OECD Podcasts

Modern life is digital and fast. Democracy is analogue and slow, and cracks are showing in the system. Young people are blasé about voting, many distrust government, and extremism and populism are bubbling up. Jamie Bartlett is the author of The People vs Tech and the former head of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at the think tank, Demos. He says that international cooperation on cybe...

New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern was in Paris earlier this month for a global summit on online violent extremism. New Zealand’s initiative, Christchurch Call, is a pledge that countries will set guidelines on how the media should report acts of terrorism, and adopt and enforce laws on objectionable material. This follows the country’s ban on semiautomatic weapons and assault rifles week...

We need more women to work, to be paid the same as men, and to hold powerful positions. This is not just a matter of fairness but of plain economics. The OECD estimates that halving the gender gap in the work force by 2030 would boost GDP by about 6%. Dame Helena Morrissey is the founder of the UK-based 30% Club. Its goal? To reach a minimum of 3 out of 10 women on boards and in senior management....

Anthony Gooch is head of OECD’s Public Affairs and Communications and director of OECD Forum. Now in its 20th year, the Forum is OECD’s annual thinkfest, bringing together public figures, academics, corporate leaders, and a whole host of people working to shape better policies and better lives. In this conversation, we talk about fragile trust, the hope of civic tech, and the complicated relations...

How can we all help shape better policies for better lives? In as little as 15 minutes, our OECD Podcasts bring you insightful interviews with OECD and guest experts on such pressing challenges as the coronavirus pandemic and health, inequality, the world economy, the digital transformation, climate change, social change, the environment, international co-operation, and more. NOTE: All podcasts ex...

Is housing a basic human right? It should be. And yet, investment and speculation in property often get in the way of housing affordability. This is where governments can make a difference. Anna Minton’s message is that if there’s political will, there’s a way. Anna Minton is a writer, journalist and Reader in Architecture at University of East London. She has written two books, Ground Control and...

Mental illness comes with a big pricetag. The OECD estimates the total cost of mental disorders in the EU to be more than 4% of GDP--over €600 billion. But no price can be put on the cost of mental illness for the person suffering from it. “It’s okay to not be okay,” is comedian and mental health activist Ruby Wax’s message. To the one in four people in the world who suffer from mental disorders a...

After visiting his cousin in the city, Aesop’s country mouse concludes that “Poverty with security is better than plenty in the midst of fear and uncertainty”. Those who feel they have neither security nor sufficient means in places like Wales, Italy’s Mezzogiorno and France’s Diagonale du Vide beg to differ. Joaquim Oliveira Martins, deputy director of the OECD’s Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs...

Our oceans absorb 30% of the CO2 caused by greenhouse gas emissions. And they take in 90% of the heat that's caused by the same emissions. But our oceans are getting tired. UN Special Envoy for the Ocean, Peter Thomson, talks to us about ocean biodiversity, coral reefs and acidification. And the miracle of intertidal marshes, seagrass beds, lagoons, and mangrove forests. Host: Clara Young Producer...

Swiss explorer Bertrand Piccard has circumnavigated the globe in a hot-air balloon and a solar-fuelled airplane. Now, he’s exploring a whole new world—the world of climate-friendly business. Bertrand’s foundation, Solar Impulse, helps start-ups get energy-efficient, low-carbon innovations into production and onto the global market. Host: Clara Young Producer: Robin Allison Davis Get the latest OEC...

College graduates, entrepreneurs, inventors—talented people are increasingly on the move for school and for work. William Kerr, D’Arbeloff Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and author of The Gift of Global Talent, discusses how to attract talent, where it clusters and the match-up between global talent and superstar firms. Host: Kate Lancaster Producer: Robin Allison...

The wisdom of crowds? Geoff Mulgan, Chief Executive of the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts in the UK, discusses the crowdsourcing power behind platforms like Wikipedia and Google maps. And how well-designed collective intelligence can revolutionise healthcare, sustainable development and much, much more. For more information go to: http://www.oecd.org/sti/ Host: Clara Young...

Most people spend their evenings kicking back with a book or whatever’s on Netflix. In Finland, they’re teaching themselves artificial intelligence (AI). Computer scientist Teemu Roos talks about the easy-to-follow massive online course on machine learning he designed with tech firm Reaktor. And which the Finnish government bank-rolled. Teemu Roos is Associate Professor of Computer Science at the...

Encouraging women and girls to pursue studies in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) is one thing, getting them to patent their innovations and take them from lab to market is another. Fiona Murray is the Associate Dean of Innovation at the MIT Sloan School of Management and the Co-Director of MIT’s Initiative for Innovation. She talks about women getting in the CEO seat and revving...

At age 15, 5% of boys in OECD countries want to work in information technology (ICT). And girls? 0.5%. With society digitalising fast and the current gender gap in science/technology/engineering/maths (STEM) widening, the future still looks to be a “man’s, man’s, man’s world”. But Gabriela Ramos, OECD Chief of Staff and Sherpa to the G20, is betting against James Brown. She urges girls to set thei...

Machines are learning but who’s teaching them? You, me but also legions of microworkers all over the world. Antonio Casilli is associate professor in digital humanities at Télécom ParisTech and researcher at the Edgar Morin Centre of the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences. Host: Clara Young Producer: Robin Allison Davis Get the latest OECD content delivered directly to your inbox!...

The days when people held a full-time job for most of their lives and accordingly received benefits are over. Nowadays, many of us are temps, self-employed, and artists. We work part-time, pick up gig work, take on zero-hour contracts. How do we reconcile social security like pensions, unemployment benefits, and medical insurance with these more fluid forms of work? We discuss this and ideas like...

Women’s pay has been catching up to men’s since 1968 but women still earn 49 cents to every dollar men make. And that’s been true for the past 15 years. How can women achieve equal pay for equal value? Zara Nanu, the co-founder and CEO of Gapsquare, is counting on algorithms. For more information go to: http://www.oecd.org/gender/ Host: Clara Young Producer: Robin Allison Davis Get the latest OECD...

Who are the Gilets Jaunes and what do they want? We talk to Sophie Pedder, who is Paris bureau chief of the Economist and author of "Revolution Francaise: Emmanuel Macron and the quest to reinvent a nation". Host: Clara Young Producer: Robin Allison Davis Get the latest OECD content delivered directly to your inbox! Subscribe to our newsletters: www.oecd.org/newsletters Follow us on social media: ...

Everybody agrees that tech giants and all other businesses should pay their fair share of taxes where they create value. But is a digital tax the way to go? OECD tax chief Pascal Saint-Amans says no. The OECD has secured an agreement among 127 countries and jurisdictions to spearhead talks on changing the rules of the taxation game: shifting more taxing rights to market jurisdictions where goods a...

OECD Chief Economist Laurence Boone reflects on the risks facing the world economy and the need for international co-operation. For more information, go to: http://www.oecd.org/economy/ https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics Host: Rory Clarke Producer: Robin Allison Davis Get the latest OECD content delivered directly to your inbox! Subscribe to our newsletters: www.oecd.org/newsletters Follow us...

We talk a lot about the need to innovate, but how do schools encourage intuitive leaps and, ultimately, new inventions? Jamie Hyneman, formerly co-host of Discovery Channel’s MythBusters, says students need hands-on experience. Like the kind you get in LUT University’s prototype lab in Finland, the Jamie Hyneman Center. Host: Clara Young Sound engineer: Iván Porras Sepulveda Producer: Robin Alliso...

World Bank chief economist Penny Goldberg discusses how global trade has exacerbated inequality between rural and urban areas, and what to do about it. For more information go to: http://www.oecd.org/trade/ https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/trade Host: Clara Young Executive Producer: Robin Allison Davis Team Lead: Rory Clarke Get the latest OECD content delivered directly to your inbox! Subscribe to o...

The OECD goes to the theatre. Writer/director Alexander Zeldin’s play, “Love”, tells the story of lives lived under the poverty line. What happens when a system of social care falls short and austerity takes over? “Love” is co-produced by the National Theatre of Great Britain and Birmingham Repertory Theatre, and adapted for BBC Two. Host: Clara Young Producer: Robin Allison Davis Get the latest O...

Fatima, who is Nigerian, is a women’s rights activists. Caesar from Mali, just wants to live his life again. Journalist Daniel Trilling tells the stories of refugees who try to make a new life in Europe. Trilling is the author of Lights In The Distance: Exile and Refuge at the Borders of Europe and writes for The New York Times, Al Jazeera, London Review of Books, and New Statesman. Host: Clara Yo...