LSE Podcasts

What does the post-pandemic future hold for office workers? Will we drift back to old ways of working, or continue with hybrid/remote working? What do the experts advise on how best to adapt? Joanna Bale talks to LSE’s Connson Locke, Grace Lordan and Carsten Sorensen, as well as Hailley Griffis, a social media management company executive, who believes that offices will soon become extinct. LSE iQ...

Welcome back to a new season of LSE IQ, where we work with academics to bring you their latest research and ideas. In this episode, I’ll be asking What is it like to be an animal? We’ll travel to the local park to find out how smart dogs are, we’ll hear about a campaign arguing that chimpanzees are animals deserving of their own rights and, finally, we’ll ask whether insects and other invertebrate...

On July 21st, 2021, The Phelan US Centre’s Chris Gilson spoke to Professor Michael Cox of LSE IDEAS about his new article in the journal, International Politics, “What do Think Tanks do? Chatham House in search of the United States” and how think tanks affect policymaking in the UK and the US. They also discuss his upcoming book of essays Agonies of Empire, which outlines the ways in which five ve...

Claudio Pinheiro, Johanna Waters, Ross Porter, Ulrich Sidney, Nihan Albayrak-Aydemir, and Lee-Ann Sequeira come together to discuss the impact of the current regime of passport and visa protocols on student migrants, how vaccine passports will exacerbate passport privilege, the emotional tax associated with passport penalty, and decolonising university practice.

Tanya Harmer discusses her recent biography of Beatriz Allende (1942–1977), revolutionary doctor and daughter of Chile’s socialist president, Salvador Allende. She explains how, inspired by the Cuban Revolution, Beatriz and her generation influenced developments in Chile, and how the terrible consequences of the coup drained Beatriz of the dreams she once had. For further information about the Dep...

In this bonus episode, recorded in front of a live virtual audience, Professor Paul Dolan and his guests discuss the neuroscience and social science behind the polarisation problem. Why do we take sides on so many issues? What makes us want to be part of one group and not another? What drives our judgements, choices and assumptions? Paul was joined by his LSE colleague Dr Jennifer Sheehy Skeffingt...

In this episode, Professor Paul Dolan examines what the last year has taught us about life’s only certainty: death. Has it changed how we think about the lives of older and younger people? Do we want to live longer, or better? He speaks to two people with different views: Brendan McCarthy works who for the Church of England, and the cancer specialist Dr Karol Sikora. He also hears from two academi...

Conspiracy theories fomented by political division and a global pandemic have gained traction in the public consciousness in the last couple of years. For some people these ideas are just fun and entertaining, but for others their interest in them becomes much more consuming. Why do people become involved in this kind of conspiratorial thinking? That’s the question that LSE iQ tackles in this mont...

In this episode, Professor Paul Dolan looks at gender differences. He talks to the men’s rights activist, Erin Pizzey, about why she thinks life is tougher for men and boys, especially at school. He’s also joined by Caroline Criado Perez, author of “Invisible Women”, about how the world is built by men for men. Paul hears from fellow LSE academic Dr Sam Friedman about the intersection between clas...

Taylor C. Sherman discusses her forthcoming book, reassessing the Nehru years in Indian history. Here she focuses on Indian socialism as it developed during Jawaharlal Nehru's premiership, and explains how it was shaped by the experience of colonialism and the national movement. Nehru's India: Seven Myths is due out with Princeton University Press in 2022. For further information about the Departm...

To subscribe on Apple podcasts please visit apple.co/2r40QPA or on Andriod http://subscribeonandroid.com/www.lse.ac.uk/assets/richmedia/webFeeds/lseiqpodcast_iTunesStore.xml or search for 'LSE IQ' in your favourite podcast app or visit lse.ac.uk/iq Welcome to LSE's award-winning podcast, LSE IQ, where we ask leading social scientists - and other experts - to answer an intelligent question about ec...

On 15 February 2021, The US Centre’s Chris Gilson spoke to Professor Robert Lieberman and Professor Suzanne Mettler about their recent book, ‘Four Threats: The Recurring Crises of American Democracy’. In this podcast, they discuss some of the unique features of American democracy and how its four pillars may be under threat, and what needs to be done to secure democracy in the US. Robert Lieberman...

Computer algorithms shape our lives and increasingly control our future. They have crept into virtually every aspect of modern life and are making life-changing choices on our behalf, often without us realising. But how much power should we give to them and have we let things go too far? Joanna Bale talks to Ken Benoit, Andrew Murray, Seeta Peña Gangaradhan, Alison Powell and Bernhard Von Stengel....

Professor Paul Dolan examines whether class is fundamental to how people see themselves and whether we want a classless society. He speaks to two people who come from very different backgrounds. Lily Russell-Stracey went to an exclusive boarding school and a top university – and is now a plumber in Glasgow. Dr Wanda Wyporska comes from a working-class background and was raised by a single mum. She...

Professor Paul Dolan looks at how we have becoming increasingly polarised in what we do to our bodies. Some of us getting fitter whilst most are getting fatter. The polarisation extends from our own behaviour to the judgements we make. We celebrate the fit and chastise the fat. Paul speaks to two very different people to find out how they live their lives and how they are judged. Nick Butter is an...

Professor Paul Dolan asks if it’s ok to cancel someone for something they say or post on social media. Should freedom of speech and expression be protected at all costs – and how do we balance it with protection from bullying and hate? He speaks to two people with different opinions. Matthew Syed is a writer and journalist. He is a staunch defender of free speech. Ash Sarkar is a journalist and se...

Marriage and monogamy: Are single women happier? Professor Paul Dolan looks at relationships and the judgements people make, specifically when it comes to women. Why do people have such strong views on how women choose to live their lives? Why is marriage and monogamy still seen as the ultimate fairy tale? Paul speaks to two women who have made very different life choices. Esther Rantzen was marri...

Professor Paul Dolan asks if more security means less freedom? Has the pandemic fundamentally changed our relationship with the state and what it can tell us to do? He speaks to two people with very different views on these questions. Steve Baker is the Conservative MP for Wycombe and Deputy Chair of the Covid Recovery Group B, and Graham Medley is an infectious disease modeller at the London Scho...

In this episode of The Politics of Race in American Film, Dr. Clive James Nwonka hosts a conversation with Cheryl Bedford (Women of Color Unite), Lanre Bakare (The Guardian), and Sam Mejias (The New School) which looks at films which engage with questions of blackness and race in America during the Obama and Trump eras. These films include Moonlight, Get Out, Us, Queen and Slim, Waves, Harriet, an...

In this episode of The Politics of Race in American Film, Dr. Clive James Nwonka hosts a conversation with Melanie Hoyes (British Film Institute), Dr. Luisa Heredia (Sarah Lawrence College), and Dr. Shelley Cobb (University of Southampton) about the films American Honey and The Florida Project. Each film examines the experiences of people on the fringes of American society: for Star, American Hone...

To mark International Women’s Day 2021, we explore how India can adopt more gender inclusive policy planning and implementation to manage the impact of COVID-19. Meet our speakers and chair Farzana Afridi is Lead Academic for IGC India and an Associate Professor in the Economics and Planning Unit at the Indian Statistical Institute in Delhi. Her areas of interest are education, health, gender, and...

When it comes to work, is less more? Our panel discuss whether work is making us bad citizens and unhappy humans. Is there something to be said for being idle? Bertrand Russell wrote that "immense harm is caused by the belief that work is virtuous". In more recent times, organisations from Microsoft to the Wellcome Trust have experimented with a four-day week, and advocates argue that shorter work...

During the presidency of Donald Trump, the US pursued a more self-interested and transactional foreign policy, often seeing relations with other countries as a zero-sum game. Charles Kupchan discusses his new book, Isolationism: A History of America’s Efforts to Shield Itself from the World. He looks at how the resurgence of isolationism is reshaping America foreign policy and what it means for th...

Rethinking inequality reduction programmes in post-COVID Latin America is timely and urgent. What are the pathways forward? After a decade or more in which inequality had fallen in Latin America, in recent years inequality had risen once more, motivating waves of protests across the region. COVID-19 has exploited existing inequalities affecting both the health outcomes and livelihoods of the poore...

COVID-19 has presented an opportunity to address some of the profound underlying problems of our health systems. We compare international health system responses to COVID-19, and outline clear lessons from the pandemic on how we might move forward.