Economics And Politics Post-Lisbon [Audio]
Speaker(s): Baroness Catherine Ashton | Baroness Catherine Ashton is the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Vice President of the European Commission. Prior to this she served as European Commissioner for Trade.
Atheists On Religion [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Tim Crane, Professor AC Grayling | For the last 150 years or so European philosophers and sociologists have tended to regard religion as just one more pre-scientific myth and superstition that has had its day, and likely to wither on the vine of History. This view, the secularization thesis, seems today to be in poor shape. Not only does there appear to be no sign of withering, still less a clear path of scientific and rational progress, but religion seems to be reviving. C
The Financial Crisis: Who is to Blame? [Audio]
Speaker(s): Howard Daves, Robert Peston | There is still no consensus on who or what caused the financial crisis which engulfed the world, beginning in the summer of 2007. A huge number of suspects have been identified, from greedy investment bankers, through feckless borrowers, dilatory regulators and myopic central bankers to violent video games and high levels of testosterone among the denizens of trading floors. There is not even agreement on whether the crisis shows a need for more governme
Speaker(s): Professor Robert Eaglestone, Dr Alberto Toscano | Alberto Toscano will be debating his counter-history of fanaticism, in which he argues that fanaticism has played a critical role in forming modern politics. Robert Eaglestone is professor of contemporary literature and thought at Royal Holloway, University of London. Alberto Toscano is senior lecturer in sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London.
Europe in the new energy world order [Audio]
Speaker(s): Lykke Friis | The cold war era was characterised by a bipolarity based on ideologies and nuclear arms. The post cold war era will increasingly be defined by energy. Power and economic welfare will depend on a country's or region's access to the world's decreasing fossil fuels or the development of renewable energy. In this lecture, the Danish Minister of Climate and Energy focuses on Europe's chances to prosper in this new energy world order. Lykke Friis is the Danish Minister for Cl
Welfare State Reform Over the (Very) Long-run [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Paul Pierson, Professor Anton Hemerijck, Professor Julian le Grand | The lecture and panel discussion celebrate the T H Marshall Fellowship scheme, funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, which has been running for seven years. The event also launches the Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State |and will be followed by a reception. Paul Pierson has been a professor of public policy and holder of the Avice Sarint Chair of Public Policy at Berkeley since 2004. Anton Hemerijck is se
Talking to the Enemy: Violent Extremism, Sacred Values, and What it Means to Be Human [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Scott Atran | Editor's note: Unfortunately the first few minutes of the introduction are missing from the podcast. In this lecture Scott Atran will talk about his new book Talking to the Enemy |which is a courageous exploration of one of the most contentious issues of modern times. Scott Atran asks a question that he is uniquely qualified to answer: Why would someone take their own life through suicide bombing?
The Wisdom of Bees [Audio]
Speaker(s): Dr Michael O'Malley | When Michael O'Malley first took up beekeeping he thought it would be a nice hobby to share with his son. But he noticed that bees not only work together to achieve a common goal but, in the process, create a remarkably productive organisation. O'Malley's new book The Wisdom of Bees shows what bees can teach managers and provides insight into decision-making, communication and forward planning. This event celebrates the publication of Michael O'Malleys new book
Dignified Foreign Policy [Audio]
Speaker(s): Alexander Stubb | Alexander Stubb, Finland's Foreign Minister is a graduate of the LSE. He became Minister for Foreign Affairs in April 2008. Before that he served for four years as a member of the European Parliament.
The Verdict: did Labour change Britain? [Audio]
Speaker(s): Polly Toynbee, David Walker | We've had Mandelson's memoirs, Blair's book and Brown biographies: in this lecture Polly Toynbee and David Walker look at what the Labour government in power from 1997 meant for people's lives by charting what it accomplished. Polly Toynbee is an author and a political and social commentator for the Guardian. David Walker edits Public and was formerly chief leader writer of the Independent. They are co-authors of 'The Verdict: Did Labour Change Britain?'
How serious a threat does Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula represent to Yemen and the West? [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Fawaz Gerges | Fawaz A. Gerges is a Professor of Middle Eastern Politics and International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He also holds the Emirates Chair of the Contemporary Middle East and is the Director of the Middle East Centre at LSE. Gerges is author of two recently acclaimed books: Journey of the Jihadist: Inside Muslim Militancy (Harcourt Press, 2007), and The Far Enemy: Why Jihad Went Global (Cambridge University Press, 2005). T
Impunity in Cambodia [Audio]
Speaker(s): Brad Adams, Margo Picken, Simon Taylor | Senior leaders of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime of Democratic Kampuchea are now on trial in Cambodia for the crimes committed between 1975 and 1979 when two million people are estimated to have died. Will these trials help to break the impunity that has characterised Cambodia's recent history and which continues today? Brad Adams is executive director of Human Rights Watch's Asia Division and is a general expert on Asia. Simon Taylor is one of
What has the financial crisis taught Europe? [Audio]
Speaker(s): Dr Simeon Djankov | The recent financial crisis has uncovered several weaknesses in Europe's regulatory system. Belatedly, the European Commission has tried to fix these weaknesses with extensive new regulation, including the creation of several new institutions. Simeon Djankov Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Bulgaria will in this lecture offer an analysis of the most recent developments as well as a perspective on how the financial sector in Europe, and its regulati
European democracies and human rights: from present failures to future protection [Audio]
Speaker(s): Thomas Hammarberg | In a lecture marking UN International Human Rights Day, Thomas Hammarberg discusses the gap between human rights standards and realities in the EU. Thomas Hammarberg was elected Commissioner for Human Rights on 5 October 2005 by the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly. He took up his position on 1 April 2006, succeeding the first commissioner, Mr Alvaro Gil-Robles. Prior to his appointment, he spent several decades working on the advancement of human rights
Valuing the Humanities [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor James Ladyman, Professor Martha Nussbaum, Lord Rees of Ludlow, Richard Smith | James Ladyman is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Bristol and co-editor of the British Journal of the Philosophy of Science. Martha Nussbaum is Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago. Lord Rees of Ludlow is President of the Royal Society, Astronomer Royal and Master of Trinity College Cambridge. Richard Smith is a Former editor of t
Politics, Power, Cities [Audio]
Speaker(s): Enrique Peñalosa | Enrique Peñalosa, former Mayor of Bogotá and one of the world's most challenging urban thinkers, describes the urgent need for governments to create socially inclusive and well-designed transport systems, public spaces and cities. Addressing mobility, public space, equity, quality of life and social inclusion, Peñalosa will propose that inequality and exclusion are the main causes of the problems that affect cities in developing countries, particularly issues r
Gender, Words and Power: meanings of inequality at a time of neo-liberalism [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Mary Evans | This lecture explores changing vocabularies of feminism and the possibilities of a new political language and new forms of politics. Mary Evans is LSE centennial professor attached to the Gender Institute from 2010 to 2013.
Eating Animals [Audio]
Speaker(s): Jonathan Safran Foer, Kristina Musholt | Eating Animals is an exhaustively-argued account of one man's decade-long struggle with vegetarianism. Part memoir, part exposé, the book examines the topics of factory farming and commercial fisheries and explores the cultural significance of food. Jonathan Safran Foer is the author of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Everything Is Illuminated, which won the National Jewish Book Award and the Guardian First Book Award.Kristina Musholt
How did London Get Away With it? The Recession and the North-South Divide [Audio]
Speaker(s): Professor Henry G Overman, Professor Ian Gordon, Alex Jones, Hamish McRae | It was widely expected that London would, in the short to medium run, be the most severely hit of the UK regions in the recession initiated by the 2007-08 financial crisis. This lecture considers why this did not happen. Henry G Overman is professor of economic geography at LSE and director of the Spatial Economics Research Centre. Ian Gordon is professor of human geography at LSE. Alex Jones is chief executi
Big Society and Social Policy in Britain: a panel discussion [Audio]
Speaker(s): Frances Crook, Professor David Lewis, Rory Stewart MP, Karl Wilding | In 2010 prime minister David Cameron introduced the idea of the Big Society. It is yet unclear what this actually means, let alone what impact it will have on social policy in Britain or overseas. This panel will examine these questions and discuss their views on the Big Society. Frances Crook is the appointed director of the Howard League for Penal Reform. She was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s New Years Honours