LSE Podcasts

In August 2025, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization held its 25th annual summit in Tianjin, China, with the country’s leader Xi Jinping, hosting representatives from more than 20 countries including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and India’s Narendra Modi. The absence of the United States in this gathering of global leaders may tell us about how China is competing with the US and building its own globa...

To talk about social media and politics, and how AI can help spread – or tackle – disinformation, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Josephine Lukito, Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Journalism and Media. Her research specializes in malicious political language in the public sphere, focusing on cross-platform flows of messages and frames about global economic and...

The LSE Phelan US Centre's regular podcast, The Ballpark, will be 10 years old in 2026. Ahead of our anniversary, and after more than 140 episodes speaking to academic experts on topics from across the social sciences, we'd like to find out what you think about the podcast with a listener survey. It only takes 10-15 minutes, and you'll have the chance to enter a prize draw to win £250 in vouchers....

Exploring the reasons people might find themselves with problematic levels of debt, the options open to those in financial trouble and how bankruptcy laws could be used more impactfully to the benefit of both individuals and society; this month we revisit an episode from 2023 which asks, “Do we always need to pay our debts?” It's a question that has come back into focus recently as the UK continue...

AI is now increasingly playing a role in many parts of our lives, and the workplace is no exception. AI is now being used by employers to help them to recruit new staff and by jobseekers in their applications. But AI is also now present when we work. It’s used by employers to manage their employees, from monitoring what they are doing during the day, to what they post on social media. To talk abou...

AI has legal consequences. Who is responsible when AI makes a mistake which causes harm or financial loss? What role does government regulation play, and do we need to revise our legal frameworks in the face of increasingly capable AI? To talk about these issues, in July 2025, the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Anat Lior, an assistant professor at Drexel University’s Thomas R. Kline School of Law. H...

With the growth of the capability of artificial intelligence (AI), there is growing concern that this technology could make millions of jobs – and their workers – obsolete. In the third episode of The Ballpark’s miniseries on AI and the US, the Phelan US Centre explored the impacts AI is already having on the workforce with Baobao Zhang, Maxwell Dean Associate Professor of the Politics of AI in th...

Across the world, far right ideas, once confined to the political fringe, have entered the mainstream. They spread through social media feeds and dominate tabloid headlines. Many fear they’re transforming politics, threatening democracy and tearing at the fabric of society. Joanna Bale meets Imam Adam Kelwick, whose Liverpool mosque was surrounded by an angry mob after the murders of three young g...

In an article in the July/August edition of Foreign Affairs magazine, “Might Unmakes Right: The Catastrophic Collapse of Norms Against the Use of Force”, Oona Hathaway and Scott Shapiro look at the history of the prohibition of the use of force between states and discuss what they see as the current assault on this prohibition. To discuss her article, in July 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Pro...

In an article in the latest issue of Foreign Affairs, “Beware the Europe You Wish For, The Downsides and Dangers of Allied Independence”, former US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Celeste Wallander, wrote on the potential downsides of Europe spending more on its own defense for the transatlantic alliance and for American foreign policy leadership. To discuss her...

In July 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Kimberley S. Johnson, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University and the John G. Winant Visiting Professor of American Government at the University of Oxford, about the recent history of the US administrative state and racial representation in the US government and administration They also discussed the second Trump adminis...

In response to what the US sees as potential growing threats from China and North Korea, nuclear weapons are becoming a more and more important part of US alliance commitments and partnerships in East Asia. But what does this focus on nuclear weapons for both deterrence and reassurance mean for US foreign policy and for the security of the region? And could there be an alternative which puts a gre...

In January 2025, the release of a new model and chatbot by Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company, DeepSeek, sent shockwaves through the tech industry in the US and elsewhere. DeepSeek’s launch was only one milestone in the ongoing AI competition between China and the US which has seen the US try to restrict the exports of key components used in AI development to other countries. In the seco...

On the May 7th, 2025, India launched missile strikes on Pakistan in response to a terrorist attack in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir on April 22nd. On May 10th a ceasefire was reached following mediation from the United States. To discuss the US’ part in brokering a ceasefire, and the US’ responses to disputes between India and Pakistan over the past three decades, in June 2025 the Phelan U...

13 What is it like to be interviewed by AI, and how will it transform research? Justine Nayral by LSE Podcasts

12 Perceptions of inequality - what do we really know? Queena Chong by LSE Podcasts

11 How can data help us to understand and address complex problems? Dr Alexandra Gomes by LSE Podcasts

10 Children's visions of digital futures, Kym Sylwander & Aisling by LSE Podcasts

09 The new facts of life, Professor Emily Jackson by LSE Podcasts

08 Scaling social innovation at LSE, Kayleigh Cunoosamy by LSE Podcasts

07 Insecure lives, secure futures? Laura Lane by LSE Podcasts

06 Joining the dots: using data to support homelessness and addiction, Dr Michela Tinelli by LSE Podcasts

05 The impact of climate-based natural disasters, Dr Kate Laffan & Dr António Valentim by LSE Podcasts

04 Making and remaking tradition: a cultural history of shark fin, Dr Ron Po by LSE Podcasts

03 Competing visions of the future: Colombia's Magdalena River, Dr Austin Zeiderman by LSE Podcasts