an empirical and normative study of face-to-face democracy, and the award-winning Why We Lost the ERA, a study of anti-deliberative dynamics in social movements based on organizing for an Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. She is also editor or coeditor of the volumes Beyond Self-Interest, Feminism,Oppositional Consciousness, Deliberative Systems, and Negotiating Agreement in Politics. She was President of the American Political Science Association in 2012-13. Lea Ypi (@lea_ypi) is Professor in Political Theory, Department of Government, LSE. The Department of Government (@LSEGovernment) at LSE is one of the largest political science departments in the UK. Our activities cover a comprehensive range of approaches to the study of politics.

Speaker(s): Kyriakos Mitsotakis | Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in conversation with Kevin Featherstone, will speak on the topic of populism and the potential of the Greek Economy. Kyriakos Mitsotakis (@kmitsotakis) is the President of Nea Dimokratia. Kevin Featherstone is Head of the European Institute, LSE. The Hellenic Observatory (HO) (@HO_LSE)is part of the European Institute at the LSE. Established in 1996, it is internationally recognised as one of the premier research centres on contemporary Greece and Cyprus.

Speaker(s): Professor Jane Mansbridge | Editor's note: We apologise for the poor audio quality of this podcast. The Trump election and the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom revealed that some members of the political class were not listening hard enough to the concerns of some of the voters disadvantaged by globalisation. What kinds of contacts do representatives have with their constituents? What kinds ought they to have? With better contact, would the representatives have convinced their constituents that a Clinton presidency or a Remain vote better served their interests? This event is the Brian Barry Memorial Lecture 2017. Jane Mansbridge is Charles F. Adams Professor of Political Leadership and Democratic Values, at the Harvard Kennedy School. She is the author of Beyond Adversary Democracy, an empirical and normative study of face-to-face democracy, and the award-winning Why We Lost the ERA, a study of anti-deliberative dynamics in social movements based on organizing for an Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. She is also editor or coeditor of the volumes Beyond Self-Interest, Feminism,Oppositional Consciousness, Deliberative Systems, and Negotiating Agreement in Politics. She was President of the American Political Science Association in 2012-13. Lea Ypi (@lea_ypi) is Professor in Political Theory, Department of Government, LSE. The Department of Government (@LSEGovernment) at LSE is one of the largest political science departments in the UK. Our activities cover a comprehensive range of approaches to the study of politics.

Speaker(s): Professor Alison Gopnik | In the past 15 years, we have discovered that even young children are adept at inferring causal relationship. But are there differences in the ways that younger children, older children and adults learn? And do socioeconomic status and culture make a difference? Alison Gopnik will present several studies showing a surprising pattern. Not only can preschoolers learn abstract higher-order principles from data, but younger learners are actually better at inferring unusual or unlikely principles than older learners and adults. This pattern also holds for children in Peru and in Headstart programs in Oakland, California. Alison Gopnik relates this pattern to computational ideas about search and sampling, to evolutionary ideas about human life history, and to neuroscience findings about the negative effects of frontal control on wide exploration. Gopnik's hypothesis is that our distinctively long, protected human childhood allows an early period of broad hypothesis search, exploration and creativity, before the demands of goal-directed action set in. Alison Gopnik (@AlisonGopnik) is Professor of Psychology and Affiliate Professor of Philosophy at the University of California at Berkeley. Sandra Jovchelovitch is Professor of Social Psychology at LSE where she directs the MSc in Social and Cultural Psychology. The Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science (@PsychologyLSE) study and teach societal psychology: the psychology of humans in complex socio-technical systems (organisations, communities, societies). Our research deals with real-world issues, we train the future global leaders.

Speaker(s): Professor David S Bell, Rokhaya Diallo, Professor Philippe Marlière | A panel of leading scholars and commentators will debate what the outcome of the election tells us about the prospects for the left in France. David S Bell is Emeritus Professor of French Government and Politics at the University of Leeds. Rokhaya Diallo (@RokhayaDiallo) is a French journalist, writer, award-winning filmmaker and activist. Philippe Marlière is Professor in French and European Politics at University College London. Robin Archer is Director of the Ralph Miliband Programme at LSE. The Ralph Miliband Programme (@RMilibandLSE) is one of LSE's most prestigious lecture series and seeks to advance Ralph Miliband's spirit of free social inquiry.

Speaker(s): Professor Simon Blackburn, Dr Olivier Driessens, Professor Edith Hall | If video killed the radio star, how are we to understand celebrity in a world of Twitter, YouTube, and reality TV? Has the social function of celebrity changed, or are new kinds of celebrities performing the same function in different ways? Our panel will consider what celebrities are for, what their rights and responsibilities might be, and what our attitude towards celebrities ought to be. Simon Blackburn is Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, Research Professor, UNC Chapel Hill and Professor, New College of the Humanities. Olivier Driessens is Lecturer in the Sociology of Media and Culture, University of Cambridge. Edith Hall (@edithmayhall) is Professor of Classics, King’s College London. Peter Dennis is a Fellow, Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, LSE and Forum for European Philosophy Fellow. The Forum for European Philosophy (@ForumPhilosophy) is an educational charity that organises a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK.

Speaker(s): Professor Sheila Fitzpatrick | Western Scholars are non-commital. Putin's Russia is embarrassed. How should the centenary be commemorated? Sheila Fitzpatrick is Professor of History at the University of Sydney and Professor emeritus at the Univeristy of Chicago. She is a widely acclaimed expert on modern Russia. Robin Archer is Director of the Ralph Miliband Programme at LSE. The Ralph Miliband Programme (@RMilibandLSE) is one of LSE's most prestigious lecture series and seeks to advance Ralph Miliband's spirit of free social inquiry.

Speaker(s): Dr Marco Cinnirella, Dr Katharine Jenkins, Joe Mulhall, Dr Amir Saeed | With recent political events and a spike in the reporting of hate crime, the concept of prejudice has become prominent once more. But are we more or less prejudiced than at other points in our history? And is prejudice always wrong, or even avoidable? If it is avoidable, how can this be achieved? We put these questions to a philosopher, psychologist, sociologist, and activist. Marco Cinnirella is Senior Lecturer of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London. Katharine Jenkins is Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Nottingham. Joe Mulhall (@JoeMulhall_) is Senior Researcher, Hope Not Hate. Amir Saeed is Senior Lecturer in Media Studies, University of Huddersfield. Peter Dennis is a Fellow, Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, LSE and Forum for European Philosophy Fellow. The Forum for European Philosophy (@ForumPhilosophy) is an educational charity that organises a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK.

Speaker(s): Professor Michael Cox, Dr Abby Innes, Professor Mike Savage | Can we learn something about Europe's future by turning to its past? Prominent scholars reflect on a year in history that has analogies with 2017. Michael Cox is Director of LSE IDEAS and Emeritus Professor of International Relations at LSE. Abby Innes is Assistant Professor of Political Economy at LSE's European Institute. Mike Savage (@MikeSav47032563) is Martin White Professor of Sociology and Co-Director of LSE's International Inequalities Institute. Lucia Rubinelli is a Fellow in Political Theory at the LSE Government Department. The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector.

Speaker(s): Professor Charlie Beckett, Gideon Rachman, Dr Leslie Vinjamuri, Professor Joan C. Williams | Join the US Centre for a roundtable debate about the 45th US President’s first 100 days in office. A panel of academics and journalists will discuss the new administration’s priorities and the international implications of the current US political landscape. Charlie Beckett (@CharlieBeckett) is Director of POLIS and Professor in the Department of Media & Communications at LSE. Gideon Rachman (@gideonrachman) is Chief Foreign Affairs columnist for the Financial Times. Leslie Vinjamuri (@londonvinjamuri) is Director of the Centre on Conflict, Rights and Justice and Associate Professor in International Relations at SOAS, University of London. Joan C. Williams (@JoanCWilliams) is Distinguished Professor of Law and Founding Director of the Center of WorkLife Law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Peter Trubowitz (@ptrubowitz) is Department Head of International Relations and Director of the US Centre at LSE and Associate Fellow at Chatham House, Royal Institute of International Affairs. The United States Centre at LSE (@LSE_US) is a hub for global expertise, analysis and commentary on America. Its mission is to promote policy-relevant and internationally-oriented scholarship to meet the growing demand for fresh analysis and critical debate on the United States.

Speaker(s): Professor Susan Buck-Morss | In the twenty-first century any world war is a civil war, and any civil war affects the world. Does this mean the end of the Age of Revolutions, or a whole new understanding of what revolution entails? Susan Buck-Morss is Distinguished Professor of Political Philosophy at the CUNY Graduate Center, NYC, where she is a core faculty member of the Committee on Globalization and Social Change. She is Professor Emeritus in the Government Department of Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. Her training is in Continental Theory, specifically, German Critical Philosophy and the Frankfurt School. Her work crosses disciplines, including Art History, Architecture, Comparative Literature, Cultural Studies, German Studies, Philosophy, History, and Visual Culture. She is currently writing on the philosophy of history: History as the Cosmology of Modernity. Ayça Çubukçu (@ayca_cu) is Assistant Professor in Human Rights in the Department of Sociology and the Centre for the Study of Human Rights at the LSE. ICPS research group presents this lecture, which is co-sponsored by the Centre for the Study of Human Rights (@LSEHumanRights) and the Department of Sociology (@LSEsociology). Internationalism, Cosmopolitanism and the Politics of Solidarity (ICPS) is constituted as an interdisciplinary research group. It aims to explore the politics of transnational solidarity by addressing the complications that arise in attempts to define, critique, and practice various strands of internationalism and cosmopolitanism. The Centre for the Study of Human Rights at LSE is a trans-disciplinary centre of excellence for international academic research, teaching and critical scholarship on human rights.

Speaker(s): Professor Arne Westad | The election of Donald Trump as President signals a profound change in US foreign relations. Basic US approaches to the world in place since at least 1945 seem to be shifting, as are traditional concepts of friends and enemies. In this lecture, Professor Arne Westad of Harvard University asks what the reactions to the Trump presidency are likely to be in eastern Asia and whether we are facing a fundamental power shift in the region. He will also discuss how the current situation compares with earlier cases of dramatic global change. This event is part of the Rethinking the Cold War series with the University of Sheffield. Arne Westad (@OAWestad) is ST Lee Professor of US-Asia Relations at Harvard University. Michael Cox is Director of LSE IDEAS. LSE IDEAS (@LSEIDEAS) is a foreign policy think-tank within LSE's Institute for Global Affairs. The Department of International History (@lsehistory) is one of the top five university history departments in the UK.

Speaker(s): Dr Jean-Yves Duclos | While being a university professor, Jean-Yves Duclos had the opportunity to comment on governmental decisions. Now that he is the one making the decisions and as an economist, he sees the process in a much different perspective. Elected to the Canadian Parliament in October 2015, Jean-Yves Duclos (@jyduclos) currently serves as Canadian Minister of Families, Children and Social Development. Prior to politics, Minister Duclos was the head of the Department of Economics at Université Laval. He earned his master's and doctoral degrees in Economics at LSE. Wouter den Haan is Co-director for the Centre for Macroeconomics and Professor of Economics at LSE. The Department of Economics at LSE (@LSEEcon) is one of the largest economics departments in the world. Its size ensures that all areas of economics are strongly represented in both research and teaching. The Centre For Macroeconomics (@CFMUK) brings together world-class experts to carry out pioneering research on the global economic crisis and to help design policies that alleviate it.

Speaker(s): Dr Jim Yong Kim | On the eve of the World Bank Group – International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim will discuss how we must fundamentally shift development finance to meet the aspirations of the world's 7 billion people and become the first generation in history to end extreme poverty. Jim Yong Kim (@JimYongKim), M.D., Ph.D., is the 12th President of the World Bank Group. Soon after he assumed his position in July 2012, the organization established two goals to guide its work: to end extreme poverty by 2030; and to boost shared prosperity, focusing on the bottom 40% of the population in developing countries. In September 2016, the World Bank Group Board unanimously reappointed Kim to a second five-year term as President. During his first term, the World Bank Group supported the development priorities of countries at levels never seen outside a financial crisis and, with our partners, achieved two successive, record replenishments of the World Bank Group’s fund for the poorest. The institution also launched several innovative financial instruments including facilities to address infrastructure needs, prevent pandemics, and help the millions of people forcibly displaced from their homes by climate shocks, conflict, and violence. Kim’s career has revolved around health, education, and delivering services to the poor. Before joining the World Bank Group, Kim, a physician and anthropologist, served as the President of Dartmouth College and held professorships at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health. From 2003 to 2005, as director of the World Health Organization's HIV/AIDS department, he led the '3 by 5' initiative, the first-ever global goal for AIDS treatment, which greatly to expand access to antiretroviral medication in developing countries. In 1987, Kim co-founded Partners In Health, a non-profit medical organization that now works in poor communities on four continents. Kim has received a MacArthur 'Genius' Fellowship, was recognized as one of America's '25 Best Leaders' by U.S. News & World Report, and was named one of TIME magazine's '100 Most Influential People in the World'. Zeinab Badawi (@bbczeinabbadawi) is a Sudanese-British television and radio journalist, currently the presenter of Global Questions and Hard Talk for the BBC. Through her own production company she has produced and presented many programmes, including currently the definitive TV series of African history in association with UNESCO. Zeinab is one of the best-known broadcast journalists working in the field today. In 2009 she was awarded International TV Personality of the Year by the Association of International Broadcasters, and was named in Powerlist 2012 and 2015 as one of Britain's top 100 most influential members of the black community. She is the current Chair of the Royal African Society, a Queen's appointment to the Board of the Historic Royal Palaces, a trustee of BBC Media Action (the charitable arm of the BBC), a Vice-President of the United Nations Association UK, and a board member of the African Union Foundation. She is also a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council for Africa.

Speaker(s): Dr Jim Yong Kim | On the eve of the World Bank Group – International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim will discuss how we must fundamentally shift development finance to meet the aspirations of the world's 7 billion people and become the first generation in history to end extreme poverty. Jim Yong Kim (@JimYongKim), M.D., Ph.D., is the 12th President of the World Bank Group. Soon after he assumed his position in July 2012, the organization established two goals to guide its work: to end extreme poverty by 2030; and to boost shared prosperity, focusing on the bottom 40% of the population in developing countries. In September 2016, the World Bank Group Board unanimously reappointed Kim to a second five-year term as President. During his first term, the World Bank Group supported the development priorities of countries at levels never seen outside a financial crisis and, with our partners, achieved two successive, record replenishments of the World Bank Group’s fund for the poorest. The institution also launched several innovative financial instruments including facilities to address infrastructure needs, prevent pandemics, and help the millions of people forcibly displaced from their homes by climate shocks, conflict, and violence. Kim’s career has revolved around health, education, and delivering services to the poor. Before joining the World Bank Group, Kim, a physician and anthropologist, served as the President of Dartmouth College and held professorships at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health. From 2003 to 2005, as director of the World Health Organization's HIV/AIDS department, he led the '3 by 5' initiative, the first-ever global goal for AIDS treatment, which greatly to expand access to antiretroviral medication in developing countries. In 1987, Kim co-founded Partners In Health, a non-profit medical organization that now works in poor communities on four continents. Kim has received a MacArthur 'Genius' Fellowship, was recognized as one of America's '25 Best Leaders' by U.S. News & World Report, and was named one of TIME magazine's '100 Most Influential People in the World'. Zeinab Badawi (@bbczeinabbadawi) is a Sudanese-British television and radio journalist, currently the presenter of Global Questions and Hard Talk for the BBC. Through her own production company she has produced and presented many programmes, including currently the definitive TV series of African history in association with UNESCO. Zeinab is one of the best-known broadcast journalists working in the field today. In 2009 she was awarded International TV Personality of the Year by the Association of International Broadcasters, and was named in Powerlist 2012 and 2015 as one of Britain's top 100 most influential members of the black community. She is the current Chair of the Royal African Society, a Queen's appointment to the Board of the Historic Royal Palaces, a trustee of BBC Media Action (the charitable arm of the BBC), a Vice-President of the United Nations Association UK, and a board member of the African Union Foundation. She is also a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council for Africa.

Speaker(s): Tiffany Dufu | At this event Tiffany Dufu will talk about her new book, Drop the Ball, which is a memoir, manifesto and map for women who want to uncover what matters most to them and discover how to have it all by doing less. Tiffany Dufu (@tdufu) is Chief Leadership Officer of Levo League and Launch Team member to Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In. She was formerly president of the White House Project and was included in Fast Company's League of Extraordinary Women. Tiffany Dufu is a widely sought-after speaker who has lectured at Fortune magazine's Most Powerful Women Summit, TEDWomen and MAKERS. Dr Tara Reich is Assistant Professor of Employment Relations and Organisational Behaviour in LSE’s Department of Management. Tara researches employee well-being, with a specific focus on the psychology of workplace mistreatment. The Department of Management (@LSEManagement) is a globally diverse academic community at the heart of the LSE, taking a unique interdisciplinary, academically in-depth approach to the study of management and organisations.

Speaker(s): Professor Alexander Betts, Professor Paul Collier | At this event in which they will talk about their new book, Paul Collier and Alexander Betts will discuss how the world is facing its greatest refugee crisis since the Second World War, yet the institutions responding to it remain virtually unchanged from those created in the post-war era. As neighbouring countries continue to bear the brunt of the Syrian catastrophe, European governments have enacted a series of ill-considered gestures, from shutting their borders to welcoming refugees without a plan for their safe passage or integration upon arrival. With a deepening crisis and a xenophobic backlash in Europe, it is time for a new vision for refuge. Going beyond the scenes of desperation which have become all too familiar in the past few years, Paul Collier and Alexander Betts will look to show that international policy-makers should be focussing on delivering humane, effective and sustainable outcomes – both for Europe and for countries that border conflict zones. Refugees need more than simply food, tents and blankets, and research demonstrates that they can offer tangible economic benefits to their adopted countries if given the right to work and education. This event marks the launch of Refuge: Transforming a Broken Refugee System. Alexander Betts (@alexander_betts) is the Leopold W. Muller Professor of Forced Migration and International Affairs at the University of Oxford, where he is also Director of the Refugee Studies Centre. He has written for the Guardian, New York Times and Foreign Affairs and appears regularly on news channels including CNN, Al Jazeera and the BBC. He has also given two TED talks, which have garnered over a million views. Paul Collier is the Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government. His book, The Bottom Billion, won the Lionel Gelber Prize, the Arthur Ross Prize awarded by the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Corine Prize. Collier has served as Director of the Research Department of the World Bank. His other books include The Plundered Planet and Exodus. Silvana Tenreyro is Professor in Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She obtained her M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University. She is currently Co-Director and Board Member of the Review of Economic Studies and Chair of the Women’s Committee of the Royal Economics Society. In the past, Tenreyro worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and served as external MPC member for the Central Bank of Mauritius; she was Director of the Macroeconomics Programme at the International Growth Centre; Chair of the Women in Economics Committee of the European Economic Association; Member at Large of the European Economic Association; Panel Member for Economic Policy; and Associate Editor for JEEA, the Journal of Monetary Economics, Economica, and the Economic Journal. She is a Lead Academic at the Centre for Macroeconomics, and Research Associate at CEP and CEPR. Her main research interests are Macroeconomics (and in particular Monetary Policy), Macro-Development, and International Finance. The International Growth Centre (IGC) (@The_IGC) aims to promote sustainable growth in developing countries by providing demand-led policy advice based on frontier research.

Speaker(s): Professor Alexander Betts, Professor Paul Collier | At this event in which they will talk about their new book, Paul Collier and Alexander Betts will discuss how the world is facing its greatest refugee crisis since the Second World War, yet the institutions responding to it remain virtually unchanged from those created in the post-war era. As neighbouring countries continue to bear the brunt of the Syrian catastrophe, European governments have enacted a series of ill-considered gestures, from shutting their borders to welcoming refugees without a plan for their safe passage or integration upon arrival. With a deepening crisis and a xenophobic backlash in Europe, it is time for a new vision for refuge. Going beyond the scenes of desperation which have become all too familiar in the past few years, Paul Collier and Alexander Betts will look to show that international policy-makers should be focussing on delivering humane, effective and sustainable outcomes – both for Europe and for countries that border conflict zones. Refugees need more than simply food, tents and blankets, and research demonstrates that they can offer tangible economic benefits to their adopted countries if given the right to work and education. This event marks the launch of Refuge: Transforming a Broken Refugee System. Alexander Betts (@alexander_betts) is the Leopold W. Muller Professor of Forced Migration and International Affairs at the University of Oxford, where he is also Director of the Refugee Studies Centre. He has written for the Guardian, New York Times and Foreign Affairs and appears regularly on news channels including CNN, Al Jazeera and the BBC. He has also given two TED talks, which have garnered over a million views. Paul Collier is the Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government. His book, The Bottom Billion, won the Lionel Gelber Prize, the Arthur Ross Prize awarded by the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Corine Prize. Collier has served as Director of the Research Department of the World Bank. His other books include The Plundered Planet and Exodus. Silvana Tenreyro is Professor in Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She obtained her M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University. She is currently Co-Director and Board Member of the Review of Economic Studies and Chair of the Women’s Committee of the Royal Economics Society. In the past, Tenreyro worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and served as external MPC member for the Central Bank of Mauritius; she was Director of the Macroeconomics Programme at the International Growth Centre; Chair of the Women in Economics Committee of the European Economic Association; Member at Large of the European Economic Association; Panel Member for Economic Policy; and Associate Editor for JEEA, the Journal of Monetary Economics, Economica, and the Economic Journal. She is a Lead Academic at the Centre for Macroeconomics, and Research Associate at CEP and CEPR. Her main research interests are Macroeconomics (and in particular Monetary Policy), Macro-Development, and International Finance. The International Growth Centre (IGC) (@The_IGC) aims to promote sustainable growth in developing countries by providing demand-led policy advice based on frontier research.

Speaker(s): Julia Hardy, Andrew Keen, Martha Lane Fox, Professor Sugata Mitra, Sue Palmer | In this new series of debates entitled Glass Half Full, being recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 4, Fi Glover pits optimists against pessimists in a new topical debating format. A lead speaker on each side presents their argument, and both question expert witnesses to support their point of view. At the end of the debate, the audience votes and declares in favour of an optimistic or pessimistic view of the subject – Glass Half Empty – or Full! In this debate on digital technology, Fi Glover pits optimists against pessimists. Is digital technology damaging children and hindering their development, or is it providing them with exciting new opportunities for education and enriching their lives? The first debate, We Can Look Forward to a Healthier Future, takes place at LSE on 9 March. The second debate will be on 15 March, the topic is A Global Population of 9 Billion is Sustainable. Julia Hardy (@itsJuliaHardy) is a TV and radio presenter specialising in technology, video games and “the online self”. She is currently Radio 1’s video games presenter and was previously Sky Sunrise’s technology expert. She runs the blog Misogyny Monday, dedicated to fighting sexist abuse online. Andrew Keen (@ajkeen) is one of the world’s best-known commentators on the digital revolution. He is the author of three books, most recently The Internet Is Not the Answer. He is executive director of the Silicon Valley innovation salon FutureCast, and a Senior Fellow at CALinnovates. Martha Lane Fox (@Marthalanefox) is an entrepreneur and philanthropist, co-founder of Lastminute.com and founder Executive Chair of Doteveryone, an organisation devoted to using technology to change the world for the better. In 2016, she was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of Twitter. Sugata Mitra (@Sugatam) is Professor of Educational Technology at the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences at Newcastle University, UK. He was given the $1m TED Prize in 2013 in recognition of his groundbreaking work and to help build a “School in the Cloud”. Sue Palmer, a former headteacher in Scotland, has written more than 250 books, TV programmes and software packages on aspects of literacy. She is a frequent contributor to the Times Educational Supplement and Child Education, and in 2016 was one of 40 senior figures to write an open letter calling on the government to introduce national screen-use guidelines. Fi Glover (@fifiglover) is a multi-award winning broadcaster. She is one of the country’s best-known radio voices, having worked on BBC Radio 4, 5 Live, Radio 2, Radio 1 and GLR. She currently presents BBC Radio 4’s The Listening Project.

Speaker(s): Professor Marianne Bertrand | Marianne Bertrand is an applied micro-economist whose research covers the fields of labor economics, corporate finance, and development economics. Her research in these areas has been published widely, including numerous research articles in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Journal of Political Economy, the American Economic Review, and the Journal of Finance. This event is the Economica-Coase Lecture 2017. Oriana Bandiera (@orianabandiera) is a Professor of Economics and the Director of the Suntory and Toyota Centre for Economics and Related Disciplines (STICERD) at the London School of Economics.

Speaker(s): Dr Joseph Cohen, Professor Simona Forti, Dr Brian Klug | Nazism pervaded every level of German society, and philosophers were not immune. While much scholarship has understandably focused on recriminations of key figures, tonight's panel reflect on some broader questions raised: Can philosophy help us understand the nature of evil? And does thinking philosophically really help us live better lives? Joseph Cohen is a Lecturer in Continental Philosophy, University College Dublin. Simona Forti is Professor of Philosophy, University of Piedmont and Visiting Professor of Philosophy, The New School for Social Research, New York. Brian Klug is Senior Research Fellow in Philosophy, St Benet's Hall, University of Oxford. Dr Peter Dennis is a Fellow, Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, LSE and Forum for European Philosophy Fellow. The Forum for European Philosophy (@ForumPhilosophy) is an educational charity that organises a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK.

Speaker(s): Dr Alex Gillespie, Dr Tom Reader | Public services such as healthcare receive large volumes of complaints. Traditionally these have been seen as something to manage or even hide. However, from a social psychological standpoint, listening to complaints can potentially provide independent, practical, and unique insights. This lecture reports evidence using the Healthcare Complaints Analysis Tool, which is the first reliable tool for systematically analyzing and benchmarking the severity of complaints received by hospitals. It shows that complaints from patients and families highlight systemic problems in the provision of healthcare and are associated with hospital-level mortality rates. This evidence supports the idea that complaints have high validity and can be used both as an early warning system for identifying systemic institutional failures, and as a catalyst for organisational learning. Alex Gillespie is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His research focuses on communication, divergences of perspective, misunderstandings and listening. Tom Reader is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His research examines the relationship between organisational culture and safety management in high-risk organisations. Krysta Broughton-Munford is Clinical Governance Lead at Bupa Global Market Unit. Chandru Dissanayeke is Deputy Director at the Cabinet Office. Sandra Jovchelovitch is Professor of Social Psychology at LSE where she directs the MSc in Social and Cultural Psychology. Her book on “Underground Sociabilities: Identity, culture and resistance in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro” informs the LSE-UNESCO toolkit on bottom-up social development, which was launched for a global audience at HABITAT III in Quito, Ecuador. She currently directs an ESRC-funded multiple stakeholder research partnership studying resilience and porosity of city borders in Brazilian cities. A new edition of ‘Knowledge in Context: Representation, community and culture’ is coming out with Routledge Classics in 2017. The Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science (PBS) (@PsychologyLSE) is a hub for more than 50 psychological and behavioural teachers and researchers in other disciplines across the LSE as well as a cutting-edge centre of expertise in its own right. The department is committed to building a diverse group of psychological and behavioural researchers whose collective expertise ranges ‘from the field to the lab and back’, conducting and disseminating research which makes a significant contribution to tackling the social problems of the day. LSE Works is a series of public lectures, that will showcase some of the latest research by LSE's academic departments and research centres. In each session, LSE academics will present key research findings, demonstrating where appropriate the implications of their studies for public policy. A list of all the LSE Works lectures can be viewed at LSE Works.

Speaker(s): Professor Olivier Blanchard | Professor Blanchard will discuss the main forces interacting to shape the world economy, and the uncertainties associated with them, namely the legacies of the financial crisis; the decrease in productivity growth; and populism and populist policies. Olivier Blanchard (@ojblanchard1) served as Chief Economist of the IMF from 2008 to 2015. He is now the Fred Bergsten Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute in Washington and Robert M Solow Professor of Economics emeritus at MIT. Silvana Tenreyro is Professor of Economics at LSE. This lecture is in memory of Josiah Charles Stamp who obtained a degree in economics from LSE in 1916. His thesis was published as British Incomes and Property in 1916 and launched his academic career. In 1919 he served on the Royal Commission on Income Tax and in the same year he joined Nobel Industries Ltd as secretary and director from which Imperial Chemical Industries later developed. In 1926 he became the president of the executive of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and two years later he was appointed director of the Bank of England. He also served as a governor and vice chairman of LSE. Stamp also held lectureships in economics at several universities, including Cambridge, Oxford and Liverpool. In 1938 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Stamp of Shortlands, Kent. Stamp died on 16 April 1941. In 1942 a trust was set up jointly by the Bank of England, the London Midland and Scottish Railway, ICI and the Abbey Road Building Society to pay for the organisation of a Stamp memorial lecture. This event is supported by the Department of Economics at LSE (@LSEEcon) and the Centre For Macroeconomics (@CFMUK).

Speaker(s): Professor Olivier Blanchard | Professor Blanchard will discuss the main forces interacting to shape the world economy, and the uncertainties associated with them, namely the legacies of the financial crisis; the decrease in productivity growth; and populism and populist policies. Olivier Blanchard (@ojblanchard1) served as Chief Economist of the IMF from 2008 to 2015. He is now the Fred Bergsten Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute in Washington and Robert M Solow Professor of Economics emeritus at MIT. Silvana Tenreyro is Professor of Economics at LSE. This lecture is in memory of Josiah Charles Stamp who obtained a degree in economics from LSE in 1916. His thesis was published as British Incomes and Property in 1916 and launched his academic career. In 1919 he served on the Royal Commission on Income Tax and in the same year he joined Nobel Industries Ltd as secretary and director from which Imperial Chemical Industries later developed. In 1926 he became the president of the executive of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and two years later he was appointed director of the Bank of England. He also served as a governor and vice chairman of LSE. Stamp also held lectureships in economics at several universities, including Cambridge, Oxford and Liverpool. In 1938 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Stamp of Shortlands, Kent. Stamp died on 16 April 1941. In 1942 a trust was set up jointly by the Bank of England, the London Midland and Scottish Railway, ICI and the Abbey Road Building Society to pay for the organisation of a Stamp memorial lecture. This event is supported by the Department of Economics at LSE (@LSEEcon) and the Centre For Macroeconomics (@CFMUK).

Speaker(s): Professor Christian Hilber | Editor's note: The question and answer is not included in the podcast. In his inaugural lecture Christian Hilber explains how Britain’s planning system and tax policy cause the country’s housing crisis and contribute to rising inequality. He will explore how we can do better. Christian Hilber (@ChrisALHilber) is Professor of Economic Geography. He is an Associate of the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) and the Spatial Economics Research Centre (SERC). Christian is also a member of the Academic Panel of the What Works Centre. He is the Director of LSE’s MSc Real Estate Economics and Finance. Paul Cheshire is Emeritus Professor of Economic Geography at LSE. The Department of Geography & Environment (@LSEGeography) is a centre of international academic excellence in economic, urban and development geography, environmental social science and climate change.

Speaker(s): Professor Charles Spence | Why do we consume 35% more food when eating with one more person, and 75% more when with three? Why are 27% of drinks bought on aeroplanes tomato juice? How are chefs and companies planning to transform our dining experiences, and what can we learn from their cutting-edge insights to make memorable meals at home? These are just some of the ingredients of Gastrophysics, in which the pioneering Oxford professor Charles Spence shows how our senses link up in the most extraordinary ways, and reveals the importance of all the "off-the-plate" elements of a meal: the weight of cutlery, the colour of the plate (his lab showed that red is associated with sweetness - we perceive salty popcorn as tasting sweet when served in a red bowl), the background music and much more. Whether dining alone or at a dinner party, on a plane or in front of the TV, he reveals how to understand what we're tasting and influence what others experience. Meal-times will genuinely never be the same again. Professor Charles Spence is the head of the Crossmodal Research Laboratory at Oxford University, which specializes in cognitive psychology, consumer psychology and sensory marketing. He has consulted for multinational companies including Toyota and ICI. Charles was awarded an IG Nobel prize for his ground-breaking work on the 'sonic crisp' and has been profiled in publications including the Guardian and the New Yorker. He sits on the scientific advisory board of PepsiCo and his book The Perfect Meal won the 2015 Popular Science Prose Award. The Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science (@PsychologyLSE) study and teach societal psychology: the psychology of humans in complex socio-technical systems (organisations, communities, societies). Our research deals with real-world issues, we train the future global leaders.

Speaker(s): Professor Christian Hilber | Editor's note: The question and answer is not included in the podcast. In his inaugural lecture Christian Hilber explains how Britain’s planning system and tax policy cause the country’s housing crisis and contribute to rising inequality. He will explore how we can do better. Christian Hilber (@ChrisALHilber) is Professor of Economic Geography. He is an Associate of the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) and the Spatial Economics Research Centre (SERC). Christian is also a member of the Academic Panel of the What Works Centre. He is the Director of LSE’s MSc Real Estate Economics and Finance. Paul Cheshire is Emeritus Professor of Economic Geography at LSE. The Department of Geography & Environment (@LSEGeography) is a centre of international academic excellence in economic, urban and development geography, environmental social science and climate change.

Speaker(s): Andrew G Haldane | Productivity growth has weakened across a number of economies over recent years, particularly in the UK. Does this reflect a slowing of innovation? What role can public policy play in supporting productivity growth? Andrew G Haldane is the Chief Economist at the Bank of England. He is also Executive Director for Monetary Analysis, Research and Statistics, and a member of the MPC. Andrew has responsibility for research and statistics across the Bank. Andrew has an Honorary Doctorate from the Open University, is Honorary Professor at the University of Nottingham, a Visiting Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford, a member of the Economic Council of the Royal Economic Society, a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and a Member of the Research and Policy Committee at Nesta. Andrew is Chairman and co-founder of Pro Bono Economics, a charity that matches volunteer economists with charitable projects. Andrew has written extensively on domestic and international monetary and financial policy issues and has published over 150 articles and four books. In 2014, TIME magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Wouter den Haan is Co-director for the Centre for Macroeconomics and Professor of Economics at LSE. The Department of Economics at LSE (@LSEEcon) is one of the largest economics departments in the world. Its size ensures that all areas of economics are strongly represented in both research and teaching. The Centre For Macroeconomics (@CFMUK) brings together world-class experts to carry out pioneering research on the global economic crisis and to help design policies that alleviate it.

Speaker(s): Alessandro Allegra, Berris Charnley, Dr Stephen John, Jenny Molloy | From medicine and GMOs to cyber-security and climate change, scientific research is vital to modern life. On the other hand, many of us struggle to get to grips with its increasing complexity. How does this fit with our ideals of democracy? And in an era of mistrust of experts, does science have a legitimacy problem? Our panel considers a radical proposal to rethink the distinction between scientist and citizen. Alessandro Allegra (@a_allegra) is a Doctoral Researcher, University College London. Berris Charnley is a Researcher, St. Anne’s College, University of Oxford. Stephen John is Hatton Senior Lecturer in Philosophy of Public Health, University of Cambridge. Jenny Molloy (@jenny_molloy) is Coordinator, Synthetic Biology SRI and OpenPlant, University of Cambridge. Peter Dennis is a Fellow, Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, LSE and Forum for European Philosophy Fellow. The Forum for European Philosophy (@ForumPhilosophy) is an educational charity that organises a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK.

Speaker(s): Professor Andrew Walder | As the Mao era, and in particular the Cultural Revolution fade in memory, its history has fallen out of focus and has been infused with myth. Drawing on his recent book, China Under Mao: A Revolution Derailed, Andrew Walder will take up two related questions. First, what were Mao's intentions and what were the actual outcomes of his radical initiatives? Second, why did these outcomes occur? Mao emerges from the historical record as a revolutionary whose radicalism was undiminished by the passage of time. His initiatives frequently had consequences that he had not intended and that frustrated his designs. Despite creating China's first unified modern national state and initiating its modern industrialisation drive, Mao left China divided, backward, and weak. Andrew Walder is the Denise O'Leary and Kent Thiry Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences, and Senior Fellow in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. A political sociologist, Walder specializes on the sources of conflict, stability, and change in contemporary China. He received his Ph.D. in sociology at the University of Michigan in 1981. Before coming to Stanford in 1997 he taught at Columbia, Harvard, and also headed the Division of Social Science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Robin Archer is Director of the Ralph Miliband Programme at LSE. The Ralph Miliband Programme (@RMilibandLSE) is one of LSE's most prestigious lecture series and seeks to advance Ralph Miliband's spirit of free social inquiry.

Speaker(s): Professor Leonard Smith, Dr Trevor Maynard, Professor Robert Rosner | Science gives us predictions and probabilities that are sometimes remarkably accurate. And sometimes not. Our ability to use scientific information in decision-making is explored in a variety of real world contexts, from monitoring the risks jellyfish pose to nuclear power stations, to framing policy on carbon emissions to avoid dangerous climate change. Interestingly, it turns out that scientific evidence can be both useful in decision-making and fundamentally misleading from a mathematical point of view. Is the challenge in the maths? In the science? Or with the decision- makers? Leonard Smith is Director of the LSE Centre for the Analysis of Time Series (CATS). His research focuses on real world challenges to academic concepts of nonlinear dynamical systems and predictability. This includes the role of probability in decision support, and the implications uncertainty, ambiguity and ignorance hold when relating mathematical results to reality. He is a Selby Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and received the Royal Meteorological Society's Fitzroy Prize for his contributions to applied meteorology. He is author of Chaos: A Very Short Introduction (2007). He received his PhD (Physics) from Columbia University. Currently a Professor of Statistics at LSE, he has also been a Senior Research Fellow (mathematics) of Pembroke College, Oxford since 1992. Trevor Maynard is Head of Innovation at Lloyd’s of London. Robert Rosner is the William E. Wrather Distinguished Service Professor in the Departments of Astronomy & Astrophysics and Physics, and in the Harris School of Public Policy Studies, at the University of Chicago. Brian Hoskins is Chair of the Grantham Institute at Imperial College, and Professor of Meteorology at the University of Reading. The Centre for the Analysis of Time Series (CATS) (@CATS_LSE) was established in 2000 and is based within the Department of Statistics at LSE. The School has a long and distinguished history in time series analysis and as part of its strategic plan has invested heavily in developing a world-class centre of excellence in this area. LSE Works is a series of public lectures, that will showcase some of the latest research by LSE's academic departments and research centres. In each session, LSE academics will present key research findings, demonstrating where appropriate the implications of their studies for public policy. A list of all the LSE Works lectures can be viewed at LSE Works.

Speaker(s): Professor Sarah Conly, Joel Kibazo, Robin Maynard, Johan Norberg, Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter | In this new series of debates entitled Glass Half Full, being recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 4, Fi Glover pits optimists against pessimists in a new topical debating format. A lead speaker on each side presents their argument, and both question expert witnesses to support their point of view. At the end of the debate, the audience votes and declares in favour of an optimistic or pessimistic view of the subject - Glass Half Empty - or Full! This second debate will discuss if projected population growth will be an environmental and social catastrophe, or will economic growth, education and ingenuity offer the solution? The first debate, We Can Look Forward to a Healthier Future, takes place at LSE on 9 March. The final debate is on 28 March, and is entitled Digital Technology is Making Children's Lives Richer. Sarah Conly is a Professor of Philosophy at Bowdoin College and is the author of One Child: Do We Have the Right to More? and Against Autonomy: Justifying Coercive Paternalism. Joel Kibazo (@joelkibazo) is a Managing Director at FTI Consulting and is on the policy committee of the Centre for the Study of African Economies at the University of Oxford. He was formerly a Director at the African Development Bank, an Associate Fellow at Chatham House, a Financial Times journalist, and a member of the World Economics Forum Global Agenda Council. Robin Maynard (@RobinMaynard55) is a campaigner, writer and strategist, now Chief Executive of the charity Population Matters. In his 30-year career he has held senior positions at Friends of the Earth and the Forestry Commission, as well as presenting programmes for BBC Radio 4. Johan Norberg (@johanknorberg) is a best-selling author, TV presenter, and lecturer. His book Progress: Ten Reasons to Look forward to the Future was a 2016 Book of the Year for the Economist and the Observer. He is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington D.C. David Spiegelhalter (@d_spiegel) is the Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk at Cambridge University and a fellow of the Royal Society. He is a regular contributor to Radio 4 and blogs at Understanding Uncertainty. Fi Glover (@fifiglover) is a multi-award winning broadcaster. She is one of the country's best-known radio voices, having worked on BBC Radio 4, 5 Live, Radio 2, Radio 1 and GLR. She currently presents BBC Radio 4's The Listening Project.

Speaker(s): Professor Clemencia Rodríguez | The presence of armed groups and the proximity of armed violence and war have a tremendous impact on a community’s daily life, social fabric, local political and economic processes, and inter-communal relationships and interactions. This talk will examine the different ways war impacts communities and how citizens’ media can counter these impacts. Through a series of examples from Professor Rodriguez's fieldwork in Colombia, the talk will illustrate the complex and multidimensional roles citizens’ media have in contexts of armed violence. Instead of conceiving of media exclusively as tools for information or persuasion, she will explain how well-grounded community media can meet complex communication needs that include repairing torn social fabrics, reconstructing eroded bonds, reclaiming public spaces, resolving intra-community conflicts, fostering horizontal communication and interaction, and privileging aspects of community life that have not been hijacked by war. Clemencia Rodríguez is Professor in the Department of Media Studies and Production at Temple University. Shakuntala Banaji is Associate Professor in the Department of Media and Communications, LSE. Nick Couldry (@couldrynick) is Professor of Media, Communications and Social Theory in the Department of Media and communications at LSE. The Department of Media and Communications (@MediaLSE) undertakes outstanding and innovative research and provides excellent research-based graduate programmes for the study of media and communications. The Department was established in 2003 and in 2014 our research was ranked number 1 in the most recent UK research evaluation, with 91% of research outputs ranked world-leading or internationally excellent.

Speaker(s): Ruth Hunt | Ruth Hunt, Chief Executive of Stonewall, will reflect on Stonewall’s history, the progress made and the work still to be done regarding equality for LGBT people with an emphasis on women. Ruth Hunt (@ruth_hunt) was appointed Chief Executive of Stonewall in August 2014. She has successfully developed Stonewall’s groundbreaking policy, campaigns and research outputs and has spearheaded its commitment to campaign for trans equality. Julia Black is currently interim Director of LSE, also Pro Director for Research at LSE and Chair of the Athena SWAN Self-Assessment Team. She joined the Law Department in 1994. The British Library of Political and Economic Science (@LSELibrary) was founded in 1896, a year after the London School of Economics and Political Science. It has been based in the Lionel Robbins Building since 1978 and houses many world class collections, including The Women's Library. Spectrum (@LSESpectrum) is the LGBT+ staff network at LSE which represents staff from lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other minority sexual orientation and gender identities.

Speaker(s): Professor Kevin Fenton, Vivienne Parry, Dr Richard Smith, Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, Professor Tony Young | In this new series of debates entitled Glass Half Full, being recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 4, Fi Glover pits optimists against pessimists in a new topical debating format. A lead speaker on each side presents their argument, and both question expert witnesses to support their point of view. At the end of the debate, the audience votes and declares in favour of an optimistic or pessimistic view of the subject – Glass Half Empty – or Full! In this first debate panellists will discuss if we heading towards disaster or will a better lifestyle and technological innovation save the day? Two other debates will take place at LSE. On 15 March the topic is A Global Population of 9 Billion is Sustainable, while the third debate on 28 March will discuss Digital Technology is Making Children's Lives Richer. Kevin Fenton (@ProfKevinFenton) is the Public Health England National Director for Health and Wellbeing. He oversees PHE's national prevention programmes including screening for cancer and other conditions, Health Checks, national health marketing campaigns, public mental health, and a range of wellbeing programmes for all ages. As well hosting medical programmes for BBC Radio 4 and writing widely on health, Vivienne Parry (@vivienneparry) is also Head of Engagement at Genomics England, which is delivering the 100,000 Genomes Project (the project will sequence 100,000 genomes from 70,000 people, aiming to create a new genomic medicine service for the NHS). Richard Smith (@Richard56) is the Chair of icddr,b (formerly International Centre for Diarroheal Disease, Bangladesh) and of Patients Know Best, a company that puts patients in contrl of their records. He was formerly been Editor of the British Medical Journal and the BBC Breakfast Time doctor. Helen Stokes-Lampard (@HelenStokesLam) is Chair of Council for the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP). She is a part time GP partner in Lichfield and until September 2016 was Head of Primary Care Teaching (undergraduate) at Birmingham University’s School of Medicine. Tony Young (@DrTonyYoung) is National Clinical Lead for Innovation at NHS England. He is also a practicing frontline surgeon, Director of Medical Innovation at Anglia Ruskin University. He co-founded the £500m Anglia Ruskin MedTech campus which is set to become one of the world’s largest health innovation spaces. Fi Glover is a multi-award winning broadcaster. She is one of the country’s best-known radio voices, having worked on BBC Radio 4, 5 Live, Radio 2, Radio 1 and GLR. She currently presents BBC Radio 4’s The Listening Project. This event will be broadcast at 8pm on Wednesday 5 April 2017 on BBC Radio 4.

Speaker(s): Professor June Barrow-Green | British mathematicians responded to the First World War in several different ways. There were those who volunteered their mathematical skills for work at the Royal Aircraft Factory where they could experience the practice of flying as well as develop its theory, the National Physical Laboratory where they used wind tunnels, or the Anti-Aircraft Experimental Section of the Ministry of Munitions where they worked on ballistics; those who followed a military path; and those who, for reasons of conscience, refused to take an active part in the War at all. In this talk Professor Barrow Green will discuss the war-time activities of a variety of British mathematicians and examine the impact of the War on their careers as well as on mathematics itself. June Barrow-Green is Professor of History of Mathematics, Open University and Visiting Professor in Department of Mathematics, LSE. Martin Anthony (@MartinHGAnthony) is Professor of Mathematics and Head of Department of Mathematics at LSE. The Department of Mathematics (@LSEMaths) is internationally recognised for its teaching and research in the fields of discrete mathematics, game theory, financial mathematics and operations research.

Speaker(s): Professor Michele Lamont | Michèle Lamont’s book contributes to the study of everyday racism and stigma management, the quest for recognition, and the comparative study of inequality and processes of cultural change. Michèle Lamont (@mlamont6) is Professor of Sociology and of African and African American Studies and Robert I. Goldman Professor of European Studies at Harvard University. She has been named winner of the 2017 Erasmus Prize, which recognises individual or group contributions to European culture, society, or social science. Mike Savage (@MikeSav47032563) is Martin White Professor of Sociology at LSE and co-Director of the International Inequalities Intitute. The International Inequalities Institute at LSE (@LSEInequalities) brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead critical and cutting edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

Speaker(s): Eva-Maria Bonin, Professor Martin Knapp, David McDaid | Mental health issues will affect one in four of us. This seminar focuses on the economic case for the promotion of better mental wellbeing and prevention of mental illness. Eva-Maria Bonin (@evabonin) is Assistant Professorial Research Fellow within the Personal Social Services Research Unit at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Martin Knapp (@martinknapp) is Professor of Social Policy and Director of the Personal Social Services Research Unit at the London School of Economics and Political Science and Director of the NIHR School for Social Care Research. David McDaid (@dmcdaid) is Associate Professorial Research Fellow within the Personal Social Services Research Unit at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Antonis Kousoulis (@AKousoulis) joined the Mental Health Foundation in February 2016 as the Assistant Director for Innovation & Development Programmes. Sarah Carr (@SchrebersSister) is Associate Professor of Mental Health Research at Middlesex University. Sara Evans-Lacko is Associate Professorial Research Fellow within the Personal Social Services Research Unit at the London School of Economics and Political Science. The Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU) (@PSSRU_LSE) is one of the leading social care research groups in the world, and has contributed in many ways to the development of national and local policies and frontline practice in the UK and elsewhere. Its reputation for high-quality, robust research has encouraged many national and local policy-makers, commissioners and service providers to request its support in generating evidence to inform discussions and decisions. Since its establishment in 1974, PSSRU has had considerable impact on national social care policy in the UK and in a number of other countries. PSSRU has also established itself as the leading European group on mental health economics and policy, and has an excellent worldwide reputation for its work in this field. LSE Works is a series of public lectures, that will showcase some of the latest research by LSE's academic departments and research centres. In each session, LSE academics will present key research findings, demonstrating where appropriate the implications of their studies for public policy. A list of all the LSE Works lectures can be viewed at LSE Works.

Speaker(s): Professor Daniel Paravisini | Europe for policy research into financial markets. It is the focal point of the LSE's research communication with the business, policy making and international finance communities. The FMG works alongside the Department of Finance to understand problems in financial markets and in the decision-making processes of corporations, banks and regulators.

Speaker(s): Professor Charles Kupchan | Editor's note: We apologise for the poor quality audio in the Q and A. From 2014-2017 Professor Kupchan served as Special Assistant to the President for National Security in the Obama White House. Here he explores how America’s international priorities and policies will be affected by the new administration. Charles Kupchan is Professor of International Affairs in the School of Foreign Service and Government Department at Georgetown University. He is also Whitney H. Shepardson Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and was Director for European Affairs on the National Security Council during the first Clinton administration. He is the author of numerous books and articles on international and strategic affairs. Peter Trubowitz (@ptrubowitz) is Professor of International Relations and Director of the US Centre at LSE. The United States Centre at LSE (@LSE_US) is a hub for global expertise, analysis and commentary on America. Its mission is to promote policy-relevant and internationally-oriented scholarship to meet the growing demand for fresh analysis and critical debate on the United States.

Speaker(s): Fadumo Dayib, Nemata Majeks-Walker, Joice Mujuru | From Germany to Liberia, UK to Argentina, there has been a marked increase in the number of women leaders around the globe in recent years. This event will explore how women leaders are changing the world and the implications for women leaders in Africa. Our panellists will discuss the state of female political representation in their countries; the barriers they have tackled and broken down; as well the lessons to be drawn and implemented from global settings. Women Leaders on the Global stage is an event to celebrate International Womens Day. Fadumo Dayib is the first woman to run for President of Somalia, standing for the November 2016 election. Nemata Majeks-Walker is the Founder and first President of the 50/50 Group of Sierra Leone. Joice Mujuru served as Vice-President of Zimbabwe 2004-14 and is a Presidential candidate for the 2018 elections. Tina Fahm is CEO of a consulting firm which advises on corporate governance in sub-Saharan Africa. She is a governor of LSE, member of the governing Council and chair of the Audit Committee. Tina is also a commissioner of the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) the independent body responsible for scrutiny of UK aid. From 2005-14 Tina served as a governor of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), the UK’s leading democracy building foundation working to strengthen parliaments and support greater democratic accountability in post conflict and fragile states. Based at LSE, the Firoz Lalji Centre for Africa promotes independent academic research and teaching; open and issue-oriented debate; and evidence-based policy making.

Speaker(s): Professor Chen Jian | Few historical figures and events are more influential yet controversial than Mao and the Chinese revolution. This lecture will examine their political and moral legacies. Chen Jian is Distinguished Global-Network Professor of History at New York University/NYUShanghai, and Hu Shih Professor Emeritus at Cornell University. Robin Archer is Director of the Ralph Miliband Programme at LSE. The Ralph Miliband Programme (@RMilibandLSE) is one of LSE's most prestigious lecture series and seeks to advance Ralph Miliband's spirit of free social inquiry.

Speaker(s): Professor Michael Sandel | Professor Sandel’s work discusses the big moral and political questions of our age. He will be in conversation with Professor Tim Besley. Michael Sandel is a best-selling author and teaches political philosophy at Harvard University. He has been described as “the most relevant living philosopher,” a “rock-star moralist”(Newsweek) and “currently the most popular professor in the world.”(Die Zeit). Sandel’s books, including What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets and Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? relate the big questions of political philosophy to the vexing issues of our time. Should we financially reward children for good marks? Is it ethical to pay people to donate organs? Is it always wrong to lie? Should there be limits to personal freedom? What about hiring mercenaries to fight our wars, outsourcing inmates to for-profit prisons or selling citizenship? Tim Besley is School Professor of Economics and Political Science and W. Arthur Lewis Professor of Development Economics at LSE. Marshall Institute for Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship at LSE's core aim is to improve the impact and effectiveness of private contributions to the public good.

Speaker(s): Professor Laura Bear, Professor Deborah James, Dr Ryan Davey | In this talk, academics and activists will come together around the issues of debt and austerity. From the LSE’s Department of Anthropology, Laura Bear, Deborah James and Ryan Davey will present findings from their research on debt and its relation to austerity in different contexts and at different scales. Drawing on her fieldwork in India, Laura Bear will discuss the value placed on sovereign debt repayments in places governed in the name of austerity, and the inequalities this produces. Deborah James will discuss how changes in regulation and policy have combined with public/voluntary-sector institutional practices, such as debt advice, to shape the terrain of indebtedness in South Africa and the UK. Ryan Davey (ESRC-funded post-doc) will speak about the consequences of austerity policy for how free-to-client debt advice is done in the UK, which encompasses the effects of austerity on both ordinary people’s economic circumstances and on debt advice providers’ ability to secure funding. A common thread running through these three bodies of research is how policy-makers and public-sector workers respond when an identification of over-indebtedness is made, at either the level of households, or that of the nation-state, or both. Exploring the implications of their research for policy and practice, they will be joined by colleagues from the radical activist group, Debt Resistance UK, and the anti-poverty charity, Toynbee Hall. Debt Resistance UK have pioneered investigations in the UK into borrowing and debt repayment done by local authorities, thus bridging between the household and national scales, and will speak about the multiple ways in which they struggle against the oppressive aspects of debt – from citizens’ debt audits to a people’s jubilee. Toynbee Hall, which provides a debt advice service in East London, will address the controversial question of whether, in the UK’s current political and economic climate, debt advice providers could ever advocate for debt cancellation or debt non-payment. Together, the speakers will seek to identify some of the possible alternatives to today’s debt-based economy. Laura Bear is Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science and author of Navigating Austerity. Ryan Davey is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Deborah James is Professor and Deputy Head of the Department of Anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Fanny Malinen is a London-based independent journalist and social justice activist. She is part of the research and activist group Debt Resistance UK. Carl Packman is Research and Good Practice Manager at Toynbee Hall. Alpa Shah is Associate Professor (Reader) in the Department of Anthropology at at the London School of Economics and Political Science. LSE's Anthropology Department (@LSEAnthropology), with a long and distinguished history, remains a leading centre for innovative research and teaching. LSE Works is a series of public lectures, that will showcase some of the latest research by LSE's academic departments and research centres. In each session, LSE academics will present key research findings, demonstrating where appropriate the implications of their studies for public policy. A list of all the LSE Works lectures can be viewed at LSE Works.

Speaker(s): Fabiana Barticioti, Canon Mandy Ford, Sally Hitchener | This event explores and celebrates the journey to women’s ordination – examining the wider implications for women’s current and future roles within the Anglican Church and beyond. Fabiana Barticioti is Assistant Archivist at LSE. Mandy Ford is Canon of Southwark Cathedral. Sally Hitchener is an English Anglican priest, coordinator of the Anglican Chaplain and Interfaith Adviser at Brunel University. Mary Evans is LSE Centennial Professor at the Gender Institute. LSE’s Gender Institute (@LSEGenderTweet) is the largest gender studies centre in Europe. With a global perspective, the Gender Institute’s research and teaching intersects with other categories of analysis such as race, ethnicity, class and sexuality; because gender relations work in all spheres of life, interdisciplinarity is key to our approach. The British Library of Political and Economic Science (@LSELibrary) was founded in 1896, a year after the London School of Economics and Political Science. It has been based in the Lionel Robbins Building since 1978 and houses many world class collections, including The Women's Library.

Speaker(s): Patrick Flanery, Professor Steve Reicher | Editor's note: The film screening has been omitted from the podcast. How do ordinary people engage with political change? The problem of how far ordinary people conform was first posed by Hannah Arendt and then pursued conceptually and experimentally by social psychologists exposed to the moral, cultural and psychological devastation that followed World War 2 in Europe. We do as we are told. Or do we? Exploring the psychological roots of obedience and rebellion, this event will present the feature documentary Shock Room and revisit Stanley Milgram's controversial experiments on the banality of evil, asking whether it is conformity rather than resistance and rebellion that guides everyday political behaviour. A film screening, followed by a discussion.Patrick Flanery (@PFlaneryAuthor) is an American writer based in London. His first novel, Absolution, was published in 2012; it won the Spear's/Laurent Perrier Best First Book Award and was shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize, the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize, the Author's Club Best First Novel Award, and the Prix du Premier Roman Étranger in France; it was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the Desmond Elliott Prize. It has been translated into eleven languages. His second novel, Fallen Land, was published in 2013. His third novel, I Am No One, was published in 2016. Patrick has written for the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, the Guardian, the Spectator, the Times Literary Supplement and the Daily Telegraph. He has held writing fellowships at the Santa Maddalena Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center. He is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Reading.Stephen Reicher is Wardlaw Professor in the School of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of St Andrews. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. He has published some 300 books, chapters and articles in the general area of group processes and social identities. This includes work on crowds, on nationalism and national identities, on leadership and political rhetoric, on intergroup hatred and, latterly, on the psychology of obedience and tyranny.Sandra Jovchelovitch is a Professor in the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science and Director of the Social and Cultural Psychology programme at LSE. In 2012 Sandra was made a Fellow of the British Psychological Society in recognition for her expertise and contribution to the field of social and cultural psychology.

Speaker(s): Dean Atta, Neil Bartlett, Maureen Duffy | How has literature and performance engaged with changing attitudes since the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967? This panel talk about themes of gay identity, both in their own work and the work of other writers, over the last 50 years. <brDean Atta (@DeanAtta)'s debut collection, I Am Nobody’s Nigger, was shortlisted for the Polari First Book Prize. He was named as one of the most influential LGBT people in the UK by the Independent on Sunday Pink List and featured in Out News Global Pride Power List. He has performed across the UK at festivals such as Brighton Fringe, Cheltenham Book Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Hay Festival, Latitude Festival, Secret Garden Party and internationally at Biennale of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean (Italy), CrossKultur (Germany), Ordspark (Sweden) and Word N Sound (South Africa). He is a member of Keats House Poets Forum and Malika’s Poetry Kitchen, as well as an Associate Artist with Mouthy Poets and New Writing South. He has been commissioned to write poems for BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service, Dazed & Confused, Keats House Museum, National Portrait Gallery, Tate Britain and Tate Modern. He is currently working on his second poetry collection The Black Flamingo. <brNeil Bartlett is a theatre-maker and a novelist and from 1994 to 2005 he was Artistic Director of the Lyric Hammersmith. His most recent theatre piece was STELLA, for the London International Festival of Theatre. His most recent book is the novel The Disappearance Boy, which earned him a nomination as Stonewall Author of the Year. His marathon six-hour solo reading of Oscar Wilde's De Profundis, recorded live at Reading Gaol in September 2016, has since been watched online in over fifty countries. <brMaureen Duffy is a poet, playwright and novelist. Her first openly lesbian novel was The Microcosm (1966) and she is said to have been Britain’s first lesbian to ‘come out’ in public, and made public comments during the debates around homosexual law reform. She is the author of 34 published works including fiction, non-fiction, poetry and plays for stage screen and radio, and is a Vice-President of the Royal Society of Literature. <brMel Kenyon is Head of the Theatre Department at agency Casarotto Ramsay & Associates Limited and represents the work of Sarah Kane and Simon Stephens among others. <brThis event is organised in association with the Royal Society of Literature (@RSLiterature). Membership of the Royal Society of Literature is open to all. For just £50 a year, or £30 for under 30s, it offers free entry to around 20 events each year. Speakers in 2017 include Alan Ayckbourn, John Burnside, Carol Ann Duffy, Helen Edmundson, Olivia Laing, Hisham Matar, John Mullan, Michael Rosen, Kamila Shamsie, Iain Sinclair and Evie Wyld.

Speaker(s): Rachel Coldicutt, Emma Gannon, Deana Puccio | Editor's note: There was a problem with the audio at the beginning of the event, so the Chair's introduction was not recorded. What are the benefits and risks for young people growing up in the digital space? Is now the time to learn lessons from the generation who came of age with the internet? And how can the internet work for everyone? Rachel Coldicutt (@rachelcoldicutt) is Chief Executive Officer of Doteveryone, a UK charity working to solve social and moral challenges that have arrived with the Internet. She has spent the last 20 years helping organisations adapt to the digital world. She has worked at the BBC, BT, V&A, Royal Opera House and as a consultant with large service organisations in finance, energy, healthcare and the third sector. She is also the founder of Culture Hack Day and co-founder of arts innovation agency Caper. Emma Gannon (@emmagannon) is a blogger, author and digital consultant. She has written for the likes of Stylist, Grazia, The Guardian, The Sunday Times and is the former social media editor at British GLAMOUR. Her debut book is CTRL ALT DELETE: How I Grew Up Online. Her podcast of the same name interviewing digital creatives hit number 16 in the iTunes charts on its first week of release. It has been recommended by The Times, ELLE UK, Marie Claire, The Pool and has hit half a million downloads to date. Emma has spoken on Sky News, hosted panels at Google HQ, is a regular guest lecturer at Condé Nast Fashion College and was a guest curator at Cheltenham Literary Festival in 2016. Deana Puccio is a former Senior Assistant District Attorney from New York City. She worked in the Sex Crimes/Special Victims Unit of the Kings County District Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn. In 2013, she Co-Founded The RAP Project (@rapprojectuk), Raising Awareness and Prevention, which aims to help teenagers minimize the risk of becoming a victim of sexual attack or vulnerable to excessive social media pressures. The RAP Project is now working in over 100 schools around the UK. Through her work with The RAP Project Deana has appeared as an expert commentator on Sky News and on the BBC. She is the co-author of Sex, Likes & Social Media, Talking To Our Teens In The Digital Age. Ellen Helsper (@EllenHel) is Director of Graduate Studies and Associate Professor in the Media and Communications Department at the LSE. Her current research interests include new media audiences; digital inclusion; mediated interpersonal communication; and quantitative and qualitative methodological developments in media research. The Department of Media and Communications (@MediaLSE) undertakes outstanding and innovative research and provides excellent research-based graduate programmes for the study of media and communications. The Department was established in 2003 and in 2014 their research was ranked number 1 in the most recent UK research evaluation, with 91% of research outputs ranked world-leading or internationally excellent.

Speaker(s): Joseph Bullman, Professor Mary Morgan, Sarah Wise | In the wake of the Centenary of the death of Charles Booth, whose poverty maps and surveys started a quiet revolution in the methodology of the social sciences, a group of writers will reflect on what we can learn from Booth’s work today in terms of the techniques available to write about, analyse and make present to the reader the realities of poverty and inequality. Booth’s maps can still teach us much, but many late Victorian classifications strike us today as highly moralistic, even disrespectful. Do classifications inevitably distort social reality, or are they an indispensable means to understanding and representing it? Can fictional writing or media such as documentaries achieve more, or different things, from social scientific or historical studies? Joseph Bullman is an award winning documentary filmmaker. He created BBC’s The Secret History of Our Streets, which took Charles Booth’s monumental survey of London as its departure point to tell histories of single streets, from Booth’s time to the present day. These microcosmic street-histories acted as portals into the larger forces which shaped a nation. The series was nominated for 14 awards and won a Royal Society of Television Award and two Griersons. His other work includes The Seven Sins of England, in which modern-day yobs perform the real-words of their binge-drinking ancestors; and The Secret History of Our Family, which forward-traced families from the Victorian slums down to the present day. He’s now working on a third Secret History series, this time focusing on the North of England. Mary Morgan is the Albert O. Hirschman Professor of History and Philosophy of Economics at the LSE. Her research has addressed the practical side of how economists do economics: how do models, measurements, observation, experiments, etc. actually work, and how have these changed over the last century? Her most recent books include The World in the Model and How Well Do Facts Travel? Sarah Wise (@MissSarahWise) has a Master's Degree in Victorian Studies from Birkbeck College, University of London. She teaches 19th-century social history and literature to both undergraduates and adult learners. She is Visiting Professor at the University of California’s London Study Center and a guest lecturer at City University. Nicola Lacey is School Professor of Law, Gender and Social Policy at LSE. The International Inequalities Institute at LSE (@LSEInequalities) brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead critical and cutting edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

Speaker(s): Yasmine El Rashidi, Samar Samir Mezghanni, Nii Ayikwei Parkes | The Arab Spring was a revolutionary wave of demonstrations, protests, riots and civil wars that began on 17 December 2010 and dominated the news for most of 2011. In the five years since the people of Tunisia and other countries took to the streets to protest against their governments, a number of writers have shifted away from realism and turned to science fiction to describe the grim political realities faced by the region’s citizens. Although dystopian themes are not entirely new in Arabic fiction, these have become much more prominent in recent years as it gives writers the room to express the sense of despair they feel in the face of cyclical violence and repression. In addition, the futuristic settings gives the writers the freedom to cover political ideas without being labelled opposers of the state. This event explores the literary trajectory in North Africa since the Arab Spring from the initial outburst of optimism to grim dystopian narratives, from the more traditional literary form of poetry in the region to writers experimenting with other literary forms. It will also examine the impact of political realities in the fiction from sub-Saharan countries and how it compares to what has emerged in North Africa since the Arab Spring of 2011. Yasmine El Rashidi (@yasminerashidi) will participate in the discussion via skype. Yasmine is an Egyptian writer. She is the author of The Battle for Egypt, Dispatches from the Revolution (2011), and the novel, Chronicle of a Last Summer, A Novel of Egypt (2016). Samar Samir Mezghanni (@SamarSamirMEZ) is a Tunisian writer with two records in the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest writer in the world in 2000 and the most prolific writer in the world in 2002. She has written over a hundred short stories for children and published 14 books. A 2007 recipient of Ghana’s ACRAG award, Nii Ayikwei Parkes (@BlueBirdTail) is the author of the hybrid novel, Tail of the Blue Bird, which is translated into Dutch, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Catalan and Japanese. Originally shortlisted for the 2010 Commonwealth Prize, the book has gone on to win the Prix Baudelaire, Prix Mahogany and Prix Laure Bataillon. Bola Mosuro (@bbcBola) is news presenter on the BBC World Service. She has a keen interest in the arts and in gender issues. Hailing from Nigeria, she was raised in both London and Lagos. Bola studied Peace and Conflict studies in Northern Ireland and is married with three children. Based at LSE, the Firoz Lalji Centre for Africa (@AfricaAtLSE) promotes independent academic research and teaching; open and issue-oriented debate; and evidence-based policy making.

Speaker(s): Dr Rachel Aldred, Emily Chappell, Michael Hutchinson | All over the country, cycling is growing fast as a spectator sport and pastime. In London, it is also booming as a transport choice, spurred on by packed tubes and shiny new cycle lanes. What's the appeal? Physical thrill? Mindful flow? Simple practicality? Nonconformity? Our panel consider why cycling got this big and what its future is in London. Can it get too popular and are we headed for civil war on the roads? What would we need to make London a cycling utopia? Rachel Aldred (@RachelAldred)is Reader in Transport at the University of Westminster and one of the Progress 1000 Most Influential Londoners. One of her research projects (Near Miss Project) was awarded Cycling Initiative of the Year 2015 by Total Women’s Cycling. Since November 2012 she has twice been elected as a Trustee of the London Cycling Campaign and is Chair of its Policy Forum. Emily Chappell (@emilychappell) has worked as a cycle courier in London since 2008 and is author of What Goes Around. She has competed in the Transcontinental Race, one of the world's toughest ultra-endurance races. Emily's writing has featured in the Guardian and in 2012 she won Travel Blogger of the Year at the British Travel Press Awards, and a Jupiter's Traveller Award from the Ted Simon Foundation. Michael Hutchinson (@Doctor_Hutch) is a former professional cyclist. He has won multiple national titles in both Britain and Ireland, and represented both countries internationally. He is the principal columnist for Cycling Weekly, a regular broadcaster on the sport, and has written three books on cycling: The Hour: Sporting Immortality the Hard Way; Faster: the Obsession, Science and Luck behind the world's fastest cyclists; and Re:Cyclists: 200 Years on Two Wheels, to be published in March 2017. James Spackman (@blackpooltower) is a book publisher and cycling obsessive. Pursuit (@Pursuitbooks), the new cycling imprint which he is launching as part of Profile Books, publishes its first three titles in 2017, by The Velominati, Colin O'Brien and Paul Fournel. LSE Cities (@LSECities) is an international centre at LSE that carries out research, education and outreach activities in London and abroad. Its mission is to study how people and cities interact in a rapidly urbanising world, focussing on how the design of cities impacts on society, culture and the environment. The LSE Sustainability Team (@SustainableLSE) works to create a more environmentally sustainable university, through the responsible management of our estate, operations and resources, and by engaging with our students, staff and local community.

Speaker(s): Paul MM Cooper | As writers, we're often told to 'write what you know' - but is this the advice that's holding back your writing? In this session, Paul MM Cooper talks about what led him to dive into the world of ancient poetry and medieval Sri Lanka in order to write his novel River of Ink. The session is designed for those who want to take on the unfamiliar in their work, or who just want to discover the adventure that writing can be. Paul MM Cooper (@PaulMMCooper) was born in South London and grew up in Cardiff, Wales. He was educated at the University of Warwick and the UEA, and after graduating he left for Sri Lanka to work as an English teacher, where he took time to explore the ruins both ancient and modern. He has written for magazines, websites and also worked as an archivist, editor and journalist. River of Ink is his debut novel. Winnie M Li (@winniemli ) is a writer, activist, and PhD researcher at LSE. Her debut novel, Dark Chapter, will be published in the UK/Ireland in June and in the US/Canada in September, followed by Dutch and Swedish publications. She has an MA with Distinction in Creative and Life Writing from Goldsmiths.

Speaker(s): Luke Dormehl, Laurie Penny, Nick Srnicek | What kind of future do we want to create and why? This panel explores the philosophical implications of scientific advancements like artificial intelligence and human enhancement, which have the potential to revolutionize our world. Is fear overriding optimism in our approach to the future? Luke Dormehl (@lukedormehl) is a technology author and journalist, with a background in documentary film. He regularly contributes to Digital Trends, and has written for Fast Company, the Guardian, Sunday Times and other publications. His previous books include The Apple Revolution, The Formula and most recently Thinking Machines: The inside story of Artificial Intelligence and our race to build the future. Laurie Penny (@PennyRed) is a journalist and author, most recently of the novella Everything Belongs to the Future. She is a contributing editor and columnist for the New Statesman and a frequent writer on social justice, pop culture, gender issues, and digital politics for the Guardian, the New Inquiry, Salon, the Nation, Vice, the New York Times and many other publications. Her blog Penny Red was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize in 2010. In 2012, Britain’s Tatler magazine described her as one of the top “100 people who matter.” Her most recent nonfiction book is Unspeakable Things: Sex, Lies, and Revolution. Nick Srnicek (@n_srnck) is a lecturer in International Political Economy at City, University of London. He is the author of Platform Capitalism and Inventing the Future (with Alex Williams). With Helen Hester he is currently writing After Work. Jason Alexander is Professor of Philosophy at LSE and the co-ordinator of the MSc Philosophy of the Social Sciences.

Speaker(s): Reshma Ruia, Kavita Jindal, CG Menon | Are two heads better than one? Writing is by definition a solitary and insular occupation, but this creative writing session explores the benefits of a collaborative approach to writing. We will draw upon our own experience in writing our anthology, ‘Love across a Broken Map’ to provide an interactive session that examines the process of putting together an anthology, from the inception of an idea to workshopping stories, to choosing titles and cover designs and finally the challenges of marketing and publicity. <brThe Whole Kahani (or The Whole Story), is a collective of British fiction writers of South Asian origin. The group formed in 2011 and its aim is to give a new voice to old stories and provide a creative perspective that straddles cultures and boundaries both emotional and geographical. Together they have produced the anthology Love Across a Broken Map. <brKavita A Jindal (@writerkavita) is a prize-winning fiction writer, as well as a poet, essayist and reviewer. She is the author of Raincheck Renewed, published to critical acclaim by Chameleon Press. <brCG Menon's stories have previously been broadcast on radio and published in a number of anthologies, including the Willesden Herald anthology, two Words and Women collections, Siren Press’ Fugue II anthology and the Winchester Festival prize collection. <brReshma Ruia (@RESHMARUIA) is the author of Something Black in the Lentil Soup. Her second novel, A Mouthful of Silence, was shortlisted for the 2014 SI Leeds Literary Prize. <brWinnie M Li (@winniemli ) is a writer, activist, and PhD researcher at LSE. Her debut novel, Dark Chapter, will be published in the UK/Ireland in June and in the US/Canada in September, followed by Dutch and Swedish publications.

Speaker(s): Luce Irigarary, Dr Mahon O’Brien, Dr Tanja Staehler | In this event, world-renowned philosopher Luce Irigaray will speak about her new book, which reflects upon the nature of human existence through an analysis of birth. Examining the mysteries of human origins, Irigaray will discuss the ways in which, despite the accidents of our birth, we can take responsibility for our own lives. Respondents Tanja Staehler and Mahon O'Brien will consider the philosophical, practical, and political implications of Irigaray's claims. Luce Irigarary is Director of Research in Philosophy (CNRS) and feminist, philosopher, and cultural theorist. Her latest book is To Be Born. Mahon O’Brien (@Mahon_O_Brien) is a Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Sussex. Tanja Staehler is Reader in Philosophy at the University of Sussex. Danielle Sands (@DanielleCSands) is a lecturer in Comparative Literature and Culture at Royal Holloway, University of London and a Forum for European Philosophy Fellow. The Forum for European Philosophy (@ForumPhilosophy) is an educational charity that organises a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK.

Speaker(s): Elif Shafak | Today all across the Middle East we observe a backlash of patriarchy. Women are being pushed back into the private space, reminded of their roles as mothers and wives. Even the fundamental rights that we thought we had can be lost easily. In truth, not only the Middle East but all over the world, women, especially Muslim women, are increasingly asking the most difficult questions and having the most engaging discussions on identity, religion, faith, freedom and sexuality. Join us for a thought-provoking discussion about some of the most compelling issues of our times. Elif Shafak (@Elif_Safak) is an award-winning novelist and the most widely read female writer in Turkey. She is also a political commentator and an inspirational public speaker. She writes in both Turkish and English, and has published 15 books, 10 of which are novels, including the bestselling The Bastard of Istanbul and The Forty Rules of Love. Her latest novel is Three Daughters of Eve. Her books have been translated into more than forty languages. She has been longlisted for the Orange Prize, MAN Asian Prize; the Baileys Prize and the IMPAC Dublin Award, and shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and RSL Ondaatje Prize. Elif is a TED Global speaker, a member of Weforum Global Agenda Council on Creative Economy in Davos and a founding member of ECFR (European Council on Foreign Relations). She has been awarded the title of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2010 by the French government. Elif has taught at various universities in Turkey, UK and USA. She holds a degree in International Relations, a masters degree in Gender and Women’s Studies and a PhD in Political Science. She is known as a women’s rights, minority rights and LGBT rights advocate. Mary Evans is Centennial Professor in the Gender Institute at LSE. Prior to coming to the LSE as a Visiting Fellow she taught Women's Studies and Sociology at the University of Kent. The primary focus of Professor Evans' work is those narratives (be they fictional or otherwise) through which we construct our social identity. Professor Evans is particularly interested in the part that gender and class play in these narratives and the ways in which narratives of ourselves are a essential part of what we define as the modern. LSE’s Gender Institute (@LSEGenderTweet) is the largest gender studies centre in Europe. With a global perspective, the Gender Institute’s research and teaching intersects with other categories of analysis such as race, ethnicity, class and sexuality; because gender relations work in all spheres of life, interdisciplinarity is key to our approach. The LSE Middle East Centre (@LSEMiddleEast) builds on LSE's long engagement with the Middle East and North Africa and provides a central hub for the wide range of research on the region carried out at LSE.

Speaker(s): Luce Irigarary, Dr Mahon O’Brien, Dr Tanja Staehler | In this event, world-renowned philosopher Luce Irigaray will speak about her new book, which reflects upon the nature of human existence through an analysis of birth. Examining the mysteries of human origins, Irigaray will discuss the ways in which, despite the accidents of our birth, we can take responsibility for our own lives. Respondents Tanja Staehler and Mahon O'Brien will consider the philosophical, practical, and political implications of Irigaray's claims. Luce Irigarary is Director of Research in Philosophy (CNRS) and feminist, philosopher, and cultural theorist. Her latest book is To Be Born. Mahon O’Brien (@Mahon_O_Brien) is a Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Sussex. Tanja Staehler is Reader in Philosophy at the University of Sussex. Danielle Sands (@DanielleCSands) is a lecturer in Comparative Literature and Culture at Royal Holloway, University of London and a Forum for European Philosophy Fellow. The Forum for European Philosophy (@ForumPhilosophy) is an educational charity that organises a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK.

Speaker(s): Bridget Holding | A toolkit of small, playful experiments, to revolutionise how you tell stories in all genres. We will take body awareness, movement and spoken word into writing, with a focus on the ground-breaking world of ‘new’ nature writing, one of the fastest growing and best-selling genres. With her focus on learning from nature, and the embodied, holistic experience of the storyteller, university tutor and psychotherapist Bridget Holding is revitalising traditional creative writing teaching. All levels of writing experience, and confidence, welcome! Bridget Holding (@BridgetHolding) is a former screenwriter, whose articles have appeared in Writing Magazine and The Psychotherapist, among other publications. She is also a UKCP registered psychotherapist. She’s a former associate lecturer for The Open University, and has been a tutor of creative writing for The University of Exeter since 2008. Bridget is the founder of Wild Words. Her online and real-world courses explore the relationship between ourselves, our world and our words. Winnie M Li (@winniemli ) is a writer, activist, and PhD researcher at LSE. Her debut novel, Dark Chapter, will be published in the UK/Ireland in June and in the US/Canada in September, followed by Dutch and Swedish publications. She has an MA with Distinction in Creative and Life Writing from Goldsmiths. At LSE’s Department of Media and Communications, she is researching the uses of social media by rape survivors to narrate their experiences. Winnie is also Co-Founder of the Clear Lines Festival, the UK's first-ever festival dedicated to addressing sexual assault and consent through the arts and discussion.

Speaker(s): Sarah Bakewell, Dr Andy Martin and Professor Stella Sandford | ‘Why are there beings at all instead of nothing?’ asks Martin Heidegger in his Introduction to Metaphysics. In this panel, we explore the ideas of being and nothing as described by existentialism’s most famous thinkers: Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Albert Camus. What is the allure of the existentialists that their reputations should endure in popular and contemporary culture? And how is it that existentialist philosophy can be, at once, avidly consumed by modern audiences and unapologetically esoteric? Coffee, French cigarettes, and black polo necks not provided; intelligent discussion and provocative questions most definitely are. Sarah Bakewell (@Sarah_Bakewell) is author of three biographies, including the bestselling How to Live: A Life of Montaigne, which won the Duff Cooper Prize for Non-Fiction and the National Books Critics Circle Award for Biography in the US, and was shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award and the Marsh Biography Award. Her latest books is At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being and Apricot Cocktails. Andy Martin (@andymartinink) is a lecturer in French at Cambridge University and author of Stealing the Wave, Napoleon the Novelist, Waiting for Bardot and The Boxer and the Goalkeeper: Sartre vs Camus. Stella Sandford is Professor of Modern European Philosophy at Kingston University, London and a member of the Radical Philosophy Editorial Collective. She is author of How to Read De Beauvoir. Shahidha Bari (@ShahidhaBari) is a lecturer in Romanticisma at Queen Mary, University of London and Forum for European Philosophy Fellow. The Forum for European Philosophy (@ForumPhilosophy) is an educational charity that organises a full and varied programme of philosophy and interdisciplinary events in the UK.

Speaker(s): Tim Buckley and David Mansfield | Over the last fifteen years there has been a revolution in the deserts of south and southwest Afghanistan. Across the provinces of Helmand, Farah, Kandahar and Nimroz windswept sand and rock has been replaced by over 300,000 hectares of agricultural land. Driven by population pressure, opium prohibition and conflict 1.2 million people have settled in what was once uninhabitable desert land. Tim Buckley is Chief Operating Officer in Alcis. Tim is well known and respected across geographic, defence and intelligence networks. He served in the British Army for ten years, providing critical GIS insight, expertise, support and advice to organisations worldwide. A GIS and remote sensing expert with over fifteen years' experience in conflict and fragile environments, Tim has recently spent over two years working within the counter narcotics and agriculture sectors in Afghanistan. David Mansfield currently works as an independent consultant, advising a range of bilateral, multilateral and non-government organisations, including the UK Government, the EC, the World Bank, GTZ, as well as various NGOs on both policy and operational issues with regard to illicit drugs in Afghanistan and on alternative livelihoods in particular. John Collins is Executive Director of the LSE IDEAS International Drug Policy Project. He is also coordinator of the Expert Group on the Economics of Drug Policy. John is coordinating a British Council funded project on “Illicit Drug Production and the Search for Peace in Colombia” as well as an LSE Research Division project on “Shifting Drug Strategies in Ireland and the UK”. This event will be followed by a guided tour of the exhibition, Revolutions in the Afghan Desert: Water, Green Tech and illegal opium cultivation until 7.30pm. LSE IDEAS (@LSEIDEAS) is a foreign policy think-tank within LSE's Institute for Global Affairs. Update Friday 24 February 2017, 1.30pm: due to unforeseen circumstances, Richard Brittan and Sharon Harvey will no longer be speaking at this event. LSE apologises for any inconvenience this may cause.

Speaker(s): Dr Laura Beers | In 1908 Ellen Wilkinson, a fiery, outspoken teenager from a working-class family in Manchester, was the only girl who spoke in school debates. By 1945, Wilkinson, still a rebellious redhead, had helped found the Communist Party, earned a seat in Parliament as Minister of Education, and become a renowned advocate for the poor and dispossessed at home and abroad. She was one of the first female delegates to the United Nations, and played a central role in the post-war Labour government. Laura Beers’s new book about Wilkinson’s remarkable life is a richly detailed portrait of a time when left-wing men and women from a range of backgrounds sought to reshape domestic, imperial, and international affairs. Wilkinson is best remembered as the leader of the Jarrow March, the 300-mile march of two hundred unemployed shipwrights and steelworkers to petition the government for help. But this was just one small part of Red Ellen’s larger transnational fight for social justice. She was involved in a range of campaigns, from the quest for official recognition of the Spanish Republican government, to the fight for Indian independence, to the effort to smuggle Jewish refugees out of Germany. During Wilkinson’s lifetime, many radicals viewed themselves as members of an international socialist community, and some, like her, became involved in socialist, feminist, and pacifist movements that spanned the globe. By focusing on the extent to which Wilkinson’s activism transcended Britain’s borders, Laura Beers reframes our perception of the British Left in the early twentieth century. Laura Beers (@Fiery_Particle) is Associate Professor of History at American University and a Birmingham Fellow at the University of Birmingham. She is author of Your Britain: Media and the Making of the Labour Party and Red Ellen: The Life of Ellen Wilkinson, Socialist, Feminist, Internationalist.

Speaker(s): Dr Bill Kissane, Anthony Loyd | Editor's note: We apologise for the poor quality audio in this podcast. Since the European Enlightenment scholarly interest in revolutions has greatly dwarfed the interest in civil war, and whilst revolutions have often been glamorized in history, civil war has had almost exclusively negative connotations. But the last two decades have seen a resurgence of interest in civil war amongst the academic community. Has this vindicated the view that civil war is a uniquely destructive form of conflict? Bill Kissane is Associate Professor in Politics in the LSE Department of Government and a member of the Conflict Research Group. He is author of Nations Torn Asunder: the Challenge of Civil War. Anthony Loyd is a roving foreign correspondent for The Times. He began reporting for The Times in Bosnia over twenty years ago. He has since covered conflicts around the world and won four major awards for the newspaper for his coverage from Syria. Denisa Kostovicova (@DenisaKost) is an Associate Professor in Global Politics at the Government Department and a Research Fellow at the Civil Society and Human Security Research Unit at the Department of International Development at LSE. The Conflict Research Group (CRG) is a multi-disciplinary research and consultancy unit. Its members include leading experts in conflict-related research from five of LSE's academic departments, including Government, International Relations, Sociology, the Methodology Institute, and the European Institute.

Speaker(s): Harriet Harman, Katrine Marçal, Lieutenant Commander Alexandra Pollard, Dr Nicola Rollock | Women in the UK workplace have undoubtedly taken great steps over the past 40 years, but at the current rate of progress it will take 50 years to close the gender pay gap and a child born today will not see equal representation in her lifetime. Our panel discuss the progress that women have made across politics, economics, academia and the armed forces, but also what obstacles remain to be overcome and what can be done to challenge the barriers that prevent women progressing. Harriet Harman (@HarrietHarman) was elected as Labour MP for Peckham in 1982. Joining a House of Commons which was 97% male, she had three children while in Parliament. She has been politics' most prominent champion for women's rights, introducing the National Childcare Strategy, the Equality Act and changing the law on domestic violence. She was the first woman to represent the Labour Party at Prime Minister's Questions. Her memoir A Woman's Work is published in February 2017. Katrine Marçal (@katrinemarcal) is a columnist for Swedish paper Aftonbladet where she writes articles on Swedish and international politics, economics and feminism. and author of Who Cooked Adam Smith's Dinner? which was shortlisted for The August Prize and won the Lagercrantzen Award. Alexandra Pollard is a Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Navy, having joined in 1997. She has had a varied and challenging career, mostly at sea, since passing out from Britannia Royal Naval College. In 2014, she became the Executive Officer and Second in Command in HMS RICHMOND, joining her in the South Atlantic and then deploying for 9 months in 2015 to the Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean to support counter narcotics operations. During the final months of this deployment RICHMOND was re-tasked to support the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean as part of the multi-national Operation SOPHIA which saw her taking the role of On Scene Commander in the rescue of 3000 migrants by 7 different ships. Now employed within the Naval Personnel area, she is conducting a short period as a Career Manager for Warfare Officers before returning to sea in 2017 in Command of HMS NORTHUMBERLAND. Nicola Rollock (@NicolaRollock) is Deputy Director of the Centre for Research in Race & Education at the University of Birmingham. She is interested in improving the ways in which we commonly think about racism and in identifying solutions to persistent race inequalities within the education system and the workplace. Nicola is Editor of the journal Whiteness & Education and lead author of the award-winning book The Colour of Class: the educational strategies of the Black middle classes. She is a trustee of the British Educational Research Association (BERA), which works to support and improve educational research across the UK and, is a Patron of the Equality Challenge Unit’s Race Equality Charter, which is aimed at improving the experiences and success of faculty and students of colour. Nicola was selected, in 2015, as a Woman of Achievement by the Women of the Year Council and was included in the 2014 Powerlist of Britain’s most influential Black people. Alison Rankin Frost is a communications strategist specialising in brand and reputation resilience. She is a lay Governor of LSE.

Speaker(s): Anne Applebaum, Jonathan Fenby, Gideon Rachman | Editor's note: Owing to a technical problem the question and answer session has been omitted from the podcast. For forty years the Cold War defined the world in which we all lived, shaping our political choices, killing over 25 million people, and nearly leading to the destruction of humanity itself on one very special day in October 1962. Thirty years later the Cold War was no more and the world – we were told – could now look forward to a "new world order". Yet it was not be. America under G.W Bush revived spectres of the past by talking of a new 'axis of evil'. Russian reform turned into Putin’s annexation of Crimea. While in China talk of a 'peaceful rise' was replaced by an altogether more assertive stance which seemed to question the established rules of the international community. This discussion asks and tries to answer three big questions: In what sense did the Cold War represent a revolution in world history? Was 1989 yet another – very different kind of - revolution in international affairs? And why does the Cold War we all thought dead and buried continue to exercise such influence on our discourses about the modern world? Anne Applebaum (@anneapplebaum) is a Visiting Professor in Practice at the Institute of Global Affairs at LSE and a columnist for the Washington Post. Jonathan Fenby (@JonathanFenby) is a former editor of the Observer and South China Morning Post and a founding partner and Managing Director of Trusted Sources Research Service. He is an author of several popular books on China, including the acclaimed Tiger Head, Snake Tails; The Penguin History of Modern China; and Will China Dominate the 21st Century? Gideon Rachman (@gideonrachman) is the chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times. In 2016 he won the Orwell Prize for Journalism and was named Commentator of the Year at the European Press Prize awards. Previously he worked for The Economist for fifteen years, serving as a foreign correspondent in Washington, Bangkok and Brussels. His new book is Easternisation: war and peace in the Asian century. Michael Cox is Director of LSE IDEAS. LSE IDEAS (@LSEIDEAS) is a foreign policy think-tank within LSE's Institute for Global Affairs.

Speaker(s): Eimear McBride | Editor's note: Unfortunately Ali Smith was unable to speak at this event. The turn of the 20th century saw a move away from the traditional towards the experimental and radical in the arts, with modernist writers breaking with established forms and subjects. In this discussion two award-winning contemporary novelists discuss modernism, its legacy and their own revolutionary approaches to fiction. Eimear McBride’s debut novel A Girl is a Half-formed Thing took nine years to publish and subsequently received the Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction, Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year, the Goldsmiths Prize, Desmond Elliot Prize and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. Her latest novel is The Lesser Bohemians. Ali Smith has won numerous awards for her work, including the Baileys Prize and the Goldsmiths Prize for How to be both, which was also shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Her latest novel, Autumn, is an inventive meditation on a world growing ever more bordered and exclusive. Toby Lichtig (@TobyLichtig) is an editor at the Times Literary Supplement.

Speaker(s): Rod Judkins | The real currency of our time isn’t money. It’s ideas. You’re surrounded by ideas. Films, products, books, music, money, messages, services and everything in your culture began life as a vision in someone’s head. If you have ideas, you’re at the heart of things. ‘What abilities will someone need to succeed in 5, 10, or 15 years’ time?’ Rod Judkins’ answer to that question focuses on people’s ability to think conceptually. Universities used to teach students skills and then, out in the world, they applied them. But culture sped up. Soon, in the three years it took a student to reach the workplace, their skills were out of date. Now the pace of change is so fast, skills are of little use. To be at home in the world of the future, you will need to be an adaptable, open minded, problem solver, communicator, inventor, artist and entertainer. During this talk, there will be exercises designed to encourage you to think beyond what is accepted and conventional. An Olympic athlete trains their body. A creative thinker has to exercise just as hard, but train their imagination. Rod Judkins (@rodjudkins) is a lecturer at Central St Martin’s, one of the world’s pre-eminent art schools whose alumni – ranging from artists like Lucian Freud, Antony Gormley, through to the designers Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen – have helped shape our culture. Judkins has lectured on the subject of creativity at universities and to businesses around the world. He blogs at Psychology Today, and also acts as a consultant to numerous private companies. Trained at The Royal College of Art, he has exhibited at galleries including Tate Britain, The National Portrait Gallery and The Royal Academy. Neil McLean is the Director of the Academic and Professional Development Division at LSE. His research interest is in how identities are negotiated though communication, with his doctoral work on the formation of teaching identifies among novice social science teachers. His interest in communication and identity relates to creativity, both in terms of how we define ourselves and how creativity could redefine what we mean by an education at the LSE. LSE LIFE is the School's centre for the academic, personal and professional development of its taught students. Located on the ground floor of the Library, it acts as a centralised point of contact for students looking for support, guidance, and ideas about how to succeed in their studies and extend their learning outside the classroom. LSE LIFE integrates for the first time the many development opportunities offered by different LSE departments and services and brings together a range of one to one, workshop and large group learning events.

Speaker(s): Dr Prashant Kidambi, Peter Oborne | 'Cricket is an Indian game accidentally invented by the English': one of India's leading public intellectuals once proclaimed. Ashis Nandy's provocative claim might well be extended to the rest of the subcontinent now. Cricket was brought to the Indian sub-continent by British colonial officers who chose to not teach it to the natives. However, the game was learned through watching and soon gained popularity resulting in a tour of England by an Indian team in the early part of the twentieth century. This panel explores how the story of cricket between England and South Asia has been nothing short of revolutionary, upsetting colonial power balances and creating unexpected alliances. Divided in all manner of ways, South Asia countries seem to have found in this colonial game an unlikely force for national unity. From Afghanistan to Sri Lanka, the game is now pursued in the subcontinent with a passion that defies easy explanations and which calls into question many of the prevailing assumptions about empire, colonialism and culture. This panel will draw on the perspectives of history to explore the dynamics of cricket in contemporary South Asia. Why has the game acquired such enduring roots in South Asia? Are there any common features in the way cricket is played, patronised and followed in the different countries of the region? Why is the game so intensely politicised in these countries? In what ways has the rise of India as a major cricketing powerhouse had an impact on cricketing relations with its neighbours? Is the IPL here to stay and if so, is it a force for good or does it threaten to irrevocably transform cricket as a sport? Prashant Kidambi is Associate Professor in Colonial Urban History at the University of Leicester. Dr Kidambi's research explores the social history of Indian cricket. He is currently completing a book on the history of the first 'Indian' cricket tour of Great Britain in 1911, an intriguing story peopled by an improbable cast of princes, Parsis and plebieans that casts interesting light on the interplay between sport, nation and empire. Peter Oborne (@OborneTweets) is a regular commentator on politics for television, Associate Editor of The Spectator and former chief political commentator of the Daily Telegraph. He is author of Wounded Tiger: The History of Cricket in Pakistan and White on Green: Celebrating the Drama of Pakistan Cricket. Mukulika Banerjee (@MukulikaB) is Director of the South Asia Centre at LSE. The South Asia Centre (@SAsiaLSE) leads the school's long-term engagement in the region by facilitating multi-disciplinary approaches and comparative research by LSE academics.

Speaker(s): Matt Cook, Sue O'Sullivan | Editor's note: Owing to a technical problem the question and answer session has been omitted from the podcast. This event explores what changed in the years after the Sexual Offences Act in 1967, which partly decriminalised homosexuality in the UK. Matt Cook talks about a gay squatting community in Brixton. Sue O'Sullivan talks about working collectively on Spare Rib magazine. Matt Cook is a lecturer of History and Gender Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London and Co-director of the Raphael Samuel History Centre. He is author of Queer Domesticities: Homosexuality and Home Life in 20th Century London. Sue O'Sullivan has been involved in the UK women's liberation movement from its start. She got into writing and publishing via hand-produced Women's Liberation Movement newsletters and ended up on various feminist publication collectives, including Red Rag, Spare Rib, Feminist Review, Sheba Feminist Press and finally ICW News, the newsletter of the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS. Collective working brought joy and sorrow! Anne Summers is Chair of the Friends of the Women's Library. Hosted by the LSE Library (@LSELibrary) in conjunction with their exhibition "Glad to be Gay: the struggle for legal equality" on display in the LSE Library Gallery from 9 January – 7 April 2017.

Speaker(s): Nona Buckley-Irvine, Georgia Gould, Professor John Hills and Omar Khan | Are today's young people getting a bum deal? Young people have experienced the biggest pay squeeze in the aftermath of the financial crisis, seen their dreams of home ownership drift out of sight and witnessed a welfare state in retreat. Are these short term effects or do they run deeper, and how can policy make a difference? The Resolution Foundation, convenors of the Intergenerational Commission, partner with the International Inequalities Institute to debate this pressing issue. Nona Buckley-Irvine (@nonajasmine) is a Labour Party activist in Sussex and the former General Secretary of LSESU. She also works in higher education policy for a think tank and has a range of voluntary experience working with young people. Georgia Gould (@Georgia_Gould) is a Labour councillor and Cabinet member for Young People, Adults and Health in the London Borough of Camden. She campaigns and writes on issues related to young people and her book Wasted - How Misunderstanding Young Britain Threatens Our Future was published last year. John Hills is Chair of CASE, Co-Director LSE International Inequalities Institute and Richard Titmuss Professor of Social Policy, LSE. Omar Khan is Director of the Runnymede Trust, having previously been its Head of Policy. Omar sits on the Department for Work and Pensions' Ethnic Minority Employment Stakeholder Group, is a Governor at the University of East London and a 2012 Clore Social Leadership Fellow. Omar's other advisory positions include chair of Olmec, chair of the Ethnicity Strand Advisory Group to Understanding Society, chair of the advisory group of the Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity at the University of Manchester, Commissioner on the Financial Inclusion Commission and a member of the 2014 REF assessment, the 2011 Census, and the UK representative (2009-2013) on the European Commission’s Socio-economic network of experts. David Willetts is Executive Chair of the Resolution Foundation think tank, a Visiting Professor at King’s College London, Governor of the Ditchley Foundation and a member of the Council of the Institute for Fiscal Studies. He was previously the Minister for Universities and Science and Member of Parliament for Havant. David has written widely on economic and social policy. His most recent book The Pinch was published by Atlantic Books in 2010. The Resolution Foundation (@resfoundation) is a non-partisan and award-winning think-tank that works to improve the living standards of those in Britain on low to middle incomes. They are currently hosting the Intergenerational Commission, bringing together leaders from business, academia and policy-making to devise a means of repairing the social contract between generations. The International Inequalities Institute at LSE (@LSEInequalities) brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead critical and cutting edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

Speaker(s): Nona Buckley-Irvine, Georgia Gould, Professor John Hills and Omar Khan | Are today's young people getting a bum deal? Young people have experienced the biggest pay squeeze in the aftermath of the financial crisis, seen their dreams of home ownership drift out of sight and witnessed a welfare state in retreat. Are these short term effects or do they run deeper, and how can policy make a difference? The Resolution Foundation, convenors of the Intergenerational Commission, partner with the International Inequalities Institute to debate this pressing issue. Nona Buckley-Irvine (@nonajasmine) is a Labour Party activist in Sussex and the former General Secretary of LSESU. She also works in higher education policy for a think tank and has a range of voluntary experience working with young people. Georgia Gould (@Georgia_Gould) is a Labour councillor and Cabinet member for Young People, Adults and Health in the London Borough of Camden. She campaigns and writes on issues related to young people and her book Wasted - How Misunderstanding Young Britain Threatens Our Future was published last year. John Hills is Chair of CASE, Co-Director LSE International Inequalities Institute and Richard Titmuss Professor of Social Policy, LSE. Omar Khan is Director of the Runnymede Trust, having previously been its Head of Policy. Omar sits on the Department for Work and Pensions' Ethnic Minority Employment Stakeholder Group, is a Governor at the University of East London and a 2012 Clore Social Leadership Fellow. Omar's other advisory positions include chair of Olmec, chair of the Ethnicity Strand Advisory Group to Understanding Society, chair of the advisory group of the Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity at the University of Manchester, Commissioner on the Financial Inclusion Commission and a member of the 2014 REF assessment, the 2011 Census, and the UK representative (2009-2013) on the European Commission’s Socio-economic network of experts. David Willetts is Executive Chair of the Resolution Foundation think tank, a Visiting Professor at King’s College London, Governor of the Ditchley Foundation and a member of the Council of the Institute for Fiscal Studies. He was previously the Minister for Universities and Science and Member of Parliament for Havant. David has written widely on economic and social policy. His most recent book The Pinch was published by Atlantic Books in 2010. The Resolution Foundation (@resfoundation) is a non-partisan and award-winning think-tank that works to improve the living standards of those in Britain on low to middle incomes. They are currently hosting the Intergenerational Commission, bringing together leaders from business, academia and policy-making to devise a means of repairing the social contract between generations. The International Inequalities Institute at LSE (@LSEInequalities) brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead critical and cutting edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

Speaker(s): Dr Tanya Harmer, Nataliya Kibita and Dr David Motadel | Legacy of the Russian Revolution in Ukraine.' The Soviet Union, the state that was created as a result of the Russian revolution of 1917 no longer exists. Its economic model collapsed, while its ideology is discredited. Yet some political institutions that had been formed during the Soviet times are very much alive even today. Nataliya looks at how political institutions that had been formed in Ukraine in 1917 developed and consolidated during the Soviet times and survived the fall of the Soviet Union. She argues that political institutions that had been formed under the pressure of Ukrainian nationalism in 1917 and transformed under the pressure of Russian centralism after 1920 protect Ukraine today from becoming an authoritarian state. Tanya Harmer: 'Latin America’s Revolutionary Twentieth Century.' What were the impacts and legacies of the Bolshevik Revolution in Latin America? How did it feed into the region’s revolutionary twentieth century? A hundred years after the Bolshevik Revolution and fifty years after Che Guevara’s death in Bolivia, Tanya offers a broad history of revolution in Latin America from Mexican Revolution in 1910 to the Cuban Revolution of 1959 and the Central American revolutionary insurgencies of the 1980s. In examining the history of revolution in the region, she argues that the Bolshevik Revolution was a pivotal moment for left-wing politics but that local ideas and people were also vitally important. David Motadel (@DavidMotadel) is an Assistant Professor of International History at LSE. He works on the history of modern Europe and Europe’s relations with the wider world. He is the author of a book on the history of Muslims under German rule in the Second World War (Harvard University Press, 2014), ranging from North Africa and the Balkans to the Caucasus and the Crimea, and the editor of a volume on Islam in the European empires (Oxford University Press, 2014). His articles have been published in a number of journals, including Past and Present, the Journal of Contemporary History, and the Historical Journal. Nataliya Kibita is a Teaching Fellow in the Department of International History at LSE. Her main research interest is Ukraine’s state- and nation-building. Currently, she is working on a new research project that explores the historical origins of formal and informal political institutions that allow Ukraine to rebuff authoritarianism today. Before joining the LSE in September 2015, Dr Kibita taught Soviet history at the University of Edinburg and University of Glasgow. Tanya Harmer (@TanyaHarmer) is an Associate Professor in the Department of International History at LSE. She is a specialist on the Cold War in Latin America with a particular interest in the international, transnational and global dynamics of the struggle. She has written an inter-American history of Chile during the presidency of Salvador Allende (1970-73) and conducted research on Brazilian Cold War interventions in the Southern Cone of Latin America, US-Chilean relations in the mid-1970s and the Cuban Revolution’s influence in Latin America. Her current research deals with the history of Chile’s Revolutionary Left. The Department of International History (@lsehistory) is one of the top five university history departments in the UK.

Speaker(s): Professor John Worrall | Editor's note: We apologise for the poor quality audio in this podcast. Many people unreflectingly think that 'Man' plays a special role in the Universe. Although this view was endorsed by Aristotelian cosmology, revolutionary developments in science, particularly those associated with Copernicus and with Darwin, seem to have made it entirely untenable. So what does science teach us about our place in the Universe? John Worrall joined LSE as an undergraduate in 1965, initially as a student of statistics. But, seduced by Karl Popper's lectures, soon switched to a course that was part statistics and mathematics and part philosophy. He came under the influence of Imre Lakatos - who tried to convert him to his own brand of 24 hour a day philosophy. He studied for a PhD under Lakatos - developing the latter's methodology of research programmes and testing it against a detailed case history from 19th century physics. Worrall was appointed to a Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method lectureship at LSE in 1971, becoming Professor in 1998. Having for many years played the cricket of pure reason for the LSE Staff Cricket XI, his chief Departmental role is now as leader of its rock n roll band (The Critique of Pure Rhythm - name not his idea). Worrall's main intellectual interests are in theory-change in science - and its impact on the twin theses of scientific rationality and scientific realism. More recently he has developed a major interest in methodological and philosophical issues in medicine particularly concerned with clinical trials and the general issue of the warrant for causal claims in medicine. He was for 10 years the editor of The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, has held visiting fellowships at the Universities of Pittsburgh and of Otago, and has lectured around the world - in the USA, China, South America, Australia and New Zealand as well as Eastern and Western Europe. He is former President of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science. Roman Frigg is Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, Director of the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science (CPNSS), and Co-Director of the Centre for the Analysis of Time Series (CATS) at LSE. The Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science (CPNSS), established in 1990, aims to promote research into philosophical, methodological and foundational questions arising in the natural and the social sciences, as well as their application to practical problems.

Speaker(s): Professor John Worrall | Editor's note: We apologise for the poor quality audio in this podcast. Many people unreflectingly think that 'Man' plays a special role in the Universe. Although this view was endorsed by Aristotelian cosmology, revolutionary developments in science, particularly those associated with Copernicus and with Darwin, seem to have made it entirely untenable. So what does science teach us about our place in the Universe? John Worrall joined LSE as an undergraduate in 1965, initially as a student of statistics. But, seduced by Karl Popper's lectures, soon switched to a course that was part statistics and mathematics and part philosophy. He came under the influence of Imre Lakatos - who tried to convert him to his own brand of 24 hour a day philosophy. He studied for a PhD under Lakatos - developing the latter's methodology of research programmes and testing it against a detailed case history from 19th century physics. Worrall was appointed to a Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method lectureship at LSE in 1971, becoming Professor in 1998. Having for many years played the cricket of pure reason for the LSE Staff Cricket XI, his chief Departmental role is now as leader of its rock n roll band (The Critique of Pure Rhythm - name not his idea). Worrall's main intellectual interests are in theory-change in science - and its impact on the twin theses of scientific rationality and scientific realism. More recently he has developed a major interest in methodological and philosophical issues in medicine particularly concerned with clinical trials and the general issue of the warrant for causal claims in medicine. He was for 10 years the editor of The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, has held visiting fellowships at the Universities of Pittsburgh and of Otago, and has lectured around the world - in the USA, China, South America, Australia and New Zealand as well as Eastern and Western Europe. He is former President of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science. Roman Frigg is Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, Director of the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science (CPNSS), and Co-Director of the Centre for the Analysis of Time Series (CATS) at LSE. The Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science (CPNSS), established in 1990, aims to promote research into philosophical, methodological and foundational questions arising in the natural and the social sciences, as well as their application to practical problems.