Inspire Us Podcast

Deirdre McCloskey is an economic historian, philosopher, and Distinguished Scholar and chair holder at the Cato Institute in Washington D.C. She did her education at Harvard and taught at the University of Chicago — where Milton Friedman was her colleague — and produced a body of work that fundamentally challenges how economists think about language, ethics, and what actually made the modern world...

Robert B. Talisse is a Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University and one of America's leading thinkers on democracy, political polarisation, and public reason. He has authored over fifteen books including Overdoing Democracy, Sustaining Democracy, and A Pragmatist Philosophy of Democracy — exploring how democracies can thrive amid deep disagreement, belief polarisation, and public ignor...

Ehireme Alexis Uddin is a PhD researcher at SOAS University of London whose work sits at the intersection of climate finance, climate governance and development policy. Her research focuses specifically on Nigeria, examining the state of climate finance, the role of institutions in ensuring the green transition is effective and equitable, and what it actually takes to finance an energy transition...

John Hasnas is a Professor at Georgetown University Law Center and the McDonough School of Business, and the author of Common Law Liberalism, a bold and original contribution to political and legal philosophy that challenges how we think about law, order, and the role of government in society. This episode is a full breakdown of common law, what it is, where it came from, and why it may be the mos...

Michael Peskin is a theoretical physicist and Professor at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University, one of the world's leading centres for particle physics research. He is the co-author of An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory, widely considered the definitive graduate-level textbook in the field and used by physicists across the globe. This episode is a full breakdow...

Bharat Ratra is a distinguished Physicist and Professor of Physics at Kansas State University and a leading cosmologist. He is best known for co-proposing the first dynamical dark energy model in 1988, a foundational idea that helps explain the accelerating expansion of the universe. In this conversation we explore the biggest mysteries in modern cosmology: dark energy, the nature of the universe’...

Ramla Ali is a Somali-British Olympian, boxer, model, humanitarian, and filmmaker whose journey from refugee to representing Somalia on the world stage is nothing short of extraordinary. In this conversation, she reflects on sacrifice, identity, fame, social media, and the bold transition from elite sport into filmmaking. It was an absolute pleasure to speak with Ramla, she's an absolutely lov...

Kwame Anthony Appiah is a philosopher, cultural theorist and Professor of Philosophy at New York University. He is also the author of the popular “The Ethicist” column in The New York Times, where he explores everyday moral dilemmas through philosophy. In this conversation we explore identity, culture, class and authenticity. We discuss whether modern identity categories like race, gender and nati...

Graham Priest is one of the world’s leading philosophers of logic. He is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the CUNY Graduate Center and also holds positions at the University of Melbourne and University of St Andrews. Priest is best known for developing dialetheism, the controversial philosophical view that some contradictions can actually be true. His work has had a major influence on mode...

Jonathan Wolff is a leading political philosopher at the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University. He has advised governments, shaped public policy debates, and written extensively on inequality, justice, and democracy, and social reform. It was an absolute pleasure to speak with Jonathan Wolff, he's a lovely man. In this episode, we explore the philosophy of inequality, the tension bet...

David Betz is a Canadian academic and Professor of War in the Modern World at King’s College London. He specialises in civil war, insurgency, information warfare, and the changing character of conflict. His research has advised policymakers and military institutions, and his recent academic papers have gained significant media attention for warning that North America, Western Europe, and the UK ma...

Abdullahi Shafi Mohamed is an emerging leader in international development and humanitarian work, with experience across Kenya, Niger, Somalia and beyond. A Chevening scholar and SOAS Development Studies graduate, he has worked with the United Nations in Somalia supporting government systems and community delivery in one of the world’s most complex operating environments. In this episode, Abdullah...

Mourad Mkinsi is a Moroccan academic whose work sits at the intersection of cultural studies and socio-political analysis. His research and teaching engage with questions of gender and politics, civil society, social movements, and postcolonial dynamics, with a particular focus on multiculturalism in contemporary Morocco. In this episode, we discuss whether Morocco’s recent momentum reflects real...

Nick Pelletier is an ultra-endurance athlete and host of the Comforts Breed Complacency podcast. He has run some of the world’s hardest ultra races, including the Moab 240, and completed extreme human-powered expeditions, from cycling across the United States to cycling the entire length of Africa solo. In this episode, Nick breaks down what ultra-endurance really teaches you about life, suffering...

In this episode of the Inspire Us Podcast, Professor Fabrice Cavarretta (ESSEC Business School, author of Gérer, c’est jardiner) dismantles the global myths around entrepreneurship, risk, and innovation. He argues that the real entrepreneur isn’t in Silicon Valley — it’s the woman running a food stand in Lagos, or the small business owner adapting daily to complex realities. Cavarretta explains wh...

Economist Michael Hudson joins the Inspire Us Podcast to discuss the rise of financialization, the dominance of the rentier class, and the decline of industrial capitalism in Britain and beyond. Hudson explains how Thatcherism and Blairism turned the UK into a rentier economy, why GDP measures are misleading, and how financialization fuels inequality, debt, and deindustrialization across the West....

In this episode of the Inspire Us Podcast, we speak with Professor John L. Esposito, one of the world’s leading scholars on Islam, religious pluralism, and contemporary geopolitics. Today’s UK political climate has sparked Tommy Robinson marches, anxieties over Sharia, and debates about blasphemy and the weaponisation of scripture. We brought our questions, and John delivered—offering historical c...

In this episode of the Inspire Us Podcast, we sit down with Dr. Hillary Briffa, Lecturer in National Security Studies at King’s College London, whose research focuses on the security strategies of small states, neutrality, and the intersection of defense and climate change. We discuss:Why “peace” since WWII is a myth for many regions The hidden power and vulnerabilities of small statesNATO, neutra...

In this episode of the Inspire Us Podcast, we sit down with Professor Jules Coleman — one of the most influential figures in philosophy of law and legal theory. Coleman is widely recognized for pioneering work on corrective justice, tort law, free speech, and the philosophy of education. About Jules Coleman:Jules L. Coleman is a leading legal philosopher and professor emeritus of law and philosoph...

In this episode of the Inspire Us Podcast, we sit down with Christine Cheng — Professor in War Studies at King’s College London and author of Extralegal Groups in Post-Conflict Liberia. We explore fragile states, corruption, security sector reform, the challenges of peacebuilding, and how global power dynamics shape post-war societies. Chapters 00:00 – Belonging and Identity in Britain 09:00 – Und...

Economist and author Charlie Robertson joins us in this controversial and eye-opening episode to discuss his theory that economic development hinges on one key factor: fertility rates. Check out Charlie's book "The Time-Travelling Economist": https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Travelling-Economist-Education-Electricity-Fertility/dp/3030975967

We’re back for our third podcast with one of the most provocative and visionary economists of our time — Professor Steve Keen. A globally renowned post-Keynesian thinker, Keen is best known for predicting the 2008 financial crash, his fierce critique of neoclassical economics, and his work on modeling capitalist instability using systems dynamics and Minskyan debt analysis. In this episode, we had...

In this episode of the Inspire Us Podcast, we sit down with world-renowned anthropologist and historian Alan Macfarlane for a wide-ranging conversation on modernity, China, Japan, and the West’s misconceptions about development and progress. Born on the India-Burma border during WWII and trained in the great tradition of fieldwork anthropology, Macfarlane reflects on his lifelong journey through c...

In this episode of the Inspire Us Podcast, we sit down with renowned economist and political theorist Professor Chenggang Xu to explore the true nature of China’s political system, its Soviet roots, economic contradictions, and whether peaceful transformation is even possible. Chenggang dives deep into the historical evolution of China’s totalitarian regime, exposing how the Communist Party operat...

In this compelling episode of the Inspire Us Podcast, we sit down with Professor Jonathan Goodhand, a leading expert on war economies, illicit trade, and development. We explore the complex intersections of drug economies, armed conflict, and state formation — from Afghanistan’s opium fields to Myanmar’s meth labs and Colombia’s coca trade. Jonathan shares deep insights from decades of field resea...