LSE Podcasts

Speaker(s): Sophie Pedder | Two years after Emmanuel Macron came from nowhere to seize the French presidency, Sophie Pedder, The Economist’s Paris bureau chief, tells the story of his remarkable rise and time in office so far. In this updated edition, published with a new foreword, Pedder revisits her analysis of Macron’s troubles and triumphs in the light of the gilets jaunes protests. Sophie Ped...

Speaker(s): Professor Robin D G Kelley | In the context of Afro-pessimism, this lecture will imagine "the Internationale," that great song of international solidarity and revolution transcending the nation, as a blues. Robin D G Kelley is Gary B Nash Endowed Chair in US History, University of California, Los Angeles. Ayça Çubukçu (@ayca_cu) is Associate Professor in Human Rights, Department of Soc...

Speaker(s): Professor Matthew Goodwin, Dr Sara Hagemann, Professor Sara Hobolt | In this especially timely occasion, the panel will consider the impact of the upcoming European elections on the EU as a negotiating actor of Brexit and the future relationship with the UK. Will the balance of power change in the EU institutions? Is this the next stop for the populist wave, after Brexit? Matthew Goodw...

Speaker(s): Dr Jo Grady, Dr Martin O'Neill, Dr Waseem Yaqoob | Workers of the world, unite! We discuss the history, politics, and ethics of strikes, and their place in the labour movement. Why do they happen and what makes for a successful strike? What justifies workers in withdrawing their labour to push bosses for improved pay and conditions? And will this event be cancelled due to strike action...

Speaker(s): Paul Mason | We face a triple threat: authoritarian politicians, the possibility of intelligent machines and a secular fatalism and irrationality. But they can all be fought. Paul Mason explains how. Paul Mason (@paulmasonnews) is a British commentator, journalist and author. This event marks the publication of Paul's new book, Clear Bright Future: A Radical Defence of the Human Being....

Speaker(s): Dr María Ana Lugo, Professor Branko Milanovic, Dr Paul Segal | The panel discuss the evolution of the global distribution of income and political implications, highlighting endogenous forces of rising inequality in liberal capitalism embedded in globalisation. The last quarter century of globalisation has witnessed the largest reshuffle of global incomes since the Industrial Revolution...

Speaker(s): Professor John Ikenberry, Professor Mary Kaldor, Professor Peter Trubowitz, Professor Vladislav Zubok | How and why has the liberal promise of the post-Cold War world not been realised? Where is the world now heading? Is the post-Cold War era over? In 1989 the Cold War ended. American pundit, Francis Fukuyama, confidently announced the end of history with the complete victory of libera...

Speaker(s): Professor Daniel Markovits | Merit is not a genuine excellence but rather a pretence, constructed to rationalise an offensive distribution of advantage. Merit, in short, is a sham. The meritocratic ideal—that social and economic rewards should track achievement rather than breeding—anchors the self-image of the age. Aristocracy has had its day, and meritocracy is now a basic tenet of c...

Speaker(s): Professor Stephen Skowronek | The presidency of Donald Trump is so readily labeled "not normal" and "off-the charts" that it is hard to think of it any other way. Stephen Skowronek examines long-running patterns in the politics of presidential leadership to sort out what is new, and what is not, in the Trump phenomenon. In Skowronek hands presidential history is not a gauzy backdrop to...

Speaker(s): Katrín Jakobsdóttir | Katrín Jakobsdóttir will discuss democratic challenges stemming from social inequalities, authoritarian politics and new technologies. Insecurities generated by globalisation, migration, and transformative technologies have created new societal divisions in liberal democracies and exacerbated the dislocation between personal identities and political loyalties. Sin...

Speaker(s): Zsuzsanna Szelényi | What is happening in Hungary? How has a party of dissident young democrats become a vehicle for illiberal and semi-authoritarian rule, and what does this mean for contemporary politics in Europe? Zsuzsanna Szelényi (@ZSzelenyi) is a Hungarian psychologist and politician. Robin Archer is the Director of the Ralph Miliband Programme, LSE. The Ralph Miliband Programme...

Speaker(s): Shanelle Hall, Dr Rebecca Newton, Shaheen Sayed, Shaun Sinniah | Authentic leadership drives organisational success, yet is often misinterpreted in the workplace. In this book launch and panel session, Dr Rebecca Newton discusses what it really means to lead with authenticity, how to influence with integrity and drive positive change. Shanelle Hall (@shanellehall) was appointed by the...

Speaker(s): Nancy Pelosi | Join us for this conversation between Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and LSE's Peter Trubowitz, Director of the US Centre at the School. Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) is the 52nd Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, having made history in 2007 when she was elected the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House. Now in her third term...

Speaker(s): Professor Danny Dorling, Professor Sally Tomlinson, Professor Gurminder K Bhambra, Professor Will Hutton | In 2016, the UK voted to leave the European Union – but has yet to leave its Empire past behind. What part did the long afterlife of the world’s largest-ever Empire play in Britain’s view of itself and world? And could a post-EU Britain, against all the odds, become less unequal?...

Speaker(s): Professor Catherine Barnard, Professor Sir Charles Bean, Jill Rutter | Editor's note: Unfortunately the last few minutes of the event are missing from the podcast. Our panel reviews what has been decided and resolved on Brexit, as well as the short- and long-term implications for Britain. Catherine Barnard (@CSBarnard24) is Professor in European Union Law and Employment Law at the Univ...

Speaker(s): Professor David Spiegelhalter | In his new book, The Art of Statistics, David Spiegelhalter guides us through the essential principles we need in order to derive knowledge from data, showing us why data can never speak for itself. He explains the basic concepts, from regression to P-values (without using mathematics), and introduces the intellectual ideas that underpin statistics. Draw...

Speaker(s): Professor Bob Jessop, Professor Costas Lapavitsas, Professor Peter Ramsay, Professor Lea Ypi | Are we all Marxists now? Which of Marx’s ideas remain relevant, which redundant? Join leading scholars to address Marx’s legacy at 201. Are we all Marxists now? The question may sound strange but the virtues of the German philosopher are now extolled in the most unlikely of places. If this ma...

Speaker(s): Professor Axel Gosseries | Do the intergenerational issues raised by climate change differ from those raised by the Brexit vote? And what can we do to address these issues? Axel Gosseries is Professor of Economics and Social Ethics at Louvain University. The Ralph Miliband Programme (@RMilibandLSE) is one of LSE's most prestigious lecture series and seeks to advance Ralph Miliband's sp...

Speaker(s): Dr Andrew Lewis-Pye | Perhaps the most fundamental challenge for the future of cryptocurrencies is the issue of scalability: How can one dramatically increase transaction rates without sacrificing the security of the blockchain? In this talk Andrew Lewis-Pye will start by giving an overview of the fundamentals of cryptocurrencies (a digital currency in which encryption techniques are u...

Speaker(s): Professor Jay Winter | Silence itself is a language of memory. Jay Winter explores the dialectic between silence and sound in the auditory history of the Great War. Jay Winter is Charles J Stille Professor of History Emeritus, Yale University. Robin Archer is Director of the Ralph Miliband Programme at LSE. Robin Archer is Director of the Ralph Miliband Programme at LSE. The Ralph Mili...

Speaker(s): Ruchir Sharma | On the eve of India’s General elections in April and May, Ruchir Sharma will in this event, which marks the publication of his new book, offer a portrait of how India and its democracy work. Sharma has covered every election for the last two decades on the road talking to farmers, shopkeepers and CEOs from Rajasthan to Tamil Nadu, and interviewing leaders from Narendra...

Speaker(s): Professor Pat Thane | The social and health needs of older people are not easily separable. But care has been institutionally separate since 1948. Did this help create the current crisis? Pat Thane is Research Professor in Contemporary History, King's College London. Robin Archer is the Director of the Ralph Miliband Programme, LSE. The Ralph Miliband Programme (@RMilibandLSE) is one o...

Speaker(s): Professor Sir Tim Besley, Professor Amartya Sen | An effective state promotes freedom and the well-being of its citizens. This lecture will discuss the importance of norms, values and institutions in supporting state effectiveness drawing on recent developments in social science. As well as making connections to Amartya Sen's ideas, the lecture will reflect on some of the major policy...

Speaker(s): Dr Rachel Harris, Professor Jude Howell, Dr Rian Thum | Large numbers of Uyghurs have been detained by the Chinese government in re-education camps. What do we know about these camps? Rachel Harris specialises in Uyghur culture and religion and is based at SOAS. Jude Howell is an expert on authoritarianism and Professor of International Development at LSE. Rian Thum is a historian of X...

Speaker(s): Professor Raghuram Rajan | Lionel Robbins was one of the outstanding men of his time; economist, public servant and supporter of the arts. The lectures, which were established in his name, take place each year and are a major event in the life of the School, featuring eminent economists from around the world. This year Raghuram Rajan, the Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Pr...