Academy of Ideas

In the second of our end-of-year round-ups for 2018, the Academy of Ideas team - Claire Fox, Alastair Donald, Geoff Kidder, Rob Lyons, Jacob Reynolds and Ella Whelan - discuss a year of Brexit battles, the prospect of a second referendum and what the future holds for British democracy.

In the first of our end-of-year round-ups for 2018, the Academy of Ideas team - Alastair Donald, Geoff Kidder, Rob Lyons and Declan Rooney - discuss England's World Cup run, whether Luka Modric is the best footballer in the world, where Lewis Hamilton sits among the all-time great English sportsmen and what make's a 'people's champion'.

Listen to the debate from the Battle of Ideas 2018. Whatever way we read today’s political disruptions, change is in the air. Mainstream political parties internationally, from Italy to Sweden, are being thrown into disarray by new challengers. Democratic votes, from Brexit to Trump, are seemingly giving two fingers to establishment norms. This turbulent atmosphere is undoubtedly unsettling. It is...

A recording of a debate at the Battle of Ideas 2018 festival at the Barbican on Sunday 14 October, produced in partnership with Diageo (full details here ). Almost every aspect of life in the UK is heavily regulated, from housing and transport to food and energy. Public health authorities have extended the reach of government intervention into our personal consumption of cigarettes, alcohol, salt,...

On Friday 23 November, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced a ban on adverts for junk food on London's transport network. Posters for food and drink high in fat, salt and sugar will disappear from the Underground, Overground, buses and bus shelters. But just how effective is advertising? That was the topic of this debate at the Battle of Ideas 2018 festival, produced in partnership with Diag...

A recording of the debate at the Battle of Ideas 2018 festival on Saturday 13 October at the Barbican in London. Language has always been a source of political controversy as much as a medium for discussing politics. Terms like ‘terrorist’ and ‘freedom fighter’ reveal the politics of the speaker as much as the nature of those described. But recent years have seen the proliferation of completely ne...

Listen to the debate from the Battle of Ideas 2018 festival at the Barbican in London on Sunday 14 October (www.battleofideas.org.uk). Novelist Lionel Shriver isn’t afraid of speaking her mind. At the 2016 Brisbane Writers Festival, she caused a furore by calling into question the contemporary focus on identity politics, saying ‘I hope the concept of cultural appropriation is a passing fad’. More...

Listen to the debate from the Battle of Ideas 2018. In the past few years, remotely piloted air systems and unmanned air systems – commonly called ‘drones’ or ‘multicopters’ – have become widely popular. A relative lack of regulation until recently has meant that drones are still a controversial if exciting new technology, and society is undecided how best to deal with the challenges they pose. Bu...

A recording of the debate at the Battle of Ideas 2018 on Sunday 14 October at the Barbican, London. Today, everything seems to be an expression of contemporary ‘narcissism’, from dismissing millennials as Generation Me to describing Donald Trump as the ‘narcissist in chief’. It seems your boss or co-workers, everyone on Tinder, celebrities, even your parents are all ‘narcissists’. But has it becom...

Adam Rawcliffe is joined by Alastair Donald, Geoff Kidder, Rob Lyons and Jacob Reynolds to reflect on the final matches of World Cup 2018 and the tournament as a whole. Were France worthy winners? What do the team think about the controversial penalty awarded in the final - and the VAR system that enabled the decision? Who was the player of the tournament? Why did England fail to reach the final a...

Adam Rawcliffe is joined by Alastair Donald, Jacob Reynolds and Hilary Salt to discuss France's semi-final victory over Belgium, England's prospects in their semi-final against Croatia, and the use of football to make political points, from the importance of diversity to rediscovering national pride amid the Brexit negotiations.

Adam Rawcliffe is joined by Geoff Kidder, Rob Lyons and Jacob Reynolds to discuss England's prospects in the quarter-final against Sweden, the pick of the last-16 games, who might progress to the semi-finals and the reaction to England's win over Colombia. [Apologies for the sound of birds tweeting in the background - it's keep-the-windows-open weather!]

Adam Rawcliffe is joined by Alastair Donald, Geoff Kidder and Rob Lyons to discuss the latest from Russia 2018. What do the team think about England's dull defeat to Belgium? Have England landed themselves an easier path to the final? Is it right to celebrate Germany's exit? Which are the standout games in the round of 16? And were FIFA right to criticise both players and supporters for 'political...

Adam Rawcliffe is joined by David Bowden and Geoff Kidder to look back on the first week of World Cup 2018. Has it been a success so far? Which teams have made a good impression - and which of the big teams need to be worried? How have England done so far and what has been the mood in the country as we enjoy wall-to-wall football?

Adam Rawcliffe is joined by Geoff Kidder and Rob Lyons to discuss the fallout from the sacking of Spain's manager, their picks for who might win the tournament, the arguments over Russia hosting the World Cup and whether England can defy expectations and do well.

To mark the publication of his new book, 'How Fear Works: Culture of Fear for the 21st Century', we present this interview, conducted in May 2018 for Claire Fox's Love Sport Radio show, Fox News Friday.

On the fiftieth anniversary of the 1967 Abortion Act, a panel of pro-choice campaigners from around the world discussed what is at stake in the battle for abortion rights. In many countries, the trend towards extending abortion rights seems to have been reversed. What does it mean to argue for a woman’s right to choose today? Is it right to think of abortion as ‘just like any other medical procedu...

Scientists and doctors have emerged as among the most vociferous critics of Brexit and Trump. The March for Science expressed the concerns of many researchers and clinicians on both sides of the Atlantic about the future of funding and about the movement of researchers and students across national borders. Many were also alarmed at the apparent lack of respect for expertise and evidence in public...

With the case of Alfie Evans in the news, this Battle of Ideas debate is very pertinent. ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION The tragic case of Charlie Gard, a baby with a terminal congenital illness whose parents refused to accept the decision of medical staff to withdraw life support, highlighted the problems that may arise when there is a breakdown of trust between doctors and parents. The old adage that ‘do...

Only 35 years ago a predominantly peasant economy, China has become the largest trading nation in the world. It is also remarkable that China has relinquished its status as environmental pariah to become a critic of the US president’s rejection of the Paris climate accords. Only recently a communist outsider, China is now a capitalist powerbroker, most notably in dealing with the challenge of Nort...

Silicon Valley used to be regarded as the global hub of entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation. It was the home of the world’s best technologies, new products and services. Yet today, Silicon Valley’s tech companies seem to have become the twenty-first-century equivalent of mediaeval robber barons. They are condemned for fleecing customers, evading taxes, and pocketing monopoly profits. Once...

How could so many people be convinced to vote for Donald Trump? Why did so many Brits vote to leave the EU, despite almost unanimous advice from experts, political leaders and celebrities that we should remain? Some attribute these results to the power of Big Data, specifically to the high-tech psychological marketing techniques of a company called Cambridge Analytica. Can the manipulation of data...

Recording of the debate at Battle of Ideas 2017 ( https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/safety-first/ ) The ‘safety first’ outlook, intending to keep us safe by imagining the worst, risks increasing our sense of existential insecurity. Always anticipating catastrophe may mean over-reacting, especially in the fields of science, health and technology. We have become the victims of scaremongering...

The Russian government is now routinely portrayed as a threat to the West, both on the international stage, in Ukraine and Syria, and in domestic politics, accused of interfering in elections. Russia is certainly back on the world stage and no longer prepared to accept Western-backed regime change, but to what extent does Russia represent a threat? Does Russia have legitimate interests that it is...

After the school shooting in Parkland, Florida on 14 February 2018, the issue of gun control and the meaning of mass shootings in America has come to the fore once more. This session from Battle of Ideas 2013, in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting and Boston Marathon bombing, took a step back to examine these issues in a wider context. SPEAKERS Nancy McDermott writer; advisor to Park Slope P...